Thank you for making this video! Their site wasn’t giving me enough to see inside the experiment book or what the experiment paper packet were. Now that I’ve seen this I feel comfortable going forward with it. I’m excited to use it next year!
Yes, the experiment book and paper packet is a BIG part of the curriculum--it's kind of hard to understand what all it is when all you see is a picture of the cover.
We are currently doing this level with my 5 year old. It’s been fun! Looking forward to going back to unit study’s next year but it was a fun change up for this year.
We're currently in the middle of a long ocean-themed study that we've absolutely loved...so I do think I will kind of miss staying on one theme for a long time and learning about many aspects. BUT especially as I was putting this video together I was getting excited about all the different parts of this science program we'll get to experience next year!
@@SevenInAll it’s definitely exciting and we have enjoyed it but some things I wanted to go quicker and some I wanted to slow down but overall has been fun!
Hi! First of all, this video was so helpful! Thank you! Just a quick question. We are new to Sonlight. I see on their website that they list this course for K-2, but it looks like in your video they refer to a lot of the stuff as “kindergarten.” Do you think this would still be appropriate for a child in first or even second who has not had a lot of formal science yet?
Yes, definitely, especially if they haven't done much with science yet. I call it kindergarten just because it's labeled Level "K" and I'm using it with a kindergartener....but all Sonlight science or HBL programs can be used within a couple-year age gap. A 2nd grader might be able to do more of the writing on the workbook pages, while a kindergartener might just be telling a parent the answer orally while the parent writes for them.
This looks awesome!!! My youngest is yet to do science but she’s asking for it and I don’t want to overwhelm her!!! The lines worry me especially as we would just talk about it and I wouldn’t expect her to do worksheets unless it’s more curing and sticking!!! The books look very appropriate for our country!!! We have discussions on local animals and weather patterns!!! The experiments will make it more fun!!! She’s yet to do experiments with us!!! The experiments look age appropriate!!! The experiments we do aren’t age appropriate for my kindergartener!!!
Thank you so much for this walk through! I was interested in in from hearing your long term planning video. I love how you keep adding the word 'typically' to what the kids are capable of at that age! 😂 I have 2 that are not typical, 1 that definitely is, and 1 we'll have to see still. I've got 2 years between each of my girls (7 in 3rd grade, 5 in 1st grade, 3.5- typical). Do you think I would be able to use this across multiple grades and ages or would I do better to do different ones for each of them?
I definitely think Sonlight Science could be used with multiple grades, and I have known many families to do so (elementary science doesn't tend to be especially grade-specific)...I think combining the older two would be very doable, but thinking of a typical 3.5 year old (as I have one myself)....my little guy will definitely be present and interested in all of our experiments and I bet he'll pick up a lot, but I don't think he'll master or remember the material the same way that my oldest will...
Thank you for this flip through! Do you know if it’s possible to find the sections of the textbooks that correlate directly with the specific books? Could you skip around? I’m thinking of seeing what books spark my kids interest and moving through it that way. Do you think this approach would be possible with this curriculum? Thank you for your time and all of the context you put out. It’s so valuable to the homeschool community!❤
The Sonlight IG does have a list of what topics are being covered in which weeks (i.e. ants, rainforests, hurricanes, etc.), so in theory you could use the topic list to help skip around and find which books, pages, and experiments go with different topics. In practice...I have generally found that the topics covered in elementary science tend to be overall interesting and exciting, so even if you go in order, I think that kids will generally find their interest piqued by whatever the new topic is, even if they didn't realize ahead of time that it would be all that interesting.
Probably the next level up would be a better fit! I think an 8 year old would still find the experiment activities fun (included activities like making recycled paper, or measuring the temperature inside a 'greenhouse' made out of a water bottle), but the overall learning points may be stuff the child already knows by that point.
I do have a comparison video showing several elementary science curriculum options, including Sonlight and Gentle + Classical here: ua-cam.com/video/4nYO8YuCTaI/v-deo.htmlsi=Hgc3HvY5_LJGoFU6 That's an older video, I believe it's from before Volume 2 of G+C was published.
New to researching Sonlight. I have a K and 2nd next year (23/24). This year we did unit studies (i created). If I started w 2nd grade Sonlight would I need to close gaps-does the curriculum build on prior years of Sonlight curriculum? Or can I start at any point? We did use a curicculum in kindergarten (1st year homeschooling) but it was very choppy and dry...my kids LOVE reading so it was too textbook style. This year (1st and prek) we just did unit studies, which I dont mind but it is a lot of work. Just looking for ideas as I move forward. Thank you for being to the point and clear...I love that about your videos-15 mins or less are so helpful!😊
There are different topics covered in different levels of Sonlight Science...but in general, I don't really worry about gaps in content for elementary years. 2nd grade. For example...maybe in 2nd grade they don't cover how a seed grows or the anatomy of insects (head, abdomen, thorax, 6 legs, etc.) BUT it's also very likely that your kids have already learned those ideas somewhere...and even if they haven't, it's highly likely they will bump into those ideas again several times in their educational career. Does that make sense? Also, I think it would be very doable to combine your children into one level if they are that close in age--especially if you do things like scribing for your younger child or doing worksheets orally.
