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?

Tales of a Homeschool Nothing ~ 2013 - 2014 Curriculum

Hello out there in blogger world! Are you soaking up the sun every chance you get just as I am?

With all of this glorious hot weather & these lazy pool days, I really don't want to start thinking about school. But C'est la vie. Think, I do & plan, I must soon.

So let's talk about what curriculum choices we will be using for the upcoming year.

 Let's start with the obvious here. This will be our 4th year with Tapestry of Grace & Story of the World. Do you KNOW what that means? (come on history cycle users, help me out here...) I DON'T HAVE TO BUY HISTORY ANYMORE!!! **happy dance**

That's right TOG is on a 4 year cycle. So next year I start back with teaching year 2 (which I have already purchased!) Oh, don't worry, I'm sure I will find something to use that , um, extra money on.

We love using TOG. I even found the Pop Quiz CDs at The Homeschool Gathering Place while we were in Raleigh last week. WE have also been blessed to be able to get copies of SOTW on CD. This is a great alternative to me having to read everything!

We will continue memorizing important events in history with the timeline cards by Veritas Press. This is a fun way for the kids (& myself) to remember those events. And you WILL be amazed at how much they learn!

Since we are studying Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt, & Bible Times, I picked up a few art books to go along with it. Draw and Write Through History is filled with art lessons, information, & copywork. They have 6 different books that cover the different eras through out history.

The next easy choice was science. We LOVE Apologia Science. It is one of the few Creationist curriculums out there. I let the kids choose between swimming creatures & land animals this year. They were both good choices, but swimming had my vote as well.

I don't personally use the notebooks. Austin hated it the first year & Makenzie really isn't old enough for it yet.

Hold up! Before you ask. Yes, this is the same Latin that we used last year. Unfortunately Latin wasn't a priority for us last year, so we didn't learn much. Oh well. Let's try it again.

Austin will continue using Teaching Textbooks this year. He still has some of 6 to complete, then he will start on 7. Makenzie will work on Horizons 2. We have never used Horizons before, so we will see how this goes.

We will go back to Easy Grammar with Austin. Learning Language Arts Through Literature just wasn't working for us. He will finish Daily Grams 5 because I didn't enough difference in the 5 & 6 books. Besides he still had plenty of lessons left in 5 to complete.

He will also complete the second half of Jump In by Apologia. This is meant to last over 2 years. I am sort of on the fence with this one. I haven't seen much improvement in his writing this year, but I hate to just give up. I am still praying about Institute for Excellence in Writing's Bible Based Lessons. We tried IEW a few years ago, but he resisted so much. It was our first year homeschooling & I was really trying to pick my battles. IEW was not one I chose to fight over, so we dropped it. I wonder now if he really disliked it, disliked writing in general, or was just pushing my buttons. I don't have a clear answer yet, but I can't get it out of my head, so don't be surprised if we switch to that.

He is also using Wordly Wise 300 again this year. Last year was the first time we used it and he didn't fight it much, so that's a good thing!

Makenzie will be using All About Spelling & All About Reading this year. These are both BRAND NEW to her & me too! (I'm scared! They look so intimidating!) She is still struggling to read, so pray for us both!!

Austin has used Explode the Code before & enjoyed it so I thought I would try it with her this year. They even have an online version that I need to look into.

I have a generic 2nd grade work book for her. She seems to like those. I also found an easy writing curriculum to introduce her to the concept.

So, there you have it in a nutshell.

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.