Unit Celebrations

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One of my favorite things about Tapestry of Grace is participating in the Unit Celebrations.  My children always look forward to preparing for these celebrations and they have become a memory maker for the whole family.

I have to say, I haven’t always been faithful in getting them done each unit but those that I have gone the extra effort to make happen have been well worth it.

Now that we are part of a Tapestry of Grace Co-Op, getting unit celebrations done require a lot of planning and scheduling so that all families can participate in them.  We have discovered that this gives the dads of our Co-Op an opportunity to see all the hard work the kiddos put into the year.  This year, we accomplished one big unit celebration following Year 4 Units 1, 2 & 3. 

This unit celebration was in May.  We set up tables in my living room, one per family.  Each family brought their favorite projects and books from throughout the year and displayed them proudly on the tables.  This gave the dads  (and other family members) the opportunity to browse through all the kid’s work.

We always start our co-op off with the Pledge of Allegiance and Prayer time.  So, we start our unit celebration out the same way.  

Then we have opening time.  While not part of Tapestry of Grace, in our co-op we have an opening ceremony time each Friday before co-op.  The last unit, our opening teacher focused on teaching the children to use an Evangecube.  To show the family, each of our kids was assigned a portion of the Evangecube and shared it with those at our celebration.

Next, each of the kids picked their favorite project or paper from the year and shared it or read it aloud to everyone attending.  My oldest, who is a dialectic student, chose her World War 1 display board and U-Boat clay project.  My son, who is an upper grammar student, read his state paper from Writing Aids.  His state was California.  My youngest, a lower grammar student, also chose her state paper from Writing Aids.  She wrote about Georgia.  She was proud to show off her picture posing with Mark Hall from Casting Crowns – a famous person from Georgia!

In Co-Op, we had an hour just for “art” – using Atelier Art.  In my patio, we set up an art gallery showcasing this year’s art projects.  The dads and other siblings enjoyed browsing through the various art projects.  

Finally, we topped off the unit celebration with cake and a pool party.

When co-op resumes in August, we still have Unit 4 of Year 4 to finish.  My co-leader and I planned out the whole year and built in the unit celebrations.  Here is what we have lined up for next year:

Year 4 Unit 4 – Trip to the Kennedy Space Center in September.  The kids will bring a few things to share once at the KSC but most of the day will focus on the attractions at KSC.

Year 1 Unit 1 – In December, before Christmas, we will have a Seder Meal.  This will probably be at one of our homes and will allow the kids an opportunity to bring projects to share after the meal is over.

Year 1 Unit 2 – We will have dinner at a local Greek restaurant and then meet at one of our homes for some desserts and a time to share projects.

Year 1 Unit 3 – This will be a fun afternoon.  We plan to complete the Greek Play assigned and perform for everyone attending.  In addition, we will design and present an Olympic Games for the co-op children.

Unit Celebrations are really a great way to cap off what was learned in a unit.  They are so worth the effort!

A Whole New World....for us!

    Nearly three years ago I attended my first homeschool convention and I learned about Tapestry of Grace.  I had a four year old at home.  My little Katie was ahead, but I knew she wasn't ready for a massive curriculum like Tapestry.  The more I read online about it the more I fell in love with it.  I hated history as a kid.  It was not relevant or interesting.  I found it boring and dull.  As an adult I have a completely different view of history.  Teaching my child history and paralleling it with the Bible is exactly what I want.  It gives history purpose and value.  It gives the Bible validity in this lost world.  Tapestry of Grace is a beautiful way to introduce history to my daughter.  I'm so excited to learn right along side her.  One day my son will join us too!

Last year my son was born.

Now having a new baby may not slow you down, but it slowed me down.  As I looked towards the fall of 2012 I just wasn't confident I could do a whole lot more than language arts, math, light social studies and science readers, and a foreign language.  Although busy, the year was successful and I started dreaming of what was next.  I started researching.  Type in homeschool curriculum in your internet search bar.... Yeah you will be looking at curriculum for hours and be even more confused by the time you finish.  Homeschool conventions are similar.  Lost in a sea of oooh's and ahhhh's.  It is truly exhausting.

