Kindergarten Curriculum Choices 2020-2021 | NEW Sonlight K Program

[@annacbrown1986]

I also plan to read only one Bible story in the morning but maybe add the second reading at night.

[@jennybensko9317]

Thank you so much for this! Did you add the extra explode the code books with your kindergartener? Or was she able to take steps forward into reading without them? Or did you supplement the learning to read portion of the LA with anything else? My daughter is not a fan of workbooks yet so trying to determine if the explode the code books are necessary! I’m a first time homeschool mama! ;)

[@Townsendhouse1]

I did not add the explode the code books, although I know people love them. We really just focused on the reading and the sounds and sight words. Mainly I wait for my kids to be interested in reading rather than starting just because. My older two read early, my youngest started reading a little later. It really depends on the child and I try not to force it. I also spend a lot of time reading aloud to my kids.

[@jennybensko9317]

Thank you so much for your reply! I really appreciate it! I think I just keep trying to make it all more complicated than it needs to be :). But for now her favorite thing is being read to - so sounds like I just need to keep on reading to her and enjoy the process!

[@haley9303]

Thanks for the info. I’ll have to look at sonlight again now that I’ve seen a bit more. The website and build-your-own curriculum on there can be a tad overwhelming. We’ve been homeschooling prek for 2 school years but Kinder curriculums feel like I’m starting all over. Lol. Prek for 3’s and Prek was all packed into like 4 books in all.

[@Townsendhouse1]

Yes, there are a lot of additional parts that you can add onto Sonlight. However, you can get an all-in-one grade package for kindergarten if that would be easier. I have done that in the past. This is the entire K program - www.sonlight.com/KASP with all of their additional recommended resources. Honestly, I don't find an entire science program necessary for kindergarten. We have a lot of Usborne beginners books that we will use for science. I get the programs from Sonlight because we love all the books that they have. Then we make our way through them as I see fit. We mainly focus on handwriting, learning letters and numbers, and learning to read. Then lots of extra read alouds and fun stuff added in. It is much more relaxed in our family. Let me know if you have any questions!

[@haley9303]

Townsend House thank you!! Yes, we have tons of little science books that would be perfect! I was definitely eyeballing the full kit, anything we don’t use this time around, surely could be used for my 2 year old later!

[@dominique573n9]

I bought the sonlight K level for my daughter this year. In my personal opinion the LA program is very weak, aside from the reading. The books that it came with for the most part are okay, some are pretty boring hard to keep my 6 year olds attention. The history books are nice some are way over her head, I feel they could have found much better books for that age group. the map book in particular is not for that age group. I decided to supplement with The good and the Beautiful curriculum. I immediately fell I. Love with it, same with my daughter. it is beautiful, engaging, she is thriving with it. So now TGTB is our main curriculum and we just read the sonlight books when we have time and use the history books once a week. TGTB handwriting workbooks are gorgeous. The math program is fantastic and LA is the best program hands down. Thank you for your review 😊

[@Townsendhouse1]

Dominique573 N We used A (world cultures)for my oldest when she was in kinder about 7 years ago, and then again for my middle guy about 5 years ago. I don’t do a whole lot with language arts at this age though. Mainly a little handwriting, a little reading practice, but mostly read alouds. I’m excited about the new K program - and everyone being in US History at the same time 😊

[@FavuQuad]

@@dominique573n9 what are you using from TGTB?

[@FavuQuad]

Are there any worksheets for the history portion of this program? I'm only planning to use the history portion. What would be the point of me getting the IG if it doesn't have activity sheets for history? I could just create my own schedule

[@Townsendhouse1]

Sonlight doesn't use worksheets for their history programs. The instructor's guide contains the schedule, but also includes notes about different books, vocabulary, timeline figures placement, maps, and then the most important part, discussion and comprehension questions/answers. You can certainly make your own schedule (I often adjust things a lot), but the discussion questions/comprehension questions are invaluable. You may be able to get away without the instructor's guides at this level if you feel comfortable coming up with your own questions and then working that way. But, as you move through the different levels, it becomes very important imo to have those questions. My oldest is in level 100 now, and we have used Sonlight right through. We love it because we love the time that we have for those great conversations.

[@allyh193]

Do you have a specific video on how you combine the cores? Is that in your planner videos?

[@Townsendhouse1]

Last year, when everyone was in American History, I would start with Lucy's reading. My older two tend to hang around whenever I am reading books. They will still be working on their own individual work but they hear me. When I am reading to my older two, my youngest is almost always in the room. She will pick out names and events that she heard me read about earlier in the day, or I will point it out to all the kids the connection. Is that what you mean? Or are you looking at how I lay it all out in my planner to make sure I am getting everything done that we need to get done?

[@colleensaliba4342]

Are there any religious content in the book hero's and happenings? Looks like a great book !

