From Life Take 1:
We are just now getting ready to start core 2. More information to come on Core 3 in the next year or so.
Core 3
3 Advanced Readers
Science 3
Lyrical Life Science Vol. 1 & 2 I really like the look of this program. My kids love learning things through music. If we have success with this program this year I plan on following up next year with Lyrical Life Science Vol 3 and Lyrical Earth Science.
Trail Guide to US Geography and Notebooking CD
Come look With Me: Early American Art
Come look With Me: Native American Art
SOTW Volume 3
Usborne Books
Here is the list of Sonlight Usborne Books for Core 3 and Science 3.
Mysteries and Marvels of Nature
Usborne Science Encyclopedia
Supplementing Ideas:
Maptangle -- US version (they also have a world version available)
Sea to Shining Sea: Stories From America
Cooking Up U.S. History
The Harp and Laurel Wreath (Poetry and Dictation for the Classical Curriculum) Has great Poetry readings from Early America.
Our Country's Founders
We Were There, Too! 67 stories of children in early America. Some recognizable some not but provides a lot of detail on life back them. This is a great addition!
Showing posts with label Sonlight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sonlight. Show all posts
Monday, July 12, 2010
Core 2
From Life Take 1:
2006-2007: My oldest son is moving right along through the cores at a pace of one per year despite the fact that he is a year younger than the SL recommended age. He loves learning and while it is true that he would get more out of it if he were older, I am still satisfied with what he is retaining. We all get more out of something if we come back to it with a little more wisdom and experience in out lives. That's why I continue to learn from the cores as well.
The boys have been anticipating this core for about 3 months now. They are fascinated with knights and castles at the moment. They can't wait to learn more about them.
Each year, I ask my children what they want to learn or what improvements I can make to their learning experience. This year the request was for more hands-on things to do. I am trying to make their wish come true and have added quite a bit of hands-on things.
Core 2
Readers 2 Intermediate I was surprised to see that this level still contained some level readers. SL tends to schedule these books with light reading and then a longer chapter book and then back to lighter leveled readers throughout the year.
Readers 2 Advanced
Sonlight Science 2 I love SL science but some people may have problems with the dinosaur book SL includes with this level. Pre-read it and decide for yourself whether or not this is a good fit for your family.
Classical Writing - Aesop A We are really enjoying this LA program. It is exactly what our family needed. We made 1 slight change though to better fit my sons needed for not a lot of handwriting in one day. Instead of doing the entire writing project on Friday. We space it out over the week. Monday we do the outline, Tuesday the rough draft, Wednesday we edit, and Friday my son types up his final draft and creates a picture to go along with the Fable. This is working great for us!
Classical Writing - Poetry for Beginners A This was originally recommended to be the second semester to Aesop A. The recommendations for this have recently changed and it has been moved to a second semester with Homer. I have not yet decided what to do with this.
Math-U-See Alpha, Beta, and Gamma? We have tried a ton of math stuff over the year. Please see school subjects for more information on why we choose this for this year. Alpha and Beta are both a review for my son and I am expecting each to take him around 1-2 months to complete.
Primary Grade Math Challenge I love this book! This is a great critical thinking math book and I highly recommend that everyone purchase this no matter what program you are using. It is fun for the kids and challenges them in a way I have seen no other book do. There is a follow-up book to this for older children.
The Story of the Orchestra Well... I am finally getting around to this. About time, right? :-) Debra has a great schedule for this. I will have to see if she will let me share it with all of you are not. If not -- you will have to ask her for it.
Art With A Purpose I found this last year at Rainbow Resource Center for about $5. It is a cheap easy to use art program. You need 2 packets. one to create samples for your child and one for your child. This teaches all the basics of art that I never thought of teaching. It also introduces art terminology. We will be using level 2 this year.
Color the Classics - Composers II There is 1 more book in this series that I am hoping to add to our year and then we have completed this series. I really like it a lot! We will also be finishing up the Christmas one from last year.
Prima Latina The DVD is instrumental for my family in using this program despite the fact that the teacher has a Southern Drawl. So far we are not finding the CD so helpful but that may change as the year goes on. Not all the vocabulary words are included with the flash cards. Teachers manual for this level is optional.
Signing Time I have recommended this several times already but just in case you haven't heard yet. BUY IT!! I love this program for teaching young children American Sign Language. They have a series to teach infants as well. There are free lesson plans and worksheets to use on their website. As well as activities. They are coming out with more and more videos all the time and now it is on PBS as well.
The Amazing Pop-Up Geography Book This is a great book! But for an older child who can be very careful as there are lots of flaps, strings, things to spin, pull, push and more in addition to the pop-ups. This is a really fun book to look at geography. Not sure how educational it is but lots of fun!
Computer Basics This book teaches basic computer terminology and parts. A great introduction to the computer. We will be studying more about computers in the future.
The Kids Guide to First Aid This is great! A simple book that teaches kids the basics from what is an emergency to have to clean a scrap. Includes some hands-on activities as well.
Life Skills for Kids This is one book that I wish I had purchased when my kids were still PK age. Well --2 of them still are but I wish I had it when the oldest was in PK. It has a lot of tips on how to help your children to grow up to be independent in a variety of different ways. Includes suggestions for chores for toddlers.
History Odyssey - Grammar Stage Middle Ages This is a history program that combines CHOW and SOTW along with some hands-on things. Since if it is not in a schedule then it probably won't get done -- I needed this for all the things I plan on using this upcoming year.
Equate A math version of scrabble. We spend a week using this as a review during our math time prior to moving up to the next level book.
Scrabble Junior We are using the junior version with my three year old to teach blending, recognize letters, etc. It is an interesting game we made up. My older one does spelling with this. He could use the regular version but alas -- I went with this to combine them.
Ant Farm We ordered our ants with the coupon we got from Insectlore but never received our ants and we have been waiting for 2 months now. I emailed the company and I got the ants within 3 days of my email. About half died within the first day, the rest died within 4 days. In other words -- our ant far was a big flop!
I Dig Dinosaurs This is so much fun! We got the t-rex version. It took us about 3 nights to un-dig all the bones. Another night to put it together and paint it. I used several books about archeology with this and we recorded our findings using a grid sheet. Guessed how we might put it together and what our dinosaur might look like. We used this along with the first 2 weeks of Science 2 when we were learning about dinosaurs. We ran out of paint. It you are planning on painting your model only 1 color - you will need to buy more.
Hands and Hearts History Kit - Middle Ages Love this, love this, love this! I only wished I had used it last year when so many people on the SL forums recommended it. It is worth the money I spent and more!
and.............
Usborne Books
Here is the list of Sonlight Usborne Books for Core 2 and Science 2.
Usborne Living World Encyclopedia
The Usborne Book of Knowledge
Science Activities, Volume 3
Time Traveler
Usborne Book of World History
Teacher Resources I used for the year are:
These are the books that I purchased for me this year. To help me learn more about homeschooling and to become a better teacher.
When They Rise Up
Generation Joshua
Life Skills For Kids
What Your Third Grader Needs To Know
The Latin Centered Curriculum
Other Supplements:
100 Things to Know about Knights and Castles We got this from the library as an introduction to our new core book. It was great! It has a good overview of the middle ages, quizzes about things covered, and some simple activities to do.
Usborne Supplements:
You can purchase these from you local consultant, retailer, or me!
The Great Castle Search Along the lines of an I spy book. Not a lot of learning is going on but it is fun for the kids and sometimes you just need some fun! The Great History Search Along the lines of an I spy book. Not a lot of learning is going on but it is fun for the kids and sometimes you just need some fun!
Uncle Pete the Pirate (Young Puzzle Adventures)
Uncle Pete's Pirate Adventure (Young Puzzle Adventures)
First Encyclopedia of History (IL)
1001 Things to Spot Long Ago Along the lines of an I spy book. Not a lot of learning is going on but it is fun for the kids and sometimes you just need some fun!
Puzzle Journey Through Time This is a fun book to do but not much learning is happening.
Puzzle Castle This is a fun book to do but not much learning is happening.
Puzzle Dungeon This is a fun book to do but not much learning is happening.
The Usborne Castle Jigsaw Book This is a great book for those who love puzzles!!
Castle of Intrigue Stories of Pirates
Treasure Island (Young Reading CD Packs) My boys love listening to things on CD and these stories are no exception. I tortured my oldest son (according to him) by making him read the book before listening to the CD. : -) The much rather just picture it in their heads without the book.
Gulliver's Travels (Young Reading CD Packs) My boys love listening to things on CD and these stories are no exception. I tortured my oldest son (according to him) by making him read the book before listening to the CD. : -) The much rather just picture it in their heads without the book.
