1bassoon Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Hey everyone - Sick of me yet??? Just finished my blog post about Grammar Students. I post this with a little trepidation. I don't know if this will be helpful at all, since my grammar student is my youngest of 5. But maybe it will give you a little picture of how TOG "might" work for you? I tend to be a little relaxed with my youngest in terms of school, so keep that in mind as you read. Thanks for everyone's encouragement! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexi Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 That's really helpful! Thanks! We're finishing up Year 1 and I'm finally feeling confident in planning TOG. I don't know why it's so hard to wrap my head around it all! And we're only doing LG-I'm way over thinking this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1bassoon Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Well, I'm glad it is, lexi! And trust me - if you'd known me about, oh, 12 years ago? I over-thought and over-planned everything too :D But then I got tired. . . . ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warneral Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Cool I look forward to reading it tomorrow as I'm strongly considering doing tog for my grammar level students. Question if you only had grammar level kiddos would you still feel that TOG is a great program? I keep hearing how great it is for D & R but hear mixed reviews about grammar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1bassoon Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Cool I look forward to reading it tomorrow as I'm strongly considering doing tog for my grammar level students. Question if you only had grammar level kiddos would you still feel that TOG is a great program? I keep hearing how great it is for D & R but hear mixed reviews about grammar I'll answer that here rather than on my blog: I think TOG actually IS good for grammar students, but with a caveat. It's good, if your intention is long-term. I really wish that I had TOG when my oldest was a grammar student; I could have used the more relaxed, hands-on pace to teach her, and then educate myself with the AMAZING teacher's notes. But. I'll be honest. If I know someone whose oldest child is, say, K through 2nd grade? I usually steer them to Sonlight or SOTW. On my blog, I link some free vimeo videos about teaching the grammar stage. Those might prove helpful. Does that make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warneral Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Oh I couldn't wait :D Cool. The main reason I'm drawn to it is the worldview and way it gets you talking as a family. I'm not sure how well we will do that with me not-so-eloquent and a 3rd & 4th grader next year, but we will give it a try :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warneral Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 (edited) Yes Heather, that makes sense. I was going to check out the videos tomorrow. I am thinking starting now would be a good Segway into TOG considering it for the long term (providing it works for us) I started with sonlight but dropped it after a couple of months as I bought into the trivium/4 year cycle concept and felt that Sonlight overscheduled. I also think I'm comfortable with the buffet as that is basically what we did this year. Edited March 27, 2012 by warneral fix spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anmom Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Cool I look forward to reading it tomorrow as I'm strongly considering doing tog for my grammar level students. Question if you only had grammar level kiddos would you still feel that TOG is a great program? I keep hearing how great it is for D & R but hear mixed reviews about grammar I have two lg students only and we are loving it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrightmom Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Heather, I continue to enjoy and learn from your Tapestry posts. Will you be doing a post on the nuts and bolts of planning and organizing your materials? In the blog photos I see your kids sitting with bound workbooks and you also mentioned color coordinated file folders with weekly papers. Do you buy books or use the library? Are you a print, DE, or combo? :001_smile: When do your children begin dialectic work? What do you use for writing instruction with Tapestry? Tapestry still scares me. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Thanks for posting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SewLittleTime Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Your TOG week looks similiar to mine. I did like your idea of using the vocab words for handwriting practice. I'm rethinking handwriting for next year to make it more relevant to our studies. Seems like it is just busy work for now and not tied to anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgrubbs Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Thank you for sharing - I've enjoyed all of your posts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HLDoll Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 I have a LG student and one who straddles LG/UG. They both love TOG. They like the history, the literature, the family read alouds, the maps and the activities. We've talked about other options; we've done Classical Conversations and Veritas Press history, but they prefer TOG. We plan on doing this long term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sncstraub Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 (edited) I have a LG student and one who straddles LG/UG. They both love TOG. They like the history, the literature, the family read alouds, the maps and the activities. We've talked about other options; we've done Classical Conversations and Veritas Press history, but they prefer TOG. We plan on doing this long term. We'll be doing TOG2 next year and I'm in the midst of trying to figure it out right now. I have 2 boys who are school aged at the moment - K and 3rd this year, so 1st and 4th next year. I'm wondering about how you are having your oldest straddle LG/UG. My oldest will turn 9 in May, and he's a good reader...but not particularly motivated, although he enjoys history. Ds6 will be LG, obviously, but I'm wondering if keeping the boys together in LG would be a help to me because then ds8/9 could help with reading to his brother (I have a precocious 3yo dd and we will have a newborn in May). It's just hard to know without seeing the differences between the LG and UG books. ETA: Your other curriculum choices are much the same as ours - WWE, FLL, MM... Edited March 27, 2012 by sncstraub Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeeBeaks Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Could I ask what your favorite lapbook source is? Are you using the ones put out by TOG or other vendors? I have a LG too right now in TOG, but he is the 2nd child out of four. