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Sorry to throw in a few other ideas at this point -- I remember how I thought my head was going to explode the first time I tackled TOG and HST+! :willy_nilly: I create a separate lesson plan for for each level for each year. For example, this year I have TOG Y3 D and TOG Y3 LG. That way I can keep them straight when submitting lesson plan items to the assignments section. Within each lesson plan, I organize by TOG week. Wk 1 has sequence number 100, wk 2 = 200, etc. -- just like pp. I had originally started this thinking that I would organize items by day but have found that I just print out the entire sequence number for each week and hand that to each child to use for independent scheduling. When I submit the lp items to the assignment grid, I use the student's own scheduling for the specific dates. I organize by subject and course according to what I think I will use for high school -- even for the younger levels. It just keeps me thinking that way. I keep the subject rather general and create specific courses for the older levels. For example, this year I have History for a subject with a course entitled Nineteenth Century History, World & US. I also have Geography as a course under History. I list Worldview/Church History as a separate subject with a course for each year plan. I have Literature as a subject with Nineteenth Century Literature as a course. Composition is a separate subject with the grade level as the course -- i.e. Composition 7 for 7th grade. The last subject I use for TOG is Fine Arts. I don't have courses under it since I plan to accumulate credits over all 4 years of high school. When creating lps for the year, I have been surprised at how little time it actually takes. I create the generic items first for each week (History-Geography-Map Work-wk x; History-Nineteenth Century History-Reading-wk x; History-Nineteenth Century History-A&T-wk x; History-Nineteenth Century History-Journal Entry-wk x; History-Nineteenth Century History-Discussion-wk x; Literature-Nineteenth Century Literature-Reading-wk x; Literature-Nineteenth Century Literature-Worksheet-wk x; Literature-Nineteenth Century Literature-Read Aloud-wk x; Literature-Nineteenth Century Literature-Discussion-wk x; etc. -- These are all listed as subject-course-activity-wk.) Once I have each basic assignment created for the 1st week, I copy them having HST+ add 100 to each sequence number for all 36 weeks. To go back in and select the resources used each week is quick and easy. For multiple books in History reading, for example, I just use the Use As New option from the 1st entry for that week and easily change the resource and pg numbers. I do all of my TOG lps for the entire year for 2 levels in less than 2 days each summer. It takes another day or so to add in all the other lps (science, phonics, spelling, grammar, etc.) and it's done. This is my 5th year using this system. Eventually I'll get to the point where I can reuse the lps for the younger kids. (My 1st year in TOG y3 was only for 1 student at the UG level. This year I have 1 at D and 2 at LG.) I really like having it all set up in advance and then submitting items weekly. If I need to tweak, I tweak. At the end of the year I can print out my reports for our evaluator and show how many days or hours each student spent on each subject, the resources used, etc. It's so cool! Hope this tome helps someone!

I don't know what module they're currently on ... but this class has been going for about 3 years now so it's a very mature course. The instructors have worked with it enough to know that students can just start in any module, except the ones you noted, and keep going until they've looped back around and completed the whole text. Last year I think they had about 150 students enrolled for that course -- not all in one class session, of course. But their system works very well and the students are wildly enthusiastic about game days. They have a variety of other Apologia science courses in development this summer, too. Several have the option of doing the course "live" in the online classroom several times a week or of doing the course asynchronously by watching recorded lectures and accessing the review and quiz tools at the student's own pace. This is a fabulous resource! Open enrollment starts August 1st so you should get on their email list now if you think you want to enroll in any of their classes.

D lit in yr 3 continues to lay a very nice framework of literary analysis terms plus practice in using them. The weekly worksheets in the student activity pages are often simply to help the student note various elements in the story. But it all comes together in the discussion with Mom. There is very real substance to the D lit in this year plan -- by the time we get to R lit, we'll have a huge head start. An example would be from Gulliver's Travels last year (yr 2). The recommended version of the book was abridged and very easy to read. However, that made if very easy to pick out items to discuss (which were things highlighted in the worksheets). During our discussion, we dug into the definition of satire and identified quite a few instances in the story that we could relate back to our history studies. It was all there in the teacher's notes to guide me to lead a discussion. I kept thinking what an advantage that will be when we get to the unabridged version and deeper analysis at the R level. My dd is already familiar with and enjoys the story, she has found and examined several uses of satire in it, and has a good understanding of the historical setting. What more could I wish for at this level? Y3 digs even deeper and has even more opportunities to more indepth discussion guided by the teacher's notes. Blessings,

