Sonlight? Who's using it and do you like it or not??

[Love2Smile]

Just wondering if you gave lend me your experience with SL?

If you don't use it why and what is working for you

[Joanne]

I've purchased and sold ......... 2!!! whole Sonlight Cores without using them. I feel overwhelmed and behind before I even start.

The catalog is so seductive, though.

[Jennifer in MI]

I'm using Sonlight!!

I love it! It works for us. What I love:

1. Everything is planned out for me.
2. The books are here at my house, so there's no searching for them.
3. The books are wonderful!!!
4. Everything is planned out for me.
5. I can combine children in one core (and add higher level reading when necessary)
6. Everything is planned out for me!!!!
7. I use what works for us out of it.
8. Everything is planned out for me!!!

Can you see a trend here??? Really, I don't plan for school AT ALL!!! I just look at the schedule and see where we are and read. Easy peasy.

Now, I have had to let some things go. My kids hated the memorization cd this year. So, we just don't do it. Last year, I remember dropping poetry because it just wasn't working. (We picked it back up this year.)

I don't think it's for everyone, but it certainly works well for our family for now.

[LG Gone Wild]

I like them a lot a but it is tough stuff. There is a lot of reading out loud a parent has to do. I really like all the scheduling and planning that is done for me. I love the fact I can get all my books and materials at one go without having to piece through a catalog (if I don't want to). I believe that it has helped foster independence in my ds. He can see where he is at and what he should be doing. He can get to some of his assignments himself.

BUT I think I am going to return to the SWB fold and follow her program more closely. SL has given me a lot of experience on planning out a curriculum. I'm confident enough to do it on my own now.

[GVA]

No, it's not 100% with my goals and preferences, but it works for our family. Here's why:


We love read-alouds
We're fine with a basic evangelical approach without a specific doctrinal emphasis (there's nothing our there that really matches us anyway)
We don't mind doing several read-alouds at once
I don't mind not having readers/read-alouds completely correlated
My children are good readers (Sonlight really isn't enough, but that's OK)
We aren't crafty types
We enjoy geography
We aren't notebookers/lapbookers
I'm content to use Sonlight with other language arts materials
I have very little planning time, so I use it as written
It's cost-effective for me because I can borrow many books from the library and friends
The IGs are reasonably priced and widely available used


I have other plans for 7th and up, but it's worked well for us for grade school.

[Love2Smile]

What is SWB??

[Jennifer in MI]

What is SWB??

Susan Wise Bauer.

[LG Gone Wild]

What is SWB??

SL doesn't match the plans she laid out in her book. That's what I meant. I am going to follow WTM more than I have and that might mean abandoning SL.

[chiguirre]

We've used PK 3/4, PK 4/5 twice and we've started Core K (we've read about a 1/3 of it). I like SL, but I don't love it. I don't really like the IGs much (although this is probably a function of the cores I've done). The scheduling in these cores doesn't tie things together the way later cores do so they feel pretty random. I personally don't consult the discussion questions because I prefer to have the kids narrate CM style. If I knew then what I know now, I would have just used the catalog as a booklist and skipped the IG.

[paula j]

We have used sonlight for the past 4 years, cores 1+2 - 5 so far. It has worked really well for us! My son is not a writer so the fact that there aren't alot of workbook type books in sonlight has been a huge plus. Here are the things I like:

Everything is all laid out in the IG down to what pages to read in each book each day.

You can pick the 4 day schedule and have a day for trips, special projects, catch up, or whatever.

You can order the package and have all the books right there in your bookcase, no waiting for a book to be returned to your public library.

The books are awesome! Some of the books we have read I never would have picked out but they have been so good I have found myself scouring bookstores and websites looking for the sequels.:D

Alot of people think sonlight is only reading but this isn't true. some other things we have gotten from sonlight include workbooks in cores 3 and 4 for reading comprehension. Survival skills and computer instruction from science 5, lots of fun projects from the EHE in core 5.

I think I have learned as much as ds from sonlight.

My son is a serious threat in our family Trivial Pursuit tournaments!;)

They have an awesome guarantee - you can use your core for up to 18 months and still return it for a COMPLETE refund if it doesn't work for you!

Hope this helps.

[Jennifer in MI]

We've used PK 3/4, PK 4/5 twice and we've started Core K (we've read about a 1/3 of it). I like SL, but I don't love it. I don't really like the IGs much (although this is probably a function of the cores I've done). The scheduling in these cores doesn't tie things together the way later cores do so they feel pretty random. I personally don't consult the discussion questions because I prefer to have the kids narrate CM style. If I knew then what I know now, I would have just used the catalog as a booklist and skipped the IG.


I used the Pre K core a while ago (before they split them into ages). And, I agree - the IG really isn't needed in the earlier Cores. I felt like I was just getting into one book and the IG was telling me I needed to go to another. Those didn't work for us. I just set those IGs aside and read the book! The upper level cores though really do coordinate the reading to correspond with the history and geography and, for us, they work well!

[Love2Smile]

SL doesn't match the plans she laid out in her book. That's what I meant. I am going to follow WTM more than I have and that might mean abandoning SL.

Okay, I just got the book from the library, Im looking forward to start reading it!

[HeatherH]

I used SL for - hmm - must have been 6-7 years.

It worked great while I was mainly homeschooling my oldest. Once ds got old enough to need more than just math & language, I just could NOT make it work. Never could combine cores - I guess I'm just dysfunctional or something! I always felt like my eldest was "out of the loop" - out on her own, trying to scratch out an education while I corralled my ever-growing herd.

After SL K-Core 6, I did SOTW for history. Could never get my eldest on track with that! I loved WTM for Grammar, but I guess I needed more help for the Dialectic stage. Outlining Kingfisher just did NOT fly at my house.

Finally landed on Tapestry of Grace. SO glad I did! Finishing up my 2nd year (we've done TOG 3 - 1800s and TOG 4- 1900s+) and it has really brought my family together while studying. Priceless.

I will say this:

Sonlight gave me a good foundation in teaching my kids. I felt secure and as though I had a great start.

My home library is now GREAT! My kids love, love, LOVE SL books (we're reading through Understood Betsy again - love it!)

HTH - SL is a great curriculum. (I used to be a rep for them :) ) One thing I've learned however - there is NO perfect curriculum for everyone. You really have to match your family's particular needs with the strengths and weaknesses of each approach you are considering.

[Colleen]

There were really just two things that sparked in me a desire to homeschool: One was Sonlight, the other was David Guterson's book, Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense. (The only book re homeschooling that I've read in its entirety, btw.) The moment I perused the Sonlight catalog, 8+ years ago, it was clear to me that my oldest son wasn't going to get on that yellow bus come fall. The literature-based history, the international aspect to the program ~ they were right up my alley.

I'm now homeschooling my oldest four boys and am currently on my seventh Core (Core 6, while revisiting Core 1 as well). I'm enjoying it more now than ever. There was a time several years ago when I set aside SL for part of one school year and went for a Well-Trained Mind approach. It required more work on my part, and the enthusiasm just wasn't there. I picked SL back up with a sigh of relief.

I should note that I use the Core program for history, literature, and Bible only. We've dabbled in SL's elementary science but it never quite hit the spot. I use other resources for LA during those years as well.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask here or send me a private message.:)