In the course of this homeschool year, I have decided to go to more of a year-round schedule of learning, so we won’t be taking an official break from school for the summer.
We are nearing the end of several parts of our curriculum from this year, though, so I thought this was a great time to sit down and review what worked and what didn’t work so well this year.
At the top there is a link that will take you to a page describing our curriculum choices for this year.
I used Sonlight for our main curriculum. I do love their rich, quality literature. The girls and I read about some thought-provoking subjects and had some excellent conversations during our read-alouds this year.
We also enjoyed the poetry that was included in the Kindergarten core from Sonlight.
I did not keep up with the reading schedule from the P3/4 core for Will as well as I would have liked. Some days he did school along with his sisters and some days he did not. I didn’t push it with him. I’m finding that I am getting a lot more relaxed with things. He is only three, after all.
My biggest disappointment this year, was with Sonlight’s language arts program. I realized that I differ from Sonlight in philosophy and approach of teaching language arts.
The supplements that I used along with Sonlight this year, Explode the Code and The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading filled in the language arts gaps that I felt was lacking with Sonlight.
During the course of the year, I read Jessie Weiss’ book The Well Trained Mind and I found that the classical approach to teaching makes much more sense to me. That will be reflected in the curriculum choices I’m making for next year.
We did enjoy the bible program that was included in our Sonlight Core K and the children love learning and committing scripture to memory through their AWANA programs at church. Next year, I am looking for a more structured Bible curriculum. Right now, I am leaning towards Telling God’s Story, the new curriculum from Peace Hill Press, but I am open to other suggestions if you have them.
Saxon Math K was probably the best curriculum decision I made for homeschooling this year. I struggled between Saxon and Singapore as I was more familiar with Saxon, but heard many, many good reviews of Singapore. Saxon worked amazingly well for my girls. It provided the daily repetition and practice that they needed and built up their confidence in math. The manipulatives and activities that we did were fun and engaging. I also liked the way that the lessons were set up so that there were only twelve new lessons a month, with the other days set aside for review. I can hardly believe that we only have twelve new lessons left! We will definitely be continuing with this math program.
A Reason for Handwriting K was another winner for this year. EA and MC learned to write all twenty-six letters in upper and lower cases this year. It was fun for them and there was just enough review for them. We actually finished the K level several weeks ago and have already started book A. It worked out perfectly that there were six review lessons at the beginning of this next book. We’re using them for extra review before they move on.
With managing a three year old and an infant I decided to focus on the basics this year, so we did not complete (or really even begin) the Science curriculum from Sonlight. I’m saving it to use next year.
I know I mentioned The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading earlier as a supplement to Sonlight’s language arts, but I have to sing its praises a little more than that! I can truly say that this book is excellent for teaching reading! I started using it with my girls when they were four and we’ve slowly worked our way through. I had to adjust my expectations and realize that I had to let my twin girls work at their own pace. With MC I had to do a lot of review until she was ready to blend sounds, but once she was, her reading has really taken off! They are both reading better than I ever would have imagined them reading at the end of Kindergarten and I credit The Ordinary Parents Guide for this!
What worked/didn’t work for you this year?
Post linked to: Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family and The Homeschool Curriculum Review Roundup
Erin @ Closing Time says
Hi Monica! It is so interesting to read your post on what has worked and has not worked for you this year. It is so similar to my journey. I also read The Well Trained Mind and recently purchased The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading. We will be moving in the Classical direction next year. I am very excited! 🙂
Emily Porter says
Thanks so much for posting your curriculum review. I’m a curriculum junkie and love to read about what others are using!
I follow the Well Trained Mind as well. It As far as language goes, we began First Language Lessons in 1st grade. Its a great,solid curriculum.
I can’t sing the praises of Ordinary Parent’s Guide enough! I’ve now completed the program with my older 2 and I continue to be amazed at their reading level because of all the phonetic rules they learned.
I’m so glad your first year went so well!
Kimberly says
We also follow the Well Trained Mind approach. We finished First Language Lessons 1&2, and are trying Rod and Staff for the 3rd grade. We are really enjoying it so far… it is supposed to be comprehensive with writing… but it is going slowly. We will see! 😉
Jenn says
Hi Monica! I enjoyed reading your curriculum review since I used Sonlight’s Core K with my twin girls this year too. I agree with a lot of your thoughts…. we really enjoyed most of the Read Alouds from Core K this year. We also reread some favorite Read Alouds from Core 4/5 this year too. I love Sonlight’s Read Alouds! I’m not impressed with Sonlight’s Language Arts either. We supplemented with Explode the Code (which we like) and bits and pieces from various resources. I wish I would have started Ordinary Parent’s Guide this year. I just bought it, and we’ll jump in mid-stream in a couple of weeks.
