For those of you who use TOG, Ambleside, Sonlight, VP, etc....

[Luanne]

How did you decide which one to go with?

[Peela]

By doing lots of research. By naturally feeling which resonated with me. By looking at the religious content. By following a gut feeling. By picking one and then making further decisions based on my experiences with that. By realising it doesn't matter as much as it sometimes feels it does, and just doing it.

[Pongo]

I look at the planning first, then I decided what I want included in my TM. I also look at other recommendations and decide on the philosophy.

 

I want Geography & History integrated, hands-on, discussion questions, background information for me, the teacher and the ability to see whats ahead(I don't much like surprises) I also want a separate bible program.

 

Ambleside, although I think the book lists are stellar, it's not put together enough for me. I love background information provided, my kids ask a lot of questions:001_huh:

 

SL, used it , once again loved the book selections but it felt a little disjointed (geography and history component) and I would have liked more hands on suggestions. I have a couple of extremely tactile learners.

 

VP, looks great but I couldn't get past the TM for each subject. I love and use the cards and CD.

 

I know what I like and I know what the kiddos need. I don't want to dread picking up our curriculum and drag my feet planning. If it gets that hard, or if I don't like doing it then I really feel like that transposes into how I teach and the kids are less engaged. When I am excited about teaching they are excited about learning. I love the learning TOG provided for me, it makes me feel confident to teach and that was REALLY important for me to have.

 

Good luck picking!!

[Trivium Academy]

For me, just my own assessments based on our likes, dislikes, etc.:

 

–I prefer non-scripted curricula.

 

-I lean towards secular materials instead of Christian b/c I want to share my faith with my children not through a text that speaks for me. I'm also very cautious about Christian curricula, I make sure to read the company's statement of faith.

 

-I prefer a clean layout, easily read and deciphered. This tends to be a deal breaker for a lot of curricula for me. All of my curricula selections reflect this need for a visually clean format and the reason why a few products haven't worked for us.

 

-Time & Cost. With each curricula I weigh how much time it will take (some don't take long enough like Real Science for Kids by Gravitas) and how much it costs including the needed supplies. I'd rather spend $100 on individual items I've selected than $100 on books and a predetermined list of extras by the curricula designer that I'm not sure we actually need. Yes, I buy math manipulatives individually as we need them instead of buy a huge kit.

 

- Does it fit in the overall goals of our homeschool? We're following the trivium and WTM's overall organization of studies.

 

Sonlight- was vetoed by reading WTM, chronological study won me over among over things

Veritas Press- love their catalog but we don't share the same theology and I did couldn't abide their overall sequence of studies, WTM won over

Ambleside- always liked it but wasn't sure how to use it in WTM fashion

MFW, Winterpromise: Too much $, unsure about academic level, I can't buy something that I can create and seeing the books they use- I can't see how I'd be happy after purchasing, satisfied that I spent money on something I needed.

 

 

Now that I've fallen away from WTM and moved to a more CM type philosophy, I embrace Ambleside and Mater Amabilis (Catholic CM) more but using Tapestry of Grace (which I love) prevents me from going 100% Ambleside or Mater Amabilis. I'm actually very happy with the mix that we have right now. Following the trivium as laid out in WTM has made curricula decisions hard but it is my preference to follow it. Otherwise I would have considered Great Books Academy more and other curriculas.

 

I'm sure there are more reasons I've neglected to write about, it is very individual. Understand what you need as a teacher (scripted vs. non-scripted, format, helps, etc.) and what works for your children (learning style and personality) is by far the most crucial element of being able to determine what will work.

 

Hope this helps,

[Kim in Appalachia]

I used VP for years, and I liked it. But it felt like it needed me; me to review the cards and go over the information with the kids each day. Still, for a few years, it was just the right amount of "hand holding" for me. I didn't know that before I got it. I decided to give it a try and found that it was a good fit.

