Why We Are Not Using Sonlight || Homeschool Curriculum Review

Why We Are Not Using Sonlight || Homeschool Curriculum Review
Let’s talk about why we are not using Sonlights homeschool curriculum next year. Let’s tackle what we loved, what we disliked, and what changed.
Checkout what we are using this year here • 2023-2024 Homeschool C...
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[@LearningPlantingGrowing]

As a second generation homeschooler myself I can definitely agree there are seasons for things and different programs or rhythms for for different families at different times. We switched to Sonlight last year with 5 kids and had the opposite experience. For us it finally clicked as exactly the right thing, my kids love the books and we never really felt like we got into the reading part with other programs. Now my days feel doable and organized. (And I’m not even someone who can usually follow a curriculum plan well) I started with one core for everyone last year and now I’m teaching 3 just to break them apart into groups and start their own Sonlight learning track. Everyone is happy and everyone loves it and our home feels peaceful. However at another time in another phase it might have been the opposite for me and may not have gone well. I’m so glad to hear you have found something new to be excited about and use as a family! I hope your new school year goes amazingly!!

[@LifeintheMundane]

I think that’s awesome. Yes different seasons call for different things and truthfully I expect to go back to Sonlight for at least one year in highschool because there British literature course is phenomenal

[@LearningPlantingGrowing]

@@LifeintheMundane Some of those courses are very drool worthy! A couple I’d like to read through myself 😂😂😂

[@lindsaypotter3694]

Are you still doing Sonlight

[@LearningPlantingGrowing]

@@lindsaypotter3694 Yes we are :0) everyone loves it! And my littles are doing Pasport to Adventure unit studies with the Magic Treehouse Books

[@lindsaypotter3694]

@@LearningPlantingGrowing what age group should I start with? I’m already doing pre level all about reading with my 3yo and almost 5yo. My 5yo is pretty advanced and eager to learn

[@Jolene166]

I can relate to so much of this! Sonlight is awesome but yea, I'd never be able to do two (or more!) cores. I'm excited for your history for next year, I'll be keeping my eye out for a video next year on how that one goes! 😊

[@LifeintheMundane]

Yes I’m excited to see how it goes

[@jessiemadanat5455]

Just use the book list and borrow from the library as you see fit.

[@LifeintheMundane]

Yes we plan to still use the book list!

[@ourthriftyhomeschool]

This is such a reassuring video! I’ve always been tempted to try Sonlight…but whenever I seriously start considering it I stop myself for most of the same reasons you mentioned!

[@LifeintheMundane]

I'm so glad this helped. I still think it’s great but not for this season.

[@sawyerfamily456]

I completely agree with all of this. We have loved the books, but the pace can be overwhelming. I ended up getting some of the books to cover US History for the next 2 years during their warehouse sale from a lower level and Core D. I didn't want to miss out on some of the great books, but I can't imagine trying to do 2 cores.

[@LifeintheMundane]

Yes I am impressed that so. many families juggle multiple cores

[@Caffie.Mincey]

Yes, Sonlight has such a great booklist and that’s one of the reasons I love them so much. We had to do a lot of modifications as well to make it work for our family and in the end we decided to no longer use the curriculum. I may revisit them again when my girls are older and can work independently.

[@LifeintheMundane]

I totally agree!

[@PiningOverHome]

Thank you! This was really helpful ☺️

[@LifeintheMundane]

I’m so glad this helped

[@ItsAWanderfulLife]

The budget reasoning makes a lot of sense! Expenses definitely add up quickly.

[@LifeintheMundane]

Yes there are certain subjects that I don’t mind investing more in but I feel like there are plenty of affordable history options out there.

[@HumilityandDoxology]

I have friends who use Sonlight but can't afford the boxes. They purchase the guides and then use local used book sources for the resources.

[@LifeintheMundane]

Yes that’s how I did it and it definitely comes up cheaper that way. I can’t image paying full price on the whole set

[@ericaladd1566]

Are the guides purchased on the sonlight site? Thanks!

[@HumilityandDoxology]

@@ericaladd1566 yes, if you go to the "what's included" tab under the product you can add just the instructor guide by itself to your cart

[@NickyLindolls]

We used Bookshark for two years but didn’t finish the second year. It was really intense and we loved a lot of the books but some were not good. The lesson guides were incredible and helped so much. But my daughter hated the history text and couldn’t manage the language arts essays. We came from Waldorf private school then jumped into Bookshark but we have switched to Memoria Press and not kids love it. They love the books and its challenging but they are thriving and are retaining so much more. Somehow Memoria press helps my kids see the relationship between all subjects.

