Is Tapestry of Grace worth the $$$

[sweetpea3829]

Title says it all. We would be using it for all four of our kiddos...but with the Digital/Paper combined, the lapbooks and the maps, it's over $400!!! :ohmy::ohmy::ohmy:

 

Even if DH WASN'T out of work right now, I'm not sure I could justify spending that kind of money on one single year of history!

 

If you're using it, is it worth the moula?

[Kathryn]

To me it is. You're not spending that on one year, assuming you want to use TOG long term. With the ages of your children, you'll be using that same year plan 3-4 times. I have Print+DE, Map Aids, Evaluations, and Pop Quiz. I haven't really used Evaluations yet, and DH isn't using Pop Quiz like he said he would, but I'm very happy with the investment.

 

If money is really tight, I'd just do SOTW with Activity Book and get supplemental books from the library for this year.

[5wolfcubs]

No, not worth the money. And I've used TOG 1 twice and loved it both times. :D

 

My answer would be different if your children were highschool age and you had $400 to spend on history before buying the actually books!

[PollyOR]

No, not worth the money. And I've used TOG 1 twice and loved it both times. :D

 

My answer would be different if your children were highschool age and you had $400 to spend on history before buying the actually books!

 

:iagree:

[sweetpea3829]

No, not worth the money. And I've used TOG 1 twice and loved it both times. :D

 

My answer would be different if your children were highschool age and you had $400 to spend on history before buying the actually books!

 

If I were to stick with ToG through the WTM rotations and use it again in logic and rhetoric, would you say it was worth it then?

 

DH is recovering from a broken leg (since Feb) and I'm expecting him to go back to work hopefully soon...mid-September, maybe later. But, he could return to work very soon if he's accepted for a position transfer that has different physical requirements. If he DOES get the transfer, he'll also be nearly doubling his income.

 

So while we definitely can't swing it now, if it's worth it, I may hold off and buy it in a few months.

[coffeegal]

If I were to stick with ToG through the WTM rotations and use it again in logic and rhetoric, would you say it was worth it then?

 

Yes, I'd say it was worth it. I'm teaching 10th, 9th, 7th, and 4th grades plus 2 tag-alongs this year. TOG has decreased my workload while increasing the quality of our homeschool. If you're not certain about purchasing it, why not try out one quarter before investing for the entire year. :001_smile:

[PollyOR]

Will it be easy for you to get the books from your library? That is another key factor to consider.

[melmichigan]

If I were to stick with ToG through the WTM rotations and use it again in logic and rhetoric, would you say it was worth it then?

 

If you are going to stick with it and the cost isn't a burden on your family then yes, I think it is worth it. I have 3 units to buy of Y1 DE before I own all the year plans, I will also add the print once the "smoothing" of Y1 is finished. Next year is the last year I will need to purchase any year plan, and my youngest hasn't even started TOG. This year I have D, UG, and LG.

 

I started with Y2 and at the time couldn't buy anything but DE, I already owned SOTW and couldn't afford additional purchases that year. I upgraded to DE+print later that school year when our budget allowed, you don't spend more breaking the year plan up, but you will pay a few dollars more if you split up your supplements like mapaids. I often break up my purchases and pick up elements that I need when my budget allows or when they are on sale. (Many of the supplements go on sale throughout the year, Pop Quiz is usually 50% off one month a year.) I still do our lapbooks one at a time, since we only do two a year. I only use the upper level evaluations so it's cheaper just to get those. You get the idea. :)

[5wolfcubs]

If I were to stick with ToG through the WTM rotations and use it again in logic and rhetoric, would you say it was worth it then?

Yes, but not yet. I used TOG when my oldest was about 12 and she did the Logic stage recommendations, next dd did upper grammar, and ds did lower grammar. I also had two pre-school aged boys at the time. It was a good year, a great year even. But I was so burned out that we just did SOTW 2 the following year. And the next year early MFW Explorers-1850s, then the year after that All American History 2. :)

 

Finally it was time to get back to the Ancients and TOG! I thought I wouldn't have to spend much, but alas those rhetoric level books don't come cheap! Still this last year was a good year, a great year -- for my two highschoolers anyway. I really dropped the ball for the three boys though.

 

And now the four fat unit binders are still stacked on the floor and I can't decided what to do with them. Am I really going to be able to face TOG again in four years? I'm definitely not going on to TOG 2 this year. DD17 is starting community college and I'm joining a co-op for the rest of the children instead...

 

I love TOG, I really do! And if I had the money I'd buy the other years, just to have. :) But remember buying big things when I first started homeschooling...just sure I'd use them multiple times (Polished Cornerstones, KONOS). Even the MFW. I used it once. And that was enough! Of course, it has taken me 12 years of homeschooling to learn this about myself!

 

I'd say go through SOTW for the next four years...and then reconsider TOG. You'll want SOTW as supplement then anyway... :lol:

[sweetpea3829]

The point about library quality is a good one. Ours is VERY small and getting books in from ILL is a chore. And then, you can only keep it for at most three weeks!

