Making the Decision to be a TOG Family

Choosing Tapestry of Grace (TOG)  is a big decision.  Our family had  4 children when we made the switch to TOG. There are six now.  We had decided on a classical education before our oldest began school.  As we added more children I could not see how I could follow the classical path.  There simply were not enough hours in the day.  We prayed and I researched.  Of all the curriculum available I narrowed our choices to three.  Still uncertain I asked my husband exactly what he wanted for our children's education.  His respond (he had not read anything from TOG):  "I want them to see God's hand through out history."  It was decided.  A TOG family we would become. 

 Making the decision on curriculum is a big one.  A couple of things to consider  are:

1. What kind of education have you and your husband with prayer settled on?  If classical then TOG could be your answer.  Or if unit studies are your preferred method TOG may be a good fit.

2. Are you willing to customize the material to fit each of your children.  Tapestry is like a buffet, and the author never expected one student to complete all the material listed.

3. Are you willing to participate in your child's education--discussions and directions

4. Willing to learn along with your student? The teacher notes are a wonderful blessing for those of us who did not receive a classical education or for those who did but need a refresher!

5. Do you have a large family?  For large families TOG is perfect.  All family members are on the same page.  Even dad can listen to the pop quizzes /Dad cd's.  For a large family you purchase the books once then your done!  Several years we have had 2 students on 1 level.  Scheduling what day each student has each book took care of who has what when.  No buying two books!  Sounds complicated but its not!  There are several classical programs available which look wonderful.  They are simply not conducive to large families.  Tapestry of Grace is the perfect fit for a large family.  It is designed to be customizable!

TOG is more than a curriculum choice.  It is more like a monster.  A beloved, benign monster, but a monster none the less!    TOG takes over the dinner time discussion. Oh! And lunch and breakfast as well!  Then there is the read alouds and movie times. Crafts, discussions, music, missions and maps TOG is still there-- bringing the family together in a shared experience. 

 So what is your decision going to be?  Will you join us?

Planning for Tapestry of Grace Year 1

This is our first year using TOG and I am super excited to have found this program. It is so thorough and engaging for the entire family. The book selections are fantastic! They are colorful and entertaining and hold my boys attention longer than 5 minutes. I have one boy in Upper Grammar, one in Dialectic and one in preschool that will listen along with us.

As a new user of TOG, I feel completely overwhelmed by the amount of papers involved. I am one of those people that reads everything and then writes notes and reads again. Good thing I love history or I would drive myself insane. I made myself a Key Discussion Outline so that I can take notes as I read. I keep this in front of my Master Binder so that I can glance at it as needed.


TOG Key Discussion Outline

 

 Tapestry of Grace Master Binder

This is my working binder and where I keep all of the papers I need for the weekly lessons.

1) I take the entire weeks section from my big binder and transfer it to my working binder.

2) Book list.

3) This section contains the weeks vocabulary words and our review cards. I type all of the vocab words into Quizlet then print out and stick a copy in my binder and each of the boys binders. For our review work, I select 4-5 things that I want them to remember and we paste the info onto index cards. The boys review these each week and we use them for review games.

4) Reading List - I highlight each boys reading selections in different colors and make notes about any corresponding notebook pages to complete.

5) Writing List - I highlight the weeks writing assignment for my UG son.

6) This is the glossary that I printed from the Loom CD. It has all of the vocabulary definitions and gives descriptions about the important people.

7) Notebooking Pages - this section holds my Table of Contents for my notebooking pages from History Scribe and Notebookingpages.com so that I can quickly scan for narrations.

8) Evaluations and Tests - I place copies of these for the entire unit and pull out as needed.

9) Maps - this section holds all of the maps, both blank and answers, for the entire unit. I pull them out at the beginning of each week and add to the boys binders.

That is my TOG Master Binder and for now, it is working great. But this is our first year, so I am sure it will be tweaked as we go along!

 

 

Organizing the Boys Tapestry of Grace Binders

We have always used binders for our history work and as much as I love the bound notebooks that a lot of others are making, I feel the boys will do better if I keep it consistent and stick with what has been working for us. So here is a look at how I organize our Tapestry notebooks.

 

I place their student assignment page at the front of the binder.

 

The next tab contains the notebooking pages that they use for narrations. I place these in there as needed for the lesson.

 

The maps are next. I place the student geography sheet opposite the map so they can see them side by side.

 

The vocabulary section comes next. I print the vocab from Quizlet and then we review these orally every day.

 

This section contains their projects. I add a copy of the activity sheet and highlight their choice. If the finished project isn't on paper, then we take a picture of it and put it here.

 

This tab is for the Review Cards. After I pick the things we will memorize and review, I print out pictures for them to paste on an index card and they write a short summary.

 

The last section is for the timeline. They have a binder timeline for them to use individually and be creative with. I also print timeline figures for them to cut and paste to our wall timeline or their binder timeline.

And that concludes this weeks lesson on the TOG binders :)

My goal is to plan one unit at a time. I will use my discussion outline to plan out the week in detail and then make all of my needed copies at once. I put the current week into the binders and file the other copies in my crate, which holds my folders that are labeled from weeks 1 - 32.

This post is written by Janeen from www.sproutingtadpoles.com

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!

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.