Tomorrow is logical Friday for me. It is the last day of school for the week! On Friday and Saturday, I will be attending a homeschool convention in Lincoln. I am pretty excited!!!
But now that I know I will be attending a homeschool convention, I know there are three HUGE rooms of curriculum to look at. This got me to thinking...is there anything I would change for next year? Am I happy with what I am doing? Can I do this curriculum for awhile yet?
My answer is mixed. I am completely happy with Rod and Staff math for both girls, Rod and Staff English for Megan and Phonics for Courtney, and Spelling Workout for both girls. They are wonderful and work great for my kids!!
My problem is the rest. I absolutely love our Sonlight curriculum, but can I keep the pace up?? Will it work well for me in two years? Are my girls going to be behind when they get to high school? Which cores will I need to skip to make it all work? How can I continue to do Sonlight and yet add Christian to our school day??
I have been asking myself these questions lately and wonder how long I can make Sonlight work. As the way I see it, it will be a challenge in the next year or so. My problem is that we are at the end of March and only on Week 15 of our 36 year study. (But we didn't start until October due to our five week trip) It takes us two weeks to get through one "week" of material at the moment. If I keep going this pace, I will not get done until after Christmas next year. These subjects include history, geography, language arts, reading, and science. What do I do then?? Do I start the next core (Core F) and just go until we get done with that or do I switch something altogether that I can move faster through? OR is it ok that I am going slow and taking my time? Are the girls getting more out of it that way??
My other problem is adding Courtney. Sonlight is not very sibling friendly, in my opinion, unless they are close in age. With my girls three years apart, it is a big enough gap that Courtney will not be able to keep up with Megan's material. And with her getting into middle school, it will be a lot for Courtney to take in! I would love to do a curriculum that Courtney and Megan can do together. I could add a lower core for Sonlight for Courtney but that is WAY too much! I also want to keep challenging Megan!
My other problem is that I not only have to switch history, but also geography, language arts, reading, and science!!!
I have two thoughts.
1. I can either piece something together. I can buy a separate history, separate geography, separate language arts and reading, and a separate science.
OR 2. I can buy an all-in-one program like I use now. I have looked at two other programs in the past and I have found myself looking at them again. They are Heart of Dakota http://www.heartofdakota.com/ and My Father's World http://www.mfwbooks.com/.
Both of these programs are geared toward elementary school age kids and you repeat the same curriculum every 4-5 years and they also both use living books. This would be ideal! Especially with Christian coming up in a couple of years. These have many of the subjects I am looking for and even sometimes it includes music and art. I think Heart of Dakota has a reading/ language arts program included too. I also know both include science. Both of these programs have much more hands on activities than Sonlight, but you only read half as many books!
I also looked at Tapestry of Grace http://www.tapestryofgrace.com/index.php but my problem with this curriculum is they had different assignments for each age group- that would defeat my purpose!!
But do I like change?? No, I don't!! I love Sonlight and I would hate to walk away from it. But when does it come to a point when it will not work anymore? Or do I do my best to make it work?? Maybe I could make it work for another year and then switch?
I will have to continue to think about this!!!
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