Sonlight History / Bible / Literature Programs

Sonlight's History / Bible / Literature programs are, in the publisher's words, the centerpiece of your Sonlight experience: each one weaves together a year of history and geography, Bible, and literature. Sonlight names them by level, from Level K through the high school levels, and the page titles of several levels carry a label such as "f. Core A". This review covers those programs rather than the Sonlight publisher as a whole.

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

At a glance

Method	Literature-based. Sonlight says each program uses a story-based history book as a spine and adds biographies, historical fiction, Read-Alouds, and Readers
Worldview	Christian. Sonlight says all of its programs come from a Christian perspective and that its Instructor's Guides are written from an evangelical Christian base
Grades	Listed by age and grade for each level on the publisher's programs page, from Level K (ages 5 to 7, grades K to 2) to Levels 400 and 500 (ages 17 to 18, grades 11 to 12); the same page lists Preschool and Pre-K packages
Formats	Print book packages with an Instructor's Guide; Sonlight says it offers a 4-day version in most of its packages, and its Scope & Sequence links only a 5-day schedule download for Levels B+C, D+E, W, J, and 100 through 500; Sonlight Virtual online courses for high school History / Bible and Literature / Language Arts, levels 100 to 400
Cost tier	Premium (Every Homeschool classification); current prices are in the cost section below
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; the page does not list individual products
Accredited	Sonlight says accreditation does not apply to its curriculum because it is not a school or educational institution
Established	No start date for these programs on the publisher's pages; the company's dates are in our Sonlight publisher review
Website	sonlight.com/pages/history-bible-literature

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	4	Our assessment. Sonlight's Scope & Sequence lists a history focus, a spiritual focus, and a daily time for each level from Level K through the high school levels
Ease of teaching	2	Our assessment. Sonlight 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, and says the Instructor's Guide schedules each day
Content quality	5	Our assessment. Sonlight says each book passes a seven-part test, and each level's product page lists its titles
Flexibility	3	Our assessment. Sonlight says it offers a 4-day version in most of its packages, and Level F, for example, is sold in 4-day and 5-day schedules. Sonlight also says one program serves children within about three years of one another; the guides are written as a full-year schedule
Value for money	3	Our assessment. A standing 15% discount applies to these programs, and the Instructor's Guide is also sold separately
Worldview scope	2	Our assessment. Sonlight says its guides are written from an evangelical Christian base and that every program includes at least one missionary biography each year
Visual/design	3	Our assessment. Sonlight says it pairs a mostly text spine with an illustrated companion book, and its Level K and higher guides use a three-hole punch system
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

These programs are published by Sonlight, which lists its name as Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd. on its contact page. Sonlight's About page says Sarita Holzmann set out to gather and schedule literature, history, Bible, science, and hands-on materials into one cohesive curriculum. The company's dates and ownership as its pages state them are in the publisher review.

The SonlightCares page lists previous purchases of Basic, Core, CorePlus, CoreUltra, Newcomer, Multi-Subject, and Full-Grade packages as counting toward scholarship eligibility. Sonlight's FAQ lists Level A among the world history programs, while its Level A page calls it Exploring American History, so check the level page before ordering.

The core pedagogy

The programs page lists these levels, each with an age range and a grade range:

• Preschool and Pre-K. The Preschool Package (ages 3 to 4) and the Pre-K Package (ages 4 to 5).
• Levels K through E. Level K, Intro to the World: Cultures (ages 5 to 7, grades K to 2); Level A, Exploring American History (ages 6 to 8, grades 1 to 3); Level B, Intro to World History Year 1 of 2 (ages 7 to 9, grades 2 to 4); Level C, Intro to World History Year 2 of 2 (ages 8 to 10, grades 3 to 5); Level B+C, the same history in one year (ages 8 to 10, grades 3 to 5); Level D, Intro to American History Year 1 of 2 (ages 9 to 12, grades 4 to 7); Level E, Year 2 of 2 (ages 10 to 13, grades 5 to 8); and Level D+E, the same history in one year (ages 10 to 13, grades 5 to 8).
• Levels F through J. Level F, Eastern Hemisphere (ages 11 to 14, grades 6 to 9); Level G, World History Year 1 of 2 (ages 12 to 14, grades 7 to 9); Level H, World History Year 2 of 2 (ages 13 to 15, grades 8 to 10); Level W, World History in one year (ages 12 to 14, grades 7 to 9); and Level J, History of Science (ages 13 to 15, grades 8 to 10).
• Levels 100 through 500. Level 100, American History and Literature (ages 13 to 15, grades 8 to 10); Level 200, History of the Christian Church and Classical Literature (ages 14 to 17, grades 9 to 11); Level 300, 20th Century World History and Literature (ages 16 to 18, grades 10 to 12); Level 400, American Government / Economics and Literature (ages 17 to 18, grades 11 to 12); and Level 500, World History and Worldview Studies and Literature (ages 17 to 18, grades 11 to 12).

Sonlight's FAQ says a History / Bible / Literature program includes history, Bible, Readers and Read-Alouds, and the Instructor's Guide, and that families add other subjects such as math; an All-Subjects Package adds language arts, science, math, and handwriting in the younger years. The programs page says the Instructor's Guide holds 36 complete weekly lesson plans, while the Preschool Package page describes a 30-week program. The Instructor's Guide page says that for its high school programs Sonlight sells both a Parent Guide and a Student Guide for each program.

