Torchlight versus BYL
We have been using Torchlight curriculum for a few months now. The kindergarten level focuses on going around the world. It is similar to the Build Your Library kindergarten year in that you virtually travel around the world, exploring people and cultures and lands. It is different in that there is a strong focus on understanding the experiences of indigenous people and in not viewing the world through a white Christian lens. (It isn't anti-religion; it just doesn't assume that the learner and others in the world are, or should be, or want to be, Christian.) They describe themselves as, "Torchlight takes a distinctively secular Socratic-inspired approach with Humanist underpinnings. Torchlight supports the Golden Rule, kindness, exploration, questioning, and scientific thinking. A worldly approach full of logic, equality, and empathy. Equality is one of the tenants we venture to exhibit throughout this curriculum." The books are more modern and frankly prettier than many of the BYL choices, and Torchlight tries hard to address things that may need discussion with your child, which I appreciate.
We did most of BYL K last year, when my middle child actually was in kindergarten, and we burnt out before getting to Asia, Oceania, or Antarctica. We love the Torchlight options enough that we are still working on our trek around the world, but I have moved around the weekly options a bit so that we got to the USA, then Oceania, then Antarctica, much faster. We school year round, so I am hoping to wrap up K by January, and then launch into ancient history.
My learners are 10 and 6.5. In public school, I would have a rising fifth grader and a rising second grader. We change and add to the curriculum to make it appropriate for my older guys. I know questions about how to do that come up frequently on the Torchlight Facebook page, and I hope our list of resources will be helpful. I don't offer them in criticism to Torchlight at all. I love almost everything about the curriculum, and I am grateful that it is an option. We like to dive deep here, and I know we aren't the only ones.
We did most of BYL K last year, when my middle child actually was in kindergarten, and we burnt out before getting to Asia, Oceania, or Antarctica. We love the Torchlight options enough that we are still working on our trek around the world, but I have moved around the weekly options a bit so that we got to the USA, then Oceania, then Antarctica, much faster. We school year round, so I am hoping to wrap up K by January, and then launch into ancient history.
My learners are 10 and 6.5. In public school, I would have a rising fifth grader and a rising second grader. We change and add to the curriculum to make it appropriate for my older guys. I know questions about how to do that come up frequently on the Torchlight Facebook page, and I hope our list of resources will be helpful. I don't offer them in criticism to Torchlight at all. I love almost everything about the curriculum, and I am grateful that it is an option. We like to dive deep here, and I know we aren't the only ones.
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