While doing
my initial research before even starting homeschool in 2013, I knew from
everything that I had read that I gravitated to a literature-based driven curriculum.
During our first year of homeschooling I didn’t select a boxed, off-the-shelf,
curriculum. Instead, we mixed and matched different sources together to fill
out our first year of homeschooling across a wide range of subject areas.
After getting
through our first year, I started to contemplate over what I had observed in my
girls from their first year. Both girls loved learning as they read varying books and had discussions with me on what they had read. A lot of researching online led me to
Sonlight and I have been completely happy. We have continued with Sonlight into our third year of homseschooling. We have completed Core D (American History, Part I)
and are working our way through Core E (American History, Part II) this year.
The Sonlight
curriculum is a literature-based curriculum that is structured around
historical timeframes, guiding your child through the Bible, History, and Language
Arts. A parent can also choose to go through Sonlight as a distributor of Math,
Grammar, Spelling, and Vocabulary curriculums as well. The curriculum is organized
into “Cores” that are specific to American History, World History, and Government
& Economics. These Cores are subdivided by Age Groups and Grade levels.
What I have
appreciated the most about Sonlight is how it is organized. It should come as
no surprise to my blog readers that I love to organize and plan. When I find a
curriculum that helps me be further organized, I am just beyond thrilled. Sonlight
provides the teaching parent with an Instructor’s Guide (IG) that plans out the
student’s daily Bible Reading, History Reading assignments, Poetry readings, Individual Reading
assignment (using “Readers”), and Writing assignments (i.e, dictation
assignment, language arts exercises, writing assignments). The IG is basically
a daily planner. Every day of school, the girl’s curriculum is all laid out for
me. For subject areas that a parent can purchase separately from Sonlight
(i.e., Math, Grammar, Spelling, Vocabulary, etc.), there is a spot in the IG
for the parent to fill in and schedule these daily as well. For the girl’s
reading assignments there are questions that I can use to ask and discuss their
reading assignments with them. Answers to the questions are provided as well so that I am not required to
read all of their books. I can simply turn to the IG and curriculum guide and
assess their understanding of the reading material. The second most valuable aspect that I’ve taken note of in my daughter’s learning with Sonlight is their enjoyment of learning and their degree of understanding history based on the fantastic literature that they read as part of Sonlight. If you read online about Sonlight, the one common theme you’ll find whether a parent has stuck with Sonlight or possibly tried it and switched to a different curriculum, is that most parents will echo that the book selection is phenomenal. I can’t tell you the number of times that my girls literally beg me to keep on reading after I’ve already read the assigned pages for the day. Many of the books that are part of the Sonlight reading list tell stories with engaging characters that take your child on an adventure through history. My daughters have gone on adventures to California for the Gold Rush, walked the rim of the World with Indians, written letters to past Presidents thanking them for freedoms they now enjoy, and thought deeply about matters that our ancestors once died for so that they can appreciate the blessings and freedoms that they have today. They’ve had these experiences, discussed them with excitement, and written about them all based on books that I didn’t have to pressure them into reading.
For this one
blessing, I am thankful to Sonlight.
In our
second year of homeschool, we have continued to use the Sonlight Science Cores
as well (Core D and E). You will find the same organization in the Sonlight
Science Cores as you’ll find in the History-based Cores. They are easy to use
and there is the same benefit of turning and flipping to the IG each day and
having the curriculum all laid out for you. Other Science curriculums that I
looked into did not include the Science experiment materials. The Sonlight
Science Cores do provide the majority of materials that you’ll need for science
experiments. This was such a wonderful blessing to me to have the materials
right on-hand for experiments. Science Core D and E also came with a DVD where
many of the science experiments are performed for us if we chose not to do the
experiment or if we ‘d like to see it in person to ensure that we’re doing it
correctly.
Lastly, I
will comment on grade level breakout for each Core level. One of the most challenging
aspects for me with Sonlight was deciphering which Core to use for my girls. When
we first purchased Sonlight, my youngest was entering 3rd grade and
my oldest was entering 5th grade. I liked the idea of using the same
Core to teach them, but I was also concerned that the material would be at a
level that was too complex for my youngest and not challenging enough for my
oldest. After reading about the Core and paging through many of the book
selections at a local homeschool convention, I decided to go with a level on
the high end for my youngest and at the lower level for my oldest.
Additionally, I ordered a set of additional Readers that were offered with Core
D for my oldest to read. What I found was my oldest was so motivated by her
ability to read a larger quantity of books. The assigned Readers and the extra
Readers seemed to increase her appetite for reading. With my youngest she was
motivated by the fact that she could read the same set of Readers that her
older sister was reading. Both girls
have benefited and are thriving in their reading and comprehension, at their
own rate and at their individual abilities.
I won't list out a separate set of Pros and Cons like the other reviews because there are many that one could pull out from what was written above. Check out Sonlight for yourself here.
(I was not contacted or solicited for this review. Comments above are my own personal opinions of the product.)
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