TOG- Is it really that great?

[TXmomof3]

I am considering using TOG for the next school year. I have 2- 3rd graders and a 1st grader. We are using SOTW and the activity guide with it but the info isn't sticking. They like the chapters but are not retaining. :confused: We are 1/2 way through SOTW vol 2. I just wanted to know is TOG really that great before I spend money on it. It seems quite expensive. I like the curricula that I am using for subjects that TOG also covers. It is just history that we are having an issue with. I don't want them to miss out, history is facinating.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! :bigear:

[starwarsmum]

Hi,

 

We love TOG, I found it thanks to this forum, but I am only halfway through my first year with it with a 12 and 14 year old. I love the way the history is presented, I love the layout of the binder, and we really like the books. My kids now love to talk about Queen Victoria, Napoleon, and King George III and make plays with stuffed animals to summarize what we've learned. If you like what you see with TOG, go for it, and if it doesn't work you can put it away for a year and try again (don't get rid of it!). You should be able to find most of the LG books at your library, and it's easier at that level to find substitutes. You should only need a few books, and I would suggest only buying one unit at a time. I like the look of the LG worksheets, and their writing program looks good as well (but isn't a must). Your kids are at a good age to start president and state cards too (Year 3 and 4).

 

We are doing Year 3 of TOG and it's really fun history - canals, steam engines, factories, Lewis & Clark, etc. Don't feel that you have to start at Year 1. The nice thing about Year 3 is that there are lots of historical sites in North America that relate to things you learn about, and lots of opportunity for hands-on activities.

 

I hope that helps and isn't too scatter-brained to make any sense. I'm not sure if you're doing the activity book with SOTW or looked at Sonlight; those are good choices too.

 

Amy

[NancyNellen]

Are you doing any review for SOTW? I find that a little review goes a long way. Do the newer editions have the review cards in the back? (I have the first ed.) We colored those in and spent 10-20 minutes reviewing each week.

 

I personally have abandoned TOG at the lower levels after 2 years of using it. After using SOTW for 8 years, I thought I wanted a change, but I find that, for us at least, nothing compares to SOTW for the younger set. TOG felt chaotic and choppy for me. I like having a spine, reading one overarching story, and then adding in additional books, maps, and activities. Easy peasy. It gets done, and with a bit f review all of my children have retained enough info. to satisfy me. Remember, at this age you are simply establishing the pegs to hand future info. on.

[Bee Happy]

Are you doing any review for SOTW? I find that a little review goes a long way. Do the newer editions have the review cards in the back? (I have the first ed.) We colored those in and spent 10-20 minutes reviewing each week.

 

I personally have abandoned TOG at the lower levels after 2 years of using it. After using SOTW for 8 years, I thought I wanted a change, but I find that, for us at least, nothing compares to SOTW for the younger set. TOG felt chaotic and choppy for me. I like having a spine, reading one overarching story, and then adding in additional books, maps, and activities. Easy peasy. It gets done, and with a bit f review all of my children have retained enough info. to satisfy me. Remember, at this age you are simply establishing the pegs to hand future info. on.

 

:iagree:

 

I abandoned TOG after 1 year for the same reasons.

[Hedgehogs4]

I do TOG with an 11- and a 7- year old. I say stick with SOTW as long as possible, for the reasons mentioned above. A LG student does not need all that TOG offers, and in my opinion you are paying for much more advice than your student will ever use at that level. We LOVE TOG for the way it brings things together and once they grow out of SOTW, it's a great avenue to pursue.

 

To "make it stick" I think they need to hear it more than once. We listened to the audio all the time in the car. They really enjoyed for the story content, plain and simple, and never much thought about the fact that they were doing school.

[lea1]

I am doing SOTW Ancients and TOG Year 1 with my two first grade sons (we are half way through). We are using SOTW as our spine. The only thing I am really using from TOG right now is the booklist. Basically, I reserve all books from both SOTW and TOG that our library has. We spend Monday reading from SOTW while the boys color. Then we do comprehension questions, narration and the map work. I pre-read most of the library books and then on Wednesday we read the ones that I thought the boys would find most interesting.

 

My initial plan was to just use TOG but I found SOTW easier to use with younger children. When I have time I enjoy reading a lot of the information provided in TOG though. It is so informative. It's just a matter of finding the time.

 

For review, I am creating my own timeline cards with a picture and summary from each chapter. I am going to have the boys start telling me a bit about each one (from memory) and putting in order.