 

Now that I am going to have 4 kids in 4 completely different levels, VP seems overwhelming. So now I am going to use AO. This is not a curriculum I could have used with my first when she was young, because I didn't have enough "teaching" experience to see how it could work. But I've been putting together my own schedule and doing my own thing with VP for 4 years. I have a better idea how to make a big book list work for me. In fact, except for the daily scheduling that I like to have, it will be less work than VP (at least how "I" did VP). I also like that you move more slowly through the books than you do with VP or Sonlight.

 

My oldest did a year of Sonlight to fill in an off year we had. It was a decent program, and everything is laid out for you but, you still move a lighting speed through the books, and there is little in-depth analysis of any books.

 

I've never tried TOG, but it always sounded like too much work! It may be perfect, if it is I don't want to know.:tongue_smilie:

 

It can be hard to sort it all out, and sometimes you just have to try it to know if it will work for you.

[Staci in MO]

Sonlight won me over to homeschooling. I had always pictures homeschooling as a pile of textbooks at the kitchen table, and that didn't sound appealing at all. My best friend used Sonlight to hs her daughter, and it sounded wonderful. That's when I first considered homeschooling.

 

I ordered Sonlight for my first year. I liked the concept, but it felt disjointed That was Core K, I think the later cores would be much better in that regard. Then I discovered WTM and liked the idea of chronological history.

 

I've only glanced at VP and Ambleside. Mostly just to get book ideas.

 

My standard answer to why I use Tapestry of Grace is this: If I had one child, I would probably use Sonlight. With the ages of my children, though, I would have to always do two, or maybe even three, cores. I also prefer the chronological history. By the time I tweaked Sonlight to make it work, I would pretty much have re-written the curriculum.

 

Tapestry of Grace allows me to teach all three kids more easily. I think it does a bit better job of tying everything together than Sonlight. It is chronological. I haven't put a pencil to it, but I think it's slightly more economical than Sonlight because there are only four year plans to buy.

 

There is more planning to do with TOG than SL, but with the age span of my dc, I would not be able to keep them on the same history without doing a lot of planning.

[naturalmom]

I used SL for 2 years with my oldest. I liked the format, and the schedule, but there were a number of books that I wasn't crazy about. Then I switched to Ambleside and loved the books. I liked the depth of thought that it brought to my oldest. So I continued using it with my 2nd. She has only used Ambleside.

 

This year I changed my oldest to VP Omnibus. I felt he would do well with the structure of the text, plus it was still full of high quality books. It's worked out well, but I do miss the Ambleside selection. We also are not reformed, so our discussions are important. He will do Omnibus II next year, and probably Omnibus III the year after that.

 

My daughter will be covering the same time period as Omnibus II this year, so I will be trying to have a 4day Omnibus, 1 day Ambleside schedule to bring in the Ambleside readalouds I want him to hear.

 

The only drawback I've found to Ambleside is that I must put something into the book myself in order to be sure they get all they can out of it. I just don't have time for this. BUT Ambleside is working on exam questions for each level, and these will make it much easier for me to continue.

[SnowWhite]

By doing lots of research. By naturally feeling which resonated with me. By looking at the religious content. By following a gut feeling. By picking one and then making further decisions based on my experiences with that. By realising it doesn't matter as much as it sometimes feels it does, and just doing it.

 

This is *right on* IMO.

 

For us it's WinterPromise and here are my reasons:

 

* easy to combine wide age spans

* simple to follow teacher guide

* buffet of activities, all of which are explained simply

* visually appealing materials

* use of DVDs, websites to add a multimedia dimension

* notebooking and timeline are scheduled and simply explained

* "enough" without being "too much"

* does not require Bible copywork or other busywork which my dh believes can be detrimental to children's view of the Bible.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[Another Lynn]

In my oldest's 1st grade year, around October I was disastified with the way our school was going. I felt we needed more great literature. My history was selection was Christian based, but poorly written (imho) - we were missing great read alouds together. A friend recommended AO - so that became my guide. Later I read WTM and the idea of a 4 year history cycle appealed to me. I did look around at other curriculums, but keep coming back to AO even though I tweak it a bit.

 

Now... Sonlight holds little to no appeal - they don't do the 4 year cycle, I don't like being told what to do for every subject all the time. I don't like some of their books - I would be paying a lot to tweak a lot.

 

VP - I browse their catalog for extra reading ideas, but I don't like the way they time their history, etc. I also don't like some of their skill curriculums (grammar, math, spelling, writing)

 

TOG - we were always a year ahead of the next redesign year coming out.... We may consider this for our 2nd go through the history cycle.

[Langhaven]

I chose Tapestry of Grace for the world-view primarily and also because we go through the same material on every level. I'm not doing 5 different history time periods as I teach my children, but instead everyone is on the same "page" so to speak. Second, much of the work is done for the mom in a very concise, straight forward manner. The discussions are laid out as are the evaluations for Dialectic and Rhetoric level. I can do as little or as much study as I want, but those teacher notes are always there, keeping me prepared. In addition, TOG emphasizes critical thinking and weighs it against Scripture. It suits our family perfectly in how we want to direct and teach our children.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I just got done watching "Teaching the Classics" and it is very good. You may want to use that to help you get more out of the AO books. I know it's not exactly CM, but I lean more towards a combined CM/Classical, so it works for me!

[happyWImom]

Research is my middle name, but it's so important to actually look at the curriculum and not just a sample page on a website. I've had to sell so much stuff that I thought would be great, but ended up not being right for us. Also, talking to others who use it.

[Donna T.]

How did you decide which one to go with?

 

Trial and error. Alot of prayer and discerning what really reaches the hearts of my children and encourages their love for learning.

 

Also, I spent considerable time facing the facts about myself... what I personally wanted to experience as I go about leading my children through their educational pursuits. My oldest son lives and breaths natural history... he craves time outdoors, studing nature, and loves poetry. He is a huge book worm and needs books that are meaty and not dumbed down. My youngest son needs me to cultivate those things in his life because he's not so naturally drawn to them. I was tired of books that seemed to have no real purpose other than to just take up space in our days. I found myself constantly thinking that what we were supposed to be doing for that day was quite insignificant and didn't really amount to much in the long-run. It's hard to explain... I guess I was just quite disillusioned and bored. I had come to feel bound to Teacher's Manual and schedules and books that I didn't want to read.

 

 

I've used Sonlight, MFW, and WinterPromise. I like all of those and my overall dissatisfaction had more to do with me than with the curriculum. I am now using Ambleside Online. AO has just the right amount of structure for me. The books are excellent, high-quality. There is no fluff with AO. I don't find myself finding excuses to not do what we need to do because I find the material very interesting, flexible, and of value. I don't feel that I have to justify to myself that this is worth our time because I know it is and it feels "right". It feels very natural and relaxed but we are accomplishing more than we ever have before. It is nothing like school and that is a good thing for us.

 

I feel quite liberated. I've found that I don't really need a Teacher's Manual, I don't really need to have every thing very structured, and I don't need to be doing something just for the sake of doing something.

 

I considered the theological leanings of the curriculum providers. I'm strong-minded about my religion and I don't need or want materials that I have to "work around". I actually prefer secular materials to most of the Christian providers even though I am most definately a Christian. Not that I don't expect to have issues with AO at times, but overall, it's more compatible with the way I think and operate.

 

I like simplicity. AO is very simple. The materials are simple and the methods are simple.

[Sheila in OK]

The books!! We've used Sonlight for Cores PreK, K, 1 and 2. I did dabble in MFW for a year or so and have looked extensively at WinterPromise and Ambleside Online. But I always go back to Sonlight because we like their book selection. I love having an IG that I can just open and teach from. I'm not a slave to it, but it keeps me moving forward.

 

As for the cost--if I bought all the books, SL wouldn't be affordable for us. We have an awesome online library system and I only buy the books that I can't get through them.

 

HTH!

[Pat in MI]

I have used all the others in some form.

 

MFW - I loved 1st grade and ECC. Although I found towards the end I wasn't following the schedule as much. We did not like CTG and so stopped using MFW after that year.

 

VP- used the cards a bit with SOTW one year, but VP seems too complicated with all the various books.

 

Sonlight - I just spent the worst year with this curriculum. We have a few days left and I will be so happy when we are done. I just felt like I was on a reading treadmill. Read, read, read and read at about the fastest pace I have ever been on. I love to read to my kids, but their pace was just too much for us.

 

Ambleside Online - Aah, this is my pick. We used it last year and it was one of the very best years we have ever had. The pace of reading is perfect for us. The books are good and my son recalled and talked about things more from reading those books, then any other year. He would request we read and usually wanted more than what was scheduled. I just feel my children will get so much more from reading these wonderful classics. Can you tell I can't wait to return to Ambleside next year? We are going back and staying with it. I do worry about being able to get the most out of the books, but CM really wanted the kids to connect with the books not have us do tons of teaching. So my kids will take with them what they want.

 

 

My journey seems like it has been so long and now I feel like I have found the right path. It has taken me a lot of testing to find the right one, but I feel like this is it. I agree with the other poster that said to try to get a hold of some of the teachers books if you can . Look them over try to get a feel for the program. Get some of the books they use from the library and read through them. Did you like them? Will you and your kids be able to read through them in the time the schedule allows? (I should have done this before ordering Sonlight) I think each of these companies have samples online. Try it out.

HTH

Blessings,

Pat

[Sweetest]

Why I decided to try Sonlight Core 2 next year:

 

1. I like the fact that everything is laid out for me in a 36 week schedule...I feel like I need that. I have struggled for the last year and a half with how much is enough/too much. I feel like Sonlight will take a huge burden off of me...I feel like I can breath easier now that I have made the decision to go with sonlight.

 

2. My daughter is an advanced reader...she reads like crazy and loves being read to. From what I have heard, if you have less willing readers, Sonlight could easily get overwhelming. I really don't forsee this being a problem for us and it will relieve some of my pressure to always have good books scheduled for her to read.

 

3. I did think Sonlight seemed pricey, but then I started adding up what I pay every year for DD's piano lessons...and suddenly it didn't seem so expensive :) Seriously though, if you have a good library most of the books can be borrowed. I've decided to splurge and get the books to have at home (I am finding lots of them used on the cheap...). The prices for the math/science/electives seems pretty in line with what I had already been using...

 

4. I tried Ambleside, and while I love some of their selections (especially the additional reading material) many of the books just seemed dated to me, my daughter never really seemed to connect with them. I really like the Sonlight book lists...even if they are twaddle :)

 

5. I love the way they lay out their history/geography. Funny, because what drew me to WTM was the history cycles. However, once I figured out Sonlights progression, I decided I liked it even better. I love the idea of doing a two year overview of world history (we read SOTW 1 last year so Core 2 will pick up where we left off), followed by a two year American History Survey, and then a year of exploring different cultures...I think this was the hardest thing for me to get over when it came to Sonlight, and I think if you really want a 4 year history cycle, then Sonlight might be difficult to do, long term anyway.

 

6. I like their more natural approach to LA. I haven't done a lot of formal spelling/grammar/writing beyond copywork, so I think their program will fit well with my LA philosopy. If you want a very structured LA, then I think Sonlight's LA probably wouldn't do it for you.

 

7. Also, we are a non-christian family and I feel like Sonlight does a good job of looking at other religions/viewpoints despite being a Christian program. I actually prefer using a Christian program because I think a knowledge of Christianity and the bible is so important to understanding our culture/history but I need a program that isn't to preachy (not to say that any of the other's are preachy, just to say that I didn't find Sonlight to be so...)

 

Anyway, those are the reasons I decided to go with Sonlight this year :)

[BlsdMama]

I think it's more than answering the question, "Is this a great curriculum?" It's also, "Is this a good fit for OUR family?"

 

For years, we followed TWTM almost to the letter. And my oldest is a shining example of what homeschooling can be. She's very gifted academically, loves learning, can write beautifully, and devours books.

