Should I switch from Sonlight?

[Kathleen in NJ]

I have used Sonlight for 11 years and I am thinking of switching. My oldest is 16 and he will stay with Sonlight for the last two years. My other son is 8. He is in his 4th year of Sonlight. I have recently been concerned about the fact that I have to edit a lot. (What I mean is reading a story and saying to my son "The book says this ... but we believe this ... because that is what the bible tells us.) I edit all the time...let's say at least once a day I have to point out what the bible says regarding what we are reading. I also am not comfortable with all of Sonlight's choices for books. Some of them contain things that I don't want to expose my 8 year old son to so I have to edit as I am reading sometimes skipping a whole chapter. Sometimes I skip a whole book. (My son loves the books we read and he easily handles the amount of books we read).
So my questions are:
1. Am I naive about the editing? Is that something you need to do with any curriculum?
2. For those of you that have done Sonlight would you say the HOD book selection is more Christian?
3. For those of you that have done Sonlight, if I switch to HOD will the schedule feel a lot lighter?
4. Do you really do the hands on activities?...is there time? ( I like to be able to cover the scheduled readings for the day so that I don't feel like we are missing important content but from looking at the samples and pictures I think my son would love doing the hands on activities).
(Sonlight is a heavy load of book reading. However there really is no hands on activities scheduled and honestly because I spend most of my day reading I just don't have time to fit in extras.)

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I really wish that HOD was at a convention near me soon, but they are not so I have to ask my questions here.
I will say that being with Sonlight for so long, I keep thinking "why are you even thinking of switching?" Something about HOD is pulling me in. The weekly check in's with the pictures... they look like children that absolutely love what they are doing.

[8arrows]

1. Am I naive about the editing? Is that something you need to do with any curriculum?

NO!!!! I was the queen of white-out when we used Sonlight. One day my young son said, "Mom, if you have to use that much white-out, why are we reading it. BINGO! We picked another book. I have never forgotten that moment. Even in "OK" books, the children talked to each other and behaved in ways I certainly did not want to expose my children to. I think you are wise to consider another option.

2. For those of you that have done Sonlight would you say the HOD book selection is more Christian?

YES!!! There is no comparison.

3. For those of you that have done Sonlight, if I switch to HOD will the schedule feel a lot lighter?

Not lighter, but like a breath of fresh air. I have a feeling it will be everything you have been wanting Sonlight to be. HOD has plenty of books, but you are not "plowing" through them. There is time for discussion and pondering. We just finished out read-aloud about Florence Nightengale and had so many good discussions. My children still talk about the ealier read alouds from the year. Reb and the Rebcoats was one of their favorites, and whenever I give them a displeased look, they all get silly and say, "Oh, no, Mom is giving us the Baltimore stare!" I love it when they make allusions to what we have read. I got tired of reading aloud to my children with Sonlight. Now our read aloud time is one of the most popular of the day--even for me. HOD, as the guides advance, has the student take over history and science readings, something I was looking for. Independence is gained at such a nice pace.

4. Do you really do the hands on activities?...is there time?

Yes. They are quite "doable" and popular at my house.

[bethelmommy]

1. Am I naive about the editing? Is that something you need to do with any curriculum?

NO!!!! I was the queen of white-out when we used Sonlight. One day my young son said, "Mom, if you have to use that much white-out, why are we reading it. BINGO! We picked another book. I have never forgotten that moment. Even in "OK" books, the children talked to each other and behaved in ways I certainly did not want to expose my children to. I think you are wise to consider another option.

2. For those of you that have done Sonlight would you say the HOD book selection is more Christian?

YES!!! There is no comparison.

3. For those of you that have done Sonlight, if I switch to HOD will the schedule feel a lot lighter?

Not lighter, but like a breath of fresh air. I have a feeling it will be everything you have been wanting Sonlight to be. HOD has plenty of books, but you are not "plowing" through them. There is time for discussion and pondering. We just finished out read-aloud about Florence Nightengale and had so many good discussions. My children still talk about the ealier read alouds from the year. Reb and the Rebcoats was one of their favorites, and whenever I give them a displeased look, they all get silly and say, "Oh, no, Mom is giving us the Baltimore stare!" I love it when they make allusions to what we have read. I got tired of reading aloud to my children with Sonlight. Now our read aloud time is one of the most popular of the day--even for me. HOD, as the guides advance, has the student take over history and science readings, something I was looking for. Independence is gained at such a nice pace.

4. Do you really do the hands on activities?...is there time?

Yes. They are quite "doable" and popular at my house.

Ditto to everything Melissa shared Sonlight was my first love and we originally came to HOD for just a filler year between P4/5 and Core A. However, we are so much happier with HOD. This past year I was adding in a few SL books that we already had for extra readers and read alouds, but found myself frequently editing (even with Core A and 1st and 2nd grade readers). We will only be ordering HOD from here on out. I feel much more comfortable with Carrie's book selections and love how balanced and integrated everything is. With SL I was always popping from one IG to another and spending too long on certain subjects with my young kiddos. The hands on projects for HOD are very age appropriate and doable so I don't have to be the one doing the project, my kids get to do everything. This has become one of their favorite parts of the school day, even for my non-art/crafty child .

[MomtoJGJE]

I have not done anything but HOD, so I can't comment to that.

But I can comment to the fact that it's quite easy to get everything done in a day with HOD A lot of times I'll get done with one of mine and be like "Certainly I missed something" only to go back through the guide and nope... we had done everything It's nice to let them be able to play.