Knights (Young Reading CD Packs) My boys love listening to things on CD and these stories are no exception. I tortured my oldest son (according to him) by making him read the book before listening to the CD. : -) The much rather just picture it in their heads without the book.
Pirates (Young Reading CD Packs) My boys love listening to things on CD and these stories are no exception. I tortured my oldest son (according to him) by making him read the book before listening to the CD. : -) The much rather just picture it in their heads without the book.
The Adventures of Sinbad the Sailor (Young Readers 1)
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Young Readers 1)
Stories of Knights (Young Readers 1)
See Inside Castles This one comes highly recommended from several people I know. If you want to buy a book about castles -- this is the one to get! This is one of the books on my wish list as well.
Aladdin and his Magical Lamp (Young Readers 1)
True Stories of Pirates better for Core 7
Stories of Pirates (Young Readers 1)
The Story of Castles (Young Readers 2)
The Story of Ships (Young Readers 2)
Tales of King Arthur (Young Readers 2)
Treasure Island (Young Readers 2)
Robinson Crusoe (Young Readers 2)
Gulliver's Travels (Young Readers 2)
Make this Model Trojan Horse
Make this Model Medieval Castle
Stories from Shakespeare
King Arthur
King Arthur's Knight Quest
Tales of Robin Hood
Tales of King Arthur (Paperback Classics)
Elizabeth 1 (Beginners)
Castles (Beginners)
Knights (Beginners)
Knights (IL) (Discovery)
Who Were the Vikings?
What were Castles For?
Alexander the Great (Famous lives)
Florence Nightgale (Famous Lives)
Victorians
Viking World
Castles (IL)
Knight's Handbook
Explorers (Famous lives)
2006-2007: My oldest son is moving right along through the cores at a pace of one per year despite the fact that he is a year younger than the SL recommended age. He loves learning and while it is true that he would get more out of it if he were older, I am still satisfied with what he is retaining. We all get more out of something if we come back to it with a little more wisdom and experience in out lives. That's why I continue to learn from the cores as well.
The boys have been anticipating this core for about 3 months now. They are fascinated with knights and castles at the moment. They can't wait to learn more about them.
Each year, I ask my children what they want to learn or what improvements I can make to their learning experience. This year the request was for more hands-on things to do. I am trying to make their wish come true and have added quite a bit of hands-on things.
Core 2
Readers 2 Intermediate I was surprised to see that this level still contained some level readers. SL tends to schedule these books with light reading and then a longer chapter book and then back to lighter leveled readers throughout the year.
Readers 2 Advanced
Sonlight Science 2 I love SL science but some people may have problems with the dinosaur book SL includes with this level. Pre-read it and decide for yourself whether or not this is a good fit for your family.
Classical Writing - Aesop A We are really enjoying this LA program. It is exactly what our family needed. We made 1 slight change though to better fit my sons needed for not a lot of handwriting in one day. Instead of doing the entire writing project on Friday. We space it out over the week. Monday we do the outline, Tuesday the rough draft, Wednesday we edit, and Friday my son types up his final draft and creates a picture to go along with the Fable. This is working great for us!
Classical Writing - Poetry for Beginners A This was originally recommended to be the second semester to Aesop A. The recommendations for this have recently changed and it has been moved to a second semester with Homer. I have not yet decided what to do with this.
Math-U-See Alpha, Beta, and Gamma? We have tried a ton of math stuff over the year. Please see school subjects for more information on why we choose this for this year. Alpha and Beta are both a review for my son and I am expecting each to take him around 1-2 months to complete.
Primary Grade Math Challenge I love this book! This is a great critical thinking math book and I highly recommend that everyone purchase this no matter what program you are using. It is fun for the kids and challenges them in a way I have seen no other book do. There is a follow-up book to this for older children.
The Story of the Orchestra Well... I am finally getting around to this. About time, right? :-) Debra has a great schedule for this. I will have to see if she will let me share it with all of you are not. If not -- you will have to ask her for it.
Art With A Purpose I found this last year at Rainbow Resource Center for about $5. It is a cheap easy to use art program. You need 2 packets. one to create samples for your child and one for your child. This teaches all the basics of art that I never thought of teaching. It also introduces art terminology. We will be using level 2 this year.
Color the Classics - Composers II There is 1 more book in this series that I am hoping to add to our year and then we have completed this series. I really like it a lot! We will also be finishing up the Christmas one from last year.
Prima Latina The DVD is instrumental for my family in using this program despite the fact that the teacher has a Southern Drawl. So far we are not finding the CD so helpful but that may change as the year goes on. Not all the vocabulary words are included with the flash cards. Teachers manual for this level is optional.
Signing Time I have recommended this several times already but just in case you haven't heard yet. BUY IT!! I love this program for teaching young children American Sign Language. They have a series to teach infants as well. There are free lesson plans and worksheets to use on their website. As well as activities. They are coming out with more and more videos all the time and now it is on PBS as well.
The Amazing Pop-Up Geography Book This is a great book! But for an older child who can be very careful as there are lots of flaps, strings, things to spin, pull, push and more in addition to the pop-ups. This is a really fun book to look at geography. Not sure how educational it is but lots of fun!
Computer Basics This book teaches basic computer terminology and parts. A great introduction to the computer. We will be studying more about computers in the future.
The Kids Guide to First Aid This is great! A simple book that teaches kids the basics from what is an emergency to have to clean a scrap. Includes some hands-on activities as well.
Life Skills for Kids This is one book that I wish I had purchased when my kids were still PK age. Well --2 of them still are but I wish I had it when the oldest was in PK. It has a lot of tips on how to help your children to grow up to be independent in a variety of different ways. Includes suggestions for chores for toddlers.
History Odyssey - Grammar Stage Middle Ages This is a history program that combines CHOW and SOTW along with some hands-on things. Since if it is not in a schedule then it probably won't get done -- I needed this for all the things I plan on using this upcoming year.
Equate A math version of scrabble. We spend a week using this as a review during our math time prior to moving up to the next level book.
Scrabble Junior We are using the junior version with my three year old to teach blending, recognize letters, etc. It is an interesting game we made up. My older one does spelling with this. He could use the regular version but alas -- I went with this to combine them.
Ant Farm We ordered our ants with the coupon we got from Insectlore but never received our ants and we have been waiting for 2 months now. I emailed the company and I got the ants within 3 days of my email. About half died within the first day, the rest died within 4 days. In other words -- our ant far was a big flop!
I Dig Dinosaurs This is so much fun! We got the t-rex version. It took us about 3 nights to un-dig all the bones. Another night to put it together and paint it. I used several books about archeology with this and we recorded our findings using a grid sheet. Guessed how we might put it together and what our dinosaur might look like. We used this along with the first 2 weeks of Science 2 when we were learning about dinosaurs. We ran out of paint. It you are planning on painting your model only 1 color - you will need to buy more.
Hands and Hearts History Kit - Middle Ages Love this, love this, love this! I only wished I had used it last year when so many people on the SL forums recommended it. It is worth the money I spent and more!
and.............
Usborne Books
Here is the list of Sonlight Usborne Books for Core 2 and Science 2.
Usborne Living World Encyclopedia
The Usborne Book of Knowledge
Science Activities, Volume 3
Time Traveler
Usborne Book of World History
Teacher Resources I used for the year are:
These are the books that I purchased for me this year. To help me learn more about homeschooling and to become a better teacher.
When They Rise Up
Generation Joshua
Life Skills For Kids
What Your Third Grader Needs To Know
The Latin Centered Curriculum
Other Supplements:
100 Things to Know about Knights and Castles We got this from the library as an introduction to our new core book. It was great! It has a good overview of the middle ages, quizzes about things covered, and some simple activities to do.
Usborne Supplements:
You can purchase these from you local consultant, retailer, or me!
The Great Castle Search Along the lines of an I spy book. Not a lot of learning is going on but it is fun for the kids and sometimes you just need some fun! The Great History Search Along the lines of an I spy book. Not a lot of learning is going on but it is fun for the kids and sometimes you just need some fun!
Uncle Pete the Pirate (Young Puzzle Adventures)
Uncle Pete's Pirate Adventure (Young Puzzle Adventures)
First Encyclopedia of History (IL)
1001 Things to Spot Long Ago Along the lines of an I spy book. Not a lot of learning is going on but it is fun for the kids and sometimes you just need some fun!
Puzzle Journey Through Time This is a fun book to do but not much learning is happening.
Puzzle Castle This is a fun book to do but not much learning is happening.