The only really indication on when it is time to move from LG to UG is when the child can read fluently and independently to learn. That means that you can hand them an age-appropriate book, ask them to read it, and then check back when they have finished when they will be able to tell you what they learned. You have to take into account both reading ability AND comprehension. If in doubt, stay at the lower level. So ... unfortunately, your question really is ... When should each child be reading on their own with a reasonably high degree of comprehension and recall? Sound impossible to answer? Yup. Sorry I couldn't just give you a number! Blessings,

I've used Phonics Museum with my youngest two. It's served us very, very well. My kids like the readers even at the beginning level because they have such great illustrations. Even in K, they loved the history and Bible connections. My son is now at the end of the 1st grade book and he adores the guy-oriented readers. I like the integrated handwriting -- the letter mazes appeal to my kids and their handwriting is quite tidy now. I also like the D'Nealian manuscript because it does ease the transition to cursive. The TMs are written to the teacher. I guess you could call them scripted but they aren't as scripted as something like SWB's FLL K & 1st grade where they actually tell you the words that should come out of your mouth. The PhMus TMs give detailed instructions on what to do each day. They are written for classroom teachers but also give suggestions for at home use. I glance through the instructions for the day and then adapt to my style. I do like how they break everything down into daily increments, though. I tend to try and do too much too quickly when left to my own devices so they give me a much more gradual pace to emulate. The TMs also suggest when to play which games. I don't always follow their suggestions but I do use it as a reminder to include games frequently. What don't I like? Well, the readers are long and designed to be read "round robin style" in a classroom full of kids. At the earlier levels, it can be a lot of reading so we broke some of them up into shorter chunks and did them over a couple of days. However, the longer readers "spoiled" my kids for reading other shorter readers at the same skill level. After working their way through the Phonics Museum reader, they found the corresponding level of a Bob book or Scholastic Phonics reader too short and not nearly interesting enough. I guess that's not a bad thing! That's my 2c!

We used the Apologia Elementary book (Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day) plus Awesome Ocean Science (a Williamson Kids book) for our base. We added nature guides, library books, etc. when we wanted more. The Ocean Book by Frank Sherwin is also a good look at oceanography for the age your kids are.

What do you consider "a long time?" 8 yrs? 4 yrs?

I have 3 -- this year they are K, 1, & 6. I've used Tapestry for 4 years and it's worked well in our family. I spend 1-on-1 time with each of the 2 younger ones to individually teach them their phonics, math, and reading. That takes about an hour each -- or a little more for the 1st grader to add in FLL and some beginning composition. I do their Tapestry readings for history, lit, and whatever else together. They do their simple mapwork, hands on stuff, and science together, too. They work on their handwriting and complete any extras (lapbooklets, lit pockets, whatever) on their own while I work with 6th grader. I meet with 6th grader 1-on-1 for about 30-45 minutes per day to do spelling, go over writing assignments, intro math lesson, go over my feedback on writing in progress, etc. She participates in weekly history and lit discussions in our virtual co-op so, unless I am teaching that week, I don't need to be directly responsible for those. All of the above takes me to lunchtime. After lunch, I do a read-aloud to all 3 kids together. We might have a hands on project. 6th grader always has additional independent work to do but youngers are finished and I can focus on household stuff or planning or grading papers, and shooing the younger 2 outdoors. There is a recorded seminar on the Tapestry website on Tips for Teaching a Houseful. The first couple of months of every school has been chaotic until we fall into a routine. But I've been very pleased at how we've settled into our "schedule" with all 3 officially "in school" this year. However, I do realize that precious babies and toddlers change things. Everything takes a little longer but those years with little ones just don't last long enough! There's always time to learn more math facts or practice sight words a bit at a time over the summer or even next year. Blessings, Monica

Thanks for the links, MIch elle, I had found one of those threads by searching but not the other. I like the samples I've seen online of CLE 7 & 8 -- I really like the daily review built in. You have a good point about limiting that review, Magic Wand. Thanks, Ladies! If anyone else has a thought not already expressed in one of the links or posts above, I'd sure love to listen!

anyone?:bigear:

