Sonlight

Sonlight describes itself as a complete, Christian, literature-based homeschool curriculum for preschool through high school. The footer of its contact page lists Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd. at an address in Littleton, Colorado.

Last updated: 2026-10-08 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Literature-based. Sonlight says its History / Bible / Literature programs use a story-based history book as a spine and add biographies, historical fiction, Read-Alouds, and Readers, all scheduled in an Instructor's Guide
Worldview	Christian. Sonlight's FAQ calls it a "Protestant, Evangelical Christian company," and its 19 Reasons page says it does not claim to represent the views and practices of any specific denomination
Grades	Preschool through high school; Sonlight lists an age range and a grade range for each level, from Preschool (ages 3 to 4) to the last high school levels (ages 17 to 18, grades 11 to 12)
Formats	Print book packages with Instructor's Guides, and Sonlight says its Level K and higher guides use a three-hole punch system; Sonlight Virtual online courses for high school History / Bible and Literature / Language Arts, levels 100 to 400
Cost tier	Premium (Every Homeschool classification); prices are in the cost section below, as Sonlight displayed them in October 2026
Parent intensity	4 (Every Homeschool rating, 1 to 5)
ESA-common	Sonlight's ESA page says it is an approved curriculum vendor for select state ESA programs and lists 14 states
Accredited	Sonlight says accreditation does not apply because it is not a school or educational institution and curriculum cannot be accredited
Established	Sonlight's About page tells a story that begins in 1989; its Missions page and 19 Reasons page give 1990 as the year it started
Website	sonlight.com

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	4	Our assessment. Sonlight's Scope & Sequence lists History / Bible / Literature, Language Arts, Science, and Math programs by level, and Sonlight says it is highly academic
Ease of teaching	3	Our assessment. Sonlight says each History / Bible / Literature Instructor's Guide lays out a 180-day schedule on 36 pages, and its Scope & Sequence lists parent time of 1 to 1.5 hours a day at Level K and 2 to 3.5 hours at Levels F through 100
Content quality	5	Our assessment. Sonlight says every book in its programs has to pass a seven-part test, and each product page lists the titles in the program
Flexibility	4	Our assessment. Sonlight says it offers a 4-day version in most of its packages, and its Level F program, for example, is sold in 4-day and 5-day schedules, with or without required resources. Sonlight also says one program works when children are within about three years of one another
Value for money	3	Our assessment. Sonlight applies a standing 15% discount to History / Bible / Literature programs and 20% to All-Subjects Packages and offers a guarantee; see the cost section for current prices
Worldview scope	2	Our assessment. Sonlight says its Instructor's Guides are written from an "unabashedly biblical, evangelical Christian base", and its FAQ says it believes students should learn different perspectives on important issues
Visual/design	4	Our assessment. Sonlight says its history programs pair a mostly text spine with an illustrated companion book where needed
Support resources	4	Our assessment. Sonlight lists free placement tests, Advisors, the Sonlight Connections community, and three free weeks of any Instructor's Guide

Who the publisher is

Sonlight's About page tells a story that begins in 1989 with stateside missionaries John and Sarita Holzmann. It says no complete, ready-to-use homeschool program existed at the time and that Sarita set out to gather and schedule literature, history, Bible, science, and hands-on materials into one cohesive curriculum, which grew into what became Sonlight. A letter on the Missions page from Sarita Holzmann, whom the page calls co-founder and President of Sonlight, says she and John first started Sonlight in 1990 and that she wanted to enable missionary families to stay one more year on the field. The 19 Reasons page says Sonlight pioneered literature-based homeschooling in 1990 when it started the company. Sonlight's own pages therefore give 1989 for the origin story and 1990 for the start of the company.

The SonlightCares page describes Sonlight as a family-owned business. The footer of Sonlight's Contact page gives the company's name as Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd. and its address as Littleton, Colorado.

Sonlight's FAQ answers the question of what religion it upholds by calling Sonlight a Protestant, Evangelical Christian company whose products are written through that worldview. The same answer says Sonlight also sells books by people from other perspectives and prefers authoritative voices from each perspective. The Educational Philosophy page says an evangelical Christian missions worldview has defined and shaped Sonlight from the start. The 19 Reasons page says 90% or more of Sonlight's books are nonreligious, that the Instructor's Guides are written from an evangelical Christian base, that Sonlight does not claim to represent any specific denomination, and that many families who do not consider themselves evangelical or religious use the program.

