I've requested to join those groups but haven't been approved yet I guess.....

Hi! I haven't started it yet, I'm scouring the sample for next year. How is it going for you? What levels are you teaching? Do you have a blog or something tracking your progress? I'm full of questions. :)

Oh thank you! Yes I am definitely interested in the other years. Oh bummer I'm not sure why it's not showing up. I don't have any members yet but I plan to get as many as possible! :))) Try this... https://m.facebook.com/pages/Tapestry-of-Grace/88843917236?id=88843917236&_rdr#!/groups/470543556332158?ref=bookmark&__user=1306091386 Let me know if it works. :)

I made a group on Facebook for anyone interested in joining to share ideas, planning tips, resources, and basically to support one another while journeying through year one of TOG. I will be new to the program myself and I'd really like to be connected with others on the same path. We can share other components we are using to embellish our homeschools too. Just search "Tapestry of Grace Year One" if you're interested. :)

Lol me neither...I keep trying and it's not working! I'm California.....

I am bad about projects myself...but I need to work harder on it-my kids really like them. My ds10 was working on his CA Mission project, (traditional CA standards in action) when we pulled him from the homeschool charter school. I asked him (with fingers crossed 😜) if he still wanted to build his model. He thought for a minute then asked if he could build all 21 of them!!!! 😳ðŸ˜ðŸ˜

That's funny Ellie...my ds10 will read nothing but LOTR right now. He says once he's done there will be NOTHING to read because nothing can top them. Cracks me up!

Thanks I will check it out. :)

We like Phonetic Zoo as well as Spelling Power. I let my kids pick which one they use. (4 kids 4 diff opinions) The olders like SP so they can do it together-littles like PZ so they can do it "by themselves".

Thanks for the great responses ladies! Very helpful indeed. I love this forum. ðŸ˜

I have not had any experience whatsoever but I'm very curious to know more as the charter school my kids just joined uses CK-12 primarily. Personally, when I looked at the website I felt overwhelmed as to "creating" a book. What if I miss key concepts? Or are there books already made you log in for? I was confused but I know it's just me needing some explanation. My kids will be in Alg 1 and Geometry next year and I really need to know if this program will work for them or if I need to buy them something else. (Thinking Kinetic Books)

I will be new to TOG next year with all 4 levels doing YR1. Forgive me if I'm unaware of something already set up somewhere to compare notes but I would love to figure out a way to stay connected with others doing the same thing with similar age ranges. Please share if you know if any such thing. :)

I am not quite there yet but getting close so very interested in the replies you may get. I'm considering doing the same for my dd15 next year-she will be a sophomore, and she's interested in getting ECE units so she can get a job at a local preschool while completing high school and college.

My daughter loved everything from Gene Stratton Porter when she was about 12. Also the Dear America Series, Anne of Green Gables, Cherry Ames, Sue Barton (she loves nursing books) anything by Louisa May Alcott, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Hiding Place (maybe a little older for content here)Jane Eyre, Night and Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry. (Any historical fiction really) I can't keep the kid stocked with enough books...she's 15 now so it's even harder as I'm particular as to the content she reads.

I found out last week we are moving next week. Therefore my week has been horrific. 😠I have my littles focusing on some specific skills they need to master and staying out of my hair. (sight word and multiplication flash cards) and my bigs are studying tape dispenser mechanisms and cardboard box assembly. 😜 I.am.bushed.

I don't know what WWW/GWG are, but I can say I did not like SE at all. Of course it totally depends on the learning style and intensity you prefer. I personally prefer a more gentle approach and I felt SE was very heavy in early grades. (And on) I would prefer Abeka or FLL over it any day. To me, SE doesn't even seem written towards children, it seems so wordy. We got the jingles cd too and my kids refused to listen to them more than once as they were so dorky. JMHO lol I'm sure there are plenty of people who love it. :) HTH good luck ;)

You have some amazing responses so I'm going to be rather brief as I can't add much to the wealth of info already displayed. I loved Hunters post about content and so forth. Excellent points there. I wanted to state that its clear you are on a great path. Your son sounds like he is flourishing on so many levels. I grew up using PACES myself so I can say with fond memories that they are definitely not for everyone. I let my kids try them for a year and it wasn't bad but we knew they were not for us long term. If someone wanted something open and go with little parental hands on I'd recommend them-or if one travels a LOT they'd be handy. It sounds to me you are a lot like me and don't want to be put in a box. I like to pick and choose our path and destination and the tools we use to get there. There is so much out there to choose from I know it's incredibly overwhelming. I would not buy a packaged curriculum if I were you as you will feel limited eventually and like you wasted your money. I highly recommend Explode the Code, WWE, and FLL or PLL by Emma Surle. For Math Saxon or Math Mammoth. History-oh I love History so it's hard to narrow it down but favorites are Homeschool in the Woods, SOTW, and History Pockets. Science is another toughie...Queen Homeschool Nature Studies, Shining Dawn, In the Hands of a Child, (lap books) 106 Days of Creation (if you like Christian/CM) are just a few of the many things we've used and loved. You can see I like to branch out and use things for the experience rather than be stuck with one publisher for an entire year. Life is too short to feel stifled! Like other posters have said (not sure if its this thread or one I just read prior) it's rough when one feels an older child has "missed out" on certain things due to us being stuck in the learning curve of teaching/choosing curriculum. Making up for lost time and also making sure the same "mistakes" aren't made with youngers is truly a challenge. Wow I thought I'd be brief but I got kinda carried away I guess. Oops! 😜