The read alouds often contain fascinating information. We've done them all -- both the drier non-fiction titles as well as the historical fiction. My younger LG isn't interested in most of the non-fiction. My older LG has loved it all (except Colonial Living). My D loves everything we read so that's never an issue. She and I actually did all of the Colonial Living readings and they ended up being one of our favorite things about that unit. We had quite a few "I didn't know that!" moments and she became interested enough in several of the things we read about to do a display board about one and an oral report on another. I have to admit that during our last rotation, we couldn't make it through Colonial Living either -- but my now D was only UG then. So don't give up -- maybe the same book will work well next time around. I agree with other posts -- we use the alt D lit suggestions for read alouds. Adam of the Road in unit 1, Madeleine Takes Command in unit 3, Guns for General Washington in unit 4 (in addition to Pipe, Paddle, and Song and Carry On, Mr. Bowditch).

My dd tests easily into CLE Math 7 but wouldn't pass the test to start Math 8. But according to the CLE catalog, Math 8 is prealgebra, Math 9 is Algebra 1, Math 10 is Geometry, Math 11 is Algebra 2, Math 12 is Functions & Trig. I was planning on using CLE Math for prealgebra and then moving to something else for high school maths. But I'm not sure we have 2 years to spend on Math 7 and Math 8 if we want to keep on track for college prep. So, do we buckle down and go through both 7 & 8 to be ready for a decent Algebra 1 course? Dd has done sooooo well with Horizons -- she thrives on the spiral approach, likes the puzzles/scripture content/color. CLE is as close as I can find for something after Horizons 6 -- I know, it's only 2-color, has no puzzles that I can see, but there is scripture content and it's spiral. She's not ready for mastery-based learning in math yet -- I figured that can wait until Algebra 1 and beyond. Both of us would hate Saxon and, even if I could afford TT, I can't decide if it would prep her adequately or not. Help? Please? Thanks,

Go to http://www.lampstandpress.com/conferences/media/tips.wmv and watch this webinar on Tips for Teaching a Houseful. The author homeschooled 6 children and has "been there, done that"! You really spend most of your time with your younger children on a day to day basis. As they get older, they are working more and more independently. I tend to meet with my D student at the beginning of the week to overview everything. She schedules and works independently and touches base with me when starting writing projects, at the end of the week to have our history and lit discussions, and with questions.

The Reformation is covered in-depth at the upper levels. Readings are assigned and you will discuss all aspects -- yes, Luther and Calvin are thoroughly covered but neither is portrayed as without faults. (Yes, Calvin's less-than-heroic actions are included.) You also read about and discuss Erasmus, Tyndale, Wycliffe, Henry VIII, and many, many other individuals who played important roles in the Reformation. More importantly, all of it is connected to the other historical, political, social, and economic events of the time so you get a thorough look. Although Tapestry is written by authors who happen to be Reformed, they have gone out of their way to present readings, activities, discussion guides to help you help your students work through these issues. They certainly don't tell you what to think but they give you a manner in which you can teach your children HOW to think.

I don't have any R kids yet but we've used Tapestry for 3.75 years now. My younger ones don't know anything else and enjoy whatever we do. My oldest started as UG in 3rd grade in yr 3 and is now D in yr 2 -- she absolutely loves everything about Tapestry! It took a while to make the transitions to doing her own weekly scheduling, working up to written accountability and thinking questions, having weekly Socratic discussions (I did a mini-form of them with her even when she was UG), etc. She would mutiny if I ever entertained the idea of switching to something else. Every year I get the "I wonder if ..." syndrome, spend too much time checking out options for something else, and have decided every year that Tapestry is just the right thing for us.

I belive the alternate list is available only to those who have purchased the units you are searching directly from Lampstand Press. I do know that there has been a slight glitch in their system that forces you to look at the primary list first. Then you can "Change Selections" (or whatever it says) and click on Alternates. If you are permissioned to view the extras for that year plan or unit, it will come up.

Ideally, I would use it with all 3 next yr (1st, 2nd, and 7th graders). I want something challenging and meaty enough for the oldest. The younger two would just be along for the fun of it. Has anyone out there used it? Thanks!

