How to Use Sonlight Curriculum with Multiple Kids | Choosing, Organizing, and Implementing Sonlight

In this video, I share tips for effectively implementing Sonlight curriculum with multiple children in your homeschooling family. I'll take you on the journey from initially choosing the best HBL for your family, to implementing on a daily basis.
WELCOME //
I'm Rachel, a mom of two and the oldest in a family of 8 kids. I'm a second-generation homeschooler who is passionate about education. I'm originally from Michigan, but am living overseas. My two young boys and teaching homeschool lessons to my youngest sisters keep me busy, but I make time for writing and for making KZbin videos, too! On this channel, you can expect videos featuring books and homeschool curriculum, homeschool tips for hard days, our journey raising bilingual kids, and vlogs about the intentional adventure that our homeschool lifestyle allows! Subscribe to join our family here:
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WATCH MORE //
Get to Know the Seven In All Family: • We're The Seven in All...
Limit Screen Time for Kids: • LIMIT SCREEN TIME FOR ...
Raising Bilingual Kids (Without OPOL!) • How We're Raising Bili...
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My DIY Preschool Learning Binder • Preschool Learning Bin...
Classroom Management for Homeschoolers (Series) • Homeschool for REAL - ...
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[@capturinglifeinprogress1999]

I'm glad you mentioned that having something for them to do with their hands is not always the best option. My 5yo gets too distracted by that and then she wants to talk about what she's doing. What worked for us was for me to read to them during meals and snack time, or once they're in bed, lights out, just the lamp on. I read the chapters, show them the pictures, and they just listen. It helps them to calm down and also it's a time when they really play attention to what we're reading and talk about that instead of other things.

[@SevenInAll]

Reading during meals and snacks and bedtime routines works very well, here! Playing with hands tends to lead to my kids focusing very much on what they're doing--which is very understandable!

[@non-gmo]

Agreed! Everytime I let my kids play with blocks or even paints, they started making all kinds of noise then I just tried to read loud enough to drown out the noise 😂

[@thandaxaba]

Loved the heads up 🙌🌸thank you for sharing ❤️

[@SevenInAll]

You are so welcome!

[@StaceyYoder]

Great tips! Thanks for sharing!

[@SevenInAll]

Thanks for watching!

[@juliequezada7504]

Really enjoyed this! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and insight.

[@SevenInAll]

Glad it was helpful!

[@MatthewsAdventures156]

Im using 3 cores this year and very much appreciate this!

[@SevenInAll]

Glad it's helpful!

[@gladiscecilia9603]

I just bought Sonlight level K and we're so excited. 💕

[@SevenInAll]

That's so exciting! So many great reads ahead of you! :)

[@annaking2922]

Fantastic video! You are such a wealth of knowledge and wisdom! I’m currently using Gentle & Classical Primer with my 5 year old and am considering Sonlight for next year.

[@SevenInAll]

You are so welcome! I hoped this would be helpful for anyone looking into it. We're getting close to the end of Gentle + Classical Primer with my son...it's been such a fun program!

[@RockSimmer-gal4God]

We are currently doing a middle school, 2 high school programs and a pre school program for my kindergartener!!! My high schooler is doing it independently and the middle schooler doing high school science thru sonlight is trying to do it over 2 years!!! I love the organising ideas!!!

[@SevenInAll]

Glad the organization ideas are helpful! I really enjoy Sonlight's programs for high school!

[@elizabethlotus4214]

Great tips! I was just thinking the whole video through how have you not done this one before?! Great topic

[@SevenInAll]

Glad you liked it!!

[@heidibarker2120]

This was really well done and so accurate. My kids cannot have busy hands during read aloud. But if I tell them what we will discuss before I read and let them jot down notes, they are much more engaged. This year I split them up for science, allowing my science minded child to go much deeper with more difficult topics. Next year they will be doing different history, as my son will start world history in 7th grade and my 5th grader will take a gap year as we focus on geography and state history. We love Sonlight and we are hooked!

