Getting Started and Sonlight Question

[Flaura]

Hi,
I just joined the board and am getting ready to get started homeschooling my children. My oldest has been pulled from public school and we have been relaxing for a while but I would like to get started after Christmas.

Right now I want to work on spelling and writing with him. He is a reluctant reader but we are working on that by doing lots of read-alouds from good books. His math is great and we play lots of games and have started singapore math already - which he loves.

I have some questions about starting different curriculum.

1 - I was thinking of doing Writing with Ease and First Language Lessons. What levels do you think are appropriate to start with? He can write sentances but the punctuation and capitilization are not consistent and his spelling is, quite frankly, awful.

2 - Spelling ? He is not a natural speller but most of his mistakes are phonetic.

3 - I was thinking of doing Sonlight for history/read-alouds but am not sure which core to start with. I was thinking Core 1 or Core 1+2.
The reason I like sonlight is that we have a baby due in May so having all the books laid out would be helpful. I am open to other suggestions. He is the oldest so whatever we use could be used for the siblings coming up behind him.

I appreciate the help.

Take Care,

[yslek]

Hi,
What an exiting time for you! I don't have answers to all of your questions :D but did want to suggest you check out All About Spelling for your ds. It is a strongly phonetic program that isn't hard to implement. I would avoid workbook programs like Spelling Workout. JMO :001_smile:

I just recently purchased WWE, but haven't started yet (this will be B's first week) so don't have first-hand experience. I'm sure others on this board will chime in, though!

[sandalwood]

Hi,
I just joined the board and am getting ready to get started homeschooling my children. My oldest has been pulled from public school and we have been relaxing for a while but I would like to get started after Christmas.

Right now I want to work on spelling and writing with him. He is a reluctant reader but we are working on that by doing lots of read-alouds from good books. His math is great and we play lots of games and have started singapore math already - which he loves.

I have some questions about starting different curriculum.

1 - I was thinking of doing Writing with Ease and First Language Lessons. What levels do you think are appropriate to start with? He can write sentances but the punctuation and capitilization are not consistent and his spelling is, quite frankly, awful.

2 - Spelling ? He is not a natural speller but most of his mistakes are phonetic.

3 - I was thinking of doing Sonlight for history/read-alouds but am not sure which core to start with. I was thinking Core 1 or Core 1+2.
The reason I like sonlight is that we have a baby due in May so having all the books laid out would be helpful. I am open to other suggestions. He is the oldest so whatever we use could be used for the siblings coming up behind him.

I appreciate the help.

Take Care,

Both Core K & 1 with Sonlight are great and would be great for an 8.5 yr. old. (At Sonlight, Cores are not "grade levels". 1+2 is mostly Core 2 books so that might be a little much if you have never used Sonlight. It also cuts out a lot of really good Core 1 books. All their cores are really good but if I had children the ages of yours and was going with Sonlight, I'd get the lowest core possible so I could have them in the same Core. You can easily add the approriate lang. arts, math, etc. Then, you'd just be reading aloud one book to all the kids, etc. Check out Sonlight's forums. They have a choosing forum that is open to everyone. Some forums are private and you'd have access after you ordered but they have a choosing one open to everyone. I have used so far K, 1, 2 & 3.

Oh, I second All About Spelling. It is great and I am using it now.

[mchel210]

My kids have taken off with SL this year. I use Core 1 with my girls. It is easy to follow and doesnt take too long. We do Core 1, La 1 and La 2 int, science 1, mind benders, abeka math, explode the code

La is a wonderful program. I am sure if you have a reluctant reader...you can do LA 2 int. My dd reads books super but they are a nice level. She loves them all. THey are very interesting. The LA teaches a nice blend of spelling words...and you dont have to add a seperate spelling program. I use spelling city online for fun games with the spelling words in our LA. Then your child will learn to write really wonderful papers as well. I was surpised how much we cover. I do add SOTW 1 along with the books...as my girls loved this last year. We use SOTW and the activity book. We have learned tons with SL.

Then if you do that...you can do core 2 with la 2adv which is the advanced chapter...and your child will get used to the reading. You can always add library books if he starts reading too much. I add books from the previous cores if I get bored.

[Pata]

1 - I was thinking of doing Writing with Ease and First Language Lessons. What levels do you think are appropriate to start with? He can write sentances but the punctuation and capitilization are not consistent and his spelling is, quite frankly, awful.
From what I understand, the WWE book has placement advice in it. You could get the book first, then get a workbook after you read through and decide where he is. As for FLL, have you looked at the samples at Peace Hill Press? You can get there by clicking on the signpost at the top of the forums. Again, I'd look at the samples to decide. You could even print them out to see how he does.

