Hello, I am seriously torn between TOG and Biblioplan and would be grateful for any help.
I will be teaching a 6th grader and Kindergartner this year. We have used SOTW as a spine in the past with supplemental books, but history has been light and I'd like to offer my kids more than I have in the past -- especially the 6th grader, who is a voracious reader and history lover. We've never used a set curriculum before, and the idea of starting something new is also appealing to us given the significant transition our home school will experience this year (our 9th grader will be going to school -- we will miss him! -- and our K-er will be joining our home school).
I have perused samples of both programs and read as much as I can, on these boards and elsewhere. I know some families who use TOG and like it a lot, and some who have used it and disliked it. I don't know anyone personally who has used Biblioplan (which I heard of only a few months ago).
I believe TOG has a great many more users than Biblioplan, and this also makes me wonder: If Biblioplan offers much of the best of TOG without the overcomplication and excess, why aren't more people using it? (Or are they?) (Is there safety in numbers? :))
I don't want to overdo history or spend all my time planning, but I definitely want to offer my daughter (who would be dialectic in TOG) the most I can.
My main concerns about TOG are: Will it overwhelm and burn us out (as it seems to do to so many people), so that we do not get the benefit of it? Or will it take more time than we want to devote to history, so we end up using only a small fraction of what is offered? Either would be a very disappointing result, especially given its (to me) exhorbitant price tag.
My main concerns about Biblioplan are: Does it offer fewer resources and less analysis and insight than TOG (both for parent and child), so that I will regret not having gone for more?
Many thanks for any insights you can provide!