I'm brand new to this. I have a 3 year old and am considering homeschooling. So this is just one subject... how many subjects do you usually do in Kindergarten?
Kindergarten begins around age 5-6. For our family, at this stage, I like to cover: phonics, handwriting, math, Bible, Literature (read alouds), Spanish, and science--but there can be some variety--some families do fewer subjects for Kindergarten, some others might start history in Kindergarten, but I don't prefer to do that--our literature (picture books) will have a geography-themed focus for the Kindergarten year. This is my plan for Kindergarten and the subjects we're covering: ua-cam.com/video/MMX4tLwhJkw/v-deo.html I also have a three year old right now, if you're interested in gentle learning routines, I'm about to start using Gentle + Classical Preschool with him. I used that program with my oldest when he was three: ua-cam.com/video/Y69su02qk1k/v-deo.html I'm always happy to chat if you have any questions as you're exploring the idea of homeschool!
There's a LOT in that experiment guide, it's very rich. I do think that I would personally miss having picture books that tie into different topics (i.e. reading the book on Ants while having ant-related experiments).
Thank you for making this video! Their site wasn’t giving me enough to see inside the experiment book or what the experiment paper packet were. Now that I’ve seen this I feel comfortable going forward with it. I’m excited to use it next year!
Yes, the experiment book and paper packet is a BIG part of the curriculum--it's kind of hard to understand what all it is when all you see is a picture of the cover.
Thanks for sharing. Love nerdy homeschool videos!
Thanks for watching, Stacey!
Thank you for the in depth explanation of all the components!
Glad it was helpful!
We are currently doing this level with my 5 year old. It’s been fun! Looking forward to going back to unit study’s next year but it was a fun change up for this year.
We're currently in the middle of a long ocean-themed study that we've absolutely loved...so I do think I will kind of miss staying on one theme for a long time and learning about many aspects. BUT especially as I was putting this video together I was getting excited about all the different parts of this science program we'll get to experience next year!
@@SevenInAll it’s definitely exciting and we have enjoyed it but some things I wanted to go quicker and some I wanted to slow down but overall has been fun!
This unit from sonlight looks like so much fun!! The books 😍 exciting to see (if you share) how you do a lesson!
I'm looking forward to it! I may do a 'lesson with us' video sometime!
Hi! First of all, this video was so helpful! Thank you! Just a quick question. We are new to Sonlight. I see on their website that they list this course for K-2, but it looks like in your video they refer to a lot of the stuff as “kindergarten.” Do you think this would still be appropriate for a child in first or even second who has not had a lot of formal science yet?
Yes, definitely, especially if they haven't done much with science yet. I call it kindergarten just because it's labeled Level "K" and I'm using it with a kindergartener....but all Sonlight science or HBL programs can be used within a couple-year age gap. A 2nd grader might be able to do more of the writing on the workbook pages, while a kindergartener might just be telling a parent the answer orally while the parent writes for them.
@@SevenInAll thank you so much!!
I don’t have a kindergartner, nor will we be using sonlight, but I thoroughly enjoyed this video! You guys will have so much fun next year!
Taking the time to really go through it and look through all the parts of the program made me really excited about science this coming year!
Just started this curriculum with my twins. It's the perfect amount of activity and facts per day for us. 😊
That's awesome to hear!
This was very helpful, thanks Rachel!!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
Love love love the video ❤
Glad that it's helpful!
This looks awesome!!! My youngest is yet to do science but she’s asking for it and I don’t want to overwhelm her!!! The lines worry me especially as we would just talk about it and I wouldn’t expect her to do worksheets unless it’s more curing and sticking!!! The books look very appropriate for our country!!! We have discussions on local animals and weather patterns!!! The experiments will make it more fun!!! She’s yet to do experiments with us!!! The experiments look age appropriate!!! The experiments we do aren’t age appropriate for my kindergartener!!!
Yes, it can be hard to include kids from a wide age range in experiments. I think these look very doable for my little boys.
Hello dear friend, excellent information, Thank You for sharing:)
Thanks for visiting!
Thank you so much for this walk through! I was interested in in from hearing your long term planning video.
I love how you keep adding the word 'typically' to what the kids are capable of at that age! 😂 I have 2 that are not typical, 1 that definitely is, and 1 we'll have to see still.