Puzzle Dungeon This is a fun book to do but not much learning is happening.
The Usborne Castle Jigsaw Book This is a great book for those who love puzzles!!
Castle of Intrigue Stories of Pirates
Treasure Island (Young Reading CD Packs) My boys love listening to things on CD and these stories are no exception. I tortured my oldest son (according to him) by making him read the book before listening to the CD. : -) The much rather just picture it in their heads without the book.
Gulliver's Travels (Young Reading CD Packs) My boys love listening to things on CD and these stories are no exception. I tortured my oldest son (according to him) by making him read the book before listening to the CD. : -) The much rather just picture it in their heads without the book.
Knights (Young Reading CD Packs) My boys love listening to things on CD and these stories are no exception. I tortured my oldest son (according to him) by making him read the book before listening to the CD. : -) The much rather just picture it in their heads without the book.
Pirates (Young Reading CD Packs) My boys love listening to things on CD and these stories are no exception. I tortured my oldest son (according to him) by making him read the book before listening to the CD. : -) The much rather just picture it in their heads without the book.
The Adventures of Sinbad the Sailor (Young Readers 1)
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Young Readers 1)
Stories of Knights (Young Readers 1)
See Inside Castles This one comes highly recommended from several people I know. If you want to buy a book about castles -- this is the one to get! This is one of the books on my wish list as well.
Aladdin and his Magical Lamp (Young Readers 1)
True Stories of Pirates better for Core 7
Stories of Pirates (Young Readers 1)
The Story of Castles (Young Readers 2)
The Story of Ships (Young Readers 2)
Tales of King Arthur (Young Readers 2)
Treasure Island (Young Readers 2)
Robinson Crusoe (Young Readers 2)
Gulliver's Travels (Young Readers 2)
Make this Model Trojan Horse
Make this Model Medieval Castle
Stories from Shakespeare
King Arthur
King Arthur's Knight Quest
Tales of Robin Hood
Tales of King Arthur (Paperback Classics)
Elizabeth 1 (Beginners)
Castles (Beginners)
Knights (Beginners)
Knights (IL) (Discovery)
Who Were the Vikings?
What were Castles For?
Alexander the Great (Famous lives)
Florence Nightgale (Famous Lives)
Victorians
Viking World
Castles (IL)
Knight's Handbook
Explorers (Famous lives)
Monday, August 25, 2008
Core 1
From Life Take 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2005-2006: Well... I thought I was going to be doing GTG this year but that did not work out so.... its onto Core 1!! I am so excited for this year to come and so is Kris. Last year we learned a lot from K and GTG .... things about Egypt, China, and other places that we get to learn even more about this year. Below is a list of resources we plan on using for the year. As usual.... I will try to keep you updated on how things are going, what is working and what isn't, etc... I am combining 3 complete history programs together in an effort to stretch this school year out for at least 18 months. My plan is to do the same for Core 2 which will get me that extra year I was wanting before getting to Core 3.
Core 1
Readers from Core 2
Uncle Josh's Outline Maps
Story of the World 1 & 2 with activity guides (note we will be using the first two weeks of volume 2 during week 36 of Core 1)
Mystery of History 1
Classic Myths To Read Aloud
What Your 1st Grader Needs to Know
Books for Boys
Reason For Handwriting Transition
Wordly Wise B
First Language Lessons (Started late last year. This is a 2 year program that we will hopefully be completing the same time as this core and not before then.)
Explode the Code 4,5,6
MCP B
Spelling Workout B & C
Come Look With Me: Exploring Landscape Art and World of Play
Artistic Pursuits K-3 Book 1
Color the Classics: Christmas Music and Patriotic Songs
SL Science 1
Apologia Elementary Science: Astronomy
Bastein Piano and Piano Lessons
Homeschool Family Fitness
Computer Basics
Little Book of Manners for Boys
Life Skills for Kids
My Cookie Business
Scott Foresman Exploring Mathematics 2 & 3 (We started in 2 last year after trying out so many different programs. This was a perfect fit in combination with Singapore for our family. So we will be finishing up 2 and 3 this year if all goes according to plan.)
Singapore 1B, 2A, 2B
Signing Time DVDs
Belitz Kids Spanish
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2005-2006: Well... I thought I was going to be doing GTG this year but that did not work out so.... its onto Core 1!! I am so excited for this year to come and so is Kris. Last year we learned a lot from K and GTG .... things about Egypt, China, and other places that we get to learn even more about this year. Below is a list of resources we plan on using for the year. As usual.... I will try to keep you updated on how things are going, what is working and what isn't, etc... I am combining 3 complete history programs together in an effort to stretch this school year out for at least 18 months. My plan is to do the same for Core 2 which will get me that extra year I was wanting before getting to Core 3.
Core 1
Readers from Core 2
Uncle Josh's Outline Maps
Story of the World 1 & 2 with activity guides (note we will be using the first two weeks of volume 2 during week 36 of Core 1)
Mystery of History 1
Classic Myths To Read Aloud
What Your 1st Grader Needs to Know
Books for Boys
Reason For Handwriting Transition
Wordly Wise B
First Language Lessons (Started late last year. This is a 2 year program that we will hopefully be completing the same time as this core and not before then.)
Explode the Code 4,5,6
MCP B
Spelling Workout B & C
Come Look With Me: Exploring Landscape Art and World of Play
Artistic Pursuits K-3 Book 1
Color the Classics: Christmas Music and Patriotic Songs
SL Science 1
Apologia Elementary Science: Astronomy
Bastein Piano and Piano Lessons
Homeschool Family Fitness
Computer Basics
Little Book of Manners for Boys
Life Skills for Kids
My Cookie Business
Scott Foresman Exploring Mathematics 2 & 3 (We started in 2 last year after trying out so many different programs. This was a perfect fit in combination with Singapore for our family. So we will be finishing up 2 and 3 this year if all goes according to plan.)
Singapore 1B, 2A, 2B
Signing Time DVDs
Belitz Kids Spanish
Core K
From Life Take 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2004-2005: My plans for our Kindergarten year is a lot!!! Boy am I ambious with a new little one due right smack dab in the middle of our school year. Below is a list of things I have ordered -- we will see how far I get, what get's moved to 1st Grade and what get's thrown out all together. I will let you know as we go along and I find time to update you all!! Here's my list, in addition to SL Core K:
Bob Jones K5 Bible Truths (We used this for 2 weeks and hated it. It is structured for a classroom and not a homeschool environment. On top of that, Kris complained because we weren't using a Bible for our daily Bible story. The only good thing I found from using this -- is that he truly did learn a lot more than I thought about the Bible using SL's Preschool Bible Program. From now on -- we will only be using SL for Bible studies.)
Kids 10 Commandment Videos (also called K10C; This is an excellent series that describes the 10 commandments using vocabulary and examples a child can relate too!)
Singapore Earlybird 2A & 2B with Saxon K (In hindsight I would have done Saxon K with Earlybird 1A & 1B last year and Saxon 1 this year with Earlybird 2A & 2B but that plan will wait until the next child. Saxon K is a preschool not a kindergarten program in my opinion. It could even be used prior to beginning the Singapore Earlybird Series. It is all manipulative based, no writing, no workbooks.)
Singapore Primary 1A/1B (we finished up the Earlybird series early and decided to keep going. About half way through 1A, I realized that Kris was able to do the work but was not learning or memorizing facts. He was still having to count on his fingers to know the answer to what 5+3 equals. So, we are yet again on a hunt for the perfect math program. We haven't found one but are now using a Scott Foresman Exploring Mathematics Series (which is out of print but still available through Academic Book Services or Ebay ... just make sure you get the right ones or you'll be disappointed!) and a Singapore Combo. This seems to work really well for us. He still needs help with memorization though.)
Saxon Math 1 (We ended up skipping Saxon K. It was simply to easy. Everything that was covered there is reviewed in depth in Saxon 1. My suggestion would be to save your money and skip K if Saxon is your math program of choice. We also ended up ditching Saxon math. It is just not a good fit for us and I could never make it work no matter how hard I tried. It is too boring, too repetive. We tried doing parts of it and tailoring it to fit our needs but still nothing works. We have to force ourselves to try and it simply isn't worth it.)
Rainbow Rock Cd-Rom (okay this is now back on my want list since we are doing Singapore again and Kris is begging for it. So we will see what it is like when it arrives. I pray that it is worth the money! Don't you all wish I would make up my mind?)
Quarter Mile Math Cd-Rom for K-3 (my son loves the horses and race cars in this program. It is really helping him build up the math facts that he so badly needed to learn. Another good thing to help with learning math facts is Calculadder. I have not personally used it but am considering it for the future as it somes highly recommended.)
