A ? for the self-titled "Sonlight losers"...

I noticed a couple posts on Sara's post today and I am just wondering what about Sonlight did you not like??? This is merely because I am curious. I know Sonlight is not for everyone. It has fit our family well, but we are still in the young stages of HSing as this is only the end of our 1st year.

I really appreciate your input.

We were actually SL losers with preK.
That's what worries me about going back to SL. I think a few issues were at play. First, dd was too young. I should have waited to start school with her. And second, she just got tired of me reading to her. We read so much during "school" that she lost her love of being read to at other times. I've actually been worried about that lately - what if I order SL and she stops wanting me to read to her!? Oh, and the third issue was the SL did not actually have an preK IG when we did preK and that just didn't work for me.

I'm very interested to see how others respond to this question! Thanks for asking!

[Quietspirit]

For me, the manual is really confusing. I feel like I have no real direction. I know that makes no sense...I just can't make heads/tails of how to do the program.

I also have some issues with the content of a few of the older read-alouds. Some fairly graphic violence is depicted in SL 4. (american history). It's also in Core 1 or 2 I believe with some of the early cultures. Just not my cup of tea.

[ShangriLewis]

We had it for Kindergarten. I sold it on Ebay. I just felt like I could come up with better resources for that much money. I would much rather spend our bucks on fun extras and check out books at the library. I mean really we have over 150 books our from the library. I tell my kids, "Here is your bag. You carry it..now go crazy!" Even if we lost books everymonth it would still be cheaper than Sonlight. And, we don't. My boys know to respect books and they have their own three shelves..yes 3!!

I can see it's value for Missionaries who have no book stores. But, I sent Bex a really nice list. I think it's on the temp. bored. I came up with way more items of value then Sonlight includes at all.

Heather

I have a few issues with SL.. I love it for many but have never bought it.

My hope in it would have been their promise that it was researched lit and from around the world. So I thought they would share geog from books from around the world.

My dh goes to countries and he finds books in English from their museums and such like. So we get to read about countries through the eyes of stories and ideas of the nation.

That is what I found lacking in SL and that I could get the books well most of them from the local library.

I really would have liked the plan but then would probably get confused and such like.

ho hum what a choise hey!

[Joanne]

My issue with Sonlight has never been Sonlight. It's been me. I get overwhelmed, striken by the perfectionist bug and then paralized. I can't move past the intensity and make it work for me. I keep thinking I'm behind before I even start.

[Leslie]

My son was never thrilled with their books. The following year, he couldn't even remember having read them, they were largely forgettable. The ones we use now seem more memorable. Maybe it's partly because we read less of them now. Sort of a quality over quantity concept--less books, but the ones we use are meatier and more of a challenge to work through. He can't zip through them so quickly.

Leslie,

I can definitely understand what you mean about the quantity vs. quality thing. Our situation is slightly different in that the FIAR books are probably "easier" reading than the Sonlight books but it seems that dd has gotten more out of them because instead of simply reading them, we delve deeper. We aren't reading as many books and the books aren't as long, but because we spend so much time on each book, it seems like dd retains a whole lot more.

Makes me wonder if I should just stick with FIAR since it seems to be working.

[Leslie]

Originally Posted by Sara

because we spend so much time on each book, it seems like dd retains a whole lot more.

Yeah, I think that spending so much time with a book means that it can go deeper, the characters sometimes can become a part of you. My son is a good reader, he was reading fluently at four, and I assumed that if books were good, then more books must be even better. He'd zip through Sonlight's books in a week, but then I had him moving on to the next one right away so there was no time to let the last one "set." If good books are going to influence a child's character, the child needs time to reflect on what he's reading, but we were racing through the books so fast that that there was no room for reflection. That's not really Sonlight's fault, but program so packed with books does lend itself to that abuse.

Also, when you use less books, you have less room for mediocre ones, it really forces you to choose only the few very best "not-to-be-missed" books. That's what I felt was missing with Sonlight.

[ShangriLewis]

Sara,

I vote for you staying with FIAR. It's a great curriculum especially for the little ones. I think it's fairly easy for mom to get together and enjoy, too. Plus, you can spend all that sonlight money on some good investment books.

Heather

Thank you, Ladies, for being so open and honest. I really appreciate it!

I am really glad we did not start Joseph, who was 5-1/2 at the start of Kindergarten, on the CoreK stuff. Instead, we started him on the CorePK stuff with K Language Arts and K Math. It was the best thing we had ever done. If I had received the box full of stuff I got last week as I began to teach Kindergarten, I would have been EXTREMELY overwhelmed. Now that I understand how it works, I am ready to get started on 1st grade this late summer.

I am interested in seeing how we do this year with it.

Thanks, again, for your replies...keep them coming!