The Sonlight Year

This is the next post in my Considering Homeschooling? series.  Click the links below if you missed any of the previous post.

Part I
Part II, Intro
The Early Years
Singapore Math

Because using literature as a basis for learning served us so well in The Early Years, I searched for a curriculum that would allow the boys to learn similarly during their grade school years.  That is why I chose Sonlight.

There were several resources I found through Sonlight that I loved and still do.  Some we even still use, like Geography Songs (Troxel), Window on the World (Spraggett), and Sing the Bible A to Z (Harrow).  Sonlight pulls together a number of interesting resources and reading material.  We did a lot of reading, singing, and discussing that year.  All of which the boys and I thoroughly enjoyed.

However, I did not like the teacher's guide and found myself often reworking things, feeling like I was doing my own lessons and most of the planning.  I think there is one main reason this was true for me.  I like hands-on learning.  Sonlight does not include much, if any, and seems to consider it "fluff". 

However, for me and mine, hands-on is wanted and needed.  After reading and discussing, I wanted the boys to do something with the information.  I found myself constantly reworking the teacher's guide.  I added in several activities each week, reorganized the teaching schedule, pre-read books in order to prepare activities to accompany, etc. 

By the end of the year, I decided to continue to look to Sonlight for ideas but I would not purchase the teacher's guides since they were not helping me.  The next school year I "built my own" curriculum using resources from Sonlight and others I found at the library or online.

The summer after our DIY year, I found Veritas Press....

Happy Curriculum Hunting!
Dawn
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