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doris
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| Posted: July 22 2010 at 5:43pm | IP Logged
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Hello all
After five years of hs -- mostly cobbling together my own plans using Mater Amabilis, Ambleside Online and elsewhere -- I'm leaning towards ordering a core package from Sonlight.
My 9yo is drifting and could do with a challenge. My 8yo is an improving reader, but his writing is a struggle. My 6yo is free as a bird but picking things up without any effort on my part 
My husband is increasingly anxious about whether they are 'doing enough' (he's literally worried about whether they'll get into university  ). I'm hoping that using a ready-made curriculum will reassure him, and take the pressure off me, while also giving the dc an external standard to follow (instead of Mummy's theories...)
I'm looking at Core 1 because I'm attracted to world history and I want to teach them all together where possible. (Also, I'm not interested in US history -- sorry!)
Does anyone have any comments/experience to share? TIA.
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mom2mpr
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| Posted: July 22 2010 at 11:06pm | IP Logged
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I love Sonlight.
It is a lot of work but can be a lot of fun-depending on the kid.
My son and I love it. My dd does not.
I think your 6 year old would get a lot out of it. Seems like a global learner who just absorbs everything. Enjoy that, they are fun to teach.
I am not sure, as I haven't done their LA since SL1 and they changed it a few years ago, if it would help with 8 year olds writing. I don't remember a lot of writing instruction but my son was only 6 or 7 when we did it so I may have just skipped it. Shhhhhh... 
The challenge for the 9 year old would be all the reading. But depending on the kid, they might love it as it is great reading. My son just gets overwhelmed with so much each day--and sometimes things are repeated and that can frustrate him. This has only started this year.
I do add and subtract things now that I understand Sonlight better-so you may still be "cobbling" some.
There is a Catholic Yahoo group that might be helpful for you, too. Some of the ladies there have been there a long time and have done many cores and know the new cores better than I do.
It is too late for me so I hope this makes sense
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Anne, married to dh 16 years!, ds,(97), Little One (02), and dd (02).
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folklaur
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| Posted: July 22 2010 at 11:26pm | IP Logged
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I used Sonlight for many, many years.
I will no longer use Sonlight - after being a longtime, vocal advocate of their curriculum, because of some of the views of the owners. I feel it is only a matter of time that these views work their way into the curriculum. Plus, now, there is no way I would give them my money, knowing I would be helping to fund the spread a missionary message that I feel is not compatible with Catholicism.
I would suggest taking a look at Winter Promise, or Moving Beyond the Page.
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At_His_Feet
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| Posted: July 23 2010 at 5:19am | IP Logged
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We have been using Sonlight for 6 months. I wanted to buy it five years ago when we started homeschooling, but was talked out of it. Now I wish I had just gone ahead.
We are using core 5 only. No LA, science etc. My ds are 12 and 10. For us I think core 5 is a little too difficult as my eldest isn't a great independent reader. DS 10 doesn't like sonlight at all, but I think this is because he is a strong visual learner who struggles with listening to read-alouds. I suspect that if we had started with a lower core, he would have enjoyed it.
I would join the catholic group before you buy any of the books, as there might be a few titles you want to avoid. The first history reader for core 5 is rather anti-catholic. 
I purchased most of my items second hand with saved a fortune. This might also address the issues a previous poster mentioned.
We'll be taking 2 years to complete the core.
I really like how the IG sets out how many pages to cover etc. This makes it much more manageable. I mostly ignore the study guides etc and just read, enjoy and discuss.
Tricia
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Tricia
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albeto
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| Posted: July 23 2010 at 10:17am | IP Logged
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Not a Sonlight fan here. I used one core (3) so take my words for what little they are worth. It is my opinion that the educational strength of the Sonlight curriculum isn't so strong as they make it out to be. The Language Arts program was really poorly organized (the high school level has constant criticism from customers), the science was scattered, and a lot of their workbook pages were generally reading comprehension oriented. I think there are many other organized curricula to be found that takes the pressure off you and allows you to free up your time. I think finding a Catholic one will make it that much easier than to have to backtrack from evangelical point of view and add in a Catholic point of view. Imo, that's more confusing for the child than to just remain within the Catholic theology. In other words, rather than reading about the lives of Saints, your child would be reading about missionaries who convert people to the faith with the idea that in a conversion experience, all their sins (past, present, future) are forgiven - no more response is necessary (though encouraged). I like St. Thomas Aquinas Academy (I have no idea how it's received around here) but I will admit, if I had known about Moving Beyond the Page when my kids were younger, that would have been very tempting.
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folklaur
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| Posted: July 23 2010 at 12:50pm | IP Logged
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folklaur wrote:
I would suggest taking a look at Winter Promise, or Moving Beyond the Page. |
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albeto wrote:
| but I will admit, if I had known about Moving Beyond the Page when my kids were younger, that would have been very tempting. |
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Just thought I should say, Moving Beyond the Page has NO religious stance, so you don't have to worry about tweaking in that area at all - just add in your religion program.
WP is, like SL, a Protestant Company,and so tweaking is necessary. But since they do not have the missionary focus in the same way, it is not a constant-in-your-face kind of thing, like it is with SL.
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MarilynW
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| Posted: July 23 2010 at 2:49pm | IP Logged
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We are big Sonlight fans. Some of my children's most enjoyable homeschool years have been Sonlight years. I find them to be academically strong, great customer service and wonderful books. A great choice for mamas who want the best of both worlds - some kind of guide without having a workbooky type curriculum. The Catholic Sonlight group has some wonderful wise Catholic women who have created a great files section with alerts about books to avoid. I would definitely join it if you are thinking of Sonlight.