    So, how do you choose curriculum? Well, think about your style, your philosophy of education for your home, and your kids.  What are their ages? How much time DO you have? If you have several kids and very little time I bet TOG would work for you!  If you have a few kids and plenty of time I think it would work for you too!  I know there are folks out there just couldn't use the program and maybe it's my newbieness (Ha, a new word!)  BUT, come on!  This curriculum is so rich and deep.  I realize that I will have to read the teacher's notes and plan out my weeks, but no matter what I use I have to plan.  Right? Right!  Why not plan an amazing year? I look at Tapestry of Grace and see the big picture.  Lord willing, my kids will go through the program 2 or 3 full rotations.  In the end, I hope to  have kids with a solid foundation in history, geography, literature and the Bible.  They will know how to accurately and competently communicate historical facts and biblical truth after going this curriculum. Will this come easy? No.  It will not be easy for them and it won't be easy for me.  My heart longs for them to be successful.  I'm fully committed.  This is a season.  A short season, where I have the honor of setting the stage and building a firm foundation for my kids.

    A friend of mine just can't get past the scary planning part of Tapestry.  I'm grateful that she has found curriculum that will work great for her family.  We've struggled with this next step in our homeschool journey as friends.  We enjoy our girls doing similar things, but at some point you really have to do what speaks to you.  There are SO many programs out there I really don't see how you could go wrong.  Unless you pick what your friend is doing and that curriculum doesn't work for you and your family.  We need to trust God to lead us as we make these choices.  Then trust that He has a plan and will accomplish it this year in your family.

    Let me assume you are on the fence about TOG and you need a push one way or the other.  I can't tell you what will work or guarantee that TOG is your perfect fit.  However, let me ease your mind.  You will get teacher's notes each week that tells you all the wonderful things you "could" do.  There are books, maps, writing assignments, lapbooks, and projects.  You get to customize what you do.  This is where the planning part comes into play.  You can't just open a book and go.  You must thoughtfully choose what you want to do and can do each week.  There is just not enough time to do it all.  Cycling through the years should ease your mind a bit too.  Your child will see this information again!

    My planning has been so exciting.  I'd like to explain what I have done so far and I pray that it will help you....

    First things first, I purchased and printed from my DE version of TOG.  I printed only the pages I needed for my teacher notes.  I started with the first 9 week unit.  I also printed the quick guides and any other helpful documents.  I put all these pages in a binder for quick reference.  When I have time I pull it out and read a few pages.  Learning along with my daughter looks like so much fun!  Seriously, you'd think I was about to start school!

    Next, I skimmed over the books for unit one at Bookshelf Central.  There are a lot of fabulous and intriguing books.  I checked the library to find out which books they did NOT have.  Then I compared online prices and bought some books.  I decided to purchase books we would use for more than 2 weeks.  I think about half of the books should be available at our library.

Recently, I printed the maps we will use.  I just purchased a ProClick Binder and soon I will be able to make a TOG notebook for my daughter and a planning book for myself.  That is my next step.

   Starting Tapestry next month has consumed me.  I am just SO excited!  Join me on this journey.  I intend to share authentically about our first year.  Perhaps like me you want to start this in a year or two.  I hope you can learn from my experiences.

Tapestry of Grace... Why We Love It!

I wrote this post quite a while ago, and it's still as relevant today as it was then.  (I did change a few things up, to match my kids' levels.)  This is why we use and love Tapestry of Grace, the philosophy, and the process.  I hope you enjoy it!  ~Kristi

Get a group of homeschooling parents together and one of the first questions that pops into everyone’s mind is, “I wonder what curriculum they use.” Now, whether that question is actually asked is another story, but I’ve found most people at least wonder. I think there’s another question, though, that most people can’t really put into words, and that is somewhere along the lines of, “I wonder which teaching philosophy they use.”

Let me answer that. We’re eclectic classical homeschoolers with a Charlotte Mason twist.

Clear as mud?

What I mean by that is, we school in accordance to the Trivium, toss in some textbooks, and a WHOLE lot of living books. We take a four year cycle for history, and focus mainly on nature for science. Tapestry of Grace works absolutely perfectly for this.

Tapestry is a four year cycle based on history, starting with Creation and the Ancients and going through to the Modern Era. The curriculum itself covers history, geography, worldview/Bible, literature, writing, and arts and crafts. Within the four year cycle there are level breakdowns: Lower Grammar (K-3), Upper Grammar (3-6), Dialectic (6-9), and Rhetoric (9-12). You’ll notice the levels overlap. That’s completely intentional. Kids are individuals, and these are just estimations about when they probably would advance levels. Some will go faster, some slower. And that’s just fine.

