I am starting with my oldest son this year he will be in kindergarten. I am looking at Sonlight and Bob Jones complete packages. Any of you use either of these and which do you prefer. Thanks.
Ok, I know this isn't your question, but really I would vote for not buying a "complete" curriculum for K. There are too many free and inexpensive resources for K.
Two totally different approaches there. Sonlight is a heavy literature program, tons of reading and probably a little advanced. I don't know much about their academics at that level, such as how their phonics works or anything like that. Just know it's a high literature program and is generally considered ahead of the pack. BJU is a school-at-home, traditional textbook method almost all the way around. I haven't seen this program at all, but would expect that it includes a lot of read-and-answer, workbooks, and seat work. Because these are two TOTALLY, radically different approaches to school, I suggest you figure out what your child's learning style is before trying to choose a program. It will save you much frustration!
For K I would say Sonlight. The science is fun! The reading is awesome. Which you would already be doing anyway, but this way it is right there. Now they offer Horizons k for math, and with that it is a fast paced program. Now you can take it slow, you don't have to do all of it daily. Now don't get caught up in having to do everything the Instructors guide has in it, use it as a guide to what you need to do and not a must do. Sonlight tends to have a lot to it, but don't get me wrong it is a great program. Just use everything at your child's and your pace not the books pace and have FUN!
I really like BJU and I heard Sonlight is generally liked by people. I know I have not been much help. I will say once you have more than one child you are homeschooling, it will be better to go to multi-age curriculums so you are not teaching a bunch of subjects multiple times.
Thanks for the responses I am so torn about this curricuilum thing. I have figured that I am eclectic and will probably pick from various providers. I thought Sonlight would be a great choice because if you use it for mutiple children you would be saving money in the long run only having to purchase consumeables. I have three boys so I am in this for the long haul. Agh decisions decisions.
As someone who made the mistake of buying a box curriculum when we started K (ABEKA) I would suggest waiting before doing that. We focused on just the basics for k5 and most boxed sets come with science and history and so on that can get a bit heavy and overwhelming. Especially your first year! My suggestion would be to find a great reading program. I liked Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, but I have heard good things about Hooked on Phonics. They are two very different approaches so definitely check before you buy. We like Explode the Code as well but had to stop while we were doing the TYCR. Math we did Horizons. I actually do like the Abeka math better though. Thats pretty much all we did for K-5! If DD's are interested in say the weather, then we would go research that. We also did alot of unit/lapbooks which were fun! Add in some mazes, dot-to-dots and manipulatives and you have a cheap and cheerful K-5 curriculum. Good luck on making a choice! It can be overwhelming.
Tuzor, are you interested in hearing other suggestions regarding homeschooling Kindergarten, other than using the complete package of Sonlight or Bob Jones ? If you are , I will make a few suggestions. But if you already have your mind made up that you have it narrowed down to one of these two choices I will not add more information to confuse you with.
I haven't forgotten you. I am wanting to post to you a little later when I can sit down and take the time to get my ideas together for you. I'll be back. I have a lot of chores I am supposed to be doing right now. :lol:
I agree that buying a box curriculum would be overwhelming due to all the work. If you are able to pick and choose what you want to do, then a box curriculum may work. I have used a hodge podge from both Bob Jones and Sonlight. This is what we have used. I loved Bob Jones Math K. We used it 15 years ago so it may have changed since then. We have used Explode the Code which I think Sonlight uses. My son liked that a lot. I have used quite a few readers and read alouds that Sonlight recommends. They books are usually well liked. I do like the timeline book and figures from Sonlight. My son could care less about them. Read alouds is a great way to get children interested in reading. We used Five In A Row. Just pick and choose what you want to do. My son who was and still is a reluctant learning enjoyed FIAR. You may want to encourage fine motor skills with coloring, play dough, and other activities. Unless your child is ready for formal handwriting, I would skip it at this time. I would not formally teach science or history at this age. If your boy is interested in something, then explore it. Some children and very inquisitive and some are not. My Father's World looks really good. Wish I used it with my son because he has a great interest in geography. If only I new then what I know now.
