Nakia Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 I looked at TOG years ago, but it overwhelmed me. As I'm planning for next year and thinking I will have to do 2 complete SL cores plus add in a 1st grader, I'm again drawn to TOG. We absolutely LOVE SL. My girls love to read, and I feel like it fits us. But I see that with SL, it's just not going to be easy to combine them (at least the two oldest) anymore. I know I can do more than one core, but do I want to? That I don't know. Can you all give me the low-down on TOG? The older girls are both ready for Ancients, so we could purchase year one. It seems like it will be a lot of planning on my part. And one nice thing about SL is that the books are the curriculum so it's all right there, laid out, for mom. Is there a way to purchase the books for TOG all in one place like with SL? I can't figure out which one would be a better fit. I'm also wondering how the costs compare. Our library system is not great so I would need to purchase a lot of the books. Would anyone care to share your thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3peasinapod Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 :lurk5: We are happy SL users too, but I'm not sure I will be able to keep up with 2 cores along with my working schedule. I'm subscribing to find out more. I've already looked at the 3-week samples (didn't print) and found it a little confusing. I do know there are obscure links (that take me at least 15 minutes to find every time I look) that take you to a bookstore that has all the books arranged by the years. Evidently a person doesn't have to order every single book, but I wouldn't know how to prune which books to get and which not to get. :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delaney Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 It really is easy to use. I just look at the following week or two and pick a read aloud and a book for each of the girls to read. There are MANY choices each week to read for core reading, literature, and other things. If your library does not have one of the main choices it is almost sure to have one of the alternates. I am able to take my books out for 3 weeks which helps. Anyway, I just look at the list and compare it to my library website. I put on hold what I want for the next 2 weeks. It looks like a lot to take in but once you give in to the fact that you can't and aren't supposed to do ALL of it then you can get moving. I jump back and forth between UG and Dialectic for my 11 year old. I use it in a secular fashion but really enjoy the discussion of the dialectic age, even with the religious portion! It is deep. I also write notes on the board for her to copy after we discuss the section. They give you ALL the info you need in the teacher notes. The map CD is great as well. I do note use the Writing aids and do the longterm projects since we do Phonics road and SOTW for the projects. What I really like about it is that I can use SOTW for a spine in some parts or jump to Hakim if I like that better. Lastly, it is really hard to keep on their schedule at times and I wouldn't be surprised if you need 1 1/4- 1 1/2 years to do one year. of course you can just pull some weeks here and there to catch up or just address that week with a film or a read aloud. It really will make teaching multiple ages easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 If you have been buying your Sonlight "cores" (or whatever they are now called) directly from Sonlight intact then I would suggest you do the same with Tapestry: buy the plan, buy all the recommended books. Then on your first week day, you can just quickly break down the assignments for your students. OR break it down for your younger two and let your oldest figure out how to break it down (with guidance at first). The things I would try to plan in advance would be any craft projects and whether to use the writing program. I don't like the Tapestry writing program, but I didn't like the Sonlight one either. So I used some of SWB's materials and then listened to her talks on teaching writing. These have been my writing program. If found having used Sonlight for years and years actually helped me be ready for Tapestry and I've never found Tapestry to be quite as teacher intensive as others claim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SewLittleTime Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 If found having used Sonlight for years and years actually helped me be ready for Tapestry and I've never found Tapestry to be quite as teacher intensive as others claim. I agree with this. I plan TOG in a very SL way. I break my week down on on an excell spreadsheat labelled Day 1, Day 2, ect. at the top and put the books at the side just like in a SL schedule. We do our reading for the week for history on Days 1-3. Day 4 is our mapping day and I make up some sort of vocabulary activity (crosswords, matching, ect.) Day 5 we do a hands-on activity. I only choose one a week that both my kids will enjoy. My toddler even fits in some with those. For literature I spread that over the whole week just assigning a little each day. I spent my summer planning