[@SevenInAll]

Jotting down notes (or drawing in a notebook for younger kids) can really help with engaging with what's being read aloud. Notetaking has always helped me to stay focused when I need to listen. Love that you guys have had a great experience!

[@handsathome]

This was incredibly helpful. We have quite a range of ages from 12 yrs old down to baby #6 due late summer. I’ve always loved Sonlight book selections. My oldest are voracious readers so I use several booklists to satisfy their hunger, Sonlight always being one of them. This year we are using HBL F, Eastern Hemisphere. I’m pretty sure we will continue to use Sonlight for as my daughter moves into high school. I’m a lot more relaxed at the elementary level, so I don’t plan on purchasing elementary IGs unless I find a golden deal like the new IG for HBL W that I got for $5!!!

[@SevenInAll]

Ooh, a good deal like that can't be passed up! ;)

[@annielouise5048]

Really appreciate this! We started using Sonlight this yr with my 5 & 7 yr old. I love it and they do too. I have a 3 yr old, 1 yr old and pregnant with baby 5 so will have to learn how to incorporate more levels as the other become school age! Love all your videos and homeschool tips! My husband and I now live in Kansas USA but lived in NQ Australia for 5 years ( he’s Australian) and your climate and scenery reminds me so much of North Queensland. I miss that tropical rain and all the green now that I’m living in a drought on the plains 😅.

[@SevenInAll]

What level are you using? :) I do appreciate my tropical home so much--I love all the green all year round.

[@Earlymorningbookworm]

Your family is very similar to mine! This is my first year homeschooling and doing sonlight. I’m doing HBL K with my 7 and 5 year old and we love it. But when I sat down recently to “forecast” our curriculum it was definitely a puzzle trying to figure out how to get everyone through sonlight without having to miss out on something. So my 7 (1st) and 5 year old (K) 😊will track together. And then my 3 and 2 year old will start one of the preschool programs next year and they will track together. I’ll do HBL K with them when my daughter is in 1st and my son is in pre-k.

[@annielouise5048]

@@Earlymorningbookworm That’s a great plan to group the two younger ones together. I have been so focused on the two older ones I hadn’t thought that far in advance and really appreciate those thoughts. I’m also using HBL K with my 7 &5 yr old .

[@annielouise5048]

@@SevenInAll We’re using Level K . Seems to be the perfect fit for their ages! The history is a bit over their heads at times but we have to start somewhere and they’re learning a lot.

[@jerilyn-ourhomeschooltable]

We’re doing HBL C right now. We have to do our History and Read Alouds at the beginning of naptime because otherwise the toddler gets to noisy. He thinks he needs to be louder than me. 😂 I’ll definitely take your advice later on when I have two HBL’s going. When my younger two will be ready for Sonlight their older sister will be in middle school.

[@SevenInAll]

Naptime is an essential element of the homeschool day with toddlers. :P

[@karivanhorn1765]

We have play-doh, kinetic sand, all kinds of coloring things to keep them busy!! It is super helpful or otherwise they are wrestling each other 🤣

[@SevenInAll]

Yes, listening comprehension when playing with play-doh tends to be better than listening comprehension while wrestling...lol!!

[@crystinanna7829]

Oh good; I’m not the only one😅. 4 boys over here…

[@Arrowtownwanaka]

Hi, it's a big help. I have 10 and 13 year old kids and they have done ACE curriculum last year.(Actually it was our first year of Homeschooling) I found that my 10 year old boy struggled ACE since he is a bubbly person. That's why I have been researching Sonlight HBL, B+C condensed for this year. The thing is I have a 2 year old kid, too and he needs me fully attention sometimes, which was a challenge last year. My plan is to do Sonlight to two older children for 2 mornings per week when he goes to the preschool.(He turns 3 in March.) and I guess a year curriculum might take up to 2 years. We live in New Zealand and ordering the curriculum from the US is quite expensive because of shipping. Ordering Sonlight is a big decision and I am glad to find your review:)

