I have TOG 1 in my hand and now understand why older kids can benefit more

[JadeOrchidSong]

I have been using a combo of SOTW 1 and Sonlight core 1. We are almost done with the Read Alouds and Readers from SL 1 and we have Ancient Rome left to cover. A woman (I barely even know her name, just met her once) loaned me her beautiful TOG 1. I poured hours over it last night and to my surprise it is quite easy to understand. I think we will try Year 1 Unit 4, even though I do miss all the Bible that is tied in in the first three units. We are ready to move on. It is amazing to see God's redemption so clearly presented. One friend who used it one year, but switched to MFW for her high schooler said that TOG 1 brings spiritual revival and after viewing it I understand what she means.

I am not excited about all the books I have to check out of the library, or all the pages that need copying. But I do understand how it is used. So I am glad it is less hard that I was led to believe.

I am still wanting to do Sonlight until Core 4 is done, though. So now I am just trying out Y1U4. I think TOG is great resource for mom. I have been reading the Oxford Univ. Press ancient world volumes to educate myself. I think reading the TOG teacher's notes prepares me well to teach.

J

[4them]

Thanks for sharing your perspective! We are most likely jumping into TOG from SL this year. I was a bit afraid, but just like you once I had my hands on the Teacher's Guide I knew we could do it. I like what you say about spiritual revival...I am looking forward to this year!

[melmichigan]

We added Y1U4 into SL 1 and 6. I agree, it is great information for the teacher.

[JadeOrchidSong]

On the other hand, I checked my library (and tried interlibrary loans, too) for books used in Unit 4 but hardly found any, actually, only one for 4 weeks. I am not happy about this. That would mean that I would have to buy the books somewhere. Dh gives me permission to buy all the books if we use TOG. But it is a lot of money. I hate it if we don't have the right books to use and end up not using TOG the way it is designed. What is the point of using the plan if you cannot use the books scheduled in it?

So for me, if I do go TOG full scale, I will BUY the books so that the headache of tracking books will be eliminated and we can enjoy the program to the fullest we can.

Also the copying of the student pages will have to be done ahead of time so that it is easier when we actually start it. Is this the way you would do you copying? Where do you do your copies? At home, or in a store?

[Karenciavo]

On the other hand, I checked my library (and tried interlibrary loans, too) for books used in Unit 4 but hardly found any, actually, only one for 4 weeks. I am not happy about this.

You can find many books used, check out the for sale forum here or over at the TOG forum.

 

Also the copying of the student pages will have to be done ahead of time so that it is easier when we actually start it. Is this the way you would do you copying? Where do you do your copies? At home, or in a store?

Did your friend lend you her Loom cd? You can print off the student activity pages (SAPs) from the cd instead of copying them. I make workbooks for my children and I print off everything at home and I either take it to an office supply store to get spiral bound or I use another binding method.

[jewel7123]

I wish the other years of TOG has as much Bible content as Year 1 does. I emailed Lampstand about that a few months back, and they said they were actually looking into that, so I'd be interested to find out if they're doing a Bible "add on" of some sort.