Tapestry is designed to cover all styles of learning. If you read my post Introducing… My Clan!, then you’ll notice that I have two very different learners, with four more coming up behind them. I absolutely need something that is going to speak to both of them.

On the other hand, eventually, I will have 6 different students I will be teaching. The very idea of having each one on a different subject of history, literature, geography… Yeah, that scares me to death. I’d have 5 different things going on, JUST for those three subjects. (Assuming that the twins would stay on the same thing.) Oh, and then we’d have to add in math and language arts… It’s overwhelming!!

Tapestry helps me streamline all of that. All of the kids, regardless of level, are on the same subject. For example, we’ll all study Ancient History together for a year. Within that year plan, though, I’ll have different levels. This next year, we’ll be working on to Year 1: The History of Redemption.   I’ll have 3 students. Katie will be in Dialectic, Patrick will be in Upper Grammar, and Sean will be following along in Lower Gramma. At each level, the work gets a little more intense, as is appropriate.

Tapestry works well with every learning style. There are SO many options to choose from in each week plan, you pick and choose just exactly what works for your family. For us:

Katie needs to read. That’s how she learns. She reads, then she writes things down, and that’s what makes things stick for her. Tapestry has an amazing reading list. For Katie, I assign all of the primary readings, plus some of the secondary. (I’d assign more of the secondary, and she’d read them happily, if I could afford to. But, our library is small, and doesn’t have a whole lot. We’re working on building our home library more.)

After she reads, she goes to her history notebook. There, she copies out her vocabulary words and definitions and writes a daily summary of what she’s read. At the end of the week, we discuss it all. (She also helps us with the hands on projects if she feels like it, but it’s not something I push, unless I think it will have a lot of value for her.)

With Patrick, he needs to touch and do things. Luckily, Tapestry has about a gazillion projects to choose from! I’m starting to let him pick one project a week to work on, and he does that. He also must do the reading, vocabulary, and answering questions. For him, though, I know that’s not how he needs to learn, but it is self-discipline for later in life.

Patrick also learns well by watching documentaries. I can’t think of a week where we haven’t been able to find something on Netflix for him to watch if we needed to. YouTube is another great resource for videos. When you buy Tapestry, you have access to The Loom, and there are all types of great supporting links on there, from videos to museums and field trips (another thing he really enjoys). It’s a priceless resource.

Sean, is in Lower Grammar.  He has easier books, mostly picture books, and easier projects than Patrick.  He'll also be watching the documentaries, and listening along to our audiobooks as well.  He'll have his own notebook, his own maps, everything.  

Tapestry also covers audio learners. To help us listen, I read to them from my teacher’s notes (another absolutely invaluable resource!) every week. In addition, Tapestry recommends The Story of the World as a secondary resources for Upper Grammar. SOTW has audiobooks. Works for me! I got the audiobooks, and we listen to the relevant chapter while we’re in the van running our normal errands. I also picked up the Mystery of History audiobooks. I’m a firm believer that you can’t have too many resources!! The kids listen to them both, and really love them. Those are the only textbooks we use (we do have SOTW in text form, too, and we’re saving to buy the complete sets of both SOTW and MOH.) Everything else in Tapestry I would consider a living book.

There’s so much more to love about Tapestry of Grace. The final thing I’ll leave you with though is how thorough it is. My boys are in Grammar this year. I’m not expecting them to actually remember everything, but they are being exposed to SO much, it’s just amazing. And I’m learning just how much my own education was lacking. My kids have learned more about ancient civilizations this year than I’ve forgotten about them in my entire life! And when we cycle back around, even if they don’t realize it, it’s in their memory, and they’ll be able to build on it and learn more in depth. I just love that.

I could go on and on about Tapestry, and you’ll definitely be hearing more about it from me. But this is a good overview about why we love it, and why it works for us. If you haven’t checked it out, Tapestry offers a free three week course to help you decide if the curriculum is right for you and your family. I highly recommend it!

Kristi is the homeschooling mom of 6, from 12 down to 2.  Currently, she's using Year 1, and has a Lower Grammar, Upper Grammar, and Dialectic student.  You can see her blog about the rest of their school days at The Potter's Hand Academy.  You can find Kristi on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google +, and Instagram.