One of my favorite times of the year is when my new homeschool curriculum arrives. For the last couple of years, I’ve used Sonlight to homeschool all my children together. It works great!! I’m doing the same thing this year, too.
My children are Level D (ages 8-11) and Level 100 (ages 12-16) in the Sonlight homeschool curriculum. But I love to combine levels to teach all my kids together!
Homeschool Scheduling Hope
In order to make the most of our homeschool day, I literally put the two levels together and do the Read Alouds to both groups. Last time it took me 1 ½ years to go through the doubled-up curriculum this way, but none of us minded. The younger kids enjoyed the older kids’ books and the older kids loved the young kids’ books. This really helps the kids bond. From ages 7-15 we all enjoy the stories together. I can’t tell you the number of times all the kids were either laughing or crying at the same time. It’s fun to hear them talking about the stories months later.
I usually spend 2 – 2 ½ hours each day reading aloud to all my kids together. While I’m reading they’re usually coloring, playing with Legos, doing puzzles or crafts. I pause every few pages and ask questions to make sure people are paying attention. Sometimes the older girls take turns reading too.
Then, after the read-aloud time, everyone breaks up to do their individual work. This takes anywhere from 1-4 more hours, depending on the age of the child, how much work and independent reading there is, and how motivated they are.
Teacher’s Guide
What makes Sonlight Homeschool Curriculum easy is that the Teacher’s Guide has everything listed out—what needs to be done each day. There are also handouts and worksheets to go with the books. Since everything is figured out for me, there is little prep.
I’ll admit that we don’t cover every single thing in the teacher’s guide. Sometimes I’ll choose not to do all the extra activities, and we just read the books. That’s okay. My kids are learning a ton and excelling!
Watch the video unboxing here:
Hope and Refreshment for Homeschooling Parents
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Have you checked out my homeschool success course yet?
Let me share all the practical tips and tricks I’ve learned to:
—Homeschool multiple levels in four hours a day.
—Understand the basics of homeschool laws and what your kids need to graduate and go to college.
—Discover your gifts as a homeschool teacher.
—Finding extra help for special needs kids.
…and so much more!
Here is my welcome module to give you a glimpse of this course!
Love your yearly unboxing videos!