sahm99 Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 We started using ToG a couple of months ago. I used the First Year plan to get a feeling for the program, as we had been doing Ancients before (SL-Core 6). My plan is to start Year 2 this fall. I appreciate the rigor of the program and would like to transfer this to our other subjects (or preserve it...), while streamlining the resources we use - I am a curriculum junky, and NEED to streamline!! For 6th grade I plan on using: - Second Form Latin - Saxon 8/7 - Rod & Staff 6 - CW-Homer B - BJU-Life Science (already started, ds is doing very well) - TOG - Year 2 with WA... How does this sound? Am I missing anything? I have trouble imagining that this could be it...could it?? The marriage between rigor and straight forward??? Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 The only other thing you might want to add would be P.E. Otherwise, I'd say Art, but TOG has hands-on projects and art lessons built in. I'd encourage you to include those for your 6th grader for sure. Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sahm99 Posted June 4, 2011 Author Share Posted June 4, 2011 Thank you, Lucinda! P.E. is taken care of: ds swims 8-10 hours per week...:tongue_smilie: I will need to look into art-lessons, you are right! ...until now I have not stumbled upon those in ToG...:001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 If you are doing writing and grammar in addition to TOG take a long hard look at the writing section in TOG-that might be overkill if used with your other programs. Also-I find that I don't consider the vocabulary program in TOG to be sufficient. I have used Wordly Wise and Wood Roots to supplement. Art-TOG is primarily hands on projects rather than formal drawing, painting or art history. If those are your preferences you might want to carefully evaluate what you use. Two frequently discussed subjects that TOG doesn't include are nature study and logic. Also-be aware that the political geography taught is more from a historical perspective than a modern perspective. You may wish to include other geography topics in your studies depending on your goals. All that said--your plans look great. I can't find any fault in them. Science, math and foreign language are the three big subjects to add (along with PE as someone mentioned). My statements above are intended to give you food for thought and to use or reject as best fits your student. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renaissance Mom Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Art-TOG is primarily hands on projects rather than formal drawing, painting or art history. If those are your preferences you might want to carefully evaluate what you use. In yr 2 there is a significant amount of art history. Plus, several of the levels have units on color, design, drawing, etc. It is an excellent year plan for real art! IMHO, you do not need to supplement anything at all; rather, you will have to winnow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sahm99 Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 Thank you for your replies! I am starting to think that this might be the first year I will not end up drowning in curricula (...that won't get used:tongue_smilie:...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janice in NJ Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Hi! :001_smile: I noticed your post a few pages ago on the boards - the one you directed toward me. I searched for your name and found you here. Your program looks great! Thinking back, I have a 6th grade year in there somewhere for one of my kids with a very similar program: TOG, BJU Life Science, CW Homer, R&S. :001_smile: Your program looks terrific! All great choices! I'm just wondering about something: You have a LOT of writing - R&S, CW, WA from TOG. May I cautiously ask a question? Is your oldest ds a reluctant writer? The only reason I'm asking is because I had a habit of choosing tons of programs for my reluctant writer (my oldest). Because we never seemed to manage to "get" to writing the previous year, I always made plans during the summer to use 3-4 programs the following year. I always figured I could make up for prior neglect by choosing 3-4 great programs. We could get ahead by really focusing on writing. It made sense when choosing curriculum - pick the best and lots of it. But then the new year would start, and I would realize that we really didn't have the TIME to use all of the programs I had chosen. And the reality was that my oldest and I argued too much when I was trying to teach writing because I always seemed to choose programs that were too hard for him to use and too hard for me to teach. He felt buried so he resisted - with vigor. By October writing had slid off the schedule again; it was just too painful to keep it on the table - for BOTH of us. I have NO idea if you are suffering a similar fate. But your layout does look writing heavy. Maybe you're planning to only use parts of CW, R&S, and WA. Maybe you have a child who loves to write. In that case, ignore me; you have chosen great programs. It looks like you are going to have a fantastic year! :001_smile: Peace, Janice Enjoy your little people Enjoy your journey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sahm99 Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 Thank you Janice!! I am somewhat reassured now!!:D No, my ds is not really a reluctant writer - he is actually an amazingly good writer! This choice of programs is nothing more than a reflection of MY issues... I have to admit that I never managed to properly implement the WTM's "writing-portion": writing across the curriculum. It is just not happening here. We do the science and history asked for in the curricula we use, but never seem to get around to do the outlines, etc. My bad conscience then translates into a whole load of LA-programs (I did not dare to mention that I regularly force-feed ds FLL and WWE that I do with DD9, too...and that I am known to sweeten our holidays with a range of spelling-/vocabulary-curricula:tongue_smilie:) As far as WA's is concerned, we have not done these until now, so I have no idea, really, what to expect... R & S, we usually do this orally (apart of the writing lessons, but I don't find these intense...) Thank you for your thoughts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janice in NJ Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 I suspect that I will never truly master the juggling act between what my kids need and what suits my comfort level; but as you obviously already know, more is not always better. Sometimes it's just more. Even the sweetest, smoothest chocolate starts to sour if I have too much. I'm making progress though, and it sounds like you are too. :001_smile: Vocabulary work for fun during holidays? BTDT. As they say in those addiction meetings - the first step is admitting that you have a problem. ;) Giggling about it makes it even easier to just stop. I have never really gotten over the irony of the root problem: I rejected public and private school because of the production-line mentality. I thought I rejected the idea of tying benchmarks and milestones to grades and ages. I wanted to teach my kids where they were. But then I found myself grasping for some sort of assurance that my kids had reached certain milestones at certain ages. Of course I wanted them to be "ahead" in every area. So in reality, I had never really rejected the model. I just wanted to beat the system at their own game. A nasty business. It sounds like you are father on down the road than I was when my oldest was a little guy. You're rockin' Momma! Peace to you and yours this morning! Janice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 Art-TOG is primarily hands on projects rather than formal drawing, painting or art history. If those are your preferences you might want to carefully evaluate what you use. Yes, that is partly true, however, as someone pointed out there are art history lessons woven throughout the units (especially in YR-2) and there are some really great art lessons in the YR-1 plan that center around the design elements (color, line, shape, texture, value, space and form, etc.). I am an art teacher by profession and have been impressed with the inclusion of hands-on projects, fine arts projects as well as history in TOG. I survey each unit and if there are things that I'd like to supplement for art, then I add it in. Otherwise, many units are sufficient just as they are. A person could have drawing and painting supplies on hand to add in projects when needed, especially projects that are related to the week's history/literature lessons. There are many ideas to get inspiration from just in the readings alone. Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 In yr 2 there is a significant amount of art history. Plus, several of the levels have units on color, design, drawing, etc. It is an excellent year plan for real art! IMHO, you do not need to supplement anything at all; rather, you will have to winnow! Yes, that is partly true, however, as someone pointed out there are art history lessons woven throughout the units (especially in YR-2) and there are some really great art lessons in the YR-1 plan that center around the design elements (color, line, shape, texture, value, space and form, etc.). I am an art teacher by profession and have been impressed with the inclusion of hands-on projects, fine arts projects as well as history in TOG. I survey each unit and if there are things that I'd like to supplement for art, then I add it in. Otherwise, many units are sufficient just as they are. A person could have drawing and painting supplies on hand to add in projects when needed, especially projects that are related to the week's history/literature lessons. There are many ideas to get inspiration from just in the readings alone. Blessings, Lucinda I think it all depends on where you are coming from and what your goals in art are. For some folks this subject is a big deal with their little kids. For those folks I would recommend carefully evaluating what is there in the units you are using and is it enough or is it what you want. I'm not saying that TOG doesn't include art-I'm just saying depending on what you want it might not be there. I'm not a TOG basher. I do actually use it with my kids and I am merely responding with all of our responses to what is included or missing in the program as a whole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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