By Melinda S
(Utah)
Visitor Review:
Sonlight has been a great fit for my kids (both advanced and struggling ones) for nearly 11 years.
I first started using Sonlight when my 17yo was in 2nd grade. She was an early reader, and I was afraid to order the core that matched her grade, but my sister convinced me to do so. I knew I could return it, so I stepped forward, semi-bravely. I was amazed–we LOVED the books, and the level was just right! We had not done much history before, and she loved it!
I also had a kindergartener, who sat in on most of our reading, and learned an incredible amount! I found over time that she loved the core 2 books, but she laughed more over the core K ones, so I later purchased most of the K books, as well. (And then the core 1 books, and then the preK ones, for younger kids. We now have cores prek4/5 through 300!)
As time went on, we have all become avid readers, and as my younger two get to the cores older ones have done, I continually hear, “Oh, Mom! That’s a great book! They will LOVE that one!” 🙂
My first 3 were early readers (the 4th was average), and they all thrived on the books–Sonlight offers a variety of levels in the early years, and even the “too easy” ones have been interesting to my older kids. We have used a total of 11 cores, over these years, and my kids constantly come back to the books they’ve read before, still enjoying them, and getting more from them at older ages than they got the first time through!
One of my kids has struggled greatly with writing, though. We had to find ways to adapt things, so that she wrote less than other kids, until about 6th grade. The book-based nature of Sonlight helped us continue to progress through the content subjects, at the quick speed she was capable of, without letting her writing hold her back.
The only problem we’ve had with Sonlight was when we used it for years other than they recommend! Because we started with the age of the oldest, after a few years, we found we were too far ahead for the second. We had to take a bit of time “off,” to let her mature a bit. We did not, however, find anything else that was better, in the meantime, and we were very happy to go back to Sonlight. This lower level has also been fine for my oldest, though she will not get to use all the cores because of it.
This fall, my oldest will be a senior, who will finish her schooling with Sonlight 300. She has taken several classes from our community college, as well, and come through them with flying colors. Sonlight has prepared her well for them, I think. She loves life, loves to read, and loves God.
No curriculum will do everything for every one, but we are very happy with our years of Sonlight homeschooling, and I would heartily recommend this curriculum to anyone who enjoys great books.