[@SevenInAll]

The Sonlight B+C is a fantastic year, so many great books! It may even be possible to get more that 2 days done within a week, if your toddler gradually grows in their ability to stay in the same room playing with toys/play-doh/coloring books/etc while older siblings listen to the books. I come from a big family (8 kids) so for many years there was always a rambunctious wild toddler tagging along. They help make the homeschool day a little more 'interesting.' ha! We also live overseas, so I understand the huge commitment of ordering Sonlight! I recommend looking at the booklist and definitely taking your time to look at the sample schedule and reviews to picture how you think it might go for your family. My family LOVES reading aloud (I personally have always enjoyed reading aloud), and that helps it fit us.

[@faithfullyinfertile]

You just described my 13yo daughter. Snack and a book… all day, every day!!!

[@SevenInAll]

That's the good life!

[@jensimpson483]

Am curious to hear what you’re planning for next year! We are doing sonlight P this year but will have a 5 and 3 year old next year so not sure where to go next.

[@SevenInAll]

I'm in a similar boat--enjoying Sonlight P with my almost-5 and 3 year old but I knew I didn't want to move on to Sonlight K at their ages...my full curriculum plans video will come out in March, but *spoiler alert* we're going to do Beautiful Feet Books "Around the World in Picture Books" for next year. More details and planning videos to come!

[@jensimpson483]

Love it! Going to research that for my guys now :) I saw that Sonlight switched their level K and A Bible and history, so now K is world history. Probably will make a great transition from the Beautiful Feet books!

[@SevenInAll]

@@jensimpson483 I just saw that switch, too! I think it was a really smart move on Sonlight's part...A did seem overall a bit gentler than K.

[@fab5bailey369]

Such a great video. I would like your personal advice about Sonlight. I have a 10 and 12 year older and our next cycle of History is Ancient Times, I am considering doing HBL B+C for my 10 and HBL G for my 12 do you think I should just combine them and if so which level? Next, does Sonlight cover Literature Analysis? Also, love the idea of the notebooks while reading.

[@SevenInAll]

I'd probably lean towards doing G for both--the history spine is Story of the World 1 & 2 and most people find that to be doable with a 10 year old, but you know your kids better! A lot depends on the specific child, so I'd look at the booklist and think about whether your 10 year old would be able to handle those books. There is more literature analysis in Sonlight at the high school level, I'd say.

[@karenjackson5034]

Hi! I will have a 2nd grader and a young Kindergartner next year. I’m looking into the HBL-K Intro to the World: Cultures. Which reading level should I get?

[@SevenInAll]

It's so variable as far as what books kids are ready to read at a particular age--I would look at the book titles for 1st and 2nd grade readers and see what will fit your 2nd grader best. At the Kindergarten level, the only readers offered are "Fun Tales" which is a series similar to Bob books, meant for very beginner readers learning to decode words. Do you have a separate phonics/learn to read curriculum in mind for your K student?

[@TheThomasTribe13]

I'm glad to hear you say that you think the Sonlight cores can span a 4 year age gap because that's what my kids are. I'm still so torn though. I want to start it now, but I still feel like once our youngest is starting school, the oldest will be too far apart in age for the cores to work. Our youngest would be too young to join in on whatever level the oldest is on, and even if we found a way to do that, I'd be sad that the youngest "missed out" on the lower level cores. Or I'd have to repeat the lower level cores and have our oldest do them again, when he's already at the upper end of the suggested age. If I decided we really could combine them do I wait until our youngest is in school and try to find something else for the oldest to do for the next 2 years? Our kids will be 3 and 7 when we start school in the fall, and our 7 year old will be starting 2nd grade. I hope to start some "preschool" with our youngest this fall...either something I have saved that I used with our oldest, or maybe Sonlight. If I feel it's too hard to combine their ages with Sonlight I can't decide if I should just do it for a couple of years and then no matter how much I love it, either feel like I have to switch to something else entirely, or feel like I have to do 2 separate HBL/Science levels which I don't think I can handle. If that makes sense? I feel like they're close enough in age that I should be able to teach them together for Bible, history, and science, at least like you said until the oldest is in high school and is more independent. I'm trying to plan what's best for this coming year but also keep the future in mind. I just really don't know what to do. 🙈