Subtraction and Addition Songs (my sons loved this and the 1 yr old started counting to 3 after the first day of listening to the addition songs CD.)
SL Math Manipulatives Activities & Games (I have still yet to use this. Maybe if it was scheduled in someplace but alas it still collects dust on my shelf. Maybe some rainy day I will pull it out and discover what is inside.)
SL Science K (This was a great introduction to life sciences and how some things work. The things though are out of date. Consider getting the DK book The NEW way things work to supplement with. Makes a great addition and comes with an interactive CD-ROM. We rarely got to the science experiments except for once a month on family science day but the DVD was great as the kids could watch it over and over again and learned a lot of the terminology just from this.)
Startwrite Software (We use this to supplement our handwriting program. I also use for dictation or when my son wants to write a story or song. He tells me what he wants to write, I type it in this program and then have him trace it. This has worked great and has even improved his spelling since he is tracing words that he knows. Now he is trying to write these things on his own in his journal!)
MCP Phonics A
Bob Books/Readers (We have the whole set. These were great in the beginning but my son never got past the Level B Box 1 set. Not because he didn't need them any longer but because he got bored by the stories. He would much prefer easy reader books and muddle his way through those asking for help when he needed it.)
Reason For Handwriting K
Reason For Handwriting 1 (we finished up K early)
Usborne Internet Linked First Dictionary (We haven't really used the links yet but the dictionary itself is excellent!! It is easy enough for my son to use on his own to discover words to use with his spelling computer game.)
Saxon Phonics K
Saxon Phonics 1 (We finished K in less than 3 months and are moving onto Saxon Phonics 1. I cannot say enough good things about this program. It is easy to adapt to fit to the needs of your child, if it is too repetive (which it often is) you can easily skip that part but it is there if you need it and, as an added bonus, the way they present the phonics rules is superb! Thanks to these my sons spelling lessons are a breeze. As he tries to figure it out, I hear him repeating outloud to himself the various rules to fit his needs. We have had so much success using the first 2 Saxon phonics programs that I do not feel that we will need the third as he is already reading chapter books easily. So we will skip it and move onto other things.)
Wordly Wise A
SL LA 1 (parts of it. We are skipping the vocab, phonics, and spelling portions of this program. I ended up ditching this whole program with the exception of the optional workbooks and readers. Sonlight Language Arts is another program that no matter how hard I try to make it fit and work for our family -- it simply does not.)
SL LA 1 Readers
Language and Thinking for Young Children
Explode the Code 1,2,3
Usborne Peoples of the World (Actually ... we decided to combine GTG with Core K and it has been a great fit for us. Using the Create-A-Calendar that comes with the Core ... each month we have discovered a new country. We started a month before the calendar with the introduction and then each month the calendar chooses our country of the month. So we are once again using this book. We also did the Christmas study during the month of December. This will take us into Core 1 as it is a 16 month Calendar but that is okay. Also ... on the months when there is not much to find out at the library for the country we pick up another country that is in GTG but not on the calendar.)
Usborne Children's World Cookbook
It's Disgusting and We Ate it! (This book is hilarious and a fun way to learn about what other people eat around the world. Perfect for a K!!)
Come Look With Me Animals in Art & Come Look With Me Enjoying Art With Children
The Children's Book of Family and Home
Joseph The Canada Goose (Way to complicated for a 4-5 yr old. My hubby even thinks parts of this is too difficult for him -- we are shelving it for another year. Like Core 2?)
Start Smart Art Series (we replaced the above item with this -- much more age appropriate and fun!The crayons are very soft and after a few uses have started to curve to form against my sons hand. The also break easily. Well... to update you on this. We are now 6 months into the program. Save yourself some money and pick up a couple of color by number books at the grocery store. You will get the same results that we got here. The only thing Kris got out of this series was about shadows under objects and how to color in the lines.)
Color The Classics Godly Composers & Hymn Writers
Music Master CDs
The Story of Me
Visual Perception Skill Building 2
Can You Find Me? K
Dr. DooRiddles
Dale Seymour Critical Thinking for K-3 (we will only be doing the first part in each of the 3 sections -- you know the easy parts ... saving the rest of this book for later.)
Elmer & The Dragon, Dragons of Blueland (these were so fun to read and it seemed like one book instead of three. If you don't read these you are missing the ending to My Father's Dragon.)
Heroes For Young Readers Series (These are now available on audio CDs and with a curriculum guide. Both come highly recommended adn I am looking at purchasing these items in the future.)
Children Just Like Me Celebrations
A Life Like Mine
McGraw-Hill Animals Workbook (We used this as an introduction to animals and purchased several plastic animal kits so we could play with the animals we learned about.)
Singapore Start-Up Science books (much like the Earlybird Math series. Written at the same level in similar format. We went with these and dropped SL Science K for awhile because I was to pregnant to keep up with all the experiments.)
Everyday Graces (I love this book!! Every family should have one regardless if they homeschool or not. Teachs manners and life rules in the context of poetry and story exerpts. I highly recommend!)
And we will see what all else I add to this long list as well...... Remember this is what we are planning on accomplishing in a year. Not a day! Please note that some of the items we dropped because they simply did not work for our family -- the reasons why are listed above. If something doesn't get done this year --- we will simply add it onto the next. A lot of the extras are done on fun days when I simply don't want to do LA, Math, Science, etc... so I let Kris find something educational to do on his own. Or we do music or art or something else that is normally forgotten about.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2004-2005: My plans for our Kindergarten year is a lot!!! Boy am I ambious with a new little one due right smack dab in the middle of our school year. Below is a list of things I have ordered -- we will see how far I get, what get's moved to 1st Grade and what get's thrown out all together. I will let you know as we go along and I find time to update you all!! Here's my list, in addition to SL Core K:
Bob Jones K5 Bible Truths (We used this for 2 weeks and hated it. It is structured for a classroom and not a homeschool environment. On top of that, Kris complained because we weren't using a Bible for our daily Bible story. The only good thing I found from using this -- is that he truly did learn a lot more than I thought about the Bible using SL's Preschool Bible Program. From now on -- we will only be using SL for Bible studies.)
Kids 10 Commandment Videos (also called K10C; This is an excellent series that describes the 10 commandments using vocabulary and examples a child can relate too!)
Singapore Earlybird 2A & 2B with Saxon K (In hindsight I would have done Saxon K with Earlybird 1A & 1B last year and Saxon 1 this year with Earlybird 2A & 2B but that plan will wait until the next child. Saxon K is a preschool not a kindergarten program in my opinion. It could even be used prior to beginning the Singapore Earlybird Series. It is all manipulative based, no writing, no workbooks.)
Singapore Primary 1A/1B (we finished up the Earlybird series early and decided to keep going. About half way through 1A, I realized that Kris was able to do the work but was not learning or memorizing facts. He was still having to count on his fingers to know the answer to what 5+3 equals. So, we are yet again on a hunt for the perfect math program. We haven't found one but are now using a Scott Foresman Exploring Mathematics Series (which is out of print but still available through Academic Book Services or Ebay ... just make sure you get the right ones or you'll be disappointed!) and a Singapore Combo. This seems to work really well for us. He still needs help with memorization though.)
Saxon Math 1 (We ended up skipping Saxon K. It was simply to easy. Everything that was covered there is reviewed in depth in Saxon 1. My suggestion would be to save your money and skip K if Saxon is your math program of choice. We also ended up ditching Saxon math. It is just not a good fit for us and I could never make it work no matter how hard I tried. It is too boring, too repetive. We tried doing parts of it and tailoring it to fit our needs but still nothing works. We have to force ourselves to try and it simply isn't worth it.)
Rainbow Rock Cd-Rom (okay this is now back on my want list since we are doing Singapore again and Kris is begging for it. So we will see what it is like when it arrives. I pray that it is worth the money! Don't you all wish I would make up my mind?)
Quarter Mile Math Cd-Rom for K-3 (my son loves the horses and race cars in this program. It is really helping him build up the math facts that he so badly needed to learn. Another good thing to help with learning math facts is Calculadder. I have not personally used it but am considering it for the future as it somes highly recommended.)
Subtraction and Addition Songs (my sons loved this and the 1 yr old started counting to 3 after the first day of listening to the addition songs CD.)
SL Math Manipulatives Activities & Games (I have still yet to use this. Maybe if it was scheduled in someplace but alas it still collects dust on my shelf. Maybe some rainy day I will pull it out and discover what is inside.)
