Hey all,
I have looked at Sonlight for several years now and keep finding reasons to be "scared" of it--too much reading, afraid of the Instructor's guide, heard things about LA or Science or Bible that sounded like it might not be a match for us.
However, yesterday I experimented with our school day and read to the kids for about two hours. I read the Bible to them and we talked about it. I read to them about William Tyndale and we discussed it. Then we read a "fun" book which is a fictional account of the animals journeying to meet Noah. They LOVED it.
So, I'm thinking again about SL. Maybe I could just do the history and readers? My kids enjoy reading and being read to, so it might work out. Here's my dilemma. I have a 10 yr old, an 8 year old, a five year old and a newborn. We have not really ever done a formal history or science program. What history should I do--would there be one I could use with such a span in ages?
Thanks for your help in advance!

Hi, I am a SL newbie too. :)

Have you checked out the SL forum? You can ask lots of questions there and they also have lots of info on their website that can give direction. I will also say that I talked with someone there this morning & the customer service lady was so sweet and nice...

If you want to do American History then I would suggest that you look at core 3. I'm still new with SL, but I am not sure that your 5 year old would be able to tag along with core 3. I know that there are several ladies here that are using the younger cores. (We are using core 6.) I'm sure they will chime in with their experience.

Welcome! I look forward to reading the responses.

:)

Hi There:
I'm not currently using a SL core but we have been SL user for a while. I do still use their LA. I'm on their forum but don't post as much anymore, but still read. SL's viewpoint is that their history is not grade level based.
Their Core program is just history and readers. LA and science are not included and ordered separately.


Which topic would interest you as far as time period? or interest your older kids?
You have a few choices:

Option 1: Core K (not a K level program) this is a nice intro to world cultures.

Option 2: Core 1 which is the first part of World history.

Option 3: Core 1 + 2 which is a complete world history core.

Option 4: Core 3 which is intro to American history.

Basically you'd school to your oldest two so I'd say pick something they'd be interested in. For your 5 year old, whatever he/she gets by listening in is great, but I would not plan her to be a part of the core study more than that. I'd have special books so he/she gets their reading with mom time too though.

All of Sonlight's cores are very rich so you can pretty much pick from even the K core, adding in LA and Math on level for your older kids and still be getting a great amount of history.
I think SL is very advanced in topics they cover and also cover some heavy emotional things so that might be a factor for you if your dc are sensitive in your choosing.
I can tell you from doing Core K that some of the things I even covered in high school history courses.

You didn't ask about this but if you do Core 3 then it'd be easy to do the LA for your older two. They can use the same program with differing assignments. The LA and history tie together at that level.
The lower level LA are wonderful. I'm using LA 1 for the 2nd time with my 2nd dd at age 5 (will be 6 next week). Older dd is using LA 2 regular readers. I think their LA is just fantastic.
We've used LA K, 1 and 2.

Good luck to you and I hope you'll post what you end up going with.

~Melissa~

I would group your older two together and either do core 1, core 1 + 2 (taking 18 months to complete) or core 3. Core 3 is US History and if you really feel that your 5 yr old needs history it would be easy to find material. You can use whatever LA you want and whatever Bible you want. You would just purchase the history core, readers and read alouds.

HTH
Sarah

I would do Core 1 (I did Core 1 along with SOTW Vol 1) last year for my 9 year old and had a great year - plenty of meat and learning to be had. The Readalouds that you read to the kids are very meaty so don't be fooled into thinking this is First Grade material. You can add a lot of books at your library if you feel the need to but probably not necessary. The 5 year old, well, no matter what you pick, will probably not necessarily join in for the whole part but probably some - the history portion with books that have pictures which engage them. You could easily find some ancient history books to add in or you could just not worry about history of the little ones and let them join in as interested. I find that when you use the Core (whether SL or WP for that matter) your child gets sooooo much more out of it when they older - and that helps you because they are engaging in discussion with you rather than the "what? I don't remember." dialogue when you read stuff and they didn't comprehend much if anything.
Heidi

Thanks for your help, ladies!

Policewife--you use Sonlight and workboxes, right? How do you do that? I know Sue Patrick uses SL too (with an eclectic mix), but I kind of don't see how the workboxes would work with SL--since there is so much listening and discussing and not many worksheets. (Or am I mistaken on that?) What level of LA would you suggest for 3-4 graders?

ncmom2boys-I had a hard time getting on the SL forum--but I think it is easier once you've ordered from SL. Is that your experience?

Sara--did you do core 1 and 2 separately or together?

Thanks again!

Actually I haven't used core 1 yet. I used core K last year with my son. He would have been in second grade. My dh and I then decided to combine my ds and dd so we had to postpone core 1 for a year. This way dd will be at the bottom of the age range and ds at the top. We are currently using HOD Bigger.

Sarah

Milkywayjk, no longer using a core but using SL's LA. But we did use the core when starting worboxing.
I am noy positive but I don't recall Sue's book saying what she used, but I confess I only focused on the box set up chapters LOL.

But most folks I know using any type of literature based with more than one child, either start or end the day with their "together subjects".
We start each day with either science or history (we alternate days). Some folks do a week of history then a week of science.
We do a family read aloud anytime, sometimes before bed, sometimes during "school time".

Anyone can access the free choosing portion of the SL forum, just not the rest.

Hum... with their LA, If you were to choose any level from P3/P4 up to and including Core 2 then you can pick any LA from LA K, LA 1, LA 2 regular, LA 2 intermediate and then LA 2 advanced. But if you opt to use Core 3 you really should choose LA 3 or 3 advanced since they tie the readers in the core to the LA portion here. The LA level is not a grade level though.
I'll say that I feel that SL's LA is very advanced in what they expect writing wise of a child. Parents usually act as scribe but some things are just a bit much to cover with a younger child so choosing by writing level is much better when picking a LA than picking by reading level. It's okay if the readers are a bit easier or not a struggle for them but if the writing and other LA portions are too much then it makes for a hard year (just from my own experience : ). It's much easier to add in harder readers on non school time than to try to tweak the LA as a whole. Does that make any sense at all?
You can view samples over at the SL page. They have samples of all their LA. I'd say do a side by side of them and see which might work well for you kids. At times they might be in the same LA level, but you can expect more of the more advanced child and less from the less advanced or younger child.

Hope that helps some and is not confusing at all : )

~Melissa~