We use Miquon for our Math program. So far my girls and I really like it. I’ve thought about supplementing with Singapore, but I’m not sure if I will add that next year or wait.
For handwriting we used Getty-Dubay this year. I liked it, but am not sure if my girls do. I’ll have to think on that and explore our options.
I also recently read The Well Trained Mind and much of it appealed to me. I seem to lean toward aspects of both Charlotte Mason and Classical Education. Right now I am torn between Sonlight’s Core B and Story of the World for our history curriculum. I like the idea of a ‘box curriculum’ for the ease of planning, but the 4 year history cycle appeals to me as well. I don’t want to spend huge chunks of time planning on the weekends. I have decided that we will start First Language Lessons and Writing With Ease and we will not be using Sonlight’s LA. I’m also planning to add All About Spelling when we near the end of Ordinary Parent’s Guide.
We are also planning to school year round, but I plan to have a lighter summer schedule. This summer we will focus on implementing Geography and Art. I read, and enjoyed, Leigh Bortin’s book, The Core. I particularly liked her chapter on Geography and plan to follow her recommendations. We will be using Drawing With Children (Mona Brookes) for our Art lessons.
I would love to hear more about what you decided to use next year.
Sheila says
Hi Monica,I see E.A. is teaching marko to read ,cute !!! She really loves that doll
Our Family for His Glory says
Sounds like you had a great year! 🙂 Hurray! We love using Heart of Dakota, but I’ve heard such great things about the options you chose too! I’ll be interested to see exactly what you choose for next year!
Jessica
Luke Holzmann says
Thanks for sharing your experience! I realize that many families like to add to Sonlight’s Language Arts programs, so I’m glad you grabbed some of the optional LA resources on Sonlight’s list. Keep up the great work, and may your family continue to find joy in learning together.
~Luke
Tracy says
This was so helpful! I have been considering the Saxon route. Thanks for the review. I’ve posted what worked and didn’t work for us this year, for anyone interested in K4, on my blog http://www.growingngrace.wordpress.com
Leah says
i have heard some iffy things about “Telling God’s Story” and although I was interested in it at first I’ve backed away after doing my own research. I disagree with the author’s view on the Bible and his stance regarding many Biblical passages. I really like Positive Action Bible Curriculum and after that I intend to switch to Apologia’s new Bible Series Who Is God?
thanks for your reviews. I am definitely going to check out Saxon now..I think my daughter would benefit from the review you mentioned!
Monica says
Thanks for your comment about the Bible. I’m not completely sold on “Telling God’s Story” and am going to research that more. I’m going to check out the others you mentioned.
Women Living Well says
This was really helpful! Thanks! We are looking at Saxon math for next year and Classical Conversations. But I wondered what Sonlight is like! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Courtney
Monica says
Courtney-
I’ve wondered about doing Classical Conversations as well, but since we’re military, I’m afraid that we won’t be able to get established in a group.
I have been very happy with the literature that Sonlight offers.
Shannon says
Hi. I’m a new homeschooling mom doing Sonlight K this year. Just noticed the comments regarding some dissatisfaction with their language arts. Since I’m new to this I’m wondering if you could explain a little more. Maybe I don’t know what a language arts program should look like. Exactly what was disappointing about it? Thanks for the help.
Monica says
Shannon-
We just finished Sonlight K and thoroughly enjoyed their literature. My dissatisfaction with their language arts came from it being more of a broad approach. I was/am looking for a more systematic approach to teaching using phonics. I also didn’t like their approach to writing. I believe that children need to be taught the basics of writing before they can successfully write creatively. I would recommend reading “A Well Trained Mind” to get an idea of what this kind of language arts program looks like. You can probably check it out from your library if you’re not sure that you would want to buy it.
I hope this helps!
Carol says
I am exploring my options for the fall–my son is beginning kindergarten. I really like Sonlight’s CORE A Package and will prob lean towards their Earlybird Singapore Math. I had already decided on using another Phonics/Writing Program (Memoria Press) since we really lean towards a more classical approach. We will also start CC this fall as well. Anyway, my question—how did you use Ordinary Guide to Teaching Reading with Sonlight’s LA program? Like, what was your method? Would you use SL’s LA book and then also use OGTR?
I like Memoria Press’s phonics/writing program but the OGTR program sees more cost effective (and I am hearing more positive reviews). (“I have already read The Well-Trained Mind”)
Kirk says
I truly love your site.. Great colors & theme.
Did you make this website yourself? Please reply back as I’m wanting to create my own personal website and want to find out where you got this from or what the theme is called. Many thanks!
Monica says
Thank you! Yes, I did design it myself using Genesis framework for WordPress.