and printing everything I need, so I don't have to do any planning now. It's all done. I do have to gather supplies and put things in workboxes, but that doesn't take me much time at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMary2 Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 I looked at TOG years ago, but it overwhelmed me. As I'm planning for next year and thinking I will have to do 2 complete SL cores plus add in a 1st grader, I'm again drawn to TOG. We absolutely LOVE SL. My girls love to read, and I feel like it fits us. But I see that with SL, it's just not going to be easy to combine them (at least the two oldest) anymore. I know I can do more than one core, but do I want to? That I don't know. Can you all give me the low-down on TOG? The older girls are both ready for Ancients, so we could purchase year one. It seems like it will be a lot of planning on my part. And one nice thing about SL is that the books are the curriculum so it's all right there, laid out, for mom. Is there a way to purchase the books for TOG all in one place like with SL? I can't figure out which one would be a better fit. I'm also wondering how the costs compare. Our library system is not great so I would need to purchase a lot of the books. Would anyone care to share your thoughts? The planning really isn't time consuming once you get the hang of it. You can make yourself a template that looks like Sonlight's and then plug in all the TOG assignments. TOG is laid out like a menu in my opinion, you look it over and choose the things you are going to do. A year's worth of IG for TOG is under $300, but if you add in Writing Aids (a one time purchase) that's $50. There are other things you can add on. If you purchased every option and all the books it is probably more $$ than SL, but you won't know until you take a serious look and decide what you want to purchase. We get most of our books from the library and I have had good luck finding cheap books on Abe Books and Amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakia Posted March 3, 2012 Author Share Posted March 3, 2012 Thanks so much! This is really helpful. Can anyone tell me if it is easy to combine different ages/stages in TOG? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgehogs4 Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 (edited) I have reviewed TOG pretty extensively on my blog. I invite you to visit and read about it. We love it. I also agree with the pp who says that once you get the hang of it, TOG planning does not take long. There is a learning curve, however, and I would plan to take some time in the summer to give yourself a chance to really go over it and understand how to best use it for your family. Combining ages and stages is not so hard. I have a Dialectic and an LG student. The Dialectic student is largely independent, as he does all his reading himself, and I take time out to have the discussions with him. Where I have to spend most of my time is in reading the LG to my DD 6 who is not yet an independent reader. They do geography together, as they have maps for every level, so I just print out the correct map for each level and they work on them at the same times. I choose to do other projects with them such as lap books and power point presentations, memory work generated from what they are learning in TOG...somehow we manage to fit it all in. Edited March 3, 2012 by Hedgehogs4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petepie2 Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 If you go with TOG, for selecting books I would strongly recommend planning one unit at a time. You may want to read the same history books to your two youngest. Sometimes the UG book or the LG book may work for that purpose. It requires more planning that way, but it would save money if money is an issue. However, TOG is designed for LG to be read-aloud to the child, while the UG and above books are meant to be read independently by the child. If you want to go that route, then you can just order the suggested books from TOG and go with it. Regardless, I would only buy books for one unit at a time. The second part of the planning is done by the week. I don't find this planning to be all that difficult. I put the books out in front of me and decide how much I want to read aloud in one sitting (I've just used LG), and then plan out the days accordingly. I don't have a set day(s) for all the reading because some weeks are heavier than others. We always read the history, in-depth history, and literature selections. We usually do notebooking on Friday. Depending on how our week looks across the board, I look at the options of activities and see if there's something I want us to do and plan for it. I also want to mention that Yr1 has very few read-alouds. As a SL user, you may find this disappointing. Last year in Yr1 for my 1st grader, I also included some of the fun read-alouds from Sonlight's Core 1 (I think Core B now?). Some of them lined up nicely with TOG, such as the Usborne Greek myths book and Detectives in Togas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMary2 Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Thanks so much! This is really helpful. Can anyone tell me if it is easy to combine different ages/stages in TOG? Thanks! Yes! This is one of the big plusses in my opinion. You can combine levels easily since they all are doing the same theme at the same time. My younger guy sits in on the socratic discussions I have with my high schooler. He sometimes pipes in, but mostly listens. We discuss vocabulary and famous people together too. The read aloud is good for all levels too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 The first thing to keep in mind when you buy your TOG year plans, the four year plans are all your SL IG's from 1st-AP high school. That is something to keep in mind when discussing the cost of the year plan. I second the recommendation to only buy 1 unit at a time, especially when first beginning. I don't recommend buying anything until you have the unit in front of you and can look through it and get a feel for how you wish to use it. Remember, you don't want/have to do everything listed for each level each week, you pick and choose. Some people only do the history core, some do the core plus the in-depth, and some crazy people with avid readers do the core, the in-depth, and many of the alternative listings. ;) We came to TOG from SL so we do a family read aloud, pulling from the 'SL by TOG weeks' list that is on the yahoo group. I also read aloud to all my kids from the SOTW selection for the week and any LG. We do the maps together, and then those in UG and D then have additional assignments on their own before we meet back to discuss. How you choose to do TOG will depend on your family. Last thought, don't forget the new updated TOG Y1 is coming out yet for the 2012-2013 school year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemongoose Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 I have never been a SL user, so I am no help in comparing the two, but I can tell you that we love TOG here, and I also have a child who loves reading. Things that helped me... 1. Decide which levels you will be working with. 2. Decide which parts of TOG you want to use. Example: if you are using WWE you do not need WA, so skip that. Are you going to use Story of the World, or the book choices for history? Will you do arts and crafts? 3. Make a block schedule. For us this looks like: Monday: History Core, Start Vocab list, Start Weekly Read Aloud Tuesday: History in Depth, Geography, continue vocab and read aloud Wednesday: Bible/World View, continue vocab and read aloud Thursday: Literature, Begin Arts and Crafts, continue vocab and read aloud Friday: Lapbook, Continue Arts and Crafts, finish vocab and read aloud, Meeting with Mom about next week. After you have a block schedule, it is easy to go back to the TOG menu and just plug things in a planner for the week. Now that I have a UG student that is reading more independently, I do give her the Lit book and History books on Monday and let her read through the week on them. I do this because they often take her more than one day to get through. With a LG student, the reading can be done all at one sitting on the day it is scheduled. 4. Now that you have planned and know what you are using, start looking for books! The easiest...not cheapest... route is to just go to bookshelfcentral and purchase it all there. This is not what I do though, I need to try and save some $. I start out looking at paperbackswap, powells used books, amazon used or new with the 4 for 3 listing, bookshelfcentral, and rainbow resource. I make carts at all of these places based one who has the cheapest price for each individual book (and take into account the shipping cost as well). I also work on the next years plan by entering in all the books I need for it in paperbackswap and hope that they come before I need them. You might also be able to get a few of the books on a kindle or nook for free, especially if you have an older student. 5. Decide which, if any, of the TOG extras you will use. I really like Map Aids and the lapbooks. I have tried to get into WA, but I am switching over to WWE now. I needed more hand holding and open and go. Writing was just not getting done around here. With Map Aids I get clear address labels, print all the Cities, Land forms, Countries etc. that need to be labeled each week on them, and then let my kids stick them to the maps rather than write out the places themselves. I will not do this when they are older and their handwriting is not ginormous! :lol: Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 I have never been a SL user, so I am no help in comparing the two, but I can tell you that we love TOG here, and I also have a child who loves reading. Things that helped me... 1. Decide which levels you will be working with. 2. Decide which parts of TOG you want to use. Example: if you are using WWE you do not need WA, so skip that. Are you going to use Story of the World, or the book choices for history? Will you do arts and crafts? 