SL Science K (This was a great introduction to life sciences and how some things work. The things though are out of date. Consider getting the DK book The NEW way things work to supplement with. Makes a great addition and comes with an interactive CD-ROM. We rarely got to the science experiments except for once a month on family science day but the DVD was great as the kids could watch it over and over again and learned a lot of the terminology just from this.)
Startwrite Software (We use this to supplement our handwriting program. I also use for dictation or when my son wants to write a story or song. He tells me what he wants to write, I type it in this program and then have him trace it. This has worked great and has even improved his spelling since he is tracing words that he knows. Now he is trying to write these things on his own in his journal!)
MCP Phonics A
Bob Books/Readers (We have the whole set. These were great in the beginning but my son never got past the Level B Box 1 set. Not because he didn't need them any longer but because he got bored by the stories. He would much prefer easy reader books and muddle his way through those asking for help when he needed it.)
Reason For Handwriting K
Reason For Handwriting 1 (we finished up K early)
Usborne Internet Linked First Dictionary (We haven't really used the links yet but the dictionary itself is excellent!! It is easy enough for my son to use on his own to discover words to use with his spelling computer game.)
Saxon Phonics K
Saxon Phonics 1 (We finished K in less than 3 months and are moving onto Saxon Phonics 1. I cannot say enough good things about this program. It is easy to adapt to fit to the needs of your child, if it is too repetive (which it often is) you can easily skip that part but it is there if you need it and, as an added bonus, the way they present the phonics rules is superb! Thanks to these my sons spelling lessons are a breeze. As he tries to figure it out, I hear him repeating outloud to himself the various rules to fit his needs. We have had so much success using the first 2 Saxon phonics programs that I do not feel that we will need the third as he is already reading chapter books easily. So we will skip it and move onto other things.)
Wordly Wise A
SL LA 1 (parts of it. We are skipping the vocab, phonics, and spelling portions of this program. I ended up ditching this whole program with the exception of the optional workbooks and readers. Sonlight Language Arts is another program that no matter how hard I try to make it fit and work for our family -- it simply does not.)
SL LA 1 Readers
Language and Thinking for Young Children
Explode the Code 1,2,3
Usborne Peoples of the World (Actually ... we decided to combine GTG with Core K and it has been a great fit for us. Using the Create-A-Calendar that comes with the Core ... each month we have discovered a new country. We started a month before the calendar with the introduction and then each month the calendar chooses our country of the month. So we are once again using this book. We also did the Christmas study during the month of December. This will take us into Core 1 as it is a 16 month Calendar but that is okay. Also ... on the months when there is not much to find out at the library for the country we pick up another country that is in GTG but not on the calendar.)
Usborne Children's World Cookbook
It's Disgusting and We Ate it! (This book is hilarious and a fun way to learn about what other people eat around the world. Perfect for a K!!)
Come Look With Me Animals in Art & Come Look With Me Enjoying Art With Children
The Children's Book of Family and Home
Joseph The Canada Goose (Way to complicated for a 4-5 yr old. My hubby even thinks parts of this is too difficult for him -- we are shelving it for another year. Like Core 2?)
Start Smart Art Series (we replaced the above item with this -- much more age appropriate and fun!The crayons are very soft and after a few uses have started to curve to form against my sons hand. The also break easily. Well... to update you on this. We are now 6 months into the program. Save yourself some money and pick up a couple of color by number books at the grocery store. You will get the same results that we got here. The only thing Kris got out of this series was about shadows under objects and how to color in the lines.)
Color The Classics Godly Composers & Hymn Writers
Music Master CDs
The Story of Me
Visual Perception Skill Building 2
Can You Find Me? K
Dr. DooRiddles
Dale Seymour Critical Thinking for K-3 (we will only be doing the first part in each of the 3 sections -- you know the easy parts ... saving the rest of this book for later.)
Elmer & The Dragon, Dragons of Blueland (these were so fun to read and it seemed like one book instead of three. If you don't read these you are missing the ending to My Father's Dragon.)
Heroes For Young Readers Series (These are now available on audio CDs and with a curriculum guide. Both come highly recommended adn I am looking at purchasing these items in the future.)
Children Just Like Me Celebrations
A Life Like Mine
McGraw-Hill Animals Workbook (We used this as an introduction to animals and purchased several plastic animal kits so we could play with the animals we learned about.)
Singapore Start-Up Science books (much like the Earlybird Math series. Written at the same level in similar format. We went with these and dropped SL Science K for awhile because I was to pregnant to keep up with all the experiments.)
Everyday Graces (I love this book!! Every family should have one regardless if they homeschool or not. Teachs manners and life rules in the context of poetry and story exerpts. I highly recommend!)
And we will see what all else I add to this long list as well...... Remember this is what we are planning on accomplishing in a year. Not a day! Please note that some of the items we dropped because they simply did not work for our family -- the reasons why are listed above. If something doesn't get done this year --- we will simply add it onto the next. A lot of the extras are done on fun days when I simply don't want to do LA, Math, Science, etc... so I let Kris find something educational to do on his own. Or we do music or art or something else that is normally forgotten about.
Amy's Theme Schedule
From Life Take 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While, for my family, themes or unit studies simply do not work -- this is the best schedule I have seen using materials from SL Core's K and PK programs. The versatility of the program is great!! Just pick what you want to learn and when. You can use the weeks in any order that best suits your family. Once again, a copy of this schedule is only available through the SL Preschool Yahoo Group. Information on joining this group and obtaining a copy of this schedule is available above -- look under the heading of Janet's Schedule. Also, Amy has done a lot of research online and has a list of websites that you can use with the stories in Core PK and K. This is a great resource for either Core regardless if you are using her schedule or not. To obtain a list of links, please visit Amy's website. If you are looking for something to do with your preschooler for Christmas, Amy has an amazing Advent study that she is sharing with all of us called a Journey to Bethlenam. I highly recommend you go and check it out! One otehr note, at the end of Amy's theme schedule is an appendix. This has a list of questions for use with the Children's Book of Art. This is an excellent resource and highly recommend you take a look at it for use with this SL PK book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While, for my family, themes or unit studies simply do not work -- this is the best schedule I have seen using materials from SL Core's K and PK programs. The versatility of the program is great!! Just pick what you want to learn and when. You can use the weeks in any order that best suits your family. Once again, a copy of this schedule is only available through the SL Preschool Yahoo Group. Information on joining this group and obtaining a copy of this schedule is available above -- look under the heading of Janet's Schedule. Also, Amy has done a lot of research online and has a list of websites that you can use with the stories in Core PK and K. This is a great resource for either Core regardless if you are using her schedule or not. To obtain a list of links, please visit Amy's website. If you are looking for something to do with your preschooler for Christmas, Amy has an amazing Advent study that she is sharing with all of us called a Journey to Bethlenam. I highly recommend you go and check it out! One otehr note, at the end of Amy's theme schedule is an appendix. This has a list of questions for use with the Children's Book of Art. This is an excellent resource and highly recommend you take a look at it for use with this SL PK book.
Janet's PK Schedule
From Life Take 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Janet Fitt's is the creator of a Preschool Schedule based upon Sonlight's Core Preschool Program. She began creating this many years ago prior to when Sonlight had its own schedule (which was first released in 2003) for use with her own children and has been gracious enough to share it with all of us. In addition to this, she continues to minister to many preschool families by continuing to improve this schedule yearly even though her children have since outgrown this level.
Beginning in 2003, she shared not only her schedule for the Sonlight books but all the extras that she has found to work with this program over the years. This makes for a nice well-rounded curriculum perfect for the older preschooler. We used this our second year through Core PK and loved every minute of it. Due to the nature of the things she adds this would also make an excellent K program.
The schedule starts off with the easier stories and slowly increases the child's attention span capabilities preparing them for Core K. If you are interested in recieveing a free copy of this schedule, you will need to join (for free) the SL Preschool Group through yahoo! This is also a great place to get all your questions answered about preschool and parenting the preschool child.
SLPreschool
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Janet Fitt's is the creator of a Preschool Schedule based upon Sonlight's Core Preschool Program. She began creating this many years ago prior to when Sonlight had its own schedule (which was first released in 2003) for use with her own children and has been gracious enough to share it with all of us. In addition to this, she continues to minister to many preschool families by continuing to improve this schedule yearly even though her children have since outgrown this level.
Beginning in 2003, she shared not only her schedule for the Sonlight books but all the extras that she has found to work with this program over the years. This makes for a nice well-rounded curriculum perfect for the older preschooler. We used this our second year through Core PK and loved every minute of it. Due to the nature of the things she adds this would also make an excellent K program.
