Intro to World Cultures - 2022 Version

The 2022 version of History / Bible / Literature A focuses on World Cultures. The new 2023 version of History / Bible / Literature A focuses on American History.

If you used Sonlight's History / Bible / Literature K program for the 2022-2023 school year (Exploring American History), you will want to purchase this 2022 Version of History / Bible / Literature A to continue in the history progression (and not duplicate the Exploring American History you have already completed).

Young adventurers: Explore God's big world!

Sonlight A sets the stage for future learning with its gentle introduction to formal academics. Your children develop a big-picture understanding that past civilizations existed and that people live differently throughout the world. Sonlight A is an introduction to the world. Like a sample platter, you'll get a taste of different world cultures and different periods in World History. And so, when you return to the Romans and Vikings in years to come, your children will have a mental peg already in place when they learn the new information. The knowledge you'll gain this year builds a framework for future in-depth history study.

This 36-week program also helps children start to see past themselves. Not everyone lives like they do! As a result, they are able to look at situations from another person's point of view and to relate to others who are different from them. They also develop a healthy curiosity about the world around them.

Your children won't be little forever, and this program allows you to enjoy this year together. From hands-on activities to stories they'll remember their entire lives, get ready for lots of laughs and hugs. In Sonlight A, you'll:

• Inspire a love of learning, gain a sense of history and explore far-off places.
• Guide your children confidently each day: you get lesson plans, teaching tips and materials for the entire year.
• Trek with missionaries, visit ancient Egypt and travel through jungles, America, Imperial China ... and more!
• Devour fun historical fiction, stirring true stories and many children's classics.
• Purchase this History / Bible / Literature package and you'll get free shipping (lower 48), a one-year guarantee and other perks.

Estimated daily time for Intro to the World: Cultures plus your other subjects: Student: 1.5-2 hrs | Parent: 1-1.5 hrs

Overview of the History

In Sonlight A, two books tie the year's studies together. Both The Usborne Children's Encyclopedia and Living Long Ago feature simple text and excellent illustrations. You get brief, picture-filled overviews of key civilizations, like the Roman Empire and the Vikings. Explore the way people ate, dressed and lived through the centuries.

The History also includes several wonderful, age-appropriate missionary biographies to learn first-hand how the good news of Jesus changes people and cultures.

This program also includes a wonderful children's Bible. When you read Egermeier's Bible Story Book to your children, they will beg you to "read one more chapter!"

Overview of the Literature

The Read-Alouds this year are stellar. These books naturally lead to conversations – about faith, about character, about relationships. These books present worthy heroes who display courage and honesty, who work hard, who love their families, and who do the right thing.

There are a range of fiction books. You'll read one set in the Appalachian Mountains, one in a lighthouse at Christmas, and one in the streets of Paris.

And there is a wonderful variety of fascinating nonfiction: a biography of Johnny Appleseed, born in New England in 1774. There is one book on nurses who served in Appalachia in the 1920s, and one set in France during WWII.

Grade 1 Readers

Designed for children who know the 26 basic letter sounds (only short vowels), this program begins with consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words and moves on to long vowel sounds and sight words.

Much of the year is spent on the three I Can Read It! books. In the beginning, one day's reading has perhaps ten simple sentences with a few words in each. By the end, there are more sentences, and the sentences are far more complex.

When the students are done with this series, there are additional easy readers, including the 236-different words book The Cat in the Hat (using the rollicking poetic rhythm anapestic tetrameter, no less!) and Little Bear (5-Day), with not only delightful illustrations but a text that is emotionally moving far beyond the few words it employs.

A delightful collection of early readers.

Click here to learn more about Readers.