[@LifeintheMundane]

That’s awesome

[@RebekahYoko-tr4hf]

This is so interesting to me. We are using Memoria press and have been considering swapping over to another curriculum. We didn’t like the readers and I felt like it was a lottt of work on top of the readers.

[@jerilyn-ourhomeschooltable]

We’ve used HBL B and this year we did C. Like you, it seemed like a lot to get through and we had to cut some things out too. So this year we’re doing Notgrass, but my daughter will be using the Sonlight readers from Level D to go along with it. I think it’ll work well together. 😊

[@LifeintheMundane]

That sounds like a good plan

[@FamilyStyleLearning]

Great Review! I've always loved using Sonlights book list but haven't used the actual curriculum.

[@FamilyStyleLearning]

There is no video linked on the end screen for me to click on.

[@LifeintheMundane]

Thank you, I just fixed it!

[@LifeintheMundane]

Glad it was helpful!

[@MatthewsGaming123]

Totally understandable! We have 3 cores next year…and I’m a little nervous haha

[@LifeintheMundane]

❤️

[@VW777]

We are going to try Sonlight's 4 day plan instead of the 5 day one. I found that without a schedule to follow we do less read alouds, the benefits of reading for us are worth the effort 🙂

[@LifeintheMundane]

Love that!

[@brandiedennis1975]

Ya this is why I only do preschool and PreK from Sonlight, then I use various other curricula. Even in PreK there are small parts I don’t do, but they are small enough that it’s worth the cost.

[@LifeintheMundane]

Yes

[@elaineknoche]

What are your favorite ways to get audiobooks? Audible ? Libby ? Thank you!!!

[@LifeintheMundane]

We use scribd mostly

[@a.violet5905]

I used Sonlight's sister company Bookshark for a couple of years. The price was quite a bit. The pacing was pretty intense for my family and then I decided to go fully Charlotte Mason, that is after a two year stint with Masterbooks as a gateway into full CM education. We're completing our 3rd CM year (my 9th year homeschooling), and it has been great. I have special needs kids and I find that this education is best for them. We use way fewer books than Bookshark and the pacing is so much easier to pull off. Yes, there's some prereading involved, however it isn't so bad.

[@LifeintheMundane]

Thats wonderful

[@amandarada3242]

@a.violet5905 I'd love to hear how you transitioned to CM and what curriculums you utilize. I have a 9yo boy, 7yo girl 5yo boy, 3yo girl & 1yo boy. We did Sonlight for the first time this past year. Liked it, couldn't keep up. And FYI -I am pretty awful at planning and struggle with consistency. Any advice would be appreciated. I'd love to hear how you do it. Thanks!

[@simplyraisingarrows7369]

What curriculum are you using for your CM ?

[@Gina_._._]

I found the information repetitive when reading from those two sources. It felt like I'd wasted my time reading and got really frustrating.

[@LifeintheMundane]

Yes I felt like one was very adequate

[@homeschoollifemom]

I love the idea of Sonlight but the price is just phenomenal. If you can use it for 4 kids at a time then that would make it seem a lot more worth it!

[@LifeintheMundane]

Yes exactly! That’s why I was so excited about using it this year was bc I could use it for so many kids.

[@ReiverGrad14]

I love the idea of Sonlight but I would only want to use it as a read aloud.

[@LifeintheMundane]

Yes

[@faithfullyinfertile]

I love using their book lists, but I can’t imagine trying to do sonlight as it is intended.

[@LifeintheMundane]

Yes

[@juliequates9529]

Is this everything you do for morning time? Or is this really just the memory work aspect? 😊

[@LifeintheMundane]

This was history and read alouds for us

[@juliequates9529]

@@LifeintheMundane whoops! I thought I was commenting on your morning menus video...asking if you did anything beyond the morning menu for your "morning time"

[@sarahbrown2725]

Have you used Sonlight's language arts programs? Primarily for upper elementary and middle school years? We are struggling with language arts!

[@LifeintheMundane]

I have not, I have only used the cores.

[@RockSimmer-gal4God]

We love sonlight and my oldest is doing church history next year!!! It’s awesome but intense and we don’t do everything!!! I don’t always buy the guides and just buy the books!!! I feel like it works for us!!! We only use DK books as a reference!!! I also don’t see the need for it to take just a year!!! We can only do 2 levels as one of them is doing independent work but I couldn’t do it for my kindergartener as it’s too much!!!

[@LifeintheMundane]

❤️