The schedule starts off with the easier stories and slowly increases the child's attention span capabilities preparing them for Core K. If you are interested in recieveing a free copy of this schedule, you will need to join (for free) the SL Preschool Group through yahoo! This is also a great place to get all your questions answered about preschool and parenting the preschool child.
SLPreschool
Special Needs Children
Each one of us thinks that our children are unique and special. And we are all right, they are. Each child comes with his or her own unique set of talents and gifts that enrich the lives of those lucky enough to know them. However, some of us are challenged more than others.
Some parents have children who have special needs. On one end of the spectrum, they can be developmentally delayed, emotionally delayed, or physically delayed. If the experience of having a child wasn't enough, these parents face additional challenges and must make modifications to any program they seek to use. On the opposite side of the scale, is another group of parents with gifted children. They too must face additional challenges and must modify any curriculum they use.
Both of these types of parents struggle with the decision of whether or not they are making the right decision for their child. They are often faced with ridicule by the very people who should be supporting them. If you know any family in one of these situations, please provide support, love, guidance, and prayers for them as they year on this difficult, often rocky but so rewarding journey.
For my family, my oldest child is extremely gifted. My middle child is moderately gifted, and the baby of the family I am still figuring out. My challenge is not seeking curriculum that is challenging enough but finding a curriculum that is challenging but not overly mature for my crew. My decisions are often questioned as many feel that I push my children to hard. In reality, the opposite is true. My to-do list is never quite enough. They are always left with the task of wanting and needing more. To delve deeper has been a mainstay of what we do around here. To see all sides of the story and to draw our own conclusions. For your family, it maybe different.
This is my warning for all of those trying to follow in my footsteps... if your child is "average" you will want to follow a year or two behind. If your child is "gifted" feel free to follow along on our journey. There is a lot of information on this site for a lot of diffrent types of people. I hope it will help you all on your own individual journeys. I wish you all the best of luck!
Some parents have children who have special needs. On one end of the spectrum, they can be developmentally delayed, emotionally delayed, or physically delayed. If the experience of having a child wasn't enough, these parents face additional challenges and must make modifications to any program they seek to use. On the opposite side of the scale, is another group of parents with gifted children. They too must face additional challenges and must modify any curriculum they use.
Both of these types of parents struggle with the decision of whether or not they are making the right decision for their child. They are often faced with ridicule by the very people who should be supporting them. If you know any family in one of these situations, please provide support, love, guidance, and prayers for them as they year on this difficult, often rocky but so rewarding journey.
For my family, my oldest child is extremely gifted. My middle child is moderately gifted, and the baby of the family I am still figuring out. My challenge is not seeking curriculum that is challenging enough but finding a curriculum that is challenging but not overly mature for my crew. My decisions are often questioned as many feel that I push my children to hard. In reality, the opposite is true. My to-do list is never quite enough. They are always left with the task of wanting and needing more. To delve deeper has been a mainstay of what we do around here. To see all sides of the story and to draw our own conclusions. For your family, it maybe different.
This is my warning for all of those trying to follow in my footsteps... if your child is "average" you will want to follow a year or two behind. If your child is "gifted" feel free to follow along on our journey. There is a lot of information on this site for a lot of diffrent types of people. I hope it will help you all on your own individual journeys. I wish you all the best of luck!
Preschool II
From Life Take 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2003-2004: This year we will start preparing our child for what will be expected of them in the coming years. Workbooks are now a part of our daily lessons and school is no longer an option based upon our child's desires. However, our day is still limited to 30 minutes unless more is requested by the child.
We will be using the following items:
SL Core PK (this time with the workbooks except for DEL Book 4 which was too difficult and I am saving for Core K)
Janet Fitt's Comprehensive PK Schedule (uses Core SL with other materials she has added in to supplement -- most are listed below)
SL K LA (I found the lack of instruction on blending hard to overcome. While the activities were fun and my son was grasping the idea, he was not fully understanding it at all. The activity sheets were easy for him and the optional workbooks are NECESSARY -- I found this out after trying the program for 9 weeks getting no where. He learnt more in 1 week from the workbooks than the whole 9 weeks without them.)
HWT (Great for hands on manipulatives -- I highly recommend the new preschool program available through their website. My son however found the two line theory confusing and did not like the letter shapes.)
Reading Made Easy (We tried this but it intimidated my son because his reading was included in the teacher's manual (everything is in the one book). This is a great program and I personally loved it. It was prefered over 100 EX Lessons by Rainbow Resource Center and I have to agree with their recommendation. We will be trying something else now.)
Phonics Songs
Ready, Set, Go for the Code (the optional workbooks for SL K LA)
MCP Phonics K (My son's favorite workbook. Very colorful with lots and lots of great information for those learning letter sounds!)
Singapore Earlybird Math 1A & 1B
Manipulatives: Pattern Blocks, Attribute Blocks, Linking Cubes, Counting Bears, Cuisenaire Rods
World & US Maps
Hundreds Chart
Cuisenaire Alphabet Book
Visual Perceptual Skill Building 1
Building Thinking Skills - Primary
Lots of art supplies
A Bear Called Paddington
Children's Book of Faith, Children's Book of Family and Home, Children's Book of Heroes, Children's Book of America
The Science Encyclopedia
20th Century Children's Poetry Treasury (My son loved this -- some are absolutely hysterical!!)
Ian and The Green Leafy Obstacle
Usborne Pocket Scientist Books -- Red and Blue (Internet Linked)
Pattern Block Cards from SL and Pattern Block Animals
Usborne Starting To Measure Workbook
Big Book of Beatrix Potter
The Story of Me
Snake Stories From Africa
In hindsight, I plan to add the following items for my upcoming children when they reach this level:
Saxon Math K
Come Look With Me: American Indian Art; Come Look With Me: Art In Early America
Complete Book of Arts & Crafts
Can You Find Me? Preschool
Fitness at Home
Teacher Resources I used for the year are:
What Your Kindergartner needs to know
Ruth Beechick's 3 R's
From Playpen To Podium (used from birth on)
Homeschool Easy Records
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2003-2004: This year we will start preparing our child for what will be expected of them in the coming years. Workbooks are now a part of our daily lessons and school is no longer an option based upon our child's desires. However, our day is still limited to 30 minutes unless more is requested by the child.
We will be using the following items:
SL Core PK (this time with the workbooks except for DEL Book 4 which was too difficult and I am saving for Core K)
Janet Fitt's Comprehensive PK Schedule (uses Core SL with other materials she has added in to supplement -- most are listed below)
SL K LA (I found the lack of instruction on blending hard to overcome. While the activities were fun and my son was grasping the idea, he was not fully understanding it at all. The activity sheets were easy for him and the optional workbooks are NECESSARY -- I found this out after trying the program for 9 weeks getting no where. He learnt more in 1 week from the workbooks than the whole 9 weeks without them.)
HWT (Great for hands on manipulatives -- I highly recommend the new preschool program available through their website. My son however found the two line theory confusing and did not like the letter shapes.)
Reading Made Easy (We tried this but it intimidated my son because his reading was included in the teacher's manual (everything is in the one book). This is a great program and I personally loved it. It was prefered over 100 EX Lessons by Rainbow Resource Center and I have to agree with their recommendation. We will be trying something else now.)
Phonics Songs
Ready, Set, Go for the Code (the optional workbooks for SL K LA)
MCP Phonics K (My son's favorite workbook. Very colorful with lots and lots of great information for those learning letter sounds!)
Singapore Earlybird Math 1A & 1B
Manipulatives: Pattern Blocks, Attribute Blocks, Linking Cubes, Counting Bears, Cuisenaire Rods
World & US Maps
Hundreds Chart
Cuisenaire Alphabet Book
Visual Perceptual Skill Building 1
Building Thinking Skills - Primary
Lots of art supplies
A Bear Called Paddington
Children's Book of Faith, Children's Book of Family and Home, Children's Book of Heroes, Children's Book of America
The Science Encyclopedia
20th Century Children's Poetry Treasury (My son loved this -- some are absolutely hysterical!!)
