TOG users help

[gr8tcook]

Ok I think I have entered the fog....could any of you offer some basic insights as to how you break down the components into a daily schedule? I have 1 d,2ug,1lg students. so I am using 3 levels. I have a digital version with out a printed version. I am starting in unit 2 of y2 because of where we left off in history this last year. I have read the loom helps 2xs now and the unit helps and am not sure where to begin. I love the choices available...but goodness I can't wrap my brain around it.

[Melissa in CA]

The first thing you need is a blank schedule. I personally would make one for each child. I can send you the one I use. Its a Word document that can be changed and tweaked as you see fit. Mine has every subject on it, not just TOG.

 

Once you have a blank schedule, I think it becomes a tad easier to manage. I have our Y2, units 1 & 2 schedules all made out for TOG. I can send you one of those to give you a look-see on how we do it.

 

Once you have a schedule in-hand, look ONLY at the primary resources page for scheduling your books. Only look at the alternate/supplemental books if you must. TOG's primary books really are PLENTY!!!! You do not, I repeat NOT, need to supplement the primary readings. I only resort to the alternate/supplement list if I cannot get one of the primary books, or if we have already used one of them in the past and we'd like something different.

 

Then you need to decide what other aspects of TOG you plan to use such as their vocab or writing components and decide on a system for how you want to approach them. I personally prefer a workbook approach to vocab, so we do not use TOG's list. I know some people with large families will come together at the beginning of the week and do the TOG vocab together. Mom will ask a child is she knows what a 'word' is. If she does not, the child will then look up the word in the dictionary and share it with the others. Or the kids will have a race on who can find it first. So, you see, the vocab can be done easily and in a fun way. It does not need to be something paper-intensive.

 

What parts of TOG do you plan to use? I would not suggest you try to do/schedule ALL that TOG offers. Start simple...add on, should you desire, when the fog lifts.

[siloam]

Ok I think I have entered the fog....could any of you offer some basic insights as to how you break down the components into a daily schedule? I have 1 d,2ug,1lg students. so I am using 3 levels. I have a digital version with out a printed version. I am starting in unit 2 of y2 because of where we left off in history this last year. I have read the loom helps 2xs now and the unit helps and am not sure where to begin. I love the choices available...but goodness I can't wrap my brain around it.

 

Send me an e-mail and I can send you my schedule. Basically I read the LG (sometimes the UG) aloud to all then I have my oldest read some of the UG or in-depth books on her own (but not all). I schedule the whole book and she figures out when to read it on her own, though it wouldn't be too difficult to divide the number of pages by the number of days you have for the week to come up with a daily amount if that is what you prefer.

 

BTW most TOG users just do one component a day, like they read the history on Monday, the Lit on Tuesday, do mapping and timline on Wednesday, discussion/crafts on Thursdays and writing on Friday. I break what we do into daily pieces doing a little each day, like a SL or WP schedule.

 

Heather

 

[Melissa in CA]

BTW most TOG users just do one component a day, like they read the history on Monday, the Lit on Tuesday, do mapping and timline on Wednesday, discussion/crafts on Thursdays and writing on Friday. I break what we do into daily pieces doing a little each day, like a SL or WP schedule.

 

Heather

 

 

We break it up in chunks too. I could not imagine doing ALL that history reading in one day! :confused::001_huh: I don't know about the LG level, but I know in the UG and D levels that it's just too much. Same with the Lit! Goodness. I can't imagine it.

[siloam]

We break it up in chunks too. I could not imagine doing ALL that history reading in one day! :confused::001_huh: I don't know about the LG level, but I know in the UG and D levels that it's just too much. Same with the Lit! Goodness. I can't imagine it.

 

Glad I am not the only one. I see these block schedules and I just don't get it.

 

Though I do get the feel they "give" the assignment on that day, and then a day it has to be done by, so in reality the child is doing the reading over more than one day. Which is basically what I do with my oldest. I schedule the book on a particular day, but my dd knows that I don't really start checking to see if she had read it till the next week.

 

Heather

 

[iwka]

I made a simple spreadsheet and I fill it out weekly. I start with spreading the reading (history and literature) across the week days, then I fill in worksheets, geography, writing, activities. For D, you need to think how you want to spread the reading, since you need/want to have discussion somewhere there before writing starts. Some people assign reading for D starting on weekends, so they are done by Wed or Thur. Also, D level kids should participate in creating their own schedules, but I would advise for you to do it for the first few weeks, so they can see how it is done.

 

Here are the links to my UG random week:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pkx6AQoazFyd0BzyPJJotYA

 

and LG random week:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pkx6AQoazFyfwjTwXUiNoYg

[swimmermom3]

I'm glad people keep asking about the TOG fog and experienced moms like Melissa, Heather, and Iwka keep answering. You all make it sound so straightforward. I only wish I had found TOG before I had collected bits and pieces of numerous other curriculum.:tongue_smilie: I think it has most of what I want-I'll know better when the fog lifts, I hope.

[Janis in DE]

I use Homeschool Tracker, but I agree with the others that I spread the reading out over the week. We do Geography on the first day and timeline on the last. I spread the history reading and answering the questions out, usually, over the first 3-4 days. I only have a dialectic student. We don't start the writing till the 2nd day. The literature is spread out over the entire week. Church History reading and questions are usually not done till the history is done.

Janis in DE

[Karenciavo]

My LG son does pretty much one topic a day, my older boys no. My schedule is here.

[gr8tcook]

Thankyou....I looked at all those boxes and my brain just siezed...I couldn't get past those boxes needing little check marks. Ok I will start with a blank schedule. One of the reasons I chose TOG is so I could pick and choose and not spend my whole life reading aloud. How much hands on projects do you do? Does everyone do the same project or do you have them pick and choose and just get them started?

[swimmermom3]

The first thing you need is a blank schedule. I personally would make one for each child. I can send you the one I use. Its a Word document that can be changed and tweaked as you see fit. Mine has every subject on it, not just TOG.

 

Once you have a blank schedule, I think it becomes a tad easier to manage. I have our Y2, units 1 & 2 schedules all made out for TOG. I can send you one of those to give you a look-see on how we do it.

 

Once you have a schedule in-hand, look ONLY at the primary resources page for scheduling your books. Only look at the alternate/supplemental books if you must. TOG's primary books really are PLENTY!!!! You do not, I repeat NOT, need to supplement the primary readings. I only resort to the alternate/supplement list if I cannot get one of the primary books, or if we have already used one of them in the past and we'd like something different.

 

Then you need to decide what other aspects of TOG you plan to use such as their vocab or writing components and decide on a system for how you want to approach them. I personally prefer a workbook approach to vocab, so we do not use TOG's list. I know some people with large families will come together at the beginning of the week and do the TOG vocab together. Mom will ask a child is she knows what a 'word' is. If she does not, the child will then look up the word in the dictionary and share it with the others. Or the kids will have a race on who can find it first. So, you see, the vocab can be done easily and in a fun way. It does not need to be something paper-intensive.

 

What parts of TOG do you plan to use? I would not suggest you try to do/schedule ALL that TOG offers. Start simple...add on, should you desire, when the fog lifts.

 

Melissa,

 

How long does it take you to do TOG each day? I was looking at your sig line and it seems like you have a fairly challenging schedule in other subjects as well. How long is your "typical" school day?

 

Gr8cook, I hope it's okay if I ask on your thread. I can always pm questions. How old is your d student?

[Melissa in CA]

Melissa,

 

How long does it take you to do TOG each day? I was looking at your sig line and it seems like you have a fairly challenging schedule in other subjects as well. How long is your "typical" school day?