 

How many OOP books are there? Is it easy to use something different? This is one of my complaints with FIAR. If we still lived in RI, where the ILL system is fantastic, I'd be all over FIAR. But getting books here is not easy.

 

Then again, if our income is ok, I'd probably end up buying the books we need. But that does add to the cost.

 

THEN AGAIN...factoring the costs of the program divided by my four kids...it's $100/kid give or take. And then divide that by the number of rotations we'll use it...and....well that sounds more palatable.

 

Maybe we'll do as was suggested and give a Unit a try before committing to the whole thing.

 

Now my next question...how teacher-intensive is it? I don't mind sitting with my crew and doing the work with them, reading to them, etc (my oldest is probably dyslexic and will probably need the help with the reading)...how much pre-planning and forethought is required for each unit, lesson, etc?

[MicheleinMN]

Title says it all. We would be using it for all four of our kiddos...but with the Digital/Paper combined, the lapbooks and the maps, it's over $400!!! :ohmy::ohmy::ohmy:

 

Even if DH WASN'T out of work right now, I'm not sure I could justify spending that kind of money on one single year of history!

 

If you're using it, is it worth the moula?

 

And that doesn't include the books to use it.

 

I'm not using it now, but I have in the past. Yes, it would be worth the money IF your children were older AND your dh wasn't out of work. I'm sure you can find a less expensive option for history this year.

[Kathryn]

The point about library quality is a good one. Ours is VERY small and getting books in from ILL is a chore. And then, you can only keep it for at most three weeks!

 

How many OOP books are there? Is it easy to use something different? This is one of my complaints with FIAR. If we still lived in RI, where the ILL system is fantastic, I'd be all over FIAR. But getting books here is not easy.

 

Then again, if our income is ok, I'd probably end up buying the books we need. But that does add to the cost.

 

THEN AGAIN...factoring the costs of the program divided by my four kids...it's $100/kid give or take. And then divide that by the number of rotations we'll use it...and....well that sounds more palatable.

 

Maybe we'll do as was suggested and give a Unit a try before committing to the whole thing.

 

Now my next question...how teacher-intensive is it? I don't mind sitting with my crew and doing the work with them, reading to them, etc (my oldest is probably dyslexic and will probably need the help with the reading)...how much pre-planning and forethought is required for each unit, lesson, etc?

 

They work hard to replace any OOP books when they find out about them. Having a good library system has been invaluable so far. But, DS is a voracious reader and I just order all of the Lg and UG books and he goes at it. If I didn't have access to so many, it would still work by picking and choosing.

 

As for teacher intensive, I did all my planning for the year before we started. On Monday, I sit down and introduce the week plan and we do the mapping together. Occasionally through the week, we'll read together or I'll help him with a worksheet if there is one. One Friday, we discuss and do a craft/activity related to the week plan. I think it can be as intensive or not as you make it, though if your child still needs reading help, it will obviously be more. But again, you choose how involved you want to be with how many books.

[Tracy]

I don't think it is worth it in every situation, but it is in mine, and here's why.

 

• Dd7 loves history. We did history reading today (Saturday), because she asked me to.
  
• Dd7 is advanced in the 3 R's, so I don't need to spend a lot of time on those.
  
• Dd7 is a very analytical thinker, even at this young age, so I want something that uses the Socratic Method to encourage and capitalize on that strength.
  
• You only have to spend that money the first 4 years, after that, you only have to buy books. So I have been collecting D and R level books for cheap now so I have them when we get there later. Of course, this means that there is a huge investment up front when you are not sure if it will work for you.
  

Honestly, I think that is not worth it for most people. But if you are going to use it at the D and R levels anyway, then it makes sense to me to get it now, even if you don't use it to its fullest potential until later.

[Heather in OK]

If you will use a good majority of the material, yes.

 

If not, no.

 

We used it last Fall. All I needed was the lesson, mapping, and a few activities. It was quickly apparent that I was paying for units (I didn't buy the year all at once, thank God) that I wasn't really using. It was also taking too much teacher-prep time. MOH is a much better fit for us.

[sweetpea3829]

I don't think it is worth it in every situation, but it is in mine, and here's why.

 

• Dd7 loves history. We did history reading today (Saturday), because she asked me to.

• Dd7 is advanced in the 3 R's, so I don't need to spend a lot of time on those.

• Dd7 is a very analytical thinker, even at this young age, so I want something that uses the Socratic Method to encourage and capitalize on that strength.

• You only have to spend that money the first 4 years, after that, you only have to buy books. So I have been collecting D and R level books for cheap now so I have them when we get there later. Of course, this means that there is a huge investment up front when you are not sure if it will work for you.

Honestly, I think that is not worth it for most people. But if you are going to use it at the D and R levels anyway, then it makes sense to me to get it now, even if you don't use it to its fullest potential until later.

 

Your DD sounds a lot like my DS5, with one exception...the love of history. So far, he's proven to be a science kid, through and through. The child asks me to Google microscope images of the interior of cells. He spent months fascinated with how the human heart works. He has intrinsic engineering skills. And the analytical thinking? Yup.

