Sonlight Unboxing & How I Homeschool Multiple Ages Together

One of my favorite times of the year is when my new homeschool curriculum arrives. 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.

Below is my unboxing video. This year I’m using History/Bible/Literature (HBL) Levels C and H.

HBL level C is for Grades 2-4. My three youngest kids will be in grades 2, 3 and 4. HBL level H is for Grades 7-9. My three older kids will be in grades 8 and 9. Both of these cover Middle Ages through modern day. Middle Ages is one of my favorite times in history.

I literally put the two 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 (and 46!) 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 reading 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 easy is that 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!

How I Organize

Next, I’ll do another video showing how I organize our homeschool. I don’t have a dedicated school room. We homeschool in the dining room. We also eat in the dining room every evening, which means everything needs to be cleaned up and put away after we’re done.

Here is the Unboxing video:

If you have any questions about homeschooling (or Sonlight) let me know! Leave your questions in the comments.