Hi,
We've recently moved overseas and have left our wonderful homeschool community that we were a part of for 6 years, which was Classical Conversations. Now that we are here, and there is no community, I've been continuing Memory Work and all other subjects as normal (I was a tutor for both Foundations and Essentials) for this school year, but I did add in Veritas Press self-paced Bible and History for my 2 oldest kids. Additionally, I added VP Latin for Children since CC does not have K-6 graders do any Latin aside from Memory Work. We have enjoyed it thus far, and I've appreciated having time to focus on my younger two for LA while the bigger kids are doing those classes.
As my oldest is approaching 7th grade next year, I will need to make some decisions about what we will do through middle & high school. If we had stayed in the US, we would have continued with Challenge, but I don't think I can manage to become a Challenge Director and spend an entire day discussing with my oldest while my others are doing heaven knows what! Ha!! Plus, she won't have peers to discuss with, so it just won't work. I was planning to go with Veritas Press through high school b/c it seemed a solid program and offers online and self-paced courses; however, I don't like that I won't be able to teach all of my kids the same material at their level anymore which is why I am considering Tapestry of Grace. I really do not like to jump around in our curriculum, so I really am hoping to make the wisest choice for our family. I'm hoping y'all can offer some insight. :-) Here is a bit of information about my family and our preferences:
My kids are in 6th, 4th, 2nd & K. All our them are doing OK-none are advanced-just pretty average kids, but I do have one that has speech delays (darn tongue tie that didn't get caught until 4 years-Ugh!!), which has made for some difficulty reading--though he's making steady progress-just requires more on my part. I feel very blessed that I need not be concerned with the cost of the curriculum and intend to purchase all books or required material upfront (I've heard some complain about having to find books for TOG). My preference is for us to be able to study the same topics, but at different levels according to their developmental level, which TOG does. I don't get overwhelmed with too many options (a complaint of TOG), so long as the basic plan for completing the lessons are clear, I don't mind spending some time setting up binders up before the school year, and I don't mind spending an hour or two prepping for the week. HOWEVER, I need the lesson plans to be complete, clear and specific because I just don't have time to get creative on a day-to-day basis with 4 kids in every subject. Currently, I can teach the Memory Work creatively with my eyes closed. The Veritas Press lesson plans (for Latin & Literature) are wonderful. I open to the appropriate day's work and teach. Very simple! We are enjoying it so far. In fact, I'd probably keep doing it except for the fact that next year the oldest would start Omnibus, and I just don't know if I like the idea of her doing her own thing while I do something completely different with the younger kids. For that reason, I'm considering giving TOG a try (I also love the hands-on learning activities they offer). However, I'm nervous about the ease of implementation. If it isn't easy, I'm afraid I won't do it. As a result, I'm willing to sacrifice teaching all on the same level if it means that I will be easily able to implement the lessons.
Questions:
1. Does anyone have any insight on the lesson plans for TOG? Is TOG difficult to implement? Do they give specific instructions regarding the daily lessons? (Yes, I've looked at the samples, and that's why I'm concerned). I can see that they let you divide the weekly reading as you wish. I probably won't do that. I will just use their weekly sample layout. However, I don't want to have to flip to this page for this kid, another page for another kid...yikes! Also, do you have to read all the teacher notes and remember what it says for every kid for the whole week and comment as things arise? Do you all have any tips?
2. I can see that the reading lists are very different with regard to reading original texts (VP) and I'm not sure, maybe books about the person (TOG). It seems, after reading previous threads, that people feel pretty good about the content and knowledge their kids gain with TOG. I guess I just don't have experience with this age or material yet to have a good opinion. Has anyone gone through either of these programs that can weigh in? I will say, it looks impressive to have read the books on the VP list, but it's not about that-I certainly know!
3. If we use TOG, I do not intend to use the writing portion. We've used IEW for a few years now, and I do like this program. Is it a big deal if we don't use the writing part? I certainly don't mind assigning writing work based on the reading material on occasion, but I want to be able to use the IEW format of my choice. Thoughts?
4. Is there any data on graduates of each program?
5. My kids are REALLY missing their friends from CC, and I know it's important for dialectic and rhetoric levels to have discussion. Can I even do this with just our family discussions? Have you tried the online classes? Is there any peer discussion?
Thank you all SO much for reading all of this, and for any help you can provide!