It is a LOT of reading and read aloud so is not an "child work on their own" option. I would definitely combine all the children in one core or add in so all your children are learning together.
We are doing Sonlight 6 this year and so looking forward to it. I do not do their Bible section (I write in my own faith/theology plans). I also do not use their Language Arts (though I like their Ruth Beechick style LA)just their History. I also have my younger guy doing some of Core 1 - though he does sit in on the SL 6 read alouds.
Just my (long) tuppence worth!!
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doris
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| Posted: July 26 2010 at 8:46am | IP Logged
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Thanks, all, for the suggestions and comments. Still pondering...!
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Home educating in London, UK with dd (2000) ds (2002), dd (2004), ds (2008) and dd (2011).
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Karen T
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| Posted: July 26 2010 at 3:59pm | IP Logged
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I have used Sonlight in the past, moved away from it to Winter Promise last year and will be back with SL this coming year. I used Core 1 with my younger kids 2 yrs ago, and Core 300 (2oth century world history) with my high schooler. I only use their readers and read-alouds for history. I use something else for LA, science, religion and math. I did try the LA1 but found it rather disjointed (teaching similes before noun/verb. I have found the yahoo Catholic SL group to be invaluable in seeing which books, if any, would be problematic for Catholics. Most of the missionary stories are easily substituted for with saints stories (we have such a wealth to choose from!).
WP might not have as many outright missionary stories as SL, but I find them to be just as protestant in some of their book choices. The spine for American history 1 that we used last year had several anti-Catholic chapters and although those were easily edited, the book itself was just a joke as far as what history it covered. Like the story of how the potato chip was invented.
I had my high schooler use their (WP) human body/forensics science course last year and found it to be like Apologia on steroids! Every other sentence had something about how this body part or function must point to a Creator. Not that I disagree; I just get tired of reading that in a science book. Sure, mention it at the beginning and maybe the end of the book but not all the way through. Another reason I left WP is their customer service is not so great. Lots of people had trouble getting their orders filled in time for school last year. I ordered in may and was still waiting in mid-Aug for a couple books. They are a growing company, though, and hopefully have improved that.
anyway, back to SL - I mostly only buy the IGs from them. I've been able to get about 85% of the books through paperback swap which significantly reduces the costs. I will be using Core 4 (2nd yr of American history) and Core 530 (British lit) this year. I have found the upper level cores' extensive discussion notes very helpful in discussing books with my teen. I don't use the notes much in the lower cores.
hth,
Karen T
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doris
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| Posted: July 28 2010 at 4:52pm | IP Logged
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I've taken the plunge... I've ordered a bunch of books from Amazon, ebay and The Book Depository (free delivery worldwide and often cheaper than Amazon  ) and some from Sonlight.
I was getting myself in a lather browsing through lots of different curricula. I'm hoping that what I've finally picked out will hit the spot!
Thanks again for the advice and opinions -- positive and dissenting!
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Home educating in London, UK with dd (2000) ds (2002), dd (2004), ds (2008) and dd (2011).
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sarahb
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| Posted: Aug 13 2010 at 5:48pm | IP Logged
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Karen T wrote:
I have used Sonlight in the past, moved away from it to Winter Promise last year and will be back with SL this coming year. I used Core 1 with my younger kids 2 yrs ago, and Core 300 (2oth century world history) with my high schooler. I only use their readers and read-alouds for history. I use something else for LA, science, religion and math. I did try the LA1 but found it rather disjointed (teaching similes before noun/verb. I have found the yahoo Catholic SL group to be invaluable in seeing which books, if any, would be problematic for Catholics. Most of the missionary stories are easily substituted for with saints stories (we have such a wealth to choose from!).
WP might not have as many outright missionary stories as SL, but I find them to be just as protestant in some of their book choices. The spine for American history 1 that we used last year had several anti-Catholic chapters and although those were easily edited, the book itself was just a joke as far as what history it covered. Like the story of how the potato chip was invented.
I had my high schooler use their (WP) human body/forensics science course last year and found it to be like Apologia on steroids! Every other sentence had something about how this body part or function must point to a Creator. Not that I disagree; I just get tired of reading that in a science book. Sure, mention it at the beginning and maybe the end of the book but not all the way through. Another reason I left WP is their customer service is not so great. Lots of people had trouble getting their orders filled in time for school last year. I ordered in may and was still waiting in mid-Aug for a couple books. They are a growing company, though, and hopefully have improved that.
anyway, back to SL - I mostly only buy the IGs from them. I've been able to get about 85% of the books through paperback swap which significantly reduces the costs. I will be using Core 4 (2nd yr of American history) and Core 530 (British lit) this year. I have found the upper level cores' extensive discussion notes very helpful in discussing books with my teen. I don't use the notes much in the lower cores.
hth,
Karen T
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Thanks for this post! I used the forensic and human body for the younger kids and it was really pretty free of religion so Im glad to know that I should avoid the step up!
I can't use SL anymore because as a company they regularly offend me, esp on the forum. But I really found that by gr 6 (where we are) I don't care for their selections any longer! I was surprised and disappointed.
I will continue to choose some of their books but we are on our own now.
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asplendidtime
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Thank you for the discussion this was very helpful for me to read. I too am a Sonlight customer.
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Considering Sonlight....
