Initial Thoughts on TOG DE

[johnandtinagilbert]

Admittedly, I am a paper kinda girl. I just love to curl up on a soft surface with a soft blanket and a firm back support. The smell of an old book thrills me to the bone! Buuuuut, since I am coming into year 4 of TOG, I thought having the DE would be nice since it was on sale in January. I did it. I bought the Tapestry of Grace/Digital Edition: Year 4 and with the creative minds of The Hive, I decided to go back in a TOG time machine and print it on colored paper (like TOG Classical) so I could still enjoy the feeling, sound and smell of paper. The results are quite pleasing. Not only do I have a Rainbow Tapestry of Grace, all pretty and colorful, but I also have saved money on my printing. KEEP IN MIND: my expense and time are for ALL 4 levels of TOG. I printed the entire year 4.

 

Materials:

1 toner cartridge (a little bit left) $70

3 reams white paper $7 (bought it onsale at Office Depot, $23 for 10 reams of 500)

1 Astrobrights Wausau paper at Office Depot $13.99

1 Xerox Pastel Paper at Office Depot $11.99

used up some pink paper I already had in my possession. I bought it for our Latin notebooks.

TOTAL COST: $103

 

Time: 6 hours

Well, there are couple of things to consider. I did have to get used to the set up of DE. Essentially, think about opening the Documents folder on your computer. You know how you have: Documents, Picture, Downloads, Fill in the blank for the names of your "folders."? Well, the set-up is the same. LockLizard opens up a screen similar to Adobe or your Documents Viewing Window in Microsoft. You can click on - or + to open or close the line of folders under the Units. Then you can further click on the areas of TOG:

 

Year 4 Week 1

opens:

 

 

• Threads
  
• Reading Assignments
  
• Weekly Overview
  
• Writing Assignments
  
• Student Activities
  
• Pageant of Philosophy
  
• Teacher's Notes
  
• Glance
  
• Supplements
  

 

Once in LockLizard, you can click on any of the sections and the actual page of TOG will pop up in full for your viewing (bulletted here, but in real life they look like a computer page as mentioned above) . Each Week can be opened at the same time, then you can navigate from week to week. What I determined best was to insert the colored paper and then go backwards from Unit 4, Week 36 and print out the pages one color at a time. In other words, I used my pretty paper to coordinate with TOGs color coding and printed all the Supplements at once, all the Teacher's Notes at once, all the Writing Aids at once, et. al. This gave me the time machine effect of colored paper, already sorted.

 

A time saver I notices: there is a pattern. Threads are always 3 pages; Reading Assignments 2, Weekly Overview 2; Writing Assignments 3; etc. Once you see the pattern, you don't need to click through every page (Over 600 per unit). You can simply click on Teacher's Notes, then click on the next section (either Supplements or the next weeks Threads) to see where the Teacher's Notes ends. It takes very little time. You print week by week. It sounds like more work than it is and if you had the DE in front of you, I'm sure it would also make more sense.

 

Now, an interesting perk here is each level is initially separated for you, so if you like to print copies for your students, as I do, you can much more quickly print it all out from your copy. You won't need to go back and print; you won't need to sort through an additional time. In fact, if you want to, you can print out the entire year's worth of SAP (Student Activity Pages) in one session and hand it to your dc like a workbook! This will save me a TON of time. In the Redesigned Paper Edition, I'd have to take the pages from my materials, pull out the levels one at a time, then copy them. Not so this year! I'll slip them in the copier and in a matter of minutes, everybody's SAP, Overviews, and Reading Lists will be ready to hole punch and place in their 3-ring binders. If you chose, you could easily make it into a bounded workbook, too. What a great time saver for the large family instructor! This alone, in all honestly, makes the DE a wonderful product.

 

Although I printed it all out, I do see some ways that other may save additional money. Remember, my total for printing is larger than yours might be because I have students in all 4 levels of TOG. If you only have 2 levels, then by all means, only print out those levels. I suspect, this can be a very inexpensive option for many families. It is also a nice space saving method. I admit, I was thinking....Digital! Yuck! Give me my paper! But I can say, with assurance, that I like the DE much more than I thought I might.

 

If you are still paper hungry, you can buy the print version, too, but plan on doubling your core curriculum budget ($170 DE, $277 paper, $297 both). TOG is def. worth every penny. There is even an option to buy pre-printed SAP (click on + ADD SAP to see the options and prices ranging from $8-$23). They'll come in shrink wrap at whatever level you order. If I had the budget, I would definitely take advantage of this service. The cost is comparable to a student workbook from other programs and varies by black and white, color, and learning levels.Of course, if I had the budget, I'd be only posting about liking the DE and not about printing it out :)

 

All that to say, I am happy with this option of TOG. As usual, it's another part of the tasty buffet. Use what you need or like and leave the rest for the rest of us! YOU choose. YOU'RE in charge of YOUR school. I love the flexibility and as usual....the content brings a sigh of relief. It's SO nice knowing I have everything I need for history for 7 children in one little place; the support and community is exemplary; it's everything I want or need; I'm now set for life! I own all 4 years! HIP HIP HOORAY!