[@Townsendhouse1]

I didn't feel like there was anything overtly religious about the books themselves, but I also hold a Christian worldview and may have missed something specific. But, from a quick glance back through the books I didn't find anything. It is mainly stories of different historical figures throughout American History. Really well done. Some of the stories were a bit wordy for my 5/6 year old to understand, but most were really quite good!

[@shannono.7223]

I am very interested in this program...first timer with a son starting at age 6....have you found that the language arts program sufficiently teaches reading and if i wanted to do a different language arts program with everything else coming from Sonlight do u think that would work? Last, about how long would u say you would read each day for a day s worth of reading with the Sonlight plan? I have a toddler as well. Thank you!

[@Townsendhouse1]

I don't do the writing portion of the language arts with any of my kids - I just use Handwriting Without Tears up through 3rd grade or so and then move towards Brave Writer. As far as reading goes, all of my kids have taken to reading easily without too much teaching on my part. As far as how much reading I do - I have three kids in three different levels, so it is significantly more than when it was just my oldest doing Sonlight. I think I spent maybe 30-45 minutes on school total when I was doing school with my oldest at that age. The reading for the early cores is not all that much. However, I always read more because we just love to read aloud in my family. My oldest is in level 100 now and I still do a lot of reading aloud because it is what works best for my family. I think this year I have been spending maybe 15 minutes or so on reading with just my kinder kid, but sometimes we read a lot more depending on interest level. I'm not sure that answered your questions 🙈 I don't think it is too much reading, especially in the early levels. And I have always moved things around in the schedule. My main priority with kinder is to do a little bit of math, a little bit of reading practice, a little bit of handwriting practice most days while adding in lots of art and reading aloud.

[@shannono.7223]

@@Townsendhouse1 thank you so much for your thorough answer! I wasn't sure if the Sonlight program had enough instruction for learning to read so that is why I asked what your experience has been. I was looking at Logic of English as a possibility for the Language Arts portion of curriculum but I m just not sure. Thank you again!

[@shannono.7223]

@@Townsendhouse1 Sorry...another question. Have you found the new K Sonlight curriculum to be at an appropriate level? I ve heard some say their kids thought some of the books were boring...they don't look boring to me tho ..and some say that they r too challenging for a kindergartener

[@Townsendhouse1]

Some of the books my 6 year old hasn't been interested in. I am fine with skipping them if she isn't all that interested, or adjusting the story while I read aloud if I find something to be not appropriate for her at the moment. I am fine with skipping books, because we always end up reading them at some point in the future anyway. I have 11 HBL programs from the past 10 years of homeschooling, and we always end up coming back to books that we skipped either due to time constraints at the moment, or if we weren't enjoying them at the moment. Eventually we get to everything. I can understand why some of it may be not quite age appropriate, but I also think it depends on your child and what they are able to understand.

[@shannono.7223]

@@Townsendhouse1 ok! So you have used Sonlight for 10 years? That is awesome! I am very interested in their curriculum so it s helpful to hear from someone who has used it for so long! And your response was very helpful. Thank you so much!

[@jennythomas3985]

Can you substitute the read alouds?

[@Townsendhouse1]

Absolutely! Of course you wouldn't have questions or other notes from the instructor's guide for any new books you chose to read aloud. There are always a couple of books that we end up dropping over the year, either because of interest level or because we want to read something different. If you wanted to replace a large number of the books it wouldn't necessarily make sense to purchase the program. But, if it is just a few, I feel like you would still get good value out of the material.

[@jennythomas3985]

@@Townsendhouse1 which ones do your kids like the most?

[@Townsendhouse1]

We really loved all the books in K. We are going into our 13th level with Sonlight next year, and there have been very few books that we haven't enjoyed. I think the favorites from this level were Little House in the Big Woods, Dolphin Adventure, Dolphin Treasure, Boxcar Children, and My Father's Dragon. The reason we come back year after year is because we love all the book selections so much. You really can't go wrong. And, for us, if there ever is a book that isn't connecting with my kids, we put it aside, and it almost always gets picked up at a later time, either as a summer read aloud, or my kids pick it up on their own when they are able to read that particular book to themself.

[@taniathemama]

I would to see more heroes in happenings, I am in between K and Core A for my 1st grader...which do you recommend starting with?

[@Townsendhouse1]

I would say that Core A would be great for 1st grade! Although, I am really enjoying K myself. In the past we have always used A for kindergarten, however, with the new K program, I decided to start there instead.

[@FavuQuad]

My daughter is a soon to be first grader but looking at the books in the K program I think this can definitely be for a first grader as well. Do you think K would be too easy for a first grader?

[@Townsendhouse1]

I think this would be perfect for 1st grade as well as K 😊

[@FavuQuad]

@@Townsendhouse1 it would be great if you do a review now that you've been using for a few months