Core Overview

Sonlight's Core programs consist of the following subjects:

History

History is the centerpiece of Sonlight Curriculum. Our history programs give students an overview of key events and people of the past, as well as biographies of people who have made significant contributions to the development of human cultures and the advancement of God's Kingdom. We pay special attention to those whose character qualities and achievements we would like our children to emulate. Biographies make history "come alive," and perhaps more importantly, provide students with heroes whose standards and examples they will desire to follow. We also want students to be fully aware of the villains: those whose paths they will want to avoid.

Starting at Level 3, Sonlight includes Readers and Read-Alouds that coincide with and enhance the books and subject matter in each level's History program. Our customers tell us that this integration creates a memorable, intellectually and emotionally engaging means of learning history "the way it really was." We also integrate the study of geography by featuring interesting activities with maps and time lines starting at Level K. Written assignments in the Language Arts programs will occasionally emphasize themes from the History program as well.

Bible

Besides the Biblically-based comments that you will find throughout every Sonlight program, we include daily Bible readings and weekly Scripture memory assignments in every Core Instructor's Guide. If your family follows our plan, you will cover almost the entire Bible once every five or six years.

Our Level A program features "the whole" Bible in the form of Egermeier's Children's Bible. Students then begin with Genesis in Level 1 and cover most of the Old Testament through subsequent levels. On their journey with Sonlight, students will also cover almost the entire New Testament as well as memorize "bits and pieces" of the Psalms and Proverbs. At every level, students cover one of the Gospels. We believe kids need to "meet Jesus" and "hear from Him" consistently, and there's no better way to accomplish that than time spent in the Gospels.

In addition to Bible reading, we also assign a variety of other books that range in focus from apologetics to Bible study methods to spiritual classics. Our goal is to encourage and challenge students to grow in their faith, while at the same time equipping them to follow Christ wherever He leads and in whatever He calls them to do.

Readers

Sonlight's strategy when it comes to Readers is to think of children learning to read as athletes in training. Instead of pushing themselves to their absolute performance limits during practice, athletes gear down just a fraction and do many repetitions of slightly less taxing exercises. Similarly, we seek to give students lots of practice reading relatively low-stress, quality literature of all types — literature that will engage both their minds and hearts.

Through this method, weak and reluctant readers are likely to become strong and eager readers, because they will feel that reading is a joy and not a chore. They will look forward to their reading times, and through practice, they will grow in their abilities. Students who are already capable and eager readers excel all the more because they comfortably enlarge their base of knowledge.

Read-Alouds

Read-Alouds are quality literary works that you read out loud to your children. One reason books are classified as Read-Alouds rather than as Readers is because they require greater reading skills than students typically have at a particular level. But there are other reasons too. Some Read-Alouds require deeper understanding of life or are emotionally charged, so we figure you ought to be "right there" to help explain things to your children. And then there are Read-Alouds that are simply too good to let your children enjoy by themselves. We know you'd feel cheated if you weren't in on the fun!

In addition to these benefits, Read-Alouds also:

  • Expand your children's vocabulary.
  • Build listening skills — including the ability to visualize the meaning of spoken words.
  • Help your children develop an "ear" for good oral reading. (Having heard quality oral reading done by you, your children will imitate you.)
  • Help develop a life-long love of reading.

Memorization/Public Speaking

Public speaking is an integral part of every level's Core program. In Level K, students memorize Scripture verses to go with every letter of the alphabet. Beginning with Level 1, three public speaking assignments are added to this memorization program at each level. Typically, they range from two Psalms and a poem (in Level 1) to a passage of Scripture, a poem, and a famous speech or document from American history (in Level 4). Assignments in subsequent levels are similar in form, though they increase in complexity and length at each new level.

Click here to browse Sonlight's homeschool curriculum and find the Core right for your family!