 

If you have any questions, feel free to email me or send me a message. I'm happy to help. AND, when you check out, if you'll remember me and use my email address as your affiliate, I'd be grateful. Hope this review helps.

 

Here's a link to a blog post that helps with understanding what TOG is and how it works.

[happygrrl]

Thanks, Tina! We have had a year off of TOG, and we all miss it. We plan to return for our next history cycle. I have a similar love of paper, and have been wondering about the cost of printing myself vs. DE + Print. It will be much easier to make the decision now! Thanks again!

 

(Edited to add: I was a page protector person, so I figure the ability to print a new page when I spill coffee on my book - and therefore no page protectors!- will more than pay for the update! Not to mention I can use smaller binders now.... I might even save money!)

Edited February 9, 2011 by happygrrl

[shanvan]

Tina,

 

I suspected this would be how I would feel if I did order DE. I have a question for you. How do you print teacher's notes and discussion scripts? Do you have the option of printing them separately too? Sometimes I find the organization in TOG print to be challenging and I'd like to rearrange it myself! I wonder if DE would allow me to do so?

 

Shannon

[TracyP]

Great info Tina!

 

I have all littles so I thought I would give another DE printing option here too. I print only the Reading Assignments, Overview and first 2 Writing Assignment pages. This is p.4-9 on each week plan. For each year I have these in page protectors in a 3" binder.

 

So for each week it is: Reading Assignments (primary) on the left; RA (alternatives) on the right.

Next page: Student threads, People, Vocab on left; Activities and Geography on right

Last page: Writing Assignments Level 1-4 on left; WA Level 5-8 on right

 

This fulfills my need for a paper copy very well. I have everything I need at this stage for planning purposes all in one nifty binder.

[johnandtinagilbert]

Tina,

 

I suspected this would be how I would feel if I did order DE. I have a question for you. How do you print teacher's notes and discussion scripts? Do you have the option of printing them separately too? Sometimes I find the organization in TOG print to be challenging and I'd like to rearrange it myself! I wonder if DE would allow me to do so?

 

Shannon

Yes, you could print separately, so far as the items being on different pages. You cannot separate any words from LockLizard. It does not allow "copy + cut + paste"; however there is a section called "Workbook" that allows for "copy + cut + paste" of the SAPs. Lots of people like to make workbooks (See Rivendale Press) and this will allow for easier formatting for the adventuresome workbook maker!

 

SO, you could easily print in any order you'd like, even skipping pages as you see fit. You'd just have to sit and pick out pages :)

[johnandtinagilbert]

Great info Tina!

 

I have all littles so I thought I would give another DE printing option here too. I print only the Reading Assignments, Overview and first 2 Writing Assignment pages. This is p.4-9 on each week plan. For each year I have these in page protectors in a 3" binder.

 

So for each week it is: Reading Assignments (primary) on the left; RA (alternatives) on the right.

Next page: Student threads, People, Vocab on left; Activities and Geography on right

Last page: Writing Assignments Level 1-4 on left; WA Level 5-8 on right

 

This fulfills my need for a paper copy very well. I have everything I need at this stage for planning purposes all in one nifty binder.

Perfectly grab and go, isn't it!?! I am seriously considering keeping everything separated for this kind of ease. I can just pull out what I need and go forward. I'll be saving a lot of digging through file folder time (I don't use a 3-ring binder).

[SewLittleTime]

Tina--

Your post is very timely. Just last night I sat dh down to discuss DE, print, or both. I'm using the DE/print right now, and I see the advantage of both. Printing it out for my self though really might be just the cost saver I need to stretch our curriculum budget even farther! Thanks for your detailed post and thoughts!

[Guest Dulcimeramy]

Thanks for posting!

 

We are starting our TOG DE experience in the fall, with year 1.

 

Since I am only using it for the rhetoric level, I intend to keep it all on the computers.

 

I'm saving your post in case I do decide to print some of the DE, after all.

[JadeOrchidSong]

:bigear:

[shanvan]

Does DE allow you to separate out the reading assignments by level? I've been making each of my children reading assignment pages for each unit. It's a big pain for me to sit at the computer manually typing them out, but it makes everything more clear for them to plan and get the reading done.

 

Because I change the assignment pages (using cut and paste and sometimes adapting) I'm not sure how much I would use the workbook section. I must say as time moves on I am tempted to use everything as written just to save time! Then DE would be a huge time saver.

 

I downloaded the sample, but I'm still having trouble getting the big picture for DE.

 

Shannon

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Don't forget in DE if you click on the Loom at the bottom of any unit you will find a link to Unit X Workbook Content.

 

These are the student activity pages for all levels but in a format that will allow you to cut and paste bits into other documents. Unlike locklizard which is...well, locked. Or you can just print them as PDF file pages.

[shanvan]

 

Because I change the assignment pages (using cut and paste and sometimes adapting) I'm not sure how much I would use the workbook section.

 

This should have read "I'm not sure DE would be an advantage" since I am already cutting and pasting from the loom as it is. There is no difference in using the cut and paste on the workbook feature of DE vs. the Loom disc I have already.

