Thinking about using Sonlight 6 but SL has never worked for me

[MIch elle]

I have SL 3/4 and 100 and have only used parts of it in the past. I can never stick to their schedule! It's just too much and I don't like many of their readers (gasp!).

I want to used SOTW 1 & 2 in one year for my 6th grader (only one homeschooling then) with G.Foster books. I like the Bible field guide SL 6 uses. I would use SOTW tests as worksheets, SOTW AG for maps & discussion questions and IEW Ancient History Lessons for writing.

Will SL 6 work for us? Does SL 6 skip around in SOTW? Should I just put my own schedule together?

Thanks for your help!

[Lori D.]

MIch elle, I've bought SL 1,2,3,4,5 and 6, and have *yet* to really USE it the way it's intended. I always end up using many of the books, and sometimes use the dictation worksheets, and on the rare occasion the teacher notes -- but never the schedule. I just like to make my *own* curriculum and schedule too much to follow someone else's. I guess I keep buying those SL IG's as a "security blanket" -- to have on the shelf "just in case"... Now is that silly or what! :o

So, since I haven't looked at the SL6 schedule, I can't tell you how it connects with SOTW. All I can say, is that SOTW1 is *very* young in tone to use with a 6th grade student -- at least my boys wouldn't have sat through it at that age.

Guess the point of my ramblings there is to say -- use the parts of SL that work for you, don't worry about the rest, and enjoy! (It's worked for us these past 7+ years! lol!) Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Tami]

MIch elle, I've bought SL 1,2,3,4,5 and 6, and have *yet* to really USE it the way it's intended. I always end up using many of the books, and sometimes use the dictation worksheets, and on the rare occasion the teacher notes -- but never the schedule. I just like to make my *own* curriculum and schedule too much to follow someone else's.


I think that's the great thing about HSing. I just buy the readers and books that we are interested in. We have always used Sonlight's catalog for ideas, and this year we are using a heavily modified Sonlight 5.

It would be a complete waste of money for me to buy a whole core. The IG and a few of the books unavailable at our library are all I need. We don't care for historical fiction, and SL is too heavy on that.

[Michelle T]

Sonlight 6 with Oak Meadow 6. I picked up the Sonlight IG used, as well as the OM 6 guides. Oak Meadow will be my main program, as their text covers ancients and middle ages in a narrative, fairly enjoyable style. I'm going to use SL basically as a rough framework for adding in SOTW 1 and 2 and the read alouds and readers. Oh, and I will also use SL's timeline.

OM gives ideas for writing assignments and hands-on activities, as well as discussion questions. Oh, and I also will be trying IEW ancient history, so I will have plenty of writing ideas to choose from!

I have never been able to stick with ANY planned out curriculum in any subject. I always find that my DS requires way too much tweaking and customizing, plus there are always books that don't appeal to me. I have done best doing my own thing, but that does grow tiresome. I think using OM for our spine and adding in SOTW and literature from Sl will work very nicely.
Michelle T

[Rhondabee]

I have SL 3/4 and 100 and have only used parts of it in the past. I can never stick to their schedule! It's just too much and I don't like many of their readers (gasp!).

I want to used SOTW 1 & 2 in one year for my 6th grader (only one homeschooling then) with G.Foster books. I like the Bible field guide SL 6 uses. I would use SOTW tests as worksheets, SOTW AG for maps & discussion questions and IEW Ancient History Lessons for writing.

Will SL 6 work for us? Does SL 6 skip around in SOTW? Should I just put my own schedule together?

Thanks for your help!

I have Core 6 here, and we very much enjoyed it!

I don't remember ever doing SOTW out of order. It does a great job coordinating UILE w/ SOTW and mixing in the Foster books where appropriate. I would have found it overwhelming to prepare a schedule with all three resources blended so well, but....ymmv! (And, my ds loved their books!)

I do think there are times you are reading an entire chapter of SOTW in one day. (My ds read SOTW to himself, but I usually read the Foster book out loud.)

I used the SL notes and Knowledge Quest maps, but I don't see why the AG notes and maps wouldn't work. You might just have ds copy the maps in UILE onto the SOTW maps rather than follow the AG instruction.

I've never done the IEW, but Angie in TX (I think!) uses them with SL and really likes the combo.

hth,
Rhonda

[Sylvia in CA]

Are the G. Foster books read in its entirety?

Thanks
Sylvia

[Rhondabee]

Are the G. Foster books read in its entirety?

Thanks
Sylvia

And, to be honest, at the end of the year I switched from the 5-day schedule to the 4-day schedule so we wouldn't have to do the Foster books. :o

(They are very good, but this was my ds's first go-round through history. They were just a little too detailed for him, and we had other priorities.)

[MIch elle]

MIch elle, I've bought SL 1,2,3,4,5 and 6, and have *yet* to really USE it the way it's intended. I always end up using many of the books, and sometimes use the dictation worksheets, and on the rare occasion the teacher notes -- but never the schedule. I just like to make my *own* curriculum and schedule too much to follow someone else's. I guess I keep buying those SL IG's as a "security blanket" -- to have on the shelf "just in case"... Now is that silly or what! :o

Guess the point of my ramblings there is to say -- use the parts of SL that work for you, don't worry about the rest, and enjoy! (It's worked for us these past 7+ years! lol!) Warmest regards, Lori D.

That's too funny! Most people buy SL for the schedule.

Blessings,

[MIch elle]

I think that's the great thing about HSing. I just buy the readers and books that we are interested in. We have always used Sonlight's catalog for ideas, and this year we are using a heavily modified Sonlight 5.

It would be a complete waste of money for me to buy a whole core. The IG and a few of the books unavailable at our library are all I need. We don't care for historical fiction, and SL is too heavy on that.

Yes, there's the good and the bad of homeschooling - the many choices in curricula and how to waste money and time figuring out if you like it or not, lol!

Peace,

[MIch elle]

I have Core 6 here, and we very much enjoyed it!
I don't remember ever doing SOTW out of order. It does a great job coordinating UILE w/ SOTW and mixing in the Foster books where appropriate. I would have found it overwhelming to prepare a schedule with all three resources blended so well, but....ymmv! (And, my ds loved their books!) I do think there are times you are reading an entire chapter of SOTW in one day. (My ds read SOTW to himself, but I usually read the Foster book out loud.) I used the SL notes and Knowledge Quest maps, but I don't see why the AG notes and maps wouldn't work. You might just have ds copy the maps in UILE onto the SOTW maps rather than follow the AG instruction.


Peace,

[Debbie in London]

That's pretty much what I'm doing this year with my 5th grader (and my 1st grader tags along with SOTW and a lot of the read alouds). But this has been my first year home schooling and we got off to a rough start so we are pretty far behind. I have dropped a few of the readers or read alouds to lessen our load a bit. So I'm using the schedule as a guide and then just adjusting as needed. I use the AG maps and even my 5th grader likes to do some of the coloring pages out of the AG. We also add in the Kingfisher Encylopedia.

Debbie