Sonlight says its programs take three sweeps through history. On the programs page the first sweep is Levels K through E, the second is Levels F through 100, and the third is Levels 200, 300, and 400. The 19 Reasons page says Sonlight does not use a four-year chronological cycle.

Signature mechanics: (1) Instructor's Guide as the schedule. The Instructor's Guide page says each History / Bible / Literature guide lays out a 180-day schedule on 36 pages, five days per page. Sonlight's FAQ says it updates the guides every year, and its product pages label guides by year, such as the 2026 Version for Level A. (2) Read-Alouds and Readers. The programs page says Read-Alouds begin in Preschool with picture books and are short chapter books by Level A, and that in the upper levels most Read-Alouds connect with the history being studied. In high school all assigned literature is read as Readers. (3) A weekly memory verse. The page says each program's schedule suggests a weekly memory verse and that the verses are set to song in levels K through G. (4) Missionary biographies. The page says Sonlight programs include at least one missionary biography every year.

The product pages list each level's titles. For example, the Level K list includes My Father's Dragon, The Boxcar Children, and Little House in the Big Woods; the Level G list includes Story of the World: Ancient Times and The Middle Ages, and The Golden Goblet; the Level F list includes A Long Walk to Water and Teresa of Calcutta; and the Level 100 list includes Before Columbus and Cameron Townsend.

A day in the life

Sonlight's Discover page describes the day in its younger levels as reading the day's Scripture and the week's memory verse, reading the assigned History and Read-Aloud pages to the children and using the discussion questions, letting the children read their Readers, and doing any map activities. 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 subjects.

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, 4 to 6 hours and 2 to 3.5 hours at Level F, and 5 to 7 hours and 2 to 3.5 hours at Level 100. The Level 100 page says courses from that level are designed for more independent study. The Discover page says the parent reads the History and Read-Aloud pages aloud until the students reach high school.

What they do exceptionally well

Published levels, ages, and book lists. Sonlight lists an age range and a grade range for every level on its programs page, publishes a Scope & Sequence, and lists the titles in each program on its product pages. In our assessment, a family can read the whole sequence and the book lists before buying.

Programs organized by history sequence. The Instructor's Guide interweaves history, Readers, and Read-Alouds on a day-by-day schedule, per the programs page. In our assessment, this lets a family follow one history sequence from Level K to the high school levels without assembling the reading plan.

One program for several children. Sonlight says one program can serve children within about three years of one another, with skill subjects chosen separately for each child, and its 19 Reasons page says families can reuse a program with younger children because there are very few consumable items. Some items are consumable; the Level F page, for instance, lists Eastern Hemisphere Notebook Pages among its consumable items.

What they do poorly

Parent time. Sonlight's own figures for parent time across 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, and the 19 Reasons page says the program will not work if parents hand it to elementary or middle school children to do alone. That page also 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 with several children at different levels should add those figures together before committing.

The program alone is not a full curriculum. The FAQ says a History / Bible / Literature program leaves other subjects, such as math, for the family to add. In our assessment, a family buying only the program should price language arts, science, and math separately.

A stated worldview and a recurring missions thread. Sonlight says its guides are written from an evangelical Christian base and that every year includes at least one missionary biography, per the programs page. In our assessment, families who want a program without those features will be adapting it rather than using it as designed.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick the Sonlight programs if: you want a literature-based history sequence from Level K to graduation scheduled day by day; you can give the parent time Sonlight lists; you want one history program for children within about three years of each other; you want an evangelical Christian perspective in the guides, as Sonlight describes it.

• Skip the Sonlight programs if: you cannot give the daily read-aloud and discussion time Sonlight lists; you want a program that includes every subject without buying more; you want a secular or religiously neutral curriculum; you need an accredited program, since Sonlight says accreditation does not apply to its curriculum.

Cost honest assessment

Sonlight's FAQ says History / Bible / Literature programs carry a 15% discount off retail year round and All-Subjects Packages a 20% discount. As displayed on its product pages and retrieved October 2026, with the 4-day schedule and required resources unless noted, the discounted price and list price were about $446 (list $524.73) for Level K with the K Readers, $569.17 (list $669.61) for Level D, $672.82 (list $791.55) for Level F, and $1,010.33 (list $1,188.62) for Level 400, with required resources.

The same pages show All-Subjects Packages that bundle a level with language arts, science, math, and other resources, such as Package A at $1,057.49 (list $1,321.86) and Package J at about $1,176 (list $1,469.89). The Instructor's Guide is also sold alone, at $100.00 for the Level A guide, 2026 Version and $138.00 for the Level D guide, 2025 Version. Prices change with the schedule, whether required resources are included, and the Readers level, and Sonlight's FAQ says prices can change without notice, so confirm the figure on the product page before ordering.

ESA eligibility notes

Sonlight's ESA page says it is an approved curriculum vendor for select state ESA programs in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming, and names the ClassWallet, Odyssey, and MyScholarShop marketplaces for most of them. The page does not list which products each marketplace carries, so families should ask their program administrator whether a given level is an eligible purchase.

Alternatives

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