Choose by Grade, Age, or Subject

Start with our our free Quick Reading Assessment. You'll get a pretty good idea from that.

The Sonlight^® Core programs have been designed to work with a variety of ages. You have the flexibility to choose a program that most interests and best meets the need of your student. Sonlight encourages you to choose first based on content. Once you have selected the content you wish to cover, take a look at our Core Program Chart and look at the recommended grade levels for the Core programs that cover that content. We would also encourage you to read How to Choose the Right Materials for Your Family.

The Sonlight^® Forums are another great resource for input on making good choices for your educational needs.

And don't forget to chat with a Sonlight Advisor. These veteran Sonlight moms will gladly answer your questions and help you find the right Core for you and your family.

Grade 3 Readers and Grade 4-5 Readers are designed to tie into the Language Arts program that is offered for the same grade level (e.g. Grade 3 Readers tie into Language Arts for Grade 3 Readers). They were created to be used in conjunction with the lower level cores, based on your child's reading skill. This way, if your child is using Core B, but reads at a higher level, you can choose to use LA for Grade 2, Grade 3, or Grade 4-5 Readers in conjunction with your Core B.

Once your child reaches Core D, the LA and readers are designed to tie into the History portion of your Core. Thus, if you purchase Core D, it is in your best interest to use LA for Core D, and Readers D (or Readers D Advanced).

If you are interested in even more detailed descriptions of our reader packages, please read 'How to Choose Which Reader is Right for Your Child'.

• A Sonlight^® Core Program is composed of History, Readers, Read-Alouds, Bible, and an Instructor's Guide. We believe it is the most essential and unique part of our curriculum, and as an added bonus, we offer a 10% discount to purchasers of Core Programs on all orders for the entire year.

  Whenever you purchase a Core Program, you'll get 10% off your entire order.... That means 10% off the Core Program and whatever else you happen to purchase at the same time.

  To learn more about our Core Programs, you may want to read about The 7 Remarkable Benefits You'll Get from a Sonlight^® Core Program.

• A Sonlight^® Multi-Subject Package includes a Core Program plus Language Arts, Handwriting, Math, Science, Required Resources, Electives and an Instructor's Guide.

  A Multi-Subject Package is designed to help you get everything you need quickly and easily. And — because Multi-Subject Packages include a Core Program — they, too, allow you to get 10% off your entire order.

In a word: No!

Each Core program is designed to be used with a range of ages. The Core numbers can be used to create a sequential order of study, but you certainly may study the Core programs in any order that best fits your family's needs. Bear in mind that the Core programs do tend to increase in difficulty as the levels increase.

To see which levels would be appropriate for your children, please take a look at our Relative Difficulty Chart.

Most families find that two students can easily share the same set of Readers. For example, one child can do math while the other is reading. However, if you prefer to have your children work on the same subjects at the same time, you may prefer to purchase a set of Readers for each child. If you have more than 2 students using the same Readers, you may find it more difficult to schedule the day so that each child has a chance to use the Readers.

Your entire family should have no problem sharing the same set of science supplies. All students can participate in the experiment, and take turns actually doing the experiment. In many cases, the experiments can be repeated over and over using the same materials.

However, some parents or children prefer that each child do every experiment personally. In these cases, you may consider purchasing a separate kit for each child.

Your entire family should have no problem sharing the same Book of Time and Markable Map. Your children can take turns adding the Time Line Figures to the Book of Time and notating countries, rivers and other landmarks on the Map.

However, some parents or children prefer that each child have their own Book of Time and Time Line Figures. In these cases, you may consider purchasing a separate Book of Time and figures for each child.

Sonlight^® programs are readily and easily modified to meet a broad range of academic needs. Our programs provide ready-made academic challenges for advanced students, yet average students and those with learning disabilities use Sonlight^® successfully.

Sonlight^® early elementary programs follow a modest pace. But if your child is chomping at the bit to set a faster pace, Sonlight^® will give all the challenge your child requires. Simply substitute one of the Advanced Readers programs for the Regular Readers programs.

By the time you hit Core D, Sonlight's pace has quickened noticeably, and in Core E and beyond we provide more than enough materials and outside assignments to challenge even the brightest students. Thus, for example, the content of the Core H program is easy enough for a 5th grader to understand, but the unmodified workload is worthy of a high school-level course in American History.

The bottom line: if your son or daughter is intellectually gifted, you needn't try to piece together a more challenging program.

But if your child is closer to average, is heavily involved in dance, music, or some other non-academic pursuit, or even if your child has a learning disability: you will find you can readily adjust our program to meet your needs. Simply slow the pace, ignore one or more of the assignments, or use our 4-day weekly schedule right out of the box. Sonlight's Read-Aloud components allow students of all reading abilities to enjoy more literature than they might be able to work through on their own.

Our programs provide ready-made academic challenges for advanced students, yet are also used successfully by average students and even those with learning disabilities.

Sonlight^® early elementary programs follow a modest pace. But if your child is chomping at the bit to set a faster pace, Sonlight^® will give all the challenge your child requires. Simply substitute one of the Advanced Readers programs for the Regular Readers programs.

By the time you hit Core D, Sonlight's pace has quickened noticeably, and in Core E and beyond we provide more than enough materials and outside assignments to challenge even the brightest students. Thus, for example, the content of the 7th Year program is easy enough for a 5th grader to understand, but the unmodified workload is worthy of a high school-level course in American History.

The bottom line: if your son or daughter is intellectually gifted, you needn't try to piece together a more challenging program.

We encourage you to read How to Choose the Right Program for Your Family.

If you think you might use Singapore or Saxon math, then the best place to begin is with our Math Placement Tests. The results of these tests will help you decide which level to start with.

If you are unsure of what program you'd like to use, then please take the time to read about all of our math programs before making your final decision.

Note: As of April 1, 2005 we've also added Horizons^™ Math to our curriculum.

Please remember that our forum users have valuable input regarding which math programs work well in different situations. You may want to pick their brains in the math forum.