The core pedagogy

Sonlight's Discover page says the company pioneered literature-based learning more than thirty years ago and that its curriculum uses real books to deliver an education it describes as far richer than textbooks and rote memorization. The same page says each History / Bible / Literature program weaves together a year of history and geography, Bible, and literature. A story-based history book or series serves as the spine and is read gradually through the year, and the schedule adds biographies, historical fiction, and novels on the period studied.

Sonlight says its programs take three sweeps through history from kindergarten to graduation. The first sweep runs from Level K through Level E, with Level K on world cultures, Level A on American history, Levels B and C on world history, and Levels D and E on American history. The second sweep runs from Level F, on the Eastern Hemisphere, through Levels G and H on world history, Level J on the history of science, and Level 100 on American history. The third sweep covers the history of the Christian church in Level 200, 20th century world history in Level 300, and American government and economics in Level 400. The 19 Reasons page says Sonlight does not use a four-year chronological cycle for history.

Signature mechanics: (1) Instructor's Guide as daily schedule. The History / Bible / Literature page says the Instructor's Guide holds 36 complete weekly lesson plans, with a 4-day version in most packages; the Preschool Package page describes a 30-week program. (2) Read-Alouds and Readers. The same page says Read-Alouds begin in Preschool with picture books, are short chapter books by Level A, and often connect with the history being studied in the upper levels; in high school all assigned literature is read as Readers. (3) Discussion questions and notes. The Discover page says the parent reads the day's History and Read-Aloud pages to the children until high school and talks about them using suggested discussion questions. (4) Bible and missions. The History / Bible / Literature page says each program has a Bible section in its guide, a weekly memory verse, and at least one missionary biography every year.

Language arts, science, and math are separate subjects. The History / Bible / Literature page says Sonlight's Language Arts programs are built around the books the student reads. Sonlight's science page describes Sonlight Science programs that each include an Instructor's Guide, books, and hands-on experiments, and its Scope & Sequence lists Apologia and Berean programs at the higher levels. For math, Sonlight's Level K page lists programs by brand name, including Math-U-See, Singapore, Horizons, and Saxon, rather than a Sonlight-named math program.

A day in the life

Sonlight's Discover page describes the day this way: open the Instructor's Guide and read the day's Scripture and the week's memory verse; read the assigned History and Read-Aloud pages to the children and use the discussion questions; let the children read their assigned Readers and discuss them with the notes provided; do any map activities; and, in the younger years, optional hands-on activities. The page then lists language arts, science, math, and handwriting as scheduled, followed by time for electives and enrichment, and says many families finish school by early afternoon.

The 19 Reasons page says the lessons are not scripted and that Sonlight does not tell families what time to start or in what order to teach the subjects. It also says the full program will not work if parents hand it to elementary or middle school children to do on their own. Sonlight's Scope & Sequence gives the daily time to complete all subjects as 1.5 to 2 hours for the student and 1 to 1.5 hours for the parent at Level K, 2 to 3 hours and 1.5 to 2 hours at Level C, and 5 to 7 hours and 2 to 3.5 hours at Level 100.

For high school, the Level 100 page says courses from that level are designed for more independent study, with a Parent Guide and a separate Student Guide for History / Bible and for Literature and Language Arts. The Instructor's Guide page says the Student Guide holds the discussion and thought questions and the Parent Guide adds answers.

What they do exceptionally well

Published book-selection criteria. Sonlight's Books page is written by Sarita Holzmann, who says she has reviewed tens of thousands of children's and young adult books over the last 25 years and that every book in a Sonlight program has to pass a seven-part test. The page also says she wants authors and characters who are not all from the United States or Western Europe and a mix of easier and harder books. In our assessment, a stated test and named criteria give families something concrete to weigh before buying.

A planned sequence from preschool to graduation. Sonlight publishes its Scope & Sequence with the history focus, spiritual focus, and daily time for each level. In our assessment, families can see the whole progression, including the three sweeps through history, before they buy the first level.

