Sonlight vs My Father's World
The main differences
Both plan the year around books read together, from preschool to 12th grade. Sonlight's all-subject package includes math, language arts and science along with history and literature. My Father's World plans history, science, art and music from one teacher's manual with notebooking and projects, while math and, from 2nd grade, language arts books are bought separately. From 4th to 8th grade My Father's World puts children of several ages in one shared cycle. A 3rd grade package was $1,129.45 at Sonlight and $385.74 at My Father's World before math and language arts.
| Sonlight | My Father's World | |
|---|---|---|
| Subjects | All subjects: math, reading and phonics, language arts, science and history and geography | All subjects: math, reading and phonics, language arts, science and history and geography |
| Grades | Preschool to 12th grade | Preschool (from age 2) to 12th grade |
| Method | Literature-based | Charlotte Mason, Classical, Unit studies, Literature-based |
| Format | Books and workbooks | Books and workbooks |
| Faith label | Faith-based | Faith-based |
| Cost a year | $1,129.45. 3rd grade All-Subjects Package C, 4 days a week, with required resources (instructor's guides, history and literature books, readers, language arts, handwriting, science and Math-U-See Gamma): $1,129.45 today, 20% off $1,411.81. Families new to Sonlight are pointed to a History B+C version of this package instead. | $385.74. 3rd grade World Changers package (teacher's manual with daily lesson plans, plus the history, science, art and music books): $385.74 today, 20% off $482.17. Math and language arts are required and bought separately. |
| Placement | Free placement tests ↗ | None on the publisher's site |
| Parent time | Not stated by the publisher | Not stated by the publisher |
| It fits | A family that wants to learn through real books read together, with every day of the year planned in a guide. | A family teaching several children that wants one plan for history, science and the arts, with books, notebooking and hands-on projects. |
| It doesn't fit | A family on a tight budget, or one that wants the child to work alone from workbooks or a screen. | A family that wants every subject in one box, or a child who works alone on a screen. |
Sonlight
Sonlight is a literature-based curriculum: history, geography and literature are taught through read-aloud books and readers, scheduled together with language arts and science in a 36-week instructor's guide. An all-subjects package for a grade includes the guides, the books, language arts, handwriting, science and a math program, on a 4-day or 5-day schedule. It runs from preschool to 12th grade, and the parent teaches from the guides and shares the read-alouds.
Does well: An all-subjects package arrives with the whole year planned: 36 weeks of lesson plans and notes that tie the subjects together.
Watch for: A 3rd grade package costs over $1,100 even at 20% off.
My Father's World
My Father's World is a curriculum for preschool to 12th grade that teaches history, science, art, music and much of language arts from one teacher's manual with daily lesson plans, read-aloud books, notebooking and hands-on projects. From 4th to 8th grade, children of several ages study the same package together in a five-year cycle. Math, and from 2nd grade the grade-level language arts books, are bought separately; the publisher recommends Dimensions Math.
Does well: One primary teacher's manual guides all subjects, with daily lesson plans in a weekly chart, so the parent does not have to plan.
Watch for: Math is not in the packages and is bought separately, and families new to the recommended Dimensions Math must take its placement test first.
Lists with both
- Homeschool all-in-one curricula 22
- Faith-based homeschool curricula 22
- Literature-based homeschool curricula 12
- Homeschool curricula for pre-K and kindergarten 48
- Homeschool curricula for middle school 51
- Homeschool curricula for high school 38
- Print homeschool curricula 44
- Faith-based homeschool all-in-one curricula 14
How we label
Every fact on a card was read on the publisher's own website on the date shown, and the page it came from is linked. A fact we could not confirm there is left out. Costs are for one child and one year of the main package, as the publisher's page showed them that day; prices and sales change. Method and format are the publisher's own description where it gives one. The only thing we say about religion is one label, secular or faith-based, given by the rule above; where the publisher's pages don't settle it, the card has no label.
Something wrong or out of date? Send a correction; publishers can send corrections, never money. Every program compared