Ian and The Green Leafy Obstacle
Usborne Pocket Scientist Books -- Red and Blue (Internet Linked)
Pattern Block Cards from SL and Pattern Block Animals
Usborne Starting To Measure Workbook
Big Book of Beatrix Potter
The Story of Me
Snake Stories From Africa
In hindsight, I plan to add the following items for my upcoming children when they reach this level:
Saxon Math K
Come Look With Me: American Indian Art; Come Look With Me: Art In Early America
Complete Book of Arts & Crafts
Can You Find Me? Preschool
Fitness at Home
Teacher Resources I used for the year are:
What Your Kindergartner needs to know
Ruth Beechick's 3 R's
From Playpen To Podium (used from birth on)
Homeschool Easy Records
Preschool I
From Life Take 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2002-2003: This year no workbooks are used. This is to be a very relaxed year designed to introduce your child to good literature and to instill a love of learning. Hands-on projects can be added on as your child desires. This is also the time to instill discpline and character into your children.
We will be using the following items:
Sonlight Core Preschool
Manipulatives: Pattern Blocks, Attribute Blocks, Linking Cubes, Lacing Beads, Counting Bears
Don't Move the Muffin Tins by Bev Boss
Counting on Math
Coreknowledge Preschool Cd's
Lots of art supplies
In hindsight, I plan on using this with the next child(ren):
Veggie Tale Videos, Sesame Street Videos
Me & My Place In Space, Me on the Map, Me & My Family Tree
I Spy An Alphabet In Art
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2002-2003: This year no workbooks are used. This is to be a very relaxed year designed to introduce your child to good literature and to instill a love of learning. Hands-on projects can be added on as your child desires. This is also the time to instill discpline and character into your children.
We will be using the following items:
Sonlight Core Preschool
Manipulatives: Pattern Blocks, Attribute Blocks, Linking Cubes, Lacing Beads, Counting Bears
Don't Move the Muffin Tins by Bev Boss
Counting on Math
Coreknowledge Preschool Cd's
Lots of art supplies
In hindsight, I plan on using this with the next child(ren):
Veggie Tale Videos, Sesame Street Videos
Me & My Place In Space, Me on the Map, Me & My Family Tree
I Spy An Alphabet In Art
Preschool
From Life Take 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We began our homeschooling journey in 2002 with our 2 1/2 year old son Kris. He began begging for school He already knew his colors, shapes, Could count to 10 and say the alphabet but he desired to know so much more. So, reluctantly, I ordered Sonlight Core PK to instruct him. Thinking he is much to young for this -- he quickly proved me wrong!!!
I believe every child deserves a nice slow introduction to school and all the things a good quality education will require of a child. For this reason, I believe in two years of preschool. Each taught at the child's pace and only for instruction to begin when the child shows an interest and desire for knowledge.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We began our homeschooling journey in 2002 with our 2 1/2 year old son Kris. He began begging for school He already knew his colors, shapes, Could count to 10 and say the alphabet but he desired to know so much more. So, reluctantly, I ordered Sonlight Core PK to instruct him. Thinking he is much to young for this -- he quickly proved me wrong!!!
I believe every child deserves a nice slow introduction to school and all the things a good quality education will require of a child. For this reason, I believe in two years of preschool. Each taught at the child's pace and only for instruction to begin when the child shows an interest and desire for knowledge.
Meeting Other Sonlight Families
From Life Take 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part of homeschooling is seek out the support of other families like yourself who homeschool. Often times, they will be able to steer you to better products or help you when you have a question on what to use next or an issue comes up while your teaching and you need an answer now. These relationships are not only important to you but to your children as well.
To meet other Sonlight Families, please consider the following suggestions. And remember, these groups are only as good as its members. They will require your attention and support in order for them to work successfully.
Sonlight Meetup
Well -- now you can!! Simply click on the link below to find people in your area to meet and plan lots of fun things to do together!! Sonlight Meetup
Yahoo Groups
Search for Sonlight or Sonlight plus your state. You will find a variety of support groups for a wide variety of people.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part of homeschooling is seek out the support of other families like yourself who homeschool. Often times, they will be able to steer you to better products or help you when you have a question on what to use next or an issue comes up while your teaching and you need an answer now. These relationships are not only important to you but to your children as well.
To meet other Sonlight Families, please consider the following suggestions. And remember, these groups are only as good as its members. They will require your attention and support in order for them to work successfully.
Sonlight Meetup
Well -- now you can!! Simply click on the link below to find people in your area to meet and plan lots of fun things to do together!! Sonlight Meetup
Yahoo Groups
Search for Sonlight or Sonlight plus your state. You will find a variety of support groups for a wide variety of people.
Sonlight Language Arts
From Life Take 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There seem to always be a ton of questions regarding how to pair up a core with a language arts level -- especially considering that Sonlight recommends that the correspond with one another. Below is the breakdown chart -- this should help answer/clarify things for you.
Core LA Level Readers
K K comes with LA
K Advance 1 1
1 1 1
1 Advance 2 2
2 2 2
2 Advance 2 Advance 2 Advance
3 3 3
3 Advance 3 Extra*
Once you get to Core 3, advance simply means that there are more readers than with the regular program until advance no longer becomes an option in the higher Core levels. Advanced 2 LA is a special level that Sonlight made to help those using the advanced option to even out with Core 3. This level can be skipped -- it is just for those using the Advanced 2 level.
A lot of people use Core PK with LA K. This is a great fit and then sets you up to use the Advance LA track until you hit Core 3. At Core 3, you will need to decide if your child is a book eater or not. Book eaters -- use the advance Core with the extra reading books. Everyone else go with the regular program.
Can I use SL readers without their LA program?
Yes, the readers and advanced readers are scheduled in the Core Instructor Guides. If you wish to use an LA program other than SL's make sure you get readers that fit your child's current abilities and then follow the schedule for your core. In the younger years, you have 2 options for level of readers. In later cores, only one. It is that simple.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There seem to always be a ton of questions regarding how to pair up a core with a language arts level -- especially considering that Sonlight recommends that the correspond with one another. Below is the breakdown chart -- this should help answer/clarify things for you.
Core LA Level Readers
K K comes with LA
K Advance 1 1
1 1 1
1 Advance 2 2
2 2 2
2 Advance 2 Advance 2 Advance
3 3 3
3 Advance 3 Extra*
Once you get to Core 3, advance simply means that there are more readers than with the regular program until advance no longer becomes an option in the higher Core levels. Advanced 2 LA is a special level that Sonlight made to help those using the advanced option to even out with Core 3. This level can be skipped -- it is just for those using the Advanced 2 level.
A lot of people use Core PK with LA K. This is a great fit and then sets you up to use the Advance LA track until you hit Core 3. At Core 3, you will need to decide if your child is a book eater or not. Book eaters -- use the advance Core with the extra reading books. Everyone else go with the regular program.
Can I use SL readers without their LA program?
Yes, the readers and advanced readers are scheduled in the Core Instructor Guides. If you wish to use an LA program other than SL's make sure you get readers that fit your child's current abilities and then follow the schedule for your core. In the younger years, you have 2 options for level of readers. In later cores, only one. It is that simple.
Sonlight Facts
From Life Take 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sonlight can be overwhelming and confusing to anyone new to the curriculum but don't worry -- help is available!! And, once you get used to Sonlight, you will find it a breeze to comprehend. My first suggestion is to order the catalog, read through it; this will help clarify things and has a lot of useful information.
Cores Not Grade Levels
Sonlight was designed so that families with multiple children can study together using one program. Therefore, a Core is not equal to a grade level but can be used with a grade range. Please visit "How To Choose", for more information. Another great article on this topic is "How Can I possibly use a K program with a 2nd grader?"
To Use Or Not To Use
I have never come across a homeschool supplier before who actually lists out the reason why not to use their program but Sonlight does. It is just another example of how much they value their customers and how each one is considered a member of the family. For information on why NOT to use Sonlight, please click here. For information on why families love using Sonlight, please click here.
More Great Information
I cannot possible explain all the great things that I have come to love about Sonlight. Is it the forums, where I have unlimited access 24 hours a day 7 days a week from not only Sonlight Staff but homeschooling families who have been there done that? Is it the instructor's guides that have everything so carefully planned out for me with notes and more about what I am teaching? Is it all the great things I recieve along with my order (some for free)? Is it the possibility of a scholarship from Sonlight for my child's college education? Is it the online product samples that I can view?
I would have to say its all of these things and so very much more. If you want to read even more great articles about Sonlight and the opportunities it presents for your family, please click here.
If This Site Helped You......
Please make sure that you let Sonlight know on your order form when you registered, that Misty R. in AZ, was the consultant you spoke with. You can get to the Sonlight website by clicking on any of the banners that you see on this site or right here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sonlight can be overwhelming and confusing to anyone new to the curriculum but don't worry -- help is available!! And, once you get used to Sonlight, you will find it a breeze to comprehend. My first suggestion is to order the catalog, read through it; this will help clarify things and has a lot of useful information.