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelBee Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 We'll be doing TOG2 next year and I'm in the midst of trying to figure it out right now. I have 2 boys who are school aged at the moment - K and 3rd this year, so 1st and 4th next year. I'm wondering about how you are having your oldest straddle LG/UG. My oldest will turn 9 in May, and he's a good reader...but not particularly motivated, although he enjoys history. Ds6 will be LG, obviously, but I'm wondering if keeping the boys together in LG would be a help to me because then ds8/9 could help with reading to his brother (I have a precocious 3yo dd and we will have a newborn in May). It's just hard to know without seeing the differences between the LG and UG books. ETA: Your other curriculum choices are much the same as ours - WWE, FLL, MM... You could easily do LG with him and add one or two UG level items. Like use SOTW chapters (alt UG resource) that go with each week. Add in UG literature here and there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyP Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Hey everyone - Sick of me yet??? Just finished my blog post about Grammar Students. I post this with a little trepidation. I don't know if this will be helpful at all, since my grammar student is my youngest of 5. But maybe it will give you a little picture of how TOG "might" work for you? I tend to be a little relaxed with my youngest in terms of school, so keep that in mind as you read. Thanks for everyone's encouragement! Thanks, Heather. Keep 'em coming.:D We'll be doing TOG2 next year and I'm in the midst of trying to figure it out right now. I have 2 boys who are school aged at the moment - K and 3rd this year, so 1st and 4th next year. I'm wondering about how you are having your oldest straddle LG/UG. My oldest will turn 9 in May, and he's a good reader...but not particularly motivated, although he enjoys history. Ds6 will be LG, obviously, but I'm wondering if keeping the boys together in LG would be a help to me because then ds8/9 could help with reading to his brother (I have a precocious 3yo dd and we will have a newborn in May). It's just hard to know without seeing the differences between the LG and UG books. Not HLDoll, but I have a LG/UG straddler. I read the LG core books with dd8 and ds6 (or assign them to dd when we get short on time). I then make a "book basket" of LG/UG books for her. From the library I get any available in depth or alternate LG/UG books and the core UG books. She reads these during quiet time. For lit, she reads the UG selections. Could I ask what your favorite lapbook source is? Are you using the ones put out by TOG or other vendors? :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1bassoon Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 Alright, y'all - I'm TOTALLY fried from a long day, but wanted to quick pop in and answer: I have the Dinah Zike books, and have loved creating my own lapbooks for years. I've even taught workshops on how to design lapbooks with your kids to use with any curriculum . . . . . So, I bought the kit from TOG. Not even the one where you print it, but the kit, mind you! I. Love. It. I cut out each mini-book, and file them with my papers for each week-plan. I love it that it's already thought out for me, the paper is printed, etc etc etc. The only down side, is that sometimes we'll be scheduled to do a book on a topic that we didn't really read about that week - so, honestly, we do a little internet research and think of something to write. I mean, she's 7, ya know?! Does that answer your question? :) I'm exhausted and a little loopy, so it might not make sense. . . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HLDoll Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 We'll be doing TOG2 next year and I'm in the midst of trying to figure it out right now. I have 2 boys who are school aged at the moment - K and 3rd this year, so 1st and 4th next year. I'm wondering about how you are having your oldest straddle LG/UG. My oldest will turn 9 in May, and he's a good reader...but not particularly motivated, although he enjoys history. Ds6 will be LG, obviously, but I'm wondering if keeping the boys together in LG would be a help to me because then ds8/9 could help with reading to his brother (I have a precocious 3yo dd and we will have a newborn in May). It's just hard to know without seeing the differences between the LG and UG books. ETA: Your other curriculum choices are much the same as ours - WWE, FLL, MM... My son LOVES history and is a strong reader. He watches Teaching Company lectures and documentaries in his spare time and is constantly reenacting history scenes and battles with Playmobil, Lego and army men. He reads the LG books so that we can talk about them with his younger sister, but I assign him many of the UG books as well, because he just absorbs the information. He also enjoys the longer literature selections in UG. Maturity-wise, he's not ready for deeper discussions yet, nor for some of the more advanced activities, but he likes the books. At that age you could easily keep your son in LG for your convenience, especially if he's not particularly motivated in history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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