Has anyone used....

[MamaPam]

Has anyone used Sonlight Prek or Sonlight K? That there is so much reading is very appealing to me but was wondering what other Mamas experience with it was. What age was your child? Was it worth the money? What were your likes and dislikes about the curriculum?

Thanks,
Pam

[3momkmb]

I am using the reading list from Sonlight Core 1 for my 7yo DS. I am also using Core 6 history for my 12yo DD. I really like the history from Core 6 and DS has enjoyed the read alouds and history books for Core 1. WE haven't used the LA, bible or science from Sonlight but I do use a recommended math program from them (Horizons for DS-not used on schedule, just when he wants to and Saxon 76 for DD).

Was it worth the money? Yes, but I didn't spend full price on it. I bought most of my materials used and only bought the books I couldn't find elsewhere from Sonlight. I did buy the IG's and I found them useful, but I haven't followed them to the letter. I use them more as a guide for which books to read in what order, not as a schedule.

[SRHS]

I used the K program...tried to check out books from the library. Bought the science kit lock stock and barrel and liked it a lot. Still have it for the younger one even though we have moved on to unschooling.

But I did like it when i used it.

Sus

[annethcz]

We use it. I bought the whole PreK core from SL a few years ago, and the kids have enjoyed it. Some of the books we liked better than others, but it's hard to know which ones you'll like before you read them I do feel that we got our money's worth out of them, since I have 4 kids and we've read some of the books so often that the bindings are coming apart

We are currently using something else right now, but we will be using SL again soon. In the spring we will be doing a PreK/K combo. At that time my older kids will be 4,5, and 6. I'll also add that I'd strongly recommend reading the 'choosing preK vs K' thread on the sonlight forums (the choosing board). Many of the K books are quite advanced and are more appropriate for older kids.

[granolagina]

Sonlight K

We are close to finishing Sonlight K with my 7 yo boy and 5 yo girl.

I like that all the planning is done for me and all the books are included.
We love books so all the reading we do is fun.

Things I dislike about it:

There is not enough to do in Science which is our favorite subject. We would like more experiments (we do our own) and more books (we add from the library).

I would like more hands-on activities for History. I add what I can but it is hard to do with an active 14 month old in the house!

[vegimom]

We did Sonlight K and liked it for the most part. The reading did not seem overwhelming for us at this level. Things I would add are hands on crafts or activities for history and more books for science.

[Nickarolaberry]

There is a great sonlight pre-K yahoogroup which if you join you can get a lot of btdt advice from moms. A couple of the moms on that list have also designed "add-on" curriculums that really enrich the experience, but in order to get those, you have to just join the list.

When we were homeschooling I was using the pre-K for my 5 year old (with Sonlight, the "core" years don't always correspond to regular "grade level")and I think, with some exceptions, it was pretty much on target. I did add some extra reading, handwriting, and math in myself because she just adores workbooks (go figure ). At this age, science is usually a kitchen activity, or playing with the properties of (bath) water, or talking about various aspects of our new baby (how he got here, where he was inside me, why he looks different from his sisters , why we poop and pee and what happens to the food we eat inside us), or cleaning-related (what's a sponge? where does it come from?) etc.

We also skip all the Christian-related material because, well, we're not. We add in some enrichment from our own religion (Hebrew language, Torah readings of the week, holidays, etc.) instead, mainly on Fridays which is when we prepare for our Sabbath.

I got all of the books either second-hand or on overstock.com and I ended up paying considerably less than the core price, but then again, like I said, we skipped some. I also bought Handwriting Without Tears (great program, fun for the kids) second-hand, and the Singapore Earlybird math series, which is pretty inexpensive new. The workbooks my daughter likes I picked up at the grocery store, or from Usborne books (which is a great company I think, and I'm not a rep!).

Good luck! I personally really like the learning-through-literature approach because you can either go exactly by the Instructors' Guide and not have to worry about getting a great curriculum, or round it out/adapt it yourself and still have a wonderful spine/basic approach to rely on.