Teaching more than one child. Sonlight says it sorts subjects into Couch Subjects and Table Subjects: subjects such as Bible, history, geography, Read-Alouds, and science that siblings within about three years of each other can share, and skill subjects such as math and spelling that are chosen for each child. In our assessment, this structure suits families with children close in age.

What they do poorly

Parent time. Sonlight's own figures for parent time to complete all subjects run from 1 to 1.5 hours a day at Level K to 2 to 3.5 hours a day at Levels F through 100, per its Scope & Sequence. Its 19 Reasons page gives a different estimate for the complete curriculum, about 1.5 to 2 hours a day in the early years, 2 to 3.5 hours in the middle years, and 1 to 3 hours for older students. In our assessment, families who dislike reading aloud, or who are teaching several children at different levels, should check those figures against their own day.

Some subjects use programs sold under other names. Sonlight sells its own language arts programs and its own science programs for the lower levels, but its Scope & Sequence lists math programs by brand name and Apologia and Berean programs for upper-level science. In our assessment, families who want every subject from a Sonlight-named program should read each level page to see what is included.

Price. The cost section lists current prices. In our assessment, a complete All-Subjects Package is a significant outlay for one student for one year, and Sonlight's standing discounts and guarantee are what offset it.

One stated worldview. Sonlight says its Instructor's Guides are written from an evangelical Christian base. In our assessment, families who want worldview-neutral materials, or who are looking for a different faith tradition's materials, will be adapting the program rather than using it as designed.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick Sonlight if: you want a Christian program built around real books scheduled day by day; you are comfortable reading aloud and discussing the books with your children; you want children within about three years of each other to share one history program; you want an evangelical Christian perspective in the Instructor's Guides, as Sonlight describes it.

• Skip Sonlight if: you dislike reading aloud or cannot give the parent time Sonlight lists; you want every subject, math included, from a Sonlight-named program; you need a lower-cost program; you want a secular or religiously neutral curriculum.

Cost honest assessment

Sonlight's FAQ says it offers a 15% discount off retail on History / Bible / Literature programs and a 20% discount off retail on All-Subjects Packages year round. Its product pages show the discounted price beside the list price. The History / Bible / Literature programs include history, Bible, Readers, Read-Alouds, and the Instructor's Guide; an All-Subjects Package adds language arts, science, math, and handwriting in the younger years, per the same FAQ.

As displayed on Sonlight's product pages and retrieved October 2026, with the 4-day schedule and required resources unless noted, the discounted price and the list price were:

• History / Bible / Literature Level A, Grade 1 Readers: $555.62 (list $653.67)
• History / Bible / Literature Level D: $569.17 (list $669.61)
• History / Bible / Literature Level F: $672.82 (list $791.55)
• History / Bible / Literature Level 100, one schedule: $759.41 (list $893.42)
• All-Subjects Package K: about $1,016 (list $1,270.28)
• All-Subjects Package A: $1,057.49 (list $1,321.86)
• All-Subjects Package F: $1,304.17 (list $1,630.21)
• All-Subjects Package 100, one schedule: $1,032.18 (list $1,290.22)

Prices change with the schedule, whether required resources are included, and the Readers level. The Kindergarten All-Subjects Package, for example, displays four prices from $848.32 to about $1,063 across its variants. Sonlight's SonlightCares page lists 6- and 9-month payment plans for All-Subjects Packages and for orders of $799 or more, and its guarantee page says families have up to a year to use the first 18 weeks of a complete package and can return it for a refund of the purchase price, with return shipping not refunded. Sonlight's FAQ says prices can change, so confirm the current figure on the product page before ordering.

ESA eligibility notes

Sonlight's ESA page says Sonlight is an approved curriculum vendor for select state ESA programs and lists Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming. For most of those states the page says Sonlight is available through the ClassWallet or Odyssey marketplace, and for Florida and West Virginia through MyScholarShop. The page describes each state program, and some are limited to specific groups of students; Sonlight says its Indiana vendor status is for the scholarship for students with disabilities and their siblings, for example. The page does not say which Sonlight products each marketplace carries, so families should ask their program administrator before ordering.

Alternatives

• My Father's World, a family comparing programs can read the publisher's own description on its Every Homeschool page.
• Heart of Dakota, a family comparing programs can read the publisher's own description on its Every Homeschool page.
• Ambleside Online, a family comparing programs can read the publisher's own description on its Every Homeschool page.