 

From what I understand the real advantage would be that I could print all assignments for a given level at one time without having to go into each week plan to do it (as I do on the loom now). But that would only be an advantage if I use the assignments as written without changing them, or adding to them. I haven't ordered the SAP pages b/c I like to customize assignments, but I've thought of giving up my custom approach just for the convenience. :001_unsure:

 

Shannon

[AngelBee]

I am sleep deprived. :D

 

How much was printing plus purchase of DE? Was it about 270?

 

I think I may not be doing the math right. :)

[johnandtinagilbert]

Does DE allow you to separate out the reading assignments by level? I've been making each of my children reading assignment pages for each unit. It's a big pain for me to sit at the computer manually typing them out, but it makes everything more clear for them to plan and get the reading done. No. My suggestion is to print the RA pages and HIGHLIGHT what they need to read. It works over here.

 

Because I change the assignment pages (using cut and paste and sometimes adapting) I'm not sure how much I would use the workbook section. I must say as time moves on I am tempted to use everything as written just to save time! Then DE would be a huge time saver.

 

I downloaded the sample, but I'm still having trouble getting the big picture for DE.

 

Shannon

Have you watched the videos? Explore the DE

This should have read "I'm not sure DE would be an advantage" since I am already cutting and pasting from the loom as it is. There is no difference in using the cut and paste on the workbook feature of DE vs. the Loom disc I have already.

 

From what I understand the real advantage would be that I could print all assignments for a given level at one time without having to go into each week plan to do it (as I do on the loom now). But that would only be an advantage if I use the assignments as written without changing them, or adding to them. I haven't ordered the SAP pages b/c I like to customize assignments, but I've thought of giving up my custom approach just for the convenience. :001_unsure:

 

Shannon

The other advantage is cost savings. As cool as I think the Workbooks are, Marcia Somerville does rec. against customization for older levels b/c they won't get that sort of treatment in college. Food for thought.

 

I am sleep deprived. :D

 

How much was printing plus purchase of DE? Was it about 270?

 

I think I may not be doing the math right. :)

Year 1 is on sale right now...save big! Otherwise, you are looking at $270ish for the combo. If you don't print much, you really can save a great deal.

[shanvan]

Have you watched the videos? Explore the DE

I will have to go back and watch the video again. I watched quite some time ago and wasn't seriously considering DE back then. Thanks for reminding me.

 

 

The other advantage is cost savings. As cool as I think the Workbooks are, Marcia Somerville does rec. against customization for older levels b/c they won't get that sort of treatment in college. Food for thought.

 

I'll have to chew on that thought. Generally when I customize I end up kicking the Dialectic assignment up a notch, not making it easier. Though I have thought I could just hand write my expectations on the assignment pages. That would save time.

 

 

 

I really appreciate all the time and thought you put into posting, Tina. Thanks!

[AngelBee]

Have you watched the videos? Explore the DE

The other advantage is cost savings. As cool as I think the Workbooks are, Marcia Somerville does rec. against customization for older levels b/c they won't get that sort of treatment in college. Food for thought.

 

Year 1 is on sale right now...save big! Otherwise, you are looking at $270ish for the combo. If you don't print much, you really can save a great deal.

Is the sale just on year 1?

 

What is hybrid?

[johnandtinagilbert]

Is the sale just on year 1?

Yes. They are trying to sell off the remnant units from an older print of redesigned. The contents are the same, but the border is slightly different. Not anything anyone would even notice.

[TXMary2]

I love the DE here, but I bought the DE + Print. I also print out extras when I need to.

 

Great post Tina!

[AngelBee]

Yes. They are trying to sell off the remnant units from an older print of redesigned. The contents are the same, but the border is slightly different. Not anything anyone would even notice.

And then you will still get all new updates on DE?

[melmichigan]

And then you will still get all new updates on DE?

 

You get all the future updates with DE, that is the biggest advantage in this house.

 

I have some of Y1 on DE, but just took it off my computer until we come back around to that period again. I have Y2, both in DE and in the added print I bought while they had $50 off Y2 print (so if you already have DE it was $62 for the whole year in print), I'm not sure if they are still running that sale. I bought Y3 in DE for next year but will wait until this summer when the updates come out, barring any super sales, before I buy the print for that year plan.

 

Don't forget that with updates you can always go back and access the OOP assignment pages, in case your library carries the older book over the new.

[johnandtinagilbert]

And then you will still get all new updates on DE?

Always :) I find that especially sweet with Modern History!

 

You get all the future updates with DE, that is the biggest advantage in this house.

 

I have some of Y1 on DE, but just took it off my computer until we come back around to that period again. I have Y2, both in DE and in the added print I bought while they had $50 off Y2 print (so if you already have DE it was $62 for the whole year in print), I'm not sure if they are still running that sale. I bought Y3 in DE for next year but will wait until this summer when the updates come out, barring any super sales, before I buy the print for that year plan.

 

Don't forget that with updates you can always go back and access the OOP assignment pages, in case your library carries the older book over the new.

Thanks for that reminder. :D