M&M
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Posts posted by M&M
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We have Tindall's America and William Bennett's history book, but we haven't used them much.
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TOG is our spine, I use TC dvd's as a supplement for the most part. For history I look at the threads, people, and topics for the week and see what lectures I have that correspond. Somtimes I preview a lecture and see if it stays on topic for us or if it goes in a direction we don't need to go into. Sometimes a lecture goes way deeper than our studies need to take us. For literature I do the same thing, if I have a lecture that covers our book, then we read the book and then watch the lecture. This leads to some good discussion and some good writing topics.
As far as how I decide when to use them, I try not to overwhelm my dc with too many of the lectures on top of TOG. I don't have any set way of using them, I have a lot of lectures too many for one student. Sometimes dd will ask for a lecture, sometimes I don't have all the books I need, so we will read from Western Civ or an American History resource and then watch a lecture.
I use them like I do most of the resources that I own, as they fit into our daily rhythm. In some ways I guess I am unstructured in what resources we use, dc read and study the week's topic and then I pull it together with the discussion outline. I like having so much to choose from in my home library and in TOG, I think it allows for my dc to become more independant in their learning and discerning in bias and worldview in the resources that they use.
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I am using this book to help me with some of the lit and I had dd read some of it as well when we did Guilliver's Travels.
this
I studied more of the Year 3 books in High School and College, so I feel more confident using TOG and making changes to their lists. I check WTM and Ambleside for ideas. We did not do all the R level Shakespeare from Y2, so I will probably add a play this semester as well. I found this book to be helpful
We also have some of the Teaching Company lectures, dd will sometimes watch a lecture and then we will discuss or sometimes we just move on. We use these for history and literature.
When we have a really crazy week, I will just have dd listen to Pop Quiz or watch a lecture and we move on.
I feel a burden is lifted off of me now that I really make TOG work for me. I used to feel like I was chasing the TOG train down the tracks, now it chases me!
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Thank you so much!! This is what I needed to hear. I have a lot to think about I believe!!
A question for you: How do you handle the literature portion? I am disappointed that they do not offer much readings that I would like for my kids to read. Just curious. you can pm me if you want.
Here is the timeline book http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_9?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=timetables+of+history&sprefix=timetable
For Lit, we are trying something new as we have just started Y3 today. I have dd read A Tale of Two Cities, which is not schedlules, we will do Pride and Prejudice but I will not use all of the R level lit questions. Some of the R level stuff just makes my head spin! So, I will use WEM and have dd write something and we will discuss picking and choosing.
Must go right now will post more in a few
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Background first:
We have been using TOG for the past 3 years. Yr 1, 2 and 3. Right now I have a R son (16 soon to be 17 yrs old), D son (14 yr old) and LG daughter (she is 12 but due to her special needs she is LG). My daughter is ok with using TOG. I have a very hard time finding the books that TOG recommends at the LG level and the other level which name escapes me at the moment. My two boys do not like TOG. My D son says it is not fun at all. My R son says it is ok but really rather focus more on American history. We are in Yr 3 Unit 4. He feels there is not enough time on US history. He doesn't like the questions being asked in the workbooks I make for them. I do the workbooks like one of the posters on here. I can't remember her name either. (new laptop guys so none of my bookmarks have been transferred yet)
I don't worry about finding grammar stage books, I either use SOTW or use whatever books I have in my home library or public library. Honestly for American History my younger children listened to SOTW audio or watched Liberty's Kids.
Karen Ciavo makes the workbooks, keep in mind that Karen has a much smaller family and is very good at working TOG to make it work for her. I know Karen and this is how she make TOG work in her family I am sure she would tell you that if it doesn't work for you then don't do it.
So, I am wondering why you are making workbooks for you R level son, finding books for him etc.? You are working way too hard. If he wants to do more American HIstory, or doesn't like the books, why not let him look at the Threads and People, the alt resources, and if he doesn't like them let him do his own research? Why not let him read some the the alt resources like the John Adams biography and just write about it? I use a lot of WTM suggestions for how we interact with TOG. I don't always do all of the discussion outline, I will pick a few key things to discuss and then leave the rest alone. You must find a way to edit what you do. Give your R and D level students more responsibility in working their plan and planning their work. If they want more fun, then let them figure out what would be more interesting for them, let them find projects or books that interest them. Allow them to go on rabbit trails to dig into an idea or subject that interests them.
I work a full time job and homeschool the kids. TOG I love very much but it is too intensive for me. I am spending more time planning and finding books or trying to find a replacement due to the library not having it or it is OOP. The boys want a open and go but fun books. I do not want to use textbooks and neither the boys. I want to keep all the kids on the same cycle for history. My R boy likes the organization of TOG however is tired of me trying to plan and make workbooks. He wonders if there is a program that is similiar but less intensive on my part where he doesn't have to depend on me to get the books and make the workbooks.