Anyone used this? Like it? Dislike it? The author's describe it as a combination of Spalding method (phonograms) and CM. That SOUNDS good -- but I want to hear from someone who's actually used it! Thanks,

If you intend to assign accountability and thinking Qs and/or use the D or R discussion guides for history, they are based on the primary readings, both core and in-depth. If you limit or replace them, you need to limit the Qs and discussion as well. How do you know? Well, either page through the resources to find out or wing it. Personally, I find either option a major pain. Where multiple readings are listed in the core row within any given level, you need to read both of them to cover the major threads (or use an alternate from the library covering the topics). When you are just starting, decide which subjects you want to do. If you want to start with history and lit, then decide how much of the SAPs you want to assign. Written or oral account/think Qs? Some or all? Use lit worksheet or just chat about book? Then, gradually add in other stuff. Geography (some or all?), Fine Arts/Hands On (reading only? pick a project once a unit? once a month? every week?), Writing, etc. We do all the reading on the primary page (or the equivalent reading in alternates covering the same topics) every week. That will change when we get to R level. My D student does all account/think Qs (written note form), all the geography, all the lit, some hands on (as much as she has time for), plus whatever writing I assign. But we've been doing this for a while. My advice? Don't over-plan. Start out with a few things and gradually add in a bit at a time until it feels right or you are hitting your goals. You may reach that point in a couple of months or in a couple of years.

Oops -- forgot to answer your printing Q -- I dunno. I'm in the same quandary. I just know that I can do a lot on my laptop but I need to have the teacher's notes and D discussion guide on paper. I do print them in draft mode but am still trying to find a better solution.

MapAids is very, very convenient. Print out the map, hand them the geog assignment, check the teacher map if you get stuck, done. But there's nothing magic about the maps themselves. If you don't mind spending a few extra minutes each week figuring out which blank map to use, you can use anything! But, if you like to be sure that you can find each and every map label in the assignment, you may have to check multiple sources or resign yourself to the fact that you just may have to skip some of them. No big deal to some -- but others can't sleep at night if they can't dot every 'i'. Pop Quiz -- absolutely love it! My husband does listen to most of the weeks when he's on the road so he knows what we're up to (sort of!). I listen to it every week, too. It's one more pathway entering my brain. Evaluations -- I'm with Karen, not for lower levels. I've used unit evals and lit terminology quizes for D but only rarely use a weekly quiz. Writing Aids -- it's a great resource when you are using the TOG writing assignments. We've done the TOG writing for a year or two at a time, then took some time off to build the basics with IEW. I've been making up my own assignments, often loosely based on the TOG prompts, and then have my eldest use IEW techniques to structure the work. That's working well for us now. For my littles, the level 1 TOG writing assignments are working very well. However, I will still start them on IEW-type work when they are reading fluently on their own. My bottom line? I agree with Karen. The TOG writing assignments and WritingAids are doable and easy to grab/implement every week. But I don't think it's the best thing to teach them HOW to write. Don't worry about trying to make every decision at once. Our first year with Tapestry was just the yp (+MapAids after about a month of scrambling to find maps). We added WritingAids the 2nd year (when it was 1st launched). In our 3rd yr we added PopQuiz; then the D eval came into our house for our 4th yr. Go with what you've got until either something isn't working or you find a hole that needs to be filled. :001_smile:

I taught an 8-week class on Lewis & Clark to 1st and 2nd graders at our co-op. It went over quite well -- we had a blast!

I have a tab for each week in my master binders. I keep the entire week's pages there and don't split out SAPs or anything else. The color coding of the outer edges of the pages help me navigate. Also, after using Tapestry for a while, you'll automatically know about how far back to flip to find whatever you need. As far as what to print from DE, that's up to you. I like to read my teacher's notes from paper so I print those week to week. I then put them in my notebook so that the next time I teach that year plan, I won't have to reprint anything. Just about everything else I use on my laptop. Of course, I print copies of appropriate SAPs, maps, etc. for each kiddo. I also like to have the teacher's answer map on paper each week for quick reference. It all goes back in my master notebook at the end of the week to save for next time around. My D daughter's notebook has tabs for History, Geography, Literature, Grammar, Spelling Rules, Math Tests. She has separate binders for writing with tabs for Assignments, Prewriting, Drafts, Final Graded Papers. My LG dd and ds have tabs for History, Maps, Phonics, Writing, Math. They have index card word banks sorted by part of speech so they don't need grammar tabs. Don't spend too much time upfront trying to devise the perfect organization system for yourself or your kids. As you use and adapt Tapestry, your own system will fall into place. I know I did a lot of tweaking over the first year or two. Now everything fits "just right"!

My two younger kids love 'em. Different strokes for different folks!