I've had my eye on Sonlight curriculum for a couple of years. Every year when the catalog comes in the mail, I love just leafing through it and looking at all the wonderful children's literature. I decided we would try it out this year.
It seems many like to start their young children on Core A, which I found out was very advanced for age 6. So, I decided to start us out with P 4/5, which is marketed to the pre-K age. Regardless, it has been a perfect fit for us this year. I wanted to enjoy more picture books rather than jumping right into chapter books before my daughter even knows how to read.
I go along more with the Charlotte Mason style of learning, which focuses on learning through nature and good literature. I prefer to take our time and enjoy ourselves. I'm in no rush! As a matter of fact, everyone always bugs us about what grade Joelle is in. You know what, it doesn't matter! However, since everyone kept asking us all the time we started saying first grade. My mistake, I should have said Kindergarten. But, first grade will turn out to be a double year for us because I really don't want to push her. I wanted her to be on the older end for her grade level, especially when it comes to state testing, which they do based on the grade level. So, don't be surprised to hear that my daughter is in first grade this year, and first grade next year. I will not give into the pressure to push her along just because everyone needs to know what grade she is in.
In any case, she is doing very well in all subjects, and we are all enjoying learning about all different topics through great literature! We have loved using Sunlight this year!
The curriculum guide comes in a big blue notebook, with week dividers. It is very well organized, which I love! Each day has additional teacher notes, which include ideas for extending the learning- such as baking and crafts. We don't often do very many of them because we have many other things we are doing. I usually look over them and if something really stands out we will do it. But, otherwise, we are mainly using the guide as a reading checklist at this stage.
To make it more manageable for myself, I have taken our current week out and put the page on a clipboard, so it is easily accessible for me to look over and check off as we read books. This has been working very well for us.
I think this level is absolutely perfect for us. The stories are wonderful and the illustrations are beautiful! I highly recommend Sonlight if you want to enjoy a fun year with books. Both kids have loved our cuddle time on the couch as a part of school. It's been wonderful, and I highly recommend it!
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