Sonlight - TheHomeSchoolMom (2024)

My kids are now in 9th and 11th grade in private schools, but we used Sonlight for 6 years when we homeschooled until they were in middle school. Once my son hit 13, he needed a teacher other than Mom, and thankfully, we were able to afford the wonderful Christian school they attended at that point. But back to Sonlight, I miss those wonderful days of read-alouds and doing school with my kids!

I cannot say enough good things about Sonlight!! My daughter who is in 9th grade is an EXCELLENT writer and was publicly recognized by her middle school LA teacher as an upcoming author. Sonlight's LA program was NOT what made her a great writer, it was all of the reading she did with Sonlight! In a prior review, one of the mothers stated that her daughter had a great imagination and that was because of Sonlight...I concur! My son is also an excellent writer, but more on the side of technical papers and essays. Again, he didn't really do any of that with Sonlight, but I truly believe their excellent writing skills came because of their exposure to massive amounts of great writing through all of the reading that we did!

As for many of the parents struggling with trying to get it ALL done, relax. It's not necessary to get it all done. We were more relaxed and made things fit our schedule. If we didn't read every single book, that was okay! I used to get upset that I wasn't getting everything done, always felt like I was a slacker because other stuff kept getting in the way...but now I'm on the other side and I can assure you that my kids are perfectly fine even though we didn't get everything done or finished! 🙂 In fact, being too worried about getting everything "checked off" makes for stressed-out worry warts when they grow up! 🙂

We chose different programs for math for each kid. Singapore math was great for my son. I believe it gave him a firm understanding of math at an early age and he's REALLY good in math at a college level now. My daughter, however, struggled with Singapore math. We used Teaching Textbooks for her and that was great for her! She is going to go back to using Teaching Textbooks this year at 9th grade for Geometry. Teaching textbooks is very thorough in explaining the concept in small bits so anyone who struggles with it will be able to understand it. For someone with a natural aptitude in math, I think they would be better off with something that moves more quickly and is more challenging to them.

As for Sonlight Science, it was fun for them when they were little. The greatest thing you can do for your kid is to let them enjoy learning, and I think their science program made it fun. The Usborne books are FANTASTIC and we loved the videos.

As stated before, the LA program was lacking, but the reading and exposure to massive amounts of good writing is actually teaching them LA without any effort!!

The history/literature is the gem of Sonlight and what makes Sonlight so wonderful. Both of my kids have a love of history and I think a better understanding of the world because of studying history. And doing it through the Read-Alouds was wonderful family bonding time as well as painting a picture in their minds of what it was like "back then."

I also have a little tangent I have to go on for a moment--I've read reviews from people who say their kids can't sit and listen to stories because they're "kinetic learners." My daughter is definitely one that liked to be on the move and would rather be doing something else other than sitting there, but I gave her a coloring book or, when she was older, told her to draw me a picture of whatever she wanted from the story that we were reading at the time. Or I let them play with Legos while we were reading. If they need to do something with their hands WHILE they're sitting there listening, I think that's fine.
But I think we're doing a huge disservice to our kids if we don't teach them how to sit still and to listen. Many years before us, there were kids sitting through 2 and 3-hour long church services where they couldn't move a muscle! 🙂 I'm sure many of them were kinetic learners too, but they had to learn to sit still and be quiet for the sake of manners! I really don't see that any different than teaching our kids not to talk with their mouths full or not to shout and run around in the library. Not everything that we should do comes natural to us when we're children, but we still have to learn how to do it! Sitting and listening to mom or dad read is something they will learn to do AND will come to enjoy it if you get through the making them do it time!

If you can't afford the entire program, just look at the list of books for history and the read alouds and order those or get them through the library. Or go to homeschoolclassified.com and buy it cheaper there. I used to think it was expensive too but that was when I was before I knew how much private school tuition cost! 🙂

And as for the little kids, I don't think you need a "curriculum" per se, just read a lot, show pictures or go out and talk to them as your exploring the real thing! Do math with your food and teach them their letters and sounds. That was the fun easy stuff! The I Can Read It 3-book series taught my daughter how to read at the age of 4! She had already learned all her letters and their sounds so it was simply a matter of putting the sounds together. Make learning fun when they're little so they won't hate "school time!"

Even though I always felt like I didn't do everything right or that I left a lot of things unfinished, I now have a 17 year old son who is in his second year as a full time college student and a 14-year-old daughter who is much more mature and academic-minded than most of her peers. She has decided that she is completely unchallenged at high school and is going back to homeschooling this year so she can finish at a much quicker pace and go to college earlier like her brother. She will still go to the school for orchestra and other extra-curricular things like ski club and archery, but her main schooling she'll enjoy much more at home--and yes, we're going back to Sonlight!! I remember looking at the high school readers and history studies and being so excited for when they would get to do those! After 5 years of them not being homeschooled, I'm so excited that my daughter has chosen to go back to it to finish strong with her education! And I'm so looking forward to reading the Iliad with her and all of those awesome classics I never read in public high school many years ago! Thank you, Sonlight!

She always struggled with math, but once we found Teaching Textbooks we were good. My son did Singapore Math in his early years and I believe it really helped him get a deep understanding of math at an early age. He is GREAT in math now. My son (now 17) became a fulll time college student at the age of 16 and he carries a 4.0 GPA. Most of his education came from our years with Sonlight. My daughter who is now in 9th grade is pursuing her musical education at a private school but we are going back to Sonlight to finish out her history and literature studies. Math still isn't her strong suit and she's going back to Teaching textbooks after being in private school for 4-1/2 years now. She's looking forward to being able to go at her own pace with Teaching Textbooks. They were very thorough in their lessons and she was able to go over it as many times as needed until she fully understood it; that is not a luxury given in high school. The history at the high school is so dry compared to what she'll be reading in Sonlight and she's very much looking forward to it.

As for my son, he is also a great writer but more in a technical, essay setting as to where my daughter is more story oriented. Regardless, I know that most of their skill came from being exposed to SO MUCH great writing through our Sonlight curriculum.

The science was fun for them, they both enjoyed it. The experiements and worksheets were good for them.