[@SevenInAll]

At the early/preschool years it is a lot harder to fully combine. My boys are only 20 months apart and I still realize there's a huge difference between the comprehension and skill levels of my oldest and my youngest. But--the 3 year old hangs around for all of our science readings and story readings. I do purposely include shorter picture books that are at his level for him, but he stays with us and picks up a lot from what we do (and I've had to give him his own science worksheets). In your situation, if you want to go with something, I'd probably pick one aimed toward your 2nd grader, and then also pick something for preschool fun, because none of the great preschool programs are very time-intensive, anyways. Kids tend to "level out" a little more as they get older into the childhood years, at least as far as comprehension. But again--always look at the dynamic of your own specific kids. Sometimes I think we, as parents, might be overly committed to the idea that family-style learning will make our lives easier, but specific kids might have individual needs that actually mean that a little bit of differentiation can actually be helpful for everyone.

[@TheThomasTribe13]

@@SevenInAll thanks so much! For this coming year I definitely plan on focusing on what my 2nd grader needs and just try to involve our 3 year old when I can and then do some preschool activities. For combining I mostly meant in a couple years once our youngest is in Kindergarten and our oldest is in 4th. That seems like too large of a gap for Sonlight but I’m not sure. 🙈 I know I’ll need to differentiate their work but I’d love to at least be on the same topic. I’m trying to mostly think about this coming year but also trying to look ahead to the future and it’s making my head spin in circles. 😆 I love watching your videos! I’ve learned a lot!

[@faithhomeschool2789]

Sonlight does recommend picking a level based on the youngest learner. I have researched so much but afraid of being overwhelmed so we have just stuck to the readers.

[@SevenInAll]

If you ever have questions, feel free to ask! I feel like Sonlight (and most curriculums) are less overwhelming in real life once you get the hang of them...but YOU know your homeschool style, situation, and what fits your family best! If readers are what fit best and you're content with that--don't let the FOMO win.

[@brookeally1346]

Which level would you do for a 4.5 year old and 3 year old? Pre-k?

[@SevenInAll]

I'd probably lean toward Pre-K, assuming that the oldest is the main target of school at this stage. Some of the books in Pre-K will be challenging for a 3 year old...but with the help of a snack, a 3 year old will probably stay pretty engaged. I've used Sonlight P for my 4 and 3 year old boys this past school year.

[@kimberlyfrancisco5829]

I literally have no idea how to order sonlight and I can’t make sense of the website. I have a 4 yr old, 7yr old, and a 9 yr old. Please help! 😅

[@SevenInAll]

What are you interested in purchasing? One of the HBL Programs? Or something else? Sonlight does have an advisor program to help, with a phone line or email: www.sonlight.com/contact/advisors

[@shannono.7223]

My kids r four years apart...do u think it possible to combine them into one hbl....I know Sonlight doesn't recommend that. My son is currently 8 and we r finishing A this year. My daughter is 4 ....so not doing this with us,yet....just thinking ahead.

[@shannono.7223]

Nevermind! You answered my question:) Thank u for such a great, informative and practical video!

[@SevenInAll]

I'm so glad it was practical and helpful!

[@Rach609or]

What do you label your books with?

[@SevenInAll]

Sonlight HBLs come with a sheet of label stickers of a certain color...or at least they used to...not sure, it might be an extra now? And then we would write the week that the book was used on the label on the spine.

[@Rach609or]

@@SevenInAll thanks! You have to buy them extra now and I forgot them in my order 😬🤦‍♀️ I only got the science kit, so I don't want to pay for shipping again. I may call to see if they can waive that because those stickers would be so helpful. 🤔