 

So I want to make sure we play as much into his science strengths as possible.

 

But...we've never really done a whole lot (um, at all, really) with social studies and so I'm not sure what his interest level will be. He might be just as fascinated.

 

DD6, on the other hand, struggles with the three Rs. But, that doesn't mean she can't have a knack for history!

 

Right now...ToG is definitely not in our budget. But it's also definitely on the table as a possibility.

[Tracy]

Your DD sounds a lot like my DS5, with one exception...the love of history. So far, he's proven to be a science kid, through and through. The child asks me to Google microscope images of the interior of cells. He spent months fascinated with how the human heart works. He has intrinsic engineering skills. And the analytical thinking? Yup.

 

So I want to make sure we play as much into his science strengths as possible.

 

But...we've never really done a whole lot (um, at all, really) with social studies and so I'm not sure what his interest level will be. He might be just as fascinated.

 

DD6, on the other hand, struggles with the three Rs. But, that doesn't mean she can't have a knack for history!

 

Right now...ToG is definitely not in our budget. But it's also definitely on the table as a possibility.

 

If you have a sciencey, analytical kid, I am not sure that TOG would be a good fit. I find a lot of the TOG books really dry (though many are not, especially the lit books). (I can't figure out why dd7 wanted to spend a half hour listening to a biography about Thomas Jefferson today rather than do any number of fun things.) I would definitely recommend trying the free 3-week sample before investing and then try one unit before buying a whole year.

 

The problem that you get if you have a child that is struggling with the 3 R's is that you have to start to be more judicious about what you do with TOG. You have all these great books to choose from, and it is really hard to decide. We generally read everything, including alternates, except the Worldview. I omit anything that is duplicative and sometimes leave out the read alouds, as sometimes they are a little above dd's comprehension level. The more you omit at the LG level, the less you can justify the cost. And TOG is not the only or even the best program for a child that has a knack for history. At this level, SOTW is also a superb and less costly option for the history-loving child (though we also listen to SOTW audio CDs:tongue_smilie:).

[PeterPan]

You know, I don't want to sound like an old fogey, but I will here. You'll get a lot more done with your passel of youngun's at this stage and have a lot more FUN if you just pick something SIMPLE that will actually get done. MFW Adventures or Galloping the Globe or WP AS1. Or do SOTW1 or CHOW spread over two years. Or do TQ AHYS1-3 over the next 3 years.

 

When you're done with those things, you're kids will be 9 to 6 and you'll be ready to start TOG or MOH. Until then, you're wasting your money. No time with that many kids to filter through that much information just to be told to read something for 15 minutes and do a craft. You already know that. Pick the simplest thing that helps you get that done and do it.

[sweetpea3829]

You know, I don't want to sound like an old fogey, but I will here. You'll get a lot more done with your passel of youngun's at this stage and have a lot more FUN if you just pick something SIMPLE that will actually get done. MFW Adventures or Galloping the Globe or WP AS1. Or do SOTW1 or CHOW spread over two years. Or do TQ AHYS1-3 over the next 3 years.

 

When you're done with those things, you're kids will be 9 to 6 and you'll be ready to start TOG or MOH. Until then, you're wasting your money. No time with that many kids to filter through that much information just to be told to read something for 15 minutes and do a craft. You already know that. Pick the simplest thing that helps you get that done and do it.

 

There is much wisdom here. :-) Given DH's injury, and the effect it's had on our finances, I'm thinking it's likely we'll spend the next year just doing fun survey type stuff. A quarter for studying cultures, a quarter for studying important people, a quarter for studying important events, and a quarter for studying geography.

 

But ToG is still definitely on my "watch" list.

[jewellsmommy]

If I were to stick with ToG through the WTM rotations and use it again in logic and rhetoric, would you say it was worth it then?

 

DH is recovering from a broken leg (since Feb) and I'm expecting him to go back to work hopefully soon...mid-September, maybe later. But, he could return to work very soon if he's accepted for a position transfer that has different physical requirements. If he DOES get the transfer, he'll also be nearly doubling his income.

 

So while we definitely can't swing it now, if it's worth it, I may hold off and buy it in a few months.

 

 

It is worth it. And I love having the digital edition. Remember you can always buy one unit at a time.

[ktgrok]

No, not worth it for young kids especially. Have you priced the books themselves?WOW!

 

Do SOTW and activity guide, or Bibliplan (much less expensive), or just have fun.

[purduemeche]

"Worth it" is a tough phrase to define, especially since much of this is subjective.

 

The answer depends on what you want for your kids. If you value a re-usable curriculum, the idea of a classical education, and the ability to school all your kids on the same history material at the same time, then yes, it is worth it because it lines up with your goals.

 

If these ideas hold no value to you, then it is not worth it.

[Pixjen]

I just have to chime in and make a rebuttal to a comment I see on here all the time about TOG. It's not ONLY for older kids! You can very easily use it with youngsters and only children. I've used it with both older and younger kids, and can work just fine. Granted, all curriculum depends on the dynamics of each family/child, etc., so it may or may not be for you.