Chosing the Right Materials for Your Child

Sonlight Curriculum® is a Christian homeschooling company that specializes in literature-based homeschool curriculum programs. We provide complete homeschool curriculum packages and individual homeschool materials so you can build the preschool or K-12 homeschool curriculum that best meets your family's needs. Sonlight is based in Littleton, Colorado and serves customers in over 150 countries worldwide.

Sonlight approaches education so differently from classroom schools and, in fact, from so many homeschool programs, one of the hardest questions new customers face is figuring out what program they should use.

So how do you decide which program is right for you and your child?

First, pay attention to the fact that Sonlight's levels do not necessarily correspond with grade levels in classroom schools. For instance, if your child was in 3rd grade last year in a classroom school, that doesn't mean he should necessarily use a Sonlight Level 4 program this year.

Why?

Primarily because the content of our programs is appropriate for a wide range of ages. Therefore, your choice of program should be based more on the content you and your child are interested in studying than on the number we happen to have assigned to it.

If you would like some objective help in determining what general reading level your student is at, we recommend you use a Let's Go Learn online reading assessment. This assessment will determine your child's reading level, as well as his or her strengths and weaknesses in reading. Let's Go Learn provides a comprehensive evaluation in six areas of reading and includes activities and instructional recommendations to help your child improve where he or she needs it most. For more information, please see our full description of the Let's Go Learn reading assessment. (Please note that the Let's Go Learn reading assessment results will not tell you which level Sonlight Core and Language Arts programs are the best for you to use; it will, however, give you a level at which your student is reading.)

How to Choose the Right Core/CoreUltra™ Program

Suppose your child has completed 3rd grade and is now ready for 4th grade, but has never used Sonlight Curriculum before. What level Core/CoreUltra™ should you choose?

Please take a look at the upper Choosing Chart. Select the Grade 4/Age 9-10 column and follow it down. Notice how all the programs from Level 2 to Level 4 are in the "Moderate" range. That means you could choose any one of these programs and be happy with the outcome. (Your child will thank you, too.) Point: you have flexibility.

To choose the right level Core/CoreUltra™ Program, write your child's name in the column on the chart next to his "grade" level/age. Follow the column toward the bottom and select a color/shade that represents the difficulty level that is appropriate for your child. Then go to the left to see what Level programs match your selections. Then make your choice based on the subject matter you believe your child wants or needs to learn.

Have two or more children? See if there is a package that is recommended for use with all of your children. You may have to modify it a bit to meet the needs of children on the extreme upper or lower age ranges--beefing it up for the older, simplifying some assignments or not giving them at all to the younger.

How to Choose the Right Language Arts Program

Once you've settled on the Core/CoreUltra™ program you'd like to use, you'll want to choose the same level in Language Arts. (Note for CoreUltra™ users: this selection is already made for you.) Many of the creative writing assignments in the Language Arts programs rely on content in the Core programs, so you'll get the most value out of Language Arts if it's paired with its identically numbered Core program.

One caveat: if your child is behind or ahead in Language Arts, you can still use a Language Arts program that doesn't match with the Core program you're using.

How to Choose the Right Science Program

Please take a look at the lower Choosing Chart. To choose the right Science program, write your child's name in the row on the chart next to his age. Follow the row to the right and select a color/shade that represents the difficulty level that is appropriate for your child. Then go to the top of the columns to see what level Science programs match your selections. Then do as you did when you chose the appropriate Core Program: determine which subject(s) most suit your fancy and, if you have more than one child, determine which program(s) might best serve all of your children together. (Note: for CoreUltra™ users this selection is already made for you.)

Make it easy on yourself... and your kids. Combine wherever possible.

How to Choose the Right Math Program

The Math programs are unique among the materials we carry in that each year of study builds on what was learned in the prior year. So it's important that you gauge your child's math skills before you select the right level for him. (Note: for CoreUltra™ users a Horizons Math selection is already chosen for you.)

To help you place your child, we currently offer math placement tests for Singapore and Saxon Math on our web site. Just go to either or both of the links below to select the appropriate placement test for your child.

• Singapore Math Placement Tests
• Saxon Math Placement Tests

Use the results from these placement tests to select the math program that best meets your child's needs.

You can read detailed overviews of Horizons Math, Singapore Math, Saxon Math, and Miquon Math here on our site. Just use the list on the left-hand side to select the math program you're interested in.

How to Choose Electives

While Electives can sometimes seem unnecessary, they are, in fact, very important to a child's development. Those "extra" subjects — art, foreign language, music and so forth — really can make the difference between an average student and an outstanding student. (Note: for CoreUltra™ users a selection of appropriate electives is already made for you.)

We recommend you choose at least one Elective per student per year. Choose an Elective your child is interested in to encourage him to take the initiative... and to become excited about learning.

Jump over to our Electives section to see what we offer.

Putting on the Finishing Touches

Once you've made all of your choices, you'll want to check for two things:

1. Required Resources--items you purchase from Sonlight only once but that are used in more than one every year of study. If you don't own them yet, you'll need to buy them. View list of Required Resources.

2. Consumable Items--items that will be used up by your child during the school year. That means you'll want extra copies of any consumable items if you're teaching more than one student. The easiest place to find a list of these items is at the bottom of each individual CoreUltra™ Package. Just use the list on the left-hand side and click on the level you're interested in.

Home | Contact Us | About Us | Links | Site Map
Please Read our Privacy Policy Here
©2007 www.untoone.com Family Internet Portals
Site Design and built by Unto One and Matthew McKinney