Dear Judy,

This is a deep change – and it begins with our books.

Book Changes

Our goal at Sonlight has always been to give people everything they need to teach their children for one full year. In the US, a full year is 180 days of school.

Over the past year, Sarita reviewed all the programs, A-H, with the purpose of adjusting the schedules, and, by doing so, she created a more cohesive experience.

At the same time, she realized that she has new favorite titles. (She reviews books constantly.) So books that had been good choices when she created these programs were no longer the best possible.

In some cases, she ended up dropping ten titles and adding only four or five new titles. Most of the books that are out are short or ones that don't usually show up on anyone's "favorite ever!" list. So longer and better books are in … making the books lists better.

And each schedule is completely reworked to make each day's reading a bit more even and manageable; there aren't the marathon sessions some days and short sessions other days. The schedule has been re-balanced. And that is good!

(If your absolute favorite has been removed – I feel you. My absolute favorite was, too. But I hold The Westing Game still in my heart, and am happy to make room for the new books that I also really, really like. And I can acknowledge that The Westing Game really had nothing to do with the subject matter in level H, so other choices make more sense. Which is all to say: yes, feel free to grieve any true losses, but then wait with eager expectation for the exciting new additions.)

In a co-op? Like to take field trips? Don't Panic!

Maybe you attend a co-op once a week, and the idea of adding an additional 36 days to an already full year seems overwhelming.

Let me try to help you see a way forward.

Subjects like Math remain the same this year. Other subjects, like Science and Language Arts, have minimal changes – Day 5 is light and easily adjustable.

Sonlight has always had Bible and Readers scheduled for five days, assuming that time with God and practice reading are both valuable and important, whether your school is spent with Sonlight or at co-op.

You figured out how to make Bible and Readers fit your life. Probably, you doubled up on some things and cut some others, depending on the workload for the rest of the week.

And if the schedule didn't perfectly fit your life, the reality is, your year was still incredible, even with minor adjustments.

And so we have the new schedule for two subjects: History and Read-Alouds.

The scope of History has not changed. In previous years, it's not like the full schedule, 180-Day people got an extra 300 years of World History, and the 144-Day people ended their studies in 1700. No. The 180-Day people enjoyed a few supplemental books tacked on to the last day of each week.

You will still be able to cover the History. And if there's a few additional, supplemental books that you don't get to over the course of the year … that's okay.

And if having too many Read-Alouds overwhelms you … pause for a moment.

It is incredibly challenging to find good books.

The Sonlight books are outstanding.

And if you only get to, say, nine of the twelve during the school year … then you have three more to read over the summer.

Think of it as "reading a good book with Mom." That doesn't need to feel like "too much school." It feels like connection and joy.

It feels like … Sonlight!

Rejoice with us! We are so happy to share these updated programs with you!

Warmly,

Amy Lykosh
for the Sonlight Team
www.sonlight.com

P.S. Remember: coming soon, a description of the new Sonlight F. Watch for it!