Cores Not Grade Levels
Sonlight was designed so that families with multiple children can study together using one program. Therefore, a Core is not equal to a grade level but can be used with a grade range. Please visit "How To Choose", for more information. Another great article on this topic is "How Can I possibly use a K program with a 2nd grader?"
To Use Or Not To Use
I have never come across a homeschool supplier before who actually lists out the reason why not to use their program but Sonlight does. It is just another example of how much they value their customers and how each one is considered a member of the family. For information on why NOT to use Sonlight, please click here. For information on why families love using Sonlight, please click here.
More Great Information
I cannot possible explain all the great things that I have come to love about Sonlight. Is it the forums, where I have unlimited access 24 hours a day 7 days a week from not only Sonlight Staff but homeschooling families who have been there done that? Is it the instructor's guides that have everything so carefully planned out for me with notes and more about what I am teaching? Is it all the great things I recieve along with my order (some for free)? Is it the possibility of a scholarship from Sonlight for my child's college education? Is it the online product samples that I can view?
I would have to say its all of these things and so very much more. If you want to read even more great articles about Sonlight and the opportunities it presents for your family, please click here.
If This Site Helped You......
Please make sure that you let Sonlight know on your order form when you registered, that Misty R. in AZ, was the consultant you spoke with. You can get to the Sonlight website by clicking on any of the banners that you see on this site or right here.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Long Term Planning
From Life Take 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is something everyone thinks about and I know is something we all try to do but it is hard. I try to keep my long term planning simple so that I still have lots of room to change. Sometimes we manage to stay on track and other times ... you just have to throw out your ideas and start all over again. Here is my plan.... for now............
School Year Kris Zac Ben
2002-2003 Core PK
2003-2004 Core PK - Janet
2004-2005 Core K
2005-2006 Core 1
2006-2007 Core 2 Core PK
2007-2008 Core 3 Core A Core A
2008-2009 Core 4 Core B - Janet Core B - Janet
2009-2010 Core 5 Core K Core K
2010-2011 Core 6 Core 1 Core 1
2011-2012 Core 7 Core 2 Core 2
2012-2013 Core 100 Core 3 Core 3
2013-2014 Core 200 Core 4 Core 4
2014-2015 Core 300 Core 5 Core 5
2015-2016 Core 400 Core 6 Core 6
2017-2018 Core 530 Core 7 Core 7
2018-2019 Graduated/College Core 100 Core 100
2019-2020 Core 200 Core 200
2020-2021 Core 300 Core 300
2021-2022 Core 400 Core 400
2022-2023 Graduated/College Core 530
2023-2024 Graduated/College
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is something everyone thinks about and I know is something we all try to do but it is hard. I try to keep my long term planning simple so that I still have lots of room to change. Sometimes we manage to stay on track and other times ... you just have to throw out your ideas and start all over again. Here is my plan.... for now............
School Year Kris Zac Ben
2002-2003 Core PK
2003-2004 Core PK - Janet
2004-2005 Core K
2005-2006 Core 1
2006-2007 Core 2 Core PK
2007-2008 Core 3 Core A Core A
2008-2009 Core 4 Core B - Janet Core B - Janet
2009-2010 Core 5 Core K Core K
2010-2011 Core 6 Core 1 Core 1
2011-2012 Core 7 Core 2 Core 2
2012-2013 Core 100 Core 3 Core 3
2013-2014 Core 200 Core 4 Core 4
2014-2015 Core 300 Core 5 Core 5
2015-2016 Core 400 Core 6 Core 6
2017-2018 Core 530 Core 7 Core 7
2018-2019 Graduated/College Core 100 Core 100
2019-2020 Core 200 Core 200
2020-2021 Core 300 Core 300
2021-2022 Core 400 Core 400
2022-2023 Graduated/College Core 530
2023-2024 Graduated/College
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Referral
From Life Take 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please make sure that you let Sonlight know on your order form when you registered, that Misty R. in AZ, was the consultant you spoke with. You can get to the Sonlight website by clicking on any of the banners that you see on this site or right here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please make sure that you let Sonlight know on your order form when you registered, that Misty R. in AZ, was the consultant you spoke with. You can get to the Sonlight website by clicking on any of the banners that you see on this site or right here.
Tips For Sonlight
From Life Take 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sonlight can be overwhelming and confusing to anyone new to the curriculum but don't worry -- help is available!! And, once you get used to Sonlight, you will find it a breeze to comprehend. My first suggestion is to order the catalog, read through it; this will help clarify things and has a lot of useful information.
Cores Not Grade Levels
Sonlight was designed so that families with multiple children can study together using one program. Therefore, a Core is not equal to a grade level but can be used with a grade range. Please visit "How To Choose", for more information. Another great article on this topic is "How Can I possibly use a K program with a 2nd grader?"
To Use Or Not To Use
I have never come across a homeschool supplier before who actually lists out the reason why not to use their program but Sonlight does. It is just another example of how much they value their customers and how each one is considered a member of the family. For information on why NOT to use Sonlight, please click here. For information on why families love using Sonlight, please click here.
More Great Information
I cannot possible explain all the great things that I have come to love about Sonlight. Is it the forums, where I have unlimited access 24 hours a day 7 days a week from not only Sonlight Staff but homeschooling families who have been there done that? Is it the instructor's guides that have everything so carefully planned out for me with notes and more about what I am teaching? Is it all the great things I recieve along with my order (some for free)? Is it the possibility of a scholarship from Sonlight for my child's college education? Is it the online product samples that I can view?
I would have to say its all of these things and so very much more. If you want to read even more great articles about Sonlight and the opportunities it presents for your family, please click here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sonlight can be overwhelming and confusing to anyone new to the curriculum but don't worry -- help is available!! And, once you get used to Sonlight, you will find it a breeze to comprehend. My first suggestion is to order the catalog, read through it; this will help clarify things and has a lot of useful information.
Cores Not Grade Levels
Sonlight was designed so that families with multiple children can study together using one program. Therefore, a Core is not equal to a grade level but can be used with a grade range. Please visit "How To Choose", for more information. Another great article on this topic is "How Can I possibly use a K program with a 2nd grader?"
To Use Or Not To Use
I have never come across a homeschool supplier before who actually lists out the reason why not to use their program but Sonlight does. It is just another example of how much they value their customers and how each one is considered a member of the family. For information on why NOT to use Sonlight, please click here. For information on why families love using Sonlight, please click here.
More Great Information
I cannot possible explain all the great things that I have come to love about Sonlight. Is it the forums, where I have unlimited access 24 hours a day 7 days a week from not only Sonlight Staff but homeschooling families who have been there done that? Is it the instructor's guides that have everything so carefully planned out for me with notes and more about what I am teaching? Is it all the great things I recieve along with my order (some for free)? Is it the possibility of a scholarship from Sonlight for my child's college education? Is it the online product samples that I can view?
I would have to say its all of these things and so very much more. If you want to read even more great articles about Sonlight and the opportunities it presents for your family, please click here.
About Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
From Life Take 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd. is a Christian, world-focused, mission-oriented curriculum that is based upon great literature. It uses the philosophy of Ruth Beechick as a backdrop for their instructor guides and correlates nicely with Charlotte Mason and Classical educational theories of home education. This program can be adapted for use with secular families and/or to teach children of multiple levels using one core. The options, thoroughness, and planning that Sonlight does for you makes it worth every penny you will spend.
However, as you will soon find out, Sonlight is more than just a curriculum. It’s a family of homeschoolers all over the globe who help and support one another. The forums offer a great resource to answer any questions you may have. It is also a place to meet others, pray, laugh, and share about your life.
If Sonlight sounds like the right curriculum for you or you would like more information, please feel free to email me, visit the Sonlight Forums, and I would also highly recommend that you visit this page -- which is all about the Sonlight experience.
Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd. is a Christian, world-focused, mission-oriented curriculum that is based upon great literature. It uses the philosophy of Ruth Beechick as a backdrop for their instructor guides and correlates nicely with Charlotte Mason and Classical educational theories of home education. This program can be adapted for use with secular families and/or to teach children of multiple levels using one core. The options, thoroughness, and planning that Sonlight does for you makes it worth every penny you will spend.
However, as you will soon find out, Sonlight is more than just a curriculum. It’s a family of homeschoolers all over the globe who help and support one another. The forums offer a great resource to answer any questions you may have. It is also a place to meet others, pray, laugh, and share about your life.
If Sonlight sounds like the right curriculum for you or you would like more information, please feel free to email me, visit the Sonlight Forums, and I would also highly recommend that you visit this page -- which is all about the Sonlight experience.
Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)