3. Make a block schedule. For us this looks like: Monday: History Core, Start Vocab list, Start Weekly Read Aloud Tuesday: History in Depth, Geography, continue vocab and read aloud Wednesday: Bible/World View, continue vocab and read aloud Thursday: Literature, Begin Arts and Crafts, continue vocab and read aloud Friday: Lapbook, Continue Arts and Crafts, finish vocab and read aloud, Meeting with Mom about next week. After you have a block schedule, it is easy to go back to the TOG menu and just plug things in a planner for the week. Now that I have a UG student that is reading more independently, I do give her the Lit book and History books on Monday and let her read through the week on them. I do this because they often take her more than one day to get through. With a LG student, the reading can be done all at one sitting on the day it is scheduled. 4. Now that you have planned and know what you are using, start looking for books! The easiest...not cheapest... route is to just go to bookshelfcentral and purchase it all there. This is not what I do though, I need to try and save some $. I start out looking at paperbackswap, powells used books, amazon used or new with the 4 for 3 listing, bookshelfcentral, and rainbow resource. I make carts at all of these places based one who has the cheapest price for each individual book (and take into account the shipping cost as well). I also work on the next years plan by entering in all the books I need for it in paperbackswap and hope that they come before I need them. You might also be able to get a few of the books on a kindle or nook for free, especially if you have an older student. 5. Decide which, if any, of the TOG extras you will use. I really like Map Aids and the lapbooks. I have tried to get into WA, but I am switching over to WWE now. I needed more hand holding and open and go. Writing was just not getting done around here. With Map Aids I get clear address labels, print all the Cities, Land forms, Countries etc. that need to be labeled each week on them, and then let my kids stick them to the maps rather than write out the places themselves. I will not do this when they are older and their handwriting is not ginormous! :lol: Hope that helps! One of the ToG Yahoo groups has this already done for you. I think it's the Year 1 group, but I would assume the same resource is available in the other years too. A time saver, if it works for you! We LOVE ToG around here. This year we've been doing it willy nilly. No plan, per se, because I simply haven't had the time. We do the maps, read the selections, and do the lapbooks. Of course, my kids are young so this is plenty. For us the benefit will be when the kids are older, mama will already be familiar with the program and the program will already be paid for (except the new books.) It can get pricey, if you buy every book they suggest. We don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Nakia, Have you looked at the TOG videos, created by Marcia Sommerville? She gives a lot of helps, tricks and tips. She has one specifically about scheduling your week. And, (I say this over and over) you should download the three week sample, to see what you think. http://www.tapestryofgrace.com/explore/ We are doing Year 1 (again) 2012-2013. I have 1 LG, 1 UG, 1 D and 1 preschooler. To combine, I do read alouds, crafts and mapwork together. My D has independent reading and studying, my UG has a worksheet (or something) independently. My D has a discussion with me at the end of the week about his studies, which the other children may or may not be a part of. I just ordered my books. I bought $200 worth for the year. I find Year 1 to be the most expensive, since it seems like my library doesn't carry much about ancient history for children. Watch the videos. They are so helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakia Posted March 4, 2012 Author Share Posted March 4, 2012 This is really great information!!! I am going to look over those samples and watch the videos. Someone mentioned that they are redesigning for 2012-13. Do you think there will be big changes? I'm asking because I like to buy things used if possible, and I know TOG comes up for sale here often. Someone else mentioned that year 1 doesn't have many read-alouds, but I don't think that will be a problem. Maybe my kids are weird, but they aren't huge fans of reading aloud. They do like to read with me, taking turns with me, but as far as sitting down and reading as a family, they haven't ever loved it. They'd much rather be involved. Maybe that will be a pro of using TOG. I don't think I'm planning to put my 1st grader in, really. I really love the phonics in MFW 1st grade, so I was planning to use that with her, but she can always listen in and participate as she wants with whatever we choose to use. I really feel like since we are going to be starting Ancients, if we are going to switch to TOG, now's the time. With SL I could use core G with my 7th grader, but there just isn't a great core for my 4th grader. Core B is just too low for her, and I could beef it up or design my own, but that seems like a lot of work. I don't know. Maybe I'm being silly. Rambling...will stop now. :lol: Again, thank you! Please keep advice, opinions, ideas coming!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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