I've got 2 years between each of my girls (7 in 3rd grade, 5 in 1st grade, 3.5- typical). Do you think I would be able to use this across multiple grades and ages or would I do better to do different ones for each of them?
I definitely think Sonlight Science could be used with multiple grades, and I have known many families to do so (elementary science doesn't tend to be especially grade-specific)...I think combining the older two would be very doable, but thinking of a typical 3.5 year old (as I have one myself)....my little guy will definitely be present and interested in all of our experiments and I bet he'll pick up a lot, but I don't think he'll master or remember the material the same way that my oldest will...
This looks like so much fun!
I think so, too!
Thank you for this flip through!
Do you know if it’s possible to find the sections of the textbooks that correlate directly with the specific books? Could you skip around? I’m thinking of seeing what books spark my kids interest and moving through it that way. Do you think this approach would be possible with this curriculum?
Thank you for your time and all of the context you put out. It’s so valuable to the homeschool community!❤
The Sonlight IG does have a list of what topics are being covered in which weeks (i.e. ants, rainforests, hurricanes, etc.), so in theory you could use the topic list to help skip around and find which books, pages, and experiments go with different topics. In practice...I have generally found that the topics covered in elementary science tend to be overall interesting and exciting, so even if you go in order, I think that kids will generally find their interest piqued by whatever the new topic is, even if they didn't realize ahead of time that it would be all that interesting.
@@SevenInAll awesome, thank you for the insight!
Would the experiments be fun for an 8 year old or would the next level up be more appropriate? Thank you!!!!
Probably the next level up would be a better fit! I think an 8 year old would still find the experiment activities fun (included activities like making recycled paper, or measuring the temperature inside a 'greenhouse' made out of a water bottle), but the overall learning points may be stuff the child already knows by that point.
Do you have a comparison of Sonlight science vs gentle and classical nature? I’m torn between the two
I do have a comparison video showing several elementary science curriculum options, including Sonlight and Gentle + Classical here: ua-cam.com/video/4nYO8YuCTaI/v-deo.htmlsi=Hgc3HvY5_LJGoFU6
That's an older video, I believe it's from before Volume 2 of G+C was published.
I also have thorough videos focusing on just G+C Nature (Vol 1 and Vol 2) and some of the book swaps that I made and how I used them.
New to researching Sonlight. I have a K and 2nd next year (23/24). This year we did unit studies (i created). If I started w 2nd grade Sonlight would I need to close gaps-does the curriculum build on prior years of Sonlight curriculum? Or can I start at any point? We did use a curicculum in kindergarten (1st year homeschooling) but it was very choppy and dry...my kids LOVE reading so it was too textbook style. This year (1st and prek) we just did unit studies, which I dont mind but it is a lot of work. Just looking for ideas as I move forward. Thank you for being to the point and clear...I love that about your videos-15 mins or less are so helpful!😊
There are different topics covered in different levels of Sonlight Science...but in general, I don't really worry about gaps in content for elementary years. 2nd grade. For example...maybe in 2nd grade they don't cover how a seed grows or the anatomy of insects (head, abdomen, thorax, 6 legs, etc.) BUT it's also very likely that your kids have already learned those ideas somewhere...and even if they haven't, it's highly likely they will bump into those ideas again several times in their educational career. Does that make sense? Also, I think it would be very doable to combine your children into one level if they are that close in age--especially if you do things like scribing for your younger child or doing worksheets orally.
Thank you! That helps a lot. I've heard so many good things about their science but wasn't sure. Thanks for the info and clarity.
I'm brand new to this. I have a 3 year old and am considering homeschooling. So this is just one subject... how many subjects do you usually do in Kindergarten?
Kindergarten begins around age 5-6.
For our family, at this stage, I like to cover: phonics, handwriting, math, Bible, Literature (read alouds), Spanish, and science--but there can be some variety--some families do fewer subjects for Kindergarten, some others might start history in Kindergarten, but I don't prefer to do that--our literature (picture books) will have a geography-themed focus for the Kindergarten year.
This is my plan for Kindergarten and the subjects we're covering: ua-cam.com/video/MMX4tLwhJkw/v-deo.html
I also have a three year old right now, if you're interested in gentle learning routines, I'm about to start using Gentle + Classical Preschool with him. I used that program with my oldest when he was three: ua-cam.com/video/Y69su02qk1k/v-deo.html
I'm always happy to chat if you have any questions as you're exploring the idea of homeschool!
Do they sale the curriculum without the extra books? or you have to buy it in a package?
You can buy any pieces of the curriculum that you want--the Instructor's Guide, etc. You do not need to buy the complete package.
Do you think Discover and Do could be used as a stand-alone?
There's a LOT in that experiment guide, it's very rich. I do think that I would personally miss having picture books that tie into different topics (i.e. reading the book on Ants while having ant-related experiments).