 

That said, this year, I don't have one child. It's been seven, going on eight years, since we started homeschooling our oldest. We will have, this year, a 7th grader, a 4th grader, a 1st grader, a kindergartener, a 3.5yo, an almost 2yo, and a newborn. :grouphug: It will be exciting and fun but I admitted to myself this year I am absolutely DONE planning my own lessons at this point. Deciding which book when, how much we needed to read, writing out my own science plans/sheets to go with various books, finding my own copywork and dictation, reserving books at the library, finding supportive books to history, etc. I'm done. I absolutely cannot do it.

 

I looked at TOG. I love a good craft... when we have the time and the energy. It seemed to revolve a LOT around them. That truly turned me off. Sorry, it just did.

 

MFW was also not for us...

 

Mostly I was looking for a good fit for the oldest as that is the most effort I put forth into planning. In the end, we've decided to try Sonlight this year. Why? The planning is all there, completely laid out. Her writing will go well beyond what Sonlight will offer. I'm not opposed to a non-chronological study at this point with Ana. She has so many dates/people, etc in her head that I'm just not worried.

 

We also decided to use it for our ds (9) for this reasons:

 

He is absolutely head over heels into Early American history / Native Americans, etc. He was not a natural reader. We've worked and worked to get him reading naturally and easily. Now my goal this year is to help him fall in love with reading. I think Sonlight will encourage that with Core 3.

 

We've chosen NOT to order SL for our K and 1 right now. The reason being is my main goal is to get them reading and doing it easily. We'll do lots of read alouds, integrate history, do hands on science, and more read alouds. The almost 1st grader is already reading thanks to OPGTTR and I believe she'll progress easily.

 

We tried Ambleside last year. Honestly, it was too much work. I bought Sonlight this year used, including the books, readers, etc. I'm going to make this very chaotic year with lots of little people as painless as possible on me so I'm not spending hours PLANNING. I want to be WITH my kids, reading WITH the kids, doing things WITH the kids, not inputting plans on an Excel spreadsheet while they do everything on their own. ;)

[sassenach]

We've hsed with SL for the past 2 years and will continue next year. Honestly, when we decided to hs, I stumbled across SL and just knew it would work. I had no knowledge of all of the other choices. We are so completely happy with SL, I just can't imagine leaving. I'm very attached to the sl schedule. To the point that I make similar looking schedules for everything else we do. I have not started SL with my younger 2 and I don't plan to start in the near future. While it's a perfect fit for my oldest, my youngers aren't ready to be read to for that length of time. I have looked over all of the other choices, and I really find all of them appealing. I think the reason SL fits us is because, for me, SL is a literature program that focuses on history. I chose it because of the quality of the books. I'm not as concerned with history cycles. History is not the focus of our homeschool. I think a lot of people want a History program, that uses good literature. For them, the cycles are more important.

 

hth,

[gardenschooler]

All of these I've admired from afar -

 

I like AO, even use a bit of the books/philosophy, but I need something a little more structured and scheduled than that for my main program.

 

I've always liked the looks of VP, but not some of their idealogies, and certainly not what I consider in some things to be just too advanced. I've always used their catalogue for ideas.

 

I've always liked the looks of Sonlight, but I never actually tried it. Again, used the catalogue for ideas.

 

I've been watching TOG for a couple of years at least (or whenever it was first mentioned on the old board). It takes me a loooong time to commit, and I spent most of this year getting ready to do that! I almost backed out at the last minute and tried to talk myself into SL, but in the end, it's the extras that TOG offers that I knew I wanted. I want something structured but with some wiggle room to do my own thing and be able to change it up a bit. I just don't want something that isn't comprehensive, because then I have to see what's missing before I can play with it, if that makes any sense.

 

I probably would have done well with either SL or TOG, but I wanted the in-depth teacher's notes, discussion outlines, and analysis (among other things) provided by TOG. When I compared the two, TOG won out for the rhetoric/high school level. It also does simplify things to be able to stay on one time period for everyone (well, just two - oldest goes to school).