[LovingJesus]

So my questions are:
1. Am I naive about the editing? Is that something you need to do with any curriculum?
Everyone has to come to their own conclusion on this issue. SL was our first curriculum. My DH and I had a lot of talks about the 'SL method'. Our conclusion was the opposite of John Holzman's conclusion. We concluded that when we learn a lot of Biblical Truth and Christianity through the Bible and Christian materials the counterfeit becomes obvious. John Holzman uses in his 27 reasons (to Not use Sonlight) of how people are taught to recognize counterfeit money. They teach counterfeit money by having them look at stacks and stacks of bills of the real thing, and then the counterfeit is obvious. John Holzman indicates in his 27 reasons that this logic doesn't follow for Sonlight. Instead they use the analogy of giving spiritual immunization, like an immunization shot, by presenting information that is not Christian or Biblical for discussion. For our family we came to the conclusion that his logic didn't make sense to us. It makes more sense to us to use Christian materials and the Bible to teach Truth; rather than try to teach the Truth by presenting the opposite and then discussing why it isn't true. This seems like too many unnecessary steps to us. We also found Sonlight to have much too big of an immunization dose for safety or spiritual health. We chose to focus instead on the Bible and Christian resources for Truth, Scripture, and looking at life through the lens of scripture. Then the counterfeit becomes obvious and discernment, we have found in our own lives, is easier the closer we are to Christ.
2. For those of you that have done Sonlight would you say the HOD book selection is more Christian? Definitely!
3. For those of you that have done Sonlight, if I switch to HOD will the schedule feel a lot lighter? Different. You will still read a lot in HOD, but it is different than Sonlight. HOD has more writing and less reading. Carrie puts a lot of writing and skill building into her note booking, which is not present in Sonlight. She also has hands on activities. Sonlight spends most of the time, in comparison, in reading. HOD feels more balanced to me.

[aprilmd]

We loved Sonlight because of all the reading, BUT like you we had to edit the books a lot. My two oldest made it through Core 5 before I realized it was a lot of work on me with all the changes. The first year of HOD I was afraid to switch... so I only switched my youngest. The next year I switched all my children over. I have now been with HOD for 4 years. My girls are still reading great books, but they are also interacting with these great books. I am so glad we switched. I don't edit the books at all now. I glance at HOD's notes and make sure there isn't a note for me. The notes are brief and to the point. Another thing that I love about HOD is that I do have the time to get to the fun things. We do most of the projects and activities. With Sonlight we never got to the "fun things". I agree with the ladies above. My children are getting an excellent and well rounded education. We are not just reading the whole day. I hope this helps you! I was so scared to make the change, but now I am so blessed we did!

[homefire]

I only did core k with my middle two but I know where you are coming from. While I do appreciate my children knowing the different world views and that just because it is in a book it doesn't mean it's true and such it did get a little redundant.

I also think that while many of the books are good to keep around they are more appropriate for one or even two grades higher than they are scheduled. I agree with HOD feeling like a breath of fresh air after the breakneck speed I felt we were going and I feel like my dc are getting much more out of the books as they have time to digest and really get into the character.

There was a lot I liked about SL but HOD has been a much better fit for my family.

[Kathleen in NJ]

Thank you all so much for your responses. I can tell that you all are very happy using HOD.
I am praying about what we should be using next year for homeschooling. Right now HOD feels right.

[holdinon]

I only used Sonlight with my oldest for K and 1st grade, so I can't compare to levels above (what used to be called) Core 1---(I think they changed the names???) But I wholeheartedly agree with what has been said here.

[4Hispraise]

We used Sonlight 1-4 before coming to HOD. We have been LOVING it now for four years. For us, we know the Lord clearly directed our path here as we were seeking a curriculum where He is the center. Everything everyone else said, I would echo. The description of "a breath of fresh air" used by several of the ladies is exactly what we we have experienced!

[Robbi]

I havn't used sonlight but this post may also be helpful to you.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8920

[fishchick72]

I am not yet homeschooling, starting up this fall, but I had fallen in love with Sonlight when I first saw it. But the more I looked into it I just kept having so many reservations. And I saw so many non-Christians using it, just removing the occasional "Christian" book. I couldn't ignore the fact that if it was that easy to remove Bible from it then it wasn't strong enough on Bible for me & my family. After asking around I was told that Heart of Dakota was exactly what I'm looking for. I requested a catalog & am sooooo glad I found this curriculum. I can't wait to get started!!

[lucsch]

There will be no editing with HOD! I think there is a better balance in HOD. With Sonlight, in addition with editing, I struggled to do all of that reading out loud. HOD has just the right amount, and my daughter is doing a lot of her own reading now. I don't worry that she will read content that isn't suitable. That isn't an issue with HOD, at all. We do the activities! Also, HOD purposely teaches skills in a manner that Sonlight didn't. With Christ at the center of HOD's methods, for us, it was a win-win switch.

Of course, only you can prayerfully decide to make a change.

[ShariCA]

Yes, you should switch from Sonlight.

Actually it really is a choice for your family, but it doesn't sound like Sonlight is right for your family right now.

I have 2 older, graduated children and I used Sonlight with them. I read until I was hoarse. Seriously. There was so much reading that when we completed all of the subjects in a day, it was dawn til dark.

Then in the notes there was so much that I didn't agree with, but I kept on plugging away because Sonlight was such a "great curriuclum." One which all others were compared against.

I also had lots of problems with the books. My kids would say, "Are you really sure you want me to read this book?" And I would go to the forums and ask about it and I would be told that "if you want educated children, then yes, they should read the book." So I succumbed to peer pressure and we plugged away.

All this to say that I think I was afraid to look around because Sonlight was supposed to be the best, and I wanted to best for my kids. I should have looked around when I started feeling uneasy. I would tell you pray and listen. And don't continue with something just because that's what you started with. That would include for your 16 year old. 2 years is a lot of time to keep doing something you are unsure about.