Hey folks! I don't hang around this board much, but just thought I'd poke my (virtual) head in and say hi! I've been using TOG for 6 years now, and finally got off my (virtual) duff and have started writing a series about how it works in our family. This might prove helpful to some of you, so I'll link the first two posts in the series: How It Works for Us TOG for Rhetoric Students Hope this helps someone! (And for the record: My blogs earn me no money. They're not even that interesting. I'm not an employee of Tapestry/Lampstand Press. Well, I do represent them at the Alabama convention. And I think if you click on some link somewhere on my blog that takes you to Tapestry's website, I might make, like, .50 or something if you buy something. Which no one ever seems to do. And which you certainly don't have to do. There. Full disclosure!)

Has anyone done this? Not used TOG until Highschool? I really like the looks of it but I'm very concerned that I won't be able to fully utilize this curriculum at this point in my life. Next year will have a 7th, 4th and 1st grader. My other concerns about this program if anyone can reassure or address. 1. I have boys and right now the oldest 2 are very science minded (I realize this could change.) Can a student keep up with the rigor of TOG and tackle a rigorous science highschool program, as well, and do them both successfully? 2. I enjoy have a spine or textbook to make sure we are getting a summary of the topics. I love the extra reading and we do a lot of it now (using MOH). It looks like Streams of Civilization is the main spine for TOG and I don't like it. Do you feel your kids get a good overview of history by simply reading books? (This is the same concern I have about TruthQuest! - I love the book list, but worry what if miss something important bc I couldn't find the book about that or we didn't have time to read every single book.) 3. Time - it seriously looks like a lot of time to prep, have discussions, etc. My oldest is an introvert. Homeschooling has definetly been good for him, but discussion, at least now, is not his strong point. In public school, he would have been the kid who never participated in the discussion. If he doesn't enjoy the discussions, how do you handle that? 4. TOG is a program I would have loved - it's the education I wanted while in highschool and struggled to get. I was the nerd reading all the classics and participating in all the lit discussions in AP class. (But the other kids disliked me for that.) I want to do TOG for me but I'm worried it won't be a good fit. (It's just like notebooking pages. I love that idea and think it's a wonderful way to show what you know. My kids hate them and moan when I assign one!) Does TOG just not work for some kids? Do you push them through because they need it or do you have to move on to something else? I really want to know what I plan to use for all of highschool. But then I feel I should use it ahead of time to get ready for it and learn how to use it. Sigh... and if money just grew on trees I'd buy it and it wouldn't matter!

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 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. 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). 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. Right now we are debating holding my oldest home for another year. He is currently a Junior. We are debating not letting him go to college until he is 19. He will benefit greatly with another year at home. It is HIS decision. We are talking about it with him. He is in a serious committed relationship with his girlfriend. She is 2 years younger than him. Both parents are encouraged by their relationship. :) PTL!! However the drawback is he wants to start college and start life with her when she is halfway though college. Her parents do not want her married until she is 20 or older. He sees both options as positive. So this is a big factor in our decision to stop TOG or continue. He sees the positive of staying home another year and not graduate till 2014. His friend is doing the same thing. We do not know yet of his decision. Still talking and praying.... Continue in next post: