Another TOG question. Upper Grammar vs. Dialectic?

[Dolphin]

So, I am 90% sure that I am going to start TOG next fall for 5th grade. In TWTM you start the logic stage (Dialectic I am assuming) in 5th grade, in TOG you start in 6th or 7th grade.

 

My son is a very strong reader, very advanced. He is great with vocabulary and reads fast with high comprehension.

 

He is not a strong writer. He has made strides with homeschool, but he is struggling with the outlining that we are doing in SOTW4 this year. He is very slow with his writing too.

 

So, which stage do I put him in for TOG next year?

[matilda]

You can do the D level reading and expect UG output. I have found that some of the UG books are more engaging for history, so with my D we read a lot of the UG history books and do the D level literature and then do the discussions. You can also vary the amount of reading. So with a fast reader, you could add in more of the supplemental reading, but still require an output that is on level with your child.

[Chris in VA]

What year? I have the first two units of Year 4. Dd will be in 7th if we use them. I like the history spine (Idiot's Guide to 20th Cent.) but I'm not crazy about the literature (Ex. Our Town, Call of The Wild).

 

I'd look at the lit for the two levels of the year you want to use. IMO, the worksheets for year 4 for UG lit are pretty pathetic. For D, they are ok. (IMO, Rhetoric is wonderful.)

[Dolphin]

I would be starting with year 1. The ancients.

 

I had thought about starting this year, but I *really* like SOTW and I wanted to finish that.

 

Should I get it early, after Christmas, or should I get it at a convention? Do they go to the great homeschool conventions?

 

Nicole

[SewLittleTime]

I don't think you can buy TOG at the conventions. I have no idea if they attend the Great Homeschool Conventions since they aren't near us at all. Year 1 is going through some revisions. I would wait till the revisions are done before buying or buy the DE so that you get the updates for free. I'm not sure when the revisions will be done. Seems like sometime in 2012.

[Karenciavo]

Marcia and Scott Somerville will be speaking at the Great Homeschool Conventions in 2012. TOG used to be sold at conventions, last year it was not. We simply explained how TOG works through both in print and DE samples. There was a convention bonus if a person ordered by the end of August with the code we handed out.

 

My ds9 is doing UG history and D level literature this year (Year 2 - for the most part, some books I switch out because I prefer them). It's very easy to do. This year we use notebooking pages (scroll down for TOG pages) for outlining each week. We also have some dialectic dicussion (modified from dialectic script). I believe this will prepare him for next year when I plan to have him at dialectic for all components.

[Susan in TN]

This is more work for you, but I'd suggest going through and picking and choosing for the 1st year. Look at samples of the lit. and history reading online/Amazon and see what would be the best fit. If ds is a strong reader, he'll likely do just fine with the D level. I haven't gone through Y1 with a D student, yet.

 

I don't find the writing to be overbearing (using Writing Aids). They start off easy - sentence structure, paragraph structure, and then move into essays and short papers. But then, if your ds is using WA level 5, it will be a much easier level than my dd's level 7 (she struggles with writing too.)

 

The questions for history don't require tons of writing, but it helps if they develop the habit of reading with their pencil/questions in hand.

 

I like the D worksheets - I appreciate the fact that they include some color and artwork :). There isn't lengthy writing for lit. Mostly answering questions about the text, and learning about basic literary forms - story line, foreshadowing, lit. terms, etc.