I'd love to hear about your experience with Sonlight Core 7.

[MeganP]

What age was your dc when they did the core? Did they enjoy it? What did you like? Dislike? Did you substitute any books? Would you use it again?

[Emma]

I'm hoping to hear about this too!:lurk5:

[Tabrett]

My dd did core 7 in 8th grade. The poetry book was over her head. I had to explain most of the book. We did not do core 7 science.

She read the read alouds instead of me reading them to her.

The Dark Frigate was the only book she didn't read. The book was written in an odd style that was hard to comprehend. I was having to explain every page.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have had her do SL core 7 the WTM way. I would have had her outline her history books and do a history notebook (if I had only known!!!).

My dd loved most of the books.

The only draw back I had was the lack of written work. There just isn't any!!! The TM had question for you to ask and discuss with your child, but the answers were right after the questions. I tried typing the question so my dd could answer them, but it was too much work. It would be nice if they had the answers separate so you dc could answer them. I think an 8th grader is to old to only discuss the book without written work.

[ABQmom]

We are using it this year. My plan was to use it over a two year period. We are only using the readers and read alouds, although lately dd has been reading the read alouds as readers too. We too did not do the Dark Frigate. I use the guide only for the SOTW schedule and the reader/read aloud order-dd fllies through the books faster than they schedule. I don't like the writting assignments because they don't give enough instruction on how to do the paper, but just give the topic. DD has loved every book she's read. We aren't doing poetry or science--just the history and lit. I bought the core used, so I don't feel too bad that I'm not using the guide to it's fullest.

[MeganP]

This is great input. Thanks so much.

[MeganP]

One more question... had you already used SOTW for your dc's grammar stage before doing Core 7? And was it a problem to re-use it?

I've done SOTW 1-4 with ds in 1st-4th grade. He'll be in 8th grade when we do Core 7, so it's been a few years, but I was concerned that it could be a bit boring for him since we've already read the book. I've been trying to figure out if there were an alternate spine that I could use. Any suggestions?

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

One more question... had you already used SOTW for your dc's grammar stage before doing Core 7? And was it a problem to re-use it?

I've done SOTW 1-4 with ds in 1st-4th grade. He'll be in 8th grade when we do Core 7, so it's been a few years, but I was concerned that it could be a bit boring for him since we've already read the book. I've been trying to figure out if there were an alternate spine that I could use. Any suggestions?

We used Churchill's Birth of Britain and Van Loon's Story of America as spines.

And btw, both dd and I LOVED Dark Frigate. Definitely worth reading. I *think* we added Macauley's Ship and then watched Master and Commander to flesh out the vocabulary a bit, but it's been awhile ago, so I may be making that up!

We dropped the more obviously religious/evangelical books that seemed to be tacked on, if I'm recalling the right core. (Though I think we did plough through the Wesley book.) I beefed up the added books and left the main spine as the Usborne text, though I think it's a bit on the young-ish side. Lots of layers using an easier spine was how I approached it. Added in Ivanhoe and Merchant of Venice and The Hiding Place with a supplement on Judaism and prejudice/persecution somewhere in there. Added... hmm. Watership Down and something else, then compared and contrasted leadership styles. Oh. It was an Arthur book. Once and Future King, maybe? Not sure. I think we added 1066: The Year of the Conquest.

I'm not the person to ask, though, about changing Sonlight. I'm very bad about adding too much to the mix. And some things are only tangentially related to the study at hand. There's too much to add, and not enough hours in the day. And not enough time in the life, as I knew I needed to add what I could before dd left me. *sniff*

We don't either of us regret those 3.5 years of amazingly hard work, but it wouldn't sustain long-term, and doesn't work for everyone.

[MeganP]

I'll check out those spines and look at the other resources. I don't want to add too much, but I'll see if there's anything I just can't resist. ;)

Thanks.

[ABQmom]

We had used SOTW 1 and 2, but not 3 and 4, so I can't comment on reusing them. My thinking would be that if dc remembered it well, he might be bored. But if not, he might enjoy reading it again. Just a thought.