I have not found anything that does this as well as TOG.
For english: we are using Analytical Grammar with the boys. My daughter is using SWB's FLL and WWE. My middle school boy is using the WWS (he needs a lot of work in area of writing...he is not my liberal arts guy...my oldest is).
We are using these as well.
Geography: All kids need help in this area for current geography. One drawback of TOG is no current stuff on Geo. Do like the fact they learn about the time period of geography.
Current geography will be studied in Year 4
Continue in next post:
Here is the what I see you saying, you really like TOG, your kids have issues with it. So why not address the issues instead of hopping to something new? If you were saying you hated TOG then I could see changing. Why do I tell you this? MY R level Dd does not like TOG either, so I made changes and let her choose some of her books. I really wanted Dd to make a timeline, she had no interest. I purchased the Timeline book in WTM and she loves it...looks up all of the timeline sections on the TOG assignment page. I let her read WTM R section on Great Books and HIstory, now she makes history pages with notes and I pick a few questions from the SAP to either discuss or as a writing assignment. I spend a lot less time planning TOG, and now I start with the discussion outline and choose what I see as important and we focus on that. I spent all summer trying to find a way to teach all levels well without TOG, it was time wasted I found I could use TOG and not tie my students to the things they hated about it.
I have used MFW (not highschool) I have written about it in the past and I don't want to start a debate with MFW users. I only advise that you look at the books that they use and be sure that you like them, otherwise you will be in the same boat as now except you will not have alt resources that are scheduled for you. I don't see this as the issue, I really hate to see people pay more money for curriculum when they don't have to. If you had MFW and liked it I would suggest ways to make it work.
Allow yourself to use TOG as an outline for what you study and allow your students to feel free from restrictions.
Hope this helps!
:grouphug::grouphug:
(Eta: I don't want to give the impression that there is somethng wrong with MFW, it is a very good curriculum it did not work for us.)
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I remember Ree from the old board days as well. I always liked her and am happy for her success.
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Not ridiculous at all, I really think that is what the author intended all along. I also need TOG to keep us on topic and moving forward.
Glad I could help!!
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Okay, so I have read all the replies and multiple other threads about TOG. I have a few more questions.
We have quite an extensive home library. If I wanted to use one of our own books as a history spine, (like SWB's HOAW), instead of the ones recommended in TOG, would it make things unnecessarily hard on me? Do you find the history questions general enough that it is quite easy to replace the readings with any spine that gives thorough coverage of the topic? (Hope that makes sense.:))
The short answer is yes, you can use your home library. We also have an extesive library and I do use other books for history, and you will see that there are alternate resources for every subject listed in TOG. You will find some of the student worksheets are very closely linked to the books. In lower levels, we just do narration, for D and R levels we just do more WTM ish writing/outlining not a big deal in our house.
The longer answer is that you may find that some questions are harder to answer without using the recommended resources. This came about when TOG went from Classic to Resdesigned. Some classic users were frustrated when they could not find the answers to the more general questions that the classic version asked. You can find lots and lots of discussion on this as well.
Bottom line is that Redesigned feels more like a structured curriculum that tells you what you must do each week. Those of us who have used both
Classic and Redesigned have a more relaxed perpective on TOG's weekly suggestions. To me it is much like WTM, many people read it and feel like they must do every thing that is in the book and decide it is too hard. Others read WTM, learn the theory of what WTM teaches and use the schedules, book lists, curriculum lists, etc. as a guide for how to implement WTM.
TOG can be very time consuming and restrictive if you don't find a way to make it your own, and use it as a tool and not a taskmaster. For me TOG guides me, pushes me, and holds my hand while still giving me the freedom to mix things up, delete, and change things as I see fit. I tried to drop TOG and just do WTM with my oldest this year, and I did change some TOG to make them more WTMish, but I spent a lot of time spinning my wheels this summer trying to re-invent the wheel.
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Hello All,
Currently we are doing history and literature a la WTM and I really like the flexiblity of being able to choose which books we use. But, I feel like I need more organization. I need help with discussion, staying on schedule, and getting writing assignments completed. Would TOG help with this?
TOG will help you do all of these things. It will narrow down your books options so that you don't have to look so hard for which books cover each topic, discussion outlines are great,, and the writing assignments are also organized. The discussion outlines combined with the teacher's notes, saves me time and keeps me up on what we are studying.
Also, if I changed some of the literature selections in TOG, would it affect the value of using a program like this?
I do change out the literature sometimes, when I do I just use WTM or WEM methods or just let that book be for reading only no discussion. The R literature is very full and some weeks we need to lighten it up...we have had no problems.
In year 3, does TOG mainly focus on U.S. history or is world history equally covered? (I have looked over the year 3 topics, but it is hard to tell.)