And sorry for the typos! iPhone autocorrect messes me up every time! ðŸ˜

Yes thank you! Definitely will need to set up a lesson plan to accommodate it them depending on courses. We've been with a homeschool charter that sets forth all our lesson plans, until yesterday...so now we are venturing on our own. I noticed that the teacher assigned work randomly throughout a book-meaning, she didn't assign it front to back bam bam bam must do every page. Although I know that's not always the best way-I imagine some things can be shaved off that way without feeling like a major portion of materials aren't being covered. (Not with math though) Also, when we enrolled in the school, we signe up for enrichment classes that filled our Tuesday every week. When I spoke with her regarding the fact Tuesday was a wash and could we please have a lighter work load on that day, she informed me I should not have taken so many classes. (Four kids each with 2-3 classes such as art, language arts lab, science, robotics, guitar, Spanish and upper math) So we basically plowed through the semester doubling up on other days to make up for it. By the end of the semester we were exhausted and the kids were begging to stop the classes-and the school told me we could not drop them! (-$$$ for them of course) But we didn't anyway as they are not going to tell me to stay with "enrichment" classes of we are overwhelmed and quantity over quality is happening. Anyway, I feel good about my decision, although the kids will miss some if their classes-I will find ways to fill that void. And I think we can manage a 4 day week if I plan it right without being swamped like before. Thanks ladies....sorry for the long reply post-just thought a little more background might help. :)

Ohhh yes of course! LOL ok I feel silly now.... ;)

I totally know what you mean here! Once I was driving a group of kids somewhere and several of them were yammering on and on about certain activities at school and this teacher and that teacher and how awful they were, and I noticed my own kids were being so incredibly quiet-like they had absolutely nothing to add to the conversation and I could tell they felt so left out. One of the kids even said "Haha you can't talk about YOUR teacher because she's your MOM heeehaahahoho" I felt really sad for my kids but I somehow tactfully derailed the train and got them going on something else to discuss. It definitely can make one feel like a social weirdo! As far as your OP, my kids have brought up their occasional desire to go to regular school. One, because she desolately wanted to ride the bus! I kindly informed her of she went to ps she would not be riding the bus and having to be out at the bus stop at 7:15 am! (Our town bussed kids to another town for that grade) That idea alone tempered her little want. My older kids have expressed the ideas more so. With them, I have deep talks about why we homeschool. I work very hard to fill the voids they may be feeling. People can tout all they want that homeschooled kids don't had social problems, and I can attest that indeed mine do not and or that I am grateful. But I certainly attribute it to hard work and being aware of their needs. I imagine there are plenty of hs kids with social deprivation. Recently, my dd14 really pushed about feeling isolated and in her terms, "like a fish in a fish bowl". It bothered me badly and after much prayer and thoughtfulness we compromised with her and enrolled her in a public homeschool charter that has some site based classes. She was thrilled for the first quarter. But then she began to get bogged down with the work load as with such school one may not deviate from the lesson plans set forth. She was doing school 7-8 hours a day even on wknds. She is an hard worker, an over-acheiver, and yet still was reduced to tears over the work load. It was nuts! Coincidentally, I pulled her out today. She is so relieved and I haven't heard one peep about wanting to go to PS. *whew* I agree that it's important for a child to feel hey have some choice/control in some matters. I carefully explain to my kids where there's some wiggle room for them and where there is not. They generally accept that and we've been good with other homeschool groups, co-ops, sports, church, family trips, and so forth. I think it's wise to listen to a child and help them see the whole picture; and if it comes down to it, provide some sort of compromise that will help them cope. :)

How do you manage scheduling a 4 day school week when some courses have exactly or approximately 180 lessons? I have always done 5 day weeks but am thinking of using Fridays more for field trips/errands etc and I'm not sure how it would work-mostly concerned about Math for high school. Any tips or ideas? Besides doubling up on a day that is LOL

Thank you UrbanSue! This is very helpful and definitely puts my mind at ease. :)

👆👆👆👆👆 is a great review/post. Thank you!!!! I am delving in for next year but I'm so worried about the expense. I'm wondering how I can start now and spread the cost out a bit as dh is not fond of my curriculum fetish LOL So many say its such an expense, and I know the literature suggestions are probably most of that cost, but is it reasonable for me to think that buying the DE unit by unit and using the library/eBay as much as possible that I can get by with not too much out of pocket all at once? Compared to WP and MFW it seems much less expensive. I cannot shell out $400+ per kid. Especially when that doesn't cover all subjects. I definitely do not want to miss out on lap books, mapping and anything else that makes the program complete. I do not want to do it "halfway" but I must make it work for my budget which is very small unless I spread it out like I said.

Do you fret about making sure your child is doing the level corresponding with their grade? My kids (and I) tend to get hooked on needing the book to correspond with their respective grade level. My ds10(4th)is a great writer but needs spelling/editing help. My dd8 (2nd) is still an emergent reader. I have them in levels 3 and 2, I'm wondering if this is ok or of perhaps I should let dd back up to L1 until she is more fluent in reading and bump ds up to L4. What level do they go up to?