ByGrace3 Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I feel like I am researched out. I love the idea of Tapestry of Grace, but agree with what I have read here that it is a little much for the younger grades. My oldest will be doing first grade next year. Is it possible to smoothly switch from something like Sonlight for lower elem (maybe through 3rd/4th grade) to something like Tapestry of Grace? or would that be too challenging of a transition? Would it be better to stick with doing something like SOTW for the early years and then transition to TOG? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 SOTW is the alternate primary history text for TOG Y1-part of Y3 for Upper Grammar (because DC would be reading it independently). :) You could use it independently, adding in books from various booklists (SL, MFW, WTM, SOTW AG,etc.) as you choose to and then use the primary history text for whatever levelpf TOG if you moved into it down the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheekymama Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I used SL 1 for dd in our first year of homeschooling then switched to TOG yr 2 the next year. I loved SL but felt like my dd needed something with a little more. Switching to TOG was easy since SL 1 was similar to Yr 1 of TOG. One thing to keep in mind with TOG, you can do as much or as little as you like from their schedule suggestions. We do not do all the things listed but I pick and chose what we do. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted February 6, 2011 Author Share Posted February 6, 2011 I used SL 1 for dd in our first year of homeschooling then switched to TOG yr 2 the next year. I loved SL but felt like my dd needed something with a little more. Switching to TOG was easy since SL 1 was similar to Yr 1 of TOG. One thing to keep in mind with TOG, you can do as much or as little as you like from their schedule suggestions. We do not do all the things listed but I pick and chose what we do. Good luck! thank you for that response. So, if you were to do it again, would you choose TOG for grade 1 or are you glad you waited? I know TOG is teacher intensive, and while I will be ok with that, honestly another light year for me is tempting! (I do have 2 lo's at home, and ds3 will start k4 program next year) but I am willing and eager to do the work if it is worth it. Just am not convinced it is necessary for 1st grade. I love the biblical infiltration more than anything, and I think I will very much miss that using SL or SOTW. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewel7123 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Just am not convinced it is necessary for 1st grade. Is it NECESSARY? No. Would it profit you? It depends on your perspective. Everyone has a different opinion about TOG (they either love it or hate it!), but I chose to purchase it early because of the following reasons: 1. I can get acquainted with TOG now.......use it, read it, get to know it NOW. Many people wait to purchase it until 5th grade, however, I didn't want to wait until then to get through the TOG learning curve. 2. I can self educate now, using the Rhetoric level books as I have the time. I imagine my schedule will only get busier as my children get older! 3. I am one of the weird ones that does not want to use SOTW for 1st grade. I don't think it's appropriate for that age group (especially since I will have a 4 year old listening as well). With TOG I will read the books I want and leave the rest (for this cycle we will skip most or all discussion of gods and goddesses.) Again, these are just MY reasons for using TOG with a 1st grader. There will be many out there who disagree with me........I just wanted to give you my thoughts. Good luck with whatever decision u make! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted February 6, 2011 Author Share Posted February 6, 2011 Is it NECESSARY? No. Would it profit you? It depends on your perspective. Everyone has a different opinion about TOG (they either love it or hate it!), but I chose to purchase it early because of the following reasons: 1. I can get acquainted with TOG now.......use it, read it, get to know it NOW. Many people wait to purchase it until 5th grade, however, I didn't want to wait until then to get through the TOG learning curve. 2. I can self educate now, using the Rhetoric level books as I have the time. I imagine my schedule will only get busier as my children get older! 3. I am one of the weird ones that does not want to use SOTW for 1st grade. I don't think it's appropriate for that age group (especially since I will have a 4 year old listening as well). With TOG I will read the books I want and leave the rest (for this cycle we will skip most or all discussion of gods and goddesses.) Again, these are just MY reasons for using TOG with a 1st grader. There will be many out there who disagree with me........I just wanted to give you my thoughts. Good luck with whatever decision u make! thanks for your thoughts. I definitely understand what you are saying. I have not put my hands on SOTW as of yet, and would be very interested about the content you would be uncomfortable using with your first grader. I can definitely see wanting to bypass some of the same topics you mention. Honestly I love the idea of TOG. I love the idea of my child getting that kind of education. So, on a side note, how long each week would you say you spend preparing lessons with TOG? Also, I am a little unsure of the subjects that are not included. You would add math and LA right? but not writing? Thanks for the help! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted February 6, 2011 Author Share Posted February 6, 2011 Jennifer, I just looked at your siggy and our kids are almost exactly the same ages. Are you doing TOG now? (is your oldest in K or 1?) Just wondering if you are using it or planning to use it. If you are using it now, I may have so many more questions!!! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewel7123 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Jennifer, I just looked at your siggy and our kids are almost exactly the same ages. Are you doing TOG now? (is your oldest in K or 1?) Just wondering if you are using it or planning to use it. If you are using it now, I may have so many more questions!!! :lol: Not using it yet. We will be starting in a couple of months. My oldest will be starting 1st. There are a couple of ladies here who do use it with a 1st grader. I have talked to many of them. TracyP, 4evercanucks, KristenD, I think MelMichigan as well. (she already posted on this thread). PM them like I did. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewel7123 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Also, I am a little unsure of the subjects that are not included. You would add math and LA right? but not writing? Thanks for the help! :) TOG includes History, Church history, Bible (in year 1, although I have heard they have future plans of adding more Bible into the other 3 years), Fine Arts, Literature and Writing. We will use WWE for our writing next year.......I have Writing Aids and I will use it more when they a bit older I think. It also includes some books about the HISTORY of Science, but not science itself. Of course we will add the skill subjects....math, reading, phonics, spelling, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Yes, I am using TOG Year 1 with a 1st grader (turned 7 the end of October) and we are also using SOTW Vol 1. We are loving both but in my case with my science kid, I am really starting to feel like we are spending too much time on history with him. I am rethinking my TOG approach for next year. While we will continue with TOG and SOTW (my son has really been enjoying the SOTW approach) I am now trying to decide how I will go about it when it comes to the books. I want to cut back on the amount of books used and am considering just using a spine. Not sure what I will be doing yet though. In our case I did not get the TOG fog that is talked about. I think it all comes with preparing ahead of time by reading up on how to set it up through the Lampstand Press website and some blogs from TOG users. As for self-educating I have decided that when I am ready I will go the Well Educated Mind way, which is more broad in focus and just work on TOG when we get to the upper levels. Time will always be limited no matter what we do, so I will cross that bridge when I get to it. Personally, I would much rather be reading the books while my kids are reading them and since we have purchased DE (and will be getting the updates as they come out) we don't know what changes will come about in 6 to 8 years from now ;). Hope this helps you somehow :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Yes, I am using TOG Year 1 with a 1st grader (turned 7 the end of October) and we are also using SOTW Vol 1. We are loving both but in my case with my science kid, I am really starting to feel like we are spending too much time on history with him. I initially was planning to use TOG for first grade, but the above is exactly why I decided not to. I was afraid that that would happen. When I really sat down and thought about it, I realized that I really didn't want history taking over my homeschool. We're just not THAT much into history. We're a math/science family. Plus my library didn't have all the books, so I would have been subbing a lot. For some weeks, my library didn't have any books at all (like the Indus Valley week). So I was going to be spending the bulk of my money buying books for history. Then I realized I could pick up SOTW1 for less than $11 on Amazon. We ended up going with Biblioplan, which is more like TOG-lite. It still integrates the different ages, and it even has parent notes (except for the second year, which is still being worked on, I think). It has the maps and such. I also got the SOTW AGs used (all 4 years for $34 shipped!). So for less than the cost of the TOG year plan by itself with no books, I have all my history complete with extra book recommendations (that I can take or leave) and parent notes. Biblioplan year 1 mixes SOTW1 with the Bible. It's not perfect, but it works, and it doesn't take over my homeschool. We spend probably an hour a week on history. Next year, we'll likely just use SOTW2 with the AG, once we're out of the Biblical history time period. I've found SOTW1 to be just fine for my first grader. He's well versed in Biblical history already, and when we hit the different gods that are talked about, I can say "Is that a real god?", and he'll say "Nooooo!" He understands. Afterall, in Bible class at church, they've talked about false gods all the time. That's kind of a recurring theme of the Old Testament. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I initially was planning to use TOG for first grade, but the above is exactly why I decided not to. I was afraid that that would happen. When I really sat down and thought about it, I realized that I really didn't want history taking over my homeschool. We're just not THAT much into history. We're a math/science family. Plus my library didn't have all the books, so I would have been subbing a lot. For some weeks, my library didn't have any books at all (like the Indus Valley week). So I was going to be spending the bulk of my money buying books for history. Then I realized I could pick up SOTW1 for less than $11 on Amazon. Glad you didn't find this out the hard way like we did. We bought all the Year 1 LG books and changed a couple :tongue_smilie:. Definitely not doing that again :rolleyes:! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I've found SOTW1 to be just fine for my first grader. He's well versed in Biblical history already, and when we hit the different gods that are talked about, I can say "Is that a real god?", and he'll say "Nooooo!" He understands. Afterall, in Bible class at church, they've talked about false gods all the time. That's kind of a recurring theme of the Old Testament. :tongue_smilie: :iagree: Multiple gods are found all over the Bible. My son already knows that they are not the One True God ;). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewel7123 Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I am really starting to feel like we are spending too much time on history with him. I am rethinking my TOG approach for next year. I want to cut back on the amount of books used and am considering just using a spine. . Just curious, did you purchase ALL of the LG books, or did you cut some out in the beginning? Are you doing every single project, etc.? I'm just interested to know if you're doing it all, or are you only doing a portion of the LG selections and yet you still feel that it's too much. Of course, you are also adding in activities and such from the SOTW AG, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 (edited) Just curious, did you purchase ALL of the LG books, or did you cut some out in the beginning? Are you doing every single project, etc.? I'm just interested to know if you're doing it all, or are you only doing a portion of the LG selections and yet you still feel that it's too much. Of course, you are also adding in activities and such from the SOTW AG, right? I am doing a BIG portion of the LG activities and adding in the SOTW AG activities also. The activities are not the issue because I can add and cut back as I choose. The reading is becoming too much for us because I am using SOTW in addition to TOG but the TOG reading itself is getting to be too much also. It is just a matter of streamlining better what I want us to cover with TOG. It is easy to happen when you are new, I feel. You get excited and feel that you can do it all ;). This does not mean that I don't still love TOG :). And yes, we bought ALL the books and just changed a couple. I even have some of the alternate books (bought a couple and I am coming across some we already owned too) and have used those too. We do ALL the reading from the LG primary resources. ETA: I have also sometimes changed activities I didn't care for to activities from the History Pocket books. Edited February 7, 2011 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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