TOG users...classic vs redesign?

[Geo]

I bought a Y2 redesign to use for our 2111/2112 school term. I bought in advance to give myself plenty of time to absorb and become familiar with the program. I hate stress. :) I hate it so much that I wanted to switch over in dialectic years to pave the way for dc rhetoric studies. A friend of mine who is using classic yr2 asked to look over my redesign and see (hands-on) the difference between the two, with the possibility of even borrowing it this year. Now, about my question...

my friend now says that it seems to her that the redesign books (generally) seem drier than the books used in the classic version. Also, she felt that classic seemed generally richer than the redesign...simplified to the point of being almost watered down. I don't feel she had a critical spirit, she seemed quite excited to have the opportunity to borrow the r2 from me..."newer is better", iykwim. She suspects that in response to the criticism that TOG classic is "overwhelming"...that some of the depth and richness of the rhetoric level has been sacrificed. Anybody here have experience using both?

 

Geo

[KnitWit]

I started with classic. I prefer redesigned hands down. MUCH more user friendly, much more streamlined. I don't think it's watered down. I still have my classic and I compared the notes for awhile and I don't share her feelings. The book selections are different, but that is mainly because a lot of the classic book selections are out of print.

 

Anyway, you can still substitute if you want to.

 

Classic was OVERWHELMING from an administrative standpoint to me, compared to redesign.

 

Just my .02.

[Pammy]

while I like the appearance of redesign and the discussions questions WITH ANSWERS in dialectic and rhetoric more, I do miss classic some. The books were changed and so now I am having to either re-buy or rely on the library for the redesigned. I almost switched back to Sonlight after I got my Redesigned Year 3 and got frustrated with all the changes. There is a big TOG Co-op in my city with 50 families, so using the library was out of the question for me. I decided to skip to Year 4 and my 12th grader will be doing it mostly on her own (Hist, Lit and Govt). I am still trying to decide if I should do it with my other LG, UG, and DL kids. I do have Sonlight Alt 7 that I can use with them, all the books are on my shelves and ready to go... so I will probably go with that.

[jananc]

I used Classic for 4 years, and then switched to Redesign. I'm beginning our 3rd year with Redesigned. I have to say, I agree with Polly. I haven't found Redesigned to be any drier or to be watered down, and I have found it to be more user friendly. But the thing that is most important to me about Redesign is having 1) better & more detailed Rhetoric discussion scripts, and 2) answers to Dialectic questions and Dialectic discussion scripts. I haven't been sorry we switched.

 

I only had the problem of having the wrong books for 1 year, because when I used Classic my kids were on different levels than they are now. Only one Dialectic year was overlapped, and I did have to buy some extra books for that year.

[M&M]

I used one year of Classic and one year Redesign. It was really hard to know what I was doing during D level discussions, re-design really makes it easier. They have really beefed up the literature, the poetics and frameworks are great resources. Unless you already have the books for classic, you will have to hunt down a lot of oop books. The SAP for classic are not tied to the books, so you can subsitue books a little easier, but you may have a harder time finding the answers.

[Cinder]

Well, I've used Classic Yr4 (dialectic and UG) and Redesign Yr1 (dialectic and rhetoric). This was in a co-op setting, so I didn't get my hands into the rhetoric stuff as much as the dialectic. We took a year off and did Biblioplan 2, but I'm planning on starting back up w/TOG Yr2 unit 3.

 

I was able to look at my friend's Classic Yr2 and was surprised to see that many of the rhetoric history selections were the same as dialectic. I've looked at the Yr2 sample online and it looks like the rhetoric students now use different books. I'm guessing (after using Yr1 rhetoric) that the newer selections are more challenging. It also looks like the classic selections are listed in Redesign as alternate selections.

 

I remember when using Classic that it listed several primary history selections. There were enough times that ds couldn't answer the AQ's or TQ's from his reading that it caused him a lot of frustration. By going with one primary resource in Redesign this seems to be less of a problem. Redesign also has dialectic discussions for history and literature. And I just like the streamlined look and feel to Redesign.

 

After seeing my friend's Classic, I'm planning to go ahead and get Redesign.

 

Cinder

[Geo]

Thanks so much for your opinions. I bought the Redesign for all the reasons mentioned here...and I appreciate the confirmation. My friend however, is sticking to her guns. :001_rolleyes:

 

Geo

[Geo]

I was able to look at my friend's Classic Yr2 and was surprised to see that many of the rhetoric history selections were the same as dialectic. I've looked at the Yr2 sample online and it looks like the rhetoric students now use different books. I'm guessing (after using Yr1 rhetoric) that the newer selections are more challenging.

 

I think that's what my friend is seeing but couldn't articulate. She is starting TOG with a rhetoric student.

 

 

I remember when using Classic that it listed several primary history selections. There were enough times that ds couldn't answer the AQ's or TQ's from his reading that it caused him a lot of frustration. By going with one primary resource in Redesign this seems to be less of a problem. Redesign also has dialectic discussions for history and literature. And I just like the streamlined look and feel to Redesign.

 

Yes, my friend has admitted to buying all the book selections as well. I however, want to avoid that.

After seeing my friend's Classic, I'm planning to go ahead and get Redesign.

 

Ditto...did that.

 

Cinder

 

 

Thanks,

Geo