Sonlight Curriculum is a literature based curriculum.  This means that they use “real” books instead of textbooks to teach the kids the different parts of history, science, bible and other subjects.  They are a user friendly curriculum because they lay out each day for the homeschool parent.  The teacher manuals are a great way to keep records by writing in the dates that you do the different readings or activities.

I love the selection of the different books that they incorporate in the curriculum.  They do not always use just Christian literature.  I like this aspect because it gives my kids a worldview that I can bring the biblical perspective to.  We were recently reading a book on a young girl’s life that had her belief system in Hinduism.  This opened up discussions on what the Hinduism religion was about and how we can pray for the people in India and Tibet to find Jesus.  My kids enjoy the different variety of books that end up being part of our library.

A more economical way of doing Sonlight is to purchase their teacher manuals only and then get the books from the library.  If your local library does not have it, they can  usually buy it for you.  Our library has all this information online and we can reserve books for pick up.  You can also buy the books on a Kindle app for sometimes a fraction of the price of buying the actual book.  If you are going to buy the book, I would buy it from Sonlight.  Their prices are competitive with Amazon and you can order just one book and still get free shipping if you are a member with Sonlight.  If you purchase a teacher manual you are automatically a member on Sonlight.

Sonlight is a great curriculum for a new homeschooler but also enjoyable for a seasoned homeschooler.  I am quite an eclectic homeschooler, I enjoy a variety of different curriculum and tools to help the unique learning styles in each of my children.  Regardless of the curriculum that I am using, I usually have some kind of library of Sonlight books that end up being part of my year.  Check it out at sonlight.com.