2 - Spelling ? He is not a natural speller but most of his mistakes are phonetic.
I also agree that All About Spelling sounds like it will fit the bill for you. It teaches the spelling rules using phonics and will work on what his trouble spots are, plus it's easy for the parent to implement!

3 - I was thinking of doing Sonlight for history/read-alouds but am not sure which core to start with. I was thinking Core 1 or Core 1+2.
I would also agree with starting with Core 1, it's a great Core!

Hope you enjoy your homeschooling adventure and welcome to these boards!

[Kisa in CA]

I agree with others. All About Spelling is a great program for a boy because it is tactile and the spelling rules and phonetic instruction will give him tools to figure out the correct spelling of words.

My son learned nothing the year he used Spelling Workout.

[MamaMamaMama!!]

Just another SL lover here. My DD is 7.5 and my DS is 5 we are using Core 1.. My only regret was NOT ordering the Language Arts. I love SL its very simple to use. I used First Language Lessons and Primary Language Lessons before and I think i will like the LA better, again, all the work is done for you. Both my kids like Spelling Work Out for spelling. :) Good luck to you!

[HollyBee]

I'm new too (actually, I'm so new that my kids are still in ps--we'll pull them at the "winter break") so I don't have any advice; I just wanted to wish you the best!

I will say, though, that based on what I've read on these boards, I went ahead and ordered All About Spelling. My 4th grade dd is an atrocious speller and I would have needed to intervene no matter where she was being schooled. She was in a private Christian school for K through 1st semester of 3rd grade using Writing Road to Reading. We moved out of state at Christmas of last year and put her in public school. Her spelling is MUCH worse now than it was a year ago. That is *part* of the reason she's coming home.

Sorry to be long winded. Just trying to say welcome! ;)

Holly

[one l michele]

and am with my 8 y/o ds -

use Spelling Plus Dictation (combines spelling and dictation) http://www.susancanthony.com/Books/db.html

Writing Tales 1 (grammar and writing) http://www.writing-tales.com/

Sonlight Core 1 history and read alouds with Readers 2 Intermediate this year and Readers 2 Advanced next year (cores 3+ have readers that go with each history period)

Daily Editing Practice (I go over rules, have ds edit with red pencil, I check, then he rewrites) http://www.buyteachercreated.com/estore/product/3278 Don't be afraid to back up a level or two, these are challenging.

with the Singapore math you're already doing.

[Jennay]

I'd suggest starting with Core 1 and picking some of the titles from Core K as extra summer read alouds (they are too good to miss).

I am using Sonlight Core K (we'll start Core 1 in Jan. or so), FLL, WWE, AAS, Wordly Wise, SL Science 1, and Singapore Math/Scott Foresman Exploring Mathematics with my older DS so we have a lot of curriculum choices in common. :)

[Flaura]

Thanks everyone! I think Core 1 looks great but wasn't sure if it would work for a "3rd" grader.

All About Spelling seems like the way to go.

Thanks for the help!

[JeannineW]

I'm using Core 1 with my 3rd grader. She is enjoying it. I got her the 2 Int readers. She has taken off! I love it. She had always been a very reluctant reader. I had to drop her 1st grade sister back to P4/5 with 2 readers. Core 1 was too much for her but she has some language issues.

You can see in my signature the other assorted things we use with Sonlight. Part of me wants to switch to SL LA just because I love the core so much but I like the combo I'm using. I think it better addresses strong areas vs. weak areas. For example, my son would be ready for the 2 readers next year but would only be in K. I don't think that would work well for him.

[Titus.Two.Five]

Welcome! Here is a quote from SWB about placement for WWE:

young children progress at very different rates through acquiring the skills. The levels are roughly equivalent to grades, but reluctant writers may need to start at a lower level. Essentially:

if your child can do copywork well, but struggles a bit with one to two sentence dictations, start with Level 2,

if your child struggles with three to four sentence dictation and/or has difficulty with coherent, brief summaries, start with Level 3,

if your (slightly older) child can think of what to write but can't get it on paper, start with Level 4.

There are diagnostic tests in the Writing With Ease text to help you place your student.

Maybe you should consider beginning with Level 2. :001_smile:

[Flaura]

I was actually thinking of starting with 2 - the fact that there is a workbook for that level had somewhat of an influence :001_smile: