SL or TOG or something else

[mom22722]

I would like some opinions. I currently have a 7th, 5th, 2nd, K and a 4year old and 8mo. old. I have been using sonlight since my 7th grader was in K more or less. I never did core 2 and instead did story of the world 1 and 2 so I did core 1 and story of the world 1&2 for 3 years. This past year I did core 5 with my 7th and 5th grader, core 1 with my 2nd grader and pre4/5 with my K and 4 year old. I am burned out. I can not keep up with 3 cores. So My thoughts and ramblings for next year.

Option 1-then 8th and 6th graders do core 6 and I redo core 1 with everyone else using hearts and hands history kits.

Option 2- do core 6 and everyone listen to story of the world books(the books used for core 6) and get some hearts and hands history kits to do with the younger kids. I am a little concerned about doing 2 story of the world books in one year but I guess they already have it scheduled.

Option 3 - Try TOG year 1

Option 4-? other suggestions

[zookeeperof3]

Have you thought about My Fathers World? You could combine your olders into one program and do the K program with your K & pre K. your 2nd grader could sit in with the older kids. I never used Sonlight ,so I can't help you with choosing between cores. I tried TOG yr 1, it was to much planning for me. However, a lot of people love it, so maybe it was just me!

 

I hope you find what you are looking for!

Blessings,

Kim

[siloam]

I would like some opinions. I currently have a 7th, 5th, 2nd, K and a 4year old and 8mo. old. I have been using sonlight since my 7th grader was in K more or less. I never did core 2 and instead did story of the world 1 and 2 so I did core 1 and story of the world 1&2 for 3 years. This past year I did core 5 with my 7th and 5th grader, core 1 with my 2nd grader and pre4/5 with my K and 4 year old. I am burned out. I can not keep up with 3 cores. So My thoughts and ramblings for next year.

Option 1-then 8th and 6th graders do core 6 and I redo core 1 with everyone else using hearts and hands history kits.

Option 2- do core 6 and everyone listen to story of the world books(the books used for core 6) and get some hearts and hands history kits to do with the younger kids. I am a little concerned about doing 2 story of the world books in one year but I guess they already have it scheduled.

Option 3 - Try TOG year 1

Option 4-? other suggestions

 

My first question would be, do you use SL as an open and go program? If you can than TOG is going to be quite different, because you do have to spend time in planning, and you have to be able to say no to perfectly good stuff because you can't do it all (there is just too much there).

 

If you tweak SL then you are a good candidate for moving into TOG and finding it easy to use, because it is just more of what you already do.

 

The best way to figure out if TOG will work for you, though is to try one of the 3 week samples.

 

How TOG works here (and I am told I use it in more a SL way) is that I read aloud the LG or UG history, worldview and fine arts aloud to all, then assign additional reading to my oldest, and lit to the oldest 3. I break down the timeline work and mapping so they do a little each day instead of chunks of work. My kids just didn't like doing it all at once.

 

TOG is more designed for you to read aloud the LG choices, but from UG on up the child is supposed to read independently. My kids are all dyslexic to some degree, so it works better for me to continue with the read aloud as a base, and just add on to it to make it grade level work.

 

Heather

 

[StephanieZ]

I'm doing SL 6 & 1 this year and it's going just fine. I don't try to coordinate at all.

 

I thought about doing SOTW AG stuff with my little while doing SL 6 with the olders, but decided I wanted the open & go aspect of SL1 instead. I have to say I don't miss the effort involved in planning SOTW AG stuff. I just couldn't get it done now that I have 3 schooling kids. When only my oldest was schooling, it was perfect. . . but right now I really appreciate the simplicity of SL.

[TracyP]

I think TOG might be a good fit for you. Like Heather said you could at least give it a try with the 3 week sample. TOG is of course known for taking some time to plan out, but with 6 kids I suspect it may be easier than trying to plan for each child.

[mrsrevmeg]

I think TOG might be a good fit for you. Like Heather said you could at least give it a try with the 3 week sample. TOG is of course known for taking some time to plan out, but with 6 kids I suspect it may be easier than trying to plan for each child.

I second this! I know it is easier for me to plan TOG than it was for something else where we were more separated. If you do the reading assignments that are suggested in Tapestry you have everyone's planned out for the week, the map work is easy to print off if you are using Map Aids, the Student Activity Pages just have to be printed. The hardest thing really, for me, is looking ahead to see what hands-on stuff we need to purchase.

[melmichigan]

We are doing Core 6 and Core 1 here too, without coordinating. I do sub in SOTW in place of CHOW so my kids use the coloring pages while I read and do the maps, both from the SOTW AG. I just use the correlation that is posted and write it right in my IG for future kids.

[mom22722]

An answer to someone's question. I use to use Sonlight as open and go but this year with 6 kids and 3 kids. I have to spend Sundays planning out the week so I get something done with everyone. Someone suggested MFW. Next year I won't have a K I will have a 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 8th graders. I will also have a pre-k and a 1year old. Does MFW let you combine kids? I haven't ever looked at that program. For those of you that have used TOG have you cycled back around and keep using it or do you just use it 4 years?

[FordFamily]

Hello,

 

 

I think it depends on what you want to study this year. If you are planning or would desire to start a four year history cycle than TOG would be a really good choice. I think that planning is easier to do all at once, perhaps by unit, print out your student sheets and geopgraphy maps. Your older children will

learn to govern themselves with a little help from you. If you tell them when you would like your discussion, when you will check their literature worksheet, they can work out the details, after some training to do so. You can put the two older children in dialectic.

The younger kids can both go into lower or upper grammar, you know which

will work better. So, you have narrowed your planning and work down to two

schedules.

 

Another option that comes to mind, is Winter's Promise and Heart of Dakota. It seems they might be able to get your kids into one or two programs.

I hope this helps.

In Christ's Love,

Dana

[siloam]

An answer to someone's question. I use to use Sonlight as open and go but this year with 6 kids and 3 kids. I have to spend Sundays planning out the week so I get something done with everyone. Someone suggested MFW. Next year I won't have a K I will have a 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 8th graders. I will also have a pre-k and a 1year old. Does MFW let you combine kids? I haven't ever looked at that program. For those of you that have used TOG have you cycled back around and keep using it or do you just use it 4 years?

 

If you are used to planning TOG can be a breath of fresh air. It is designed so that you read LG aloud to the child, and UG-R levels read their own books. You have to choose the books (and you can just use TOG's first line books if you don't want to choose), and then choose the extra's they will do. There are student activity pages where you can mark up what they are to do (mapping, literature worksheet, timeline work, activities) then hand them the pages for them to work off of. Now at first there is a lot of training required, but the goal is independent learning, where you only have to do discussions with the older kids and read to the LG students, and they own the rest.

 

From what I understand MFW does allow you to combine. It has a scheduled minimum that you would read aloud to all kids, then a book list of additional reading that you could use to assign additional reading to your older children.

 

I started with year 2 and am doing year 4 now, so I haven't completed a history cycle yet, but I do plan to re-use TOG for the next cycle. All my kids will have moved up in what level they are doing, so the books will all be new, just the topic stays the same. On the TOGLooseThreads yahoo group there are gals who have used TOG for multiple cycles.

 

Heather

[mom22722]

oops. I meant 6 kids and 3 cores. Thanks for all those who reponded I am still thinking through this I am always afraid to make new changes.

[sandra in va]

Could the older two do core 6 on their own mostly? I am planning on having my 7th grader do either core 6 or alt 7 next year, but he will do it pretty much on his own. This way I can focus on my rising 3rd and 5th graders - I'm planning on doing core 3 with them. My youngest will do her own thing as she will be too young for core 3. I plan on working with her a lot, too.

 

Do you think you could do 3 cores if the older kids handle core 6 more independently? Then your 3rd grader can do core 2 and you can move on to core K with your youngers. You could even spread out core K over two years with your little ones (my 2nd grader did core K this year and I just added in some geography workbooks to beef it up for her and it worked just fine). That should help ease up your schedule, too.

 

Just some thoughts. I'm in a similar situation as you - trying to minimize cores, but maximize both learning for the kids and my own sanity! I have tried TOG in the past, and for me, it took too much time to organize and plan. You still have 2-3 levels of books that you need to use to make it tailored for each kid's level. It is a wonderful program, but it was not a good fit for me. As Heather said, it works best for planners. I think if you are used to SL and want to minimize planning, TOG may not be the best way to go. However, that said, you should print out their three week plan and try it, esp. if your goals are 1. to keep your kids studying the same history topic together, 2. maintain a four-year history study, and 3. include a study of the Great Books and in depth history analysis/discussion.

 

HTH,

Edited April 3, 2010 by sandra in va