I love that you did this video, there are not very many positive sonlight la videos out there. I am excited to get back to sonlight LA and get rid of the fluff we have taken on this year. I have found I like things laid out for me for the entire year and it has to be simple. Sonlight checks all those boxes!
I have used the readers only w my 9 yo and it’s been great. I love the slow progression of difficulty. Definitely some books he wasn’t a fan of but some he liked. I like the variety of time frames and locations of the stories we have read. The IG for the readers was helpful for us. I placed a post it w the question for him to answer on the page so he could do his reading independently.
We did LA 1, but since we were doing All About Reading at the time I found it to just be too much to do both. I think if we were just using it alone we would’ve really liked it. We only used it for about 4-6 weeks before I dropped it. But I still have it just in case it might work better for my next two little ones that aren’t in school yet. 😊 Great review!
Not sure why Sonlight always seemed overwhelming to me, but the way you explain it point by point helps it all make sense to me! Love the setup. The only thing I wonder is if there's enough of a spiral approach so that students can remember rules and lessons long term? Would love to know, thank you 😊
Hi, yes that was my concern as well - especially the spiral for the grammar! That is why I supplement with Abeka language. Although I know of many families who find Sonlight enough ... I'm just not confident enough in the grammar section.
@@sciencemama thank you for the reply! Yes we love Abeka, especially the Grammer & Phonics, it is very effective and spiral. Glad you can combine them and get the best of both words!
Do you feel like you have to be quite involved as an instructor? I just don’t have the freedom to work with several kids individually but love sonlight’s intentions. Thanks for sharing!
@@sciencemama how old are your kids. I’m afraid to go with sonlight because our kids are a pretty gig range 3 to 12 years old. Not sure if I can handle the juggle. Lol
This looks awesome!!! I like how the readers have vocabulary in!!! I prefer my kids to copy bible verses!!! My kids love examples!!! Idk what my youngest feels with writing yet tho!!! My older kids are below grade level in language arts tho!!!
Oh my gosh, I love LA 3. We are currently doing LA Level D, and we are liking it so far, but that diamond writing process looks amazing, I really wish I could back my children up to that level. However, we are way too old. 13- and 10-year-old here.
@@sciencemama so since it’s halfway through the year I pieced together our own version of American history with their heroes and happenings books. But next year we’ll for sure do their level K science for my K&2nd! It looks so good!
Thank you for sharing! I've been interested in Bookshark and their LA is pretty well the same so this has been great to see inside one of the levels. I did notice that a few of the Level 3 readers for Sonlight are actually included in Level 2 of Bookshark so I wonder if any other parts of the LA differs very much?
Some of the readers are switched up because for over half the year of LA 2 the child reads through The Beginner's Bible. Since Bookshark is "faith neutral", they had to use other books to replace that. But the layout of both programs is probably still pretty similar at both grade levels.
I just finished binge watching 3 of your Sonlight LA videos 🙈 I may have missed it, but you mentioned that your 3rd grader was doing Level 2 and your 2nd grader was doing Level 1, and I was curious as to why. I heard somewhere that Sonlight can be more advanced and people should keep that in mind when selecting levels. My kids are currently in 2nd, 1st and we have a 4 year old (turning 5 next month) who just recently started level 1 curriculum. Considering switching to Sonlight and just wanted any suggestions you might have. Thanks for your videos! They are very helpful.
Hi! I just switched them both over to level 3 for my 3rd grader and level 2 for my 2nd grader in January. The reason I started them a bit lower was that I took the assessment test on Sonlights website and those levels seemed to be more appropriate… especially for the creative writing and grammar sections. Sonlight recommends picking language arts level based on writing ability not reading ability. Hopefully that helps - I really have been loving SL language arts!!
How many hours do you spend homeschooling with Sonlight LA, Science and HBL each day? It sounds like a lot, but I'm considering it for my 3rd grader next year (only child). So far, we've just been using their read-alouds so we're not on a schedule.
For all 4 of my kids doing Sonlight LA, HBL, and Science ... we school from about 8-12:30'ish with some breaks to transition. I just filmed a Day in the Life of Sonlight that might help give you a feel for timing :)
I use HBL B and readers, I started the LA. But felt it was too parent intensive 🤷♀️ so we use workbooks BJU LA, explode the code, evan moore spelling, and reading comprehensive. That is more independent learning. Wondering your thoughts on this. I have a 9 & 12 year old that i will be doing HBL C in the fall and trying to figure out math and la. 🤷♀️
Hi! If you like what you are using I would say stick with it ... or just switch over to a few Sonlight subjects! Like I really love the readers and the creative writing but I supplement with Abeka language for grammar!
Hi Angie! I discovered your channel a few months ago and have watched quite a few of your videos. I think your channel is wonderful. I have a 17 month old and I am considering homeschooling him. The issue is that I am more comfortable with British English curriculum. Is there a British curriculum that’s similar to Sonlight you would recommend?
Is it possible to use the curriculum without the readers and have it still be just as beneficial? I have another program of readers with guides but I am lacking in the language arts category with the phonics and writing and the rest looked great I just wouldn’t need the readers
Wondering if you are using this now? If so how is it going? I just ordered an ASP with the 25% off. So I am going to be trying the LA again. So do you just rotate abeka (is that writing & grammar) and SL ?
We are using it and loving it still! Yes my plan is to still use Abeka (phonics & grammar) along with SL LA (copywork & creative expression). I’m thinking once Abeka Language no longer includes phonics review (maybe level 4), then I will drop it and pick up one of the grammar supplements through Sonlight 🤷🏼♀️
Will you be using the phonics and Wordly Wise books with your child? I'm about to start level 3 with my third grader, and while the Explode the Code phonics books had been great for him up to now, I was thinking of forgoing extra phonics in LA 3. Especially with the extra paragraph writing work in it.
