Used Homeschool Curriculum Sonlight
June 10th, 2007 | 
Author:  |
US $.25
Question: Anyone ever used Sonlight Homeschool Curriculum? Thoughts?
Answer: We used Sonlight curriculum when my daughter was in 3rd grade. It is a wonderful program, but it can be a lot of work. I used it my first year Homeschooling. I was afraid for my daughter to "miss" anything, so I supplemented a lot (even though you don't need to). I made things a lot harder for myself than I needed to.
Sonlight uses a "living book" approach (My Father's World, Beautiful Feet, etc.) rather than a "textbook" approach (Abeka, Bob Jones, Calvert, etc.). This means that instead of reading a textbook that has information about Abraham Lincoln, you might read a biography about him. There is a mix of fiction and nonfiction, and the literature they choose to use is great. A lot of people use the books from Sonlight as extra reading, even if they don't actually use the program.
There is a lot of parent involvement in Sonlight. There are a lot of books that you must read-aloud to your children, in addition to what they must read on their own. This can get very time-consuming if you have kids who are far apart in age. However, if you have kids who are closer together in age (say 3rd and 5th grade), you can actually use the same Core program for both, and just use age appropriate Math, reading, etc.
Sonlight has a list of "27 Reasons NOT to Buy Sonlight" as well as "13 Reasons Why Families Love Sonlight" on their website. They also have a great forum where a lot of actual Sonlight users spend time. I haven't visited in a long time, but if you have questions, including about anything negative, they're great about answering. Also, please order their catalog. It has quite a few articles that talk about how to best use Sonlight, and it's interesting reading.
Sonlight is a great program, but it isn't for everyone. If you decide to use it, however, your child will get everything and more that they need for a great education. We aren't Homeschooling right now. While I wouldn't homeschool using the main Sonlight program again, I would definitely supplement with their History program.
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