We have used both the LA and the Science from Sonlight in the past. While I thought the science was fine, I was always disappointed with the LA. It did not seem well organized or laid out and was a bit sporadic on what it covered. I also found the writing assignments to be tedious.

Here is how we teach language arts currently.

We now use Apologia for teaching science. I explain how it works in our home in this post.

We’re currently using CM’s method of language arts with McGuffey readers. I am in the process of writing posts about how that works for children at different levels.

Sonlight is “Canadian friendly”. It was written and designed to work well for missionary children, so it’s a good international program.

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts about Sonlight. It certainly isn’t for everyone and I’ve often said and written that if you want a curriculum to just hand to your children without your (the parents) direct involvement and discussion then I don’t recommend Sonlight.

That said, I’m not sure which book you are referring to in regard to the evolution/creation issue. Sonlight does use secular books and several of them refer to ancient earth or evolution, but most often those portions of the books are not assigned and when evolution or ‘ancient earth’ is mentioned within an assignment it has always been noted and denounced in the Sonlight Instructor’s Guide.

Sonlight has written a long article “27 Reasons NOT to Buy Sonlight” and your reasons fall into several of those categories.

Because of how directly involved both Mark and I are in our children’s education and how much Bible reading, discussion and instruction they receive outside of ‘school’, Sonlight has provided a good structure for some of those other subjects. We appreciate the deep discussions that Sonlight books generate as we evaluate and address issues in the light of God’s Word.

Sonlight has been a blessing to our family as we work to raise and educate the 10 children with which God has blessed us and we will continue to honestly discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Sonlight in an effort to help others.

I’ve written many things about our reasons and goals for homeschooling (they are quite different from most homeschoolers ideas and goals) if you’re interested in how we evaluate and choose curriculum.

Thanks again for taking the time to comment and sharing your perspective.

Another consideration when choosing where to place your children is younger children. I don’t ever want to be doing more than two levels of Sonlight at one time and I think for the majority of families that is a realistic goal. So consider any younger children that you have and think about where they will fit into ‘school’ and what needs they will have.

Another thing to remember is that Core 1 & 6 are both World History and Core 2 & 7 are both second year World History, so those are levels that are easier to combine. This is what our family is doing. We’ve been in one Core up until now and this year we will be combining Core 1 & 6 and next 2 & 7.

As far as making it harder, you can assign more reading on the topic and/or give more writing assignments about what you are studying, but honestly most of the time we just discuss things at a higher level, talk more about worldview, assumptions, etc. in whatever you are studying.

I’d say that if Math-U-See is working well for you, I’d stick with that. Math is one of our subjects where everyone has their own level.

This year we will once again be studying ancient history and I am going to be incorporating Mystery of History along with Sonlight 6 and 1 to fill the gap.

Also, since we use Sonlight to directly teach our children I don’t feel that this is as big of a problem as it would be if they were studying it on their own. We are constantly reminding ourselves and talking about what was happening in the history of Israel during this or that period of time.

I hope that helps.

My oldest will be in 3rd grade next year, but is pretty advanced. The second will be in 1st grade next year. What Core would you recommend for both? Should I start at the beginning with Core 1? How could I make it harder for my oldest?

And what do you do about math? We are currently using Math-U-See, and it’s working pretty well for us. Do you have your kids do their math separately?

Sorry about all the questions. I’m just excited that it might actually work to use one Core for both older kids!

Thanks for sharing your perspective on Core 3. It has been 3 years since we covered that material, so my memory is a bit foggy. It will be interesting to see what I think when we go through it again in 3 more years.

I do agree that everything else that Sonlight has covered has seemed very fair and balanced. The point you made about the Louisiana Purchase is an excellent example.

I think you will enjoy next year. The War Between the States is covered beautifully.

Thanks for taking the time to add your input!

Are you asking what level of Sonlight? or which curriculum?

If you’re thinking of going with Sonlight, I would consider using Core 6 with your 8th and 5th (I will be doing that next year with my 5th-8th graders) and Core 1 with the 2nd and K (I will be doing that next year with my 3rd-K kids). Both Core 1 and 6 are world history, so I envision being able to incorporate the cores together.

I know that Celee (see her comment above for a link to her blog) is doing 1 and 6 together this year. She may have better info on that idea than I do since she’s doing it and I’m just planning to do it.

We’ve used MFW’s CtG and are now doing RtR.Next year, the girls will be 8th and 5th…the boys 2nd and K.

What would you buy?

BTW…My Ker will be doing MFW’s K (which I love), so he’s not really an issue.

Thanks for your help.
Have a good day.
– Kathi

Please let me know if there are some specifics that you’d like me to post about Sonlight.

Thanks friend!