 

 

Well, my ds's TOG days are not always the same. Some weeks the history is quite intense, other weeks moderate, a few weeks here and there are light. So it's really hard to give an exact time per day, so I will say anywhere from 1 to 2 hours a day...but that includes Mapping, Literature and Worldview. It also depends on how much dawdling and twiddling of thumbs he does. :glare: Also, I do NOT assign all of the TOG questions for my son to complete. That would make TOG way too time consuming and overwhelming. I pick about 4 to 8 questions, highlight them, and those are the ones he answers on paper. The rest we usually cover when/if we have our Friday discussion.

 

As for my sig line, that is what we are planning to do this next year. ;) I do not know how well it will go as I know CW is quite time consuming on it's own, as well as BJU's Life Science. Last year, not using CW or a BJU Science w/DVD, our days ran about 6-7 hours long. But again, that included much twiddling of the thumbs and staring off into space. :glare: In other words, a typical red-blooded pre-teen MALE. :tongue_smilie::D

[iwka]

I'm glad people keep asking about the TOG fog and experienced moms like Melissa, Heather, and Iwka keep answering. You all make it sound so straightforward. I only wish I had found TOG before I had collected bits and pieces of numerous other curriculum.:tongue_smilie: I think it has most of what I want-I'll know better when the fog lifts, I hope.

 

I am not experienced at all. It was my first year with TOG (Year 3), but I was reading their forum for a year before that. Guess what? I almost killed my just turned 11dd with the first reading. I wanted to try D level on her and gave her Napoleonic Foot Soldier to read...totally not interesting for her. :tongue_smilie:

 

I did not do any writing during Unit 1. I just thought it would be too much. I don't think I've had the famous fog at all, but it did take some time to adjust the schedule.

[iwka]

Thankyou....I looked at all those boxes and my brain just siezed...I couldn't get past those boxes needing little check marks. Ok I will start with a blank schedule. One of the reasons I chose TOG is so I could pick and choose and not spend my whole life reading aloud. How much hands on projects do you do? Does everyone do the same project or do you have them pick and choose and just get them started?

 

It really does not take that long at all. I do write every detail on their schedules, so my kids will work more independently and not ask me every 30 minutes: what's next? Reading and writing is the biggest part.

 

We do hands on only sometimes, probably two projects per unit or so. They pick and choose. My dd11 likes to try cooking and sewing projects. My ds9 will do anything if it involves Lego, my dd6 would do any art project. Sometimes they would work together on something (example: http://majorchangeacademy.wordpress.com/2009/04/01/oregon-trail-lego/

Edited July 10, 2009 by iwka

[trisharog]

I am so glad to read that post about Diary of a Napoleanic Foot Soldier. My DS10 (11 in Nov ) is an avid reader and I am going to try starting him yr 2 unit 3 on D. I have bought most of the books and they look reasonable but I have not yet bought Diary...(for a later unit) I just looked at Amazon after reading the post and see that it seems dry. I really think DS can do D so I want to be careful not to get any books that are too much. I am pushing for D bc I know he would thrive on those great discussion questions. Anyway , all that to say thanks for the heads up.

 

Trisha

[BlsdMama]

We're new to it. I took in a lot of Marcia's suggestions and condensed it so I could get a plan at a glance. Essentially it looks like this:

 

ow that said, we are taking recommendations from Tapestry and following much of their weekly timeline. To consolidate this is how we’re doing it:

Mondays – Do all lit and history reading for the week or as much as possible.

Vocabulary should also be filled out and filed this day. The writing assignment and scope are introduced on this day and the first draft is due on Wednesday.

Tuesdays – Finish up any other reading. Work on writing. Hands on items – start.

Wednesdays – First drafts of said writing assignment is initially due for discussion as well as editing by self.

Discussions take place on Wednesdays. Worksheets that correlate with the reading would be good for today as well as any mapwork.

Thursdays – This is a time to draft writing and polish. Catch up on any literature work. Work on / finish up hands on projects depending on when they should be done.

Fridays – Draft of writing is due for Mom’s edit and polish. Spelling test. Go over vocabulary as well.