I haven't used Y3 redesingned yet, but if it is like Y2, both are covered each week. Core readings covered American History, and In-depth was the World History Component unless that week's topic was specifically a World History topic.
I would greatly appreciate any imput. Ideally, I would continue with what we are doing now, but I am not organized by nature and I don't want to short-change my kids because of my weaknesses.
Thanks,
Linda
I love WTM, but I got to the point where I did not feel ready to teach upper levels without a guide, and it was getting harder to plan for 5 children and to actually make that plan come to life. For me, TOG is the best of both worlds while still allowing me to stay sane :lol:.
There are lots and lots of posts on TOG. For someone coming from straight WTM planning, TOG should be perfect for you.
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I have never looked at AG writing even though I use the grammar. This looks very easy to use and the price is amazing!
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Since novels (your choice) are usually the source material for LToW I, the work can be counted as a literature credit.
Are you saying I can use our TOG literature for LToW assignments?
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Call me Grandma too. I use the Rod and Staff planner to write down what has been done each day, and I have a 3 ring binder with ideas, plans, booklists etc.
I think better with a nice sharp pencil or a really good pen in my hand.
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WHOOHOOO!! My WWS just arrived!!!
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Thanks for you post, I don't know why you deleted it. It was just what I needed to hear today! I guess I needed someone to say, "You are not going to ruin your highschooler by doing WWS!"
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We are also doing World History, and IEW just wasn't a fit with dd for many reasons.
WWS is getting her to write more, and I am using TOG to incorporate History assignments into her writing, but I don't think I am incorporating the WWS skills with her history assignments very well. Right now I am just trying to work on getting her into the habit of writing and improving her structure and paying more attention to her style.
I am looking into using some of the resources that SWB mentions in her High School Writing lecture. I am also thinking about jumping into Lost Tools of Writing, but am not sure how that will fit into what we are doing. I think I am afraid that what I am doing right now is not enough, and we need a clearer direction. I really don't want to spend my Christmas break working on this, but I feel like time is short and we have a lot of work to do in the writing department. As I am teaching my younger children, I can now see what skills I let slip, and what I should have pushed my older children to do.
As SWB comes out with more upper level resources, there is more clarity for how to flesh out WTM. Thanks Susan!
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Is anyone using WWS with their hser? If you are how are you using it? Are you using it as written or are you adding to it and what grade are you using it?
Right now I am using it with my 7th and 10 graders. We use WWS as written, and then she does additional writing for Literature and History. I wanted to make sure that dd had the foundational skills that WWS teacher, but obviously didn't have a chance to incorporate it more into our curriculum.
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BJUP is running a $99 special on subject DLO courses. You must purchase by Dec 20, but you have until Dec 31, 2012 to complete the course. It only covers the video portion so you would still need to get the books. Here is the link -- http://www.bjupresshomeschool.com/content/distance-learning-online-subject-special
Yvonne in NE
:hurray: :hurray:
Thank you for posting this! I have been trying to find the money to order the Spanish dvd's, and now I don't have to. :lol:
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I spoke with one of his staffers and was told the same thing.
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Homeschooling in New Jersey is the best, we are completely unregulated. No reporting, no letters of intent, no keeping track of days, no testing...nothing. We are facing legislation that will change that, but the homeschoolers in NJ are great at orgainizing and "fighting city hall". Our taxes are impossible, our housing prices are high, but we have great homeschooling laws!
As for the weather, it has been pretty warm the last few days, the cold hasn't settled in yet for winter.
Enjoy your trip!
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We were just in Philly for Thanksgiving, my children loved seeing Benjamin Franklin's printing press in action
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I think the Long Winter is the most challenging, because there is really not much happening in comparison to the other books. I do believe that there is merit to reading it, as it really helps our children to appreciate how hard things really were. To be truely cold and hungry, and really have nothing to do all day is something that is completely beyond the experience of our children.
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Yup! That's what I was thinking too! I must be getting old.
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I agree. It would drive me crazy when someone would hold my baby and when I got the baby back, it would smell like perfume.
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I'm happy that you will still be around, and glad you were able to make a final decision. Have fun ordering!!
Large families....what are you using that works?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted · Edited by M&M
Tapestry of Grace, Math U See, Writing with Ease/Writing with Skill, Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, Spelling Power , Spelling Workout, Rod and Staff Grammar, FLL, and Story of the World are staples in our house. Visual Latin, BJU Spanish, Analytical Grammar are new for us this year and are working well.
Most of what works for us is things I can pick up and do the next thing, TOG is the only subject that takes more time and it takes me less time to read teacher's notes than to read all of dc's books.
What works best in our house is TOG's mantra of "plan your work and work your plan", teaching my older children to work independantly and to plan out their work and be resposible has been the most valuable thing I have done in our homeschool.