[mrsrevmeg]

I love TOG! Each level has something special that makes it shine. In the grammar levels, the hands-on activities and crafts are a fun way to help remind the kiddos about what they have learned. We just finished up Year 3 and my youngest son can still tell you about some of his stuff he has kept from Years 1 and 2. In the higher levels there is so much richness in the literature, the discussions are so meaningful, and the kids are stretching their brains to really think- not just to read something and accept it as is. Maybe you should try the free trail on the website. I know it helped me to fall completely in love with it.

[Spetzi]

In early el, I had my son make an index card for each chapter we read of MOH. He could draw a picture, but I asked him to at least put a name of a person or place to jog his memory. I made it more special by putting in in an index card notebook (a mini 3 ring binder).

 

There is something special about one's own picture or writing that's more meaningful and memorable than filling in someone else's coloring page or answers.

 

Whenever I pull out that little binder, he can look at a picture and tell me the story 6 years later!

 

HTH,

[warneral]

In early el, I had my son make an index card for each chapter we read of MOH. He could draw a picture, but I asked him to at least put a name of a person or place to jog his memory. I made it more special by putting in in an index card notebook (a mini 3 ring binder).

 

There is something special about one's own picture or writing that's more meaningful and memorable than filling in someone else's coloring page or answers.

 

Whenever I pull out that little binder, he can look at a picture and tell me the story 6 years later!

 

HTH,

Sweet!

 

I bought tog unit 1 but I do feel the need for a more complete spine. I am now considering MOH + my own add-ons such as notebooking, activities and books

[heritagelearningacademy]

We used TOG for a lower level and upper level grammar child at the same time. We left it after a half of a year because it was not a good fit for us. Part of my frustration was constantly having to find books at our library....most were not there. :( It was stressful and I tired inter-library loan to not get things on time. I would prefer to just buy all the books I need for the year and have them as a growing resource area.

 

In regards to the actual learning we struggled because it felt like I was either dumbing it down for my older or it was too much for my 1st grader at the time.

[prissygirls]

I agree. I used TOG year 2 units 1 and 2 this year. I found it overwhelming for my 2nd and 3rd grader. I could never find the books at the library or they did not come in on time throught inter-library loan. It was such a pain. I mostly just used my SOTW and picked up Mystery of History as a spine. I plan on keeping it for when my kids are older like high school age.

[WistfulRidge]

Take this with a big grain of salt because my kids are still very young ;)

 

I really like the looks of TOG. I love how the program is structured, I love how it is laid out. We have different religious views than the authors, but honestly that probably wouldn't be an issue until Year 3. However, my big beef with TOG is how lacking it is Eastern Hemisphere history. I can understand why it is, but it bugs me. A lot. So I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll creating my own TOG-esque schedule in a couple of years.

 

That aside, I've also heard from pretty much everyone that you don't really get the full impact of TOG until you have older kids and that is really just as good, and maybe easier, to stick with something like SOTW when the kids are younger.

[cbhrbooth]

I am considering using TOG for the next school year. I have 2- 3rd graders and a 1st grader. We are using SOTW and the activity guide with it but the info isn't sticking. They like the chapters but are not retaining. :confused: We are 1/2 way through SOTW vol 2. I just wanted to know is TOG really that great before I spend money on it. It seems quite expensive. I like the curricula that I am using for subjects that TOG also covers. It is just history that we are having an issue with. I don't want them to miss out, history is facinating.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! :bigear:

 

We're in our 5th year of TOG. (All years, now in second cycle) We used it for UG, Dialectic, Rhetoric.

 

We're very satisfied with the curriculum, and have felt that it prepared our daughter for competitive college class discussions. She, in fact, credits TOG for her confidence in literature and history class discussions and analysis.

 

I also have seen that TOG has helped me develop as a teacher. I am better organized and more thoughtful about our schooling and what type of education we want to offer our children. Prior to TOG, I followed WTM as closely as I understood how, but failed to follow-through on many items because I didn't see the daily step-by-step to get us to the bigger picture.

 

That said, I am reluctant to recommend TOG. :) It is expensive and can be time-consuming. In the first year, I used that expense as my "stick" to make sure we completed our work, but I know not everyone views things that way. The planning and high standards forced me to become quite serious about our homeschooling in areas which I glossed over before, but I know other moms have felt overwhelmed by these same expectations.

 

As another poster wrote, I too tried to rely on the inter-library loan books to keep expenses down, but our small library was not adequate to meet our needs -and my planning and their timing were haphazard- so I learned to buy all the books for each unit/year. Again, more expense.

 

Over the past 4 years, I have had four close friends who have used TOG (all levels LG,UG, D, R) and they each struggled with the energy and time commitment. All but 1 of those friends have left TOG. That one friend is in her 2nd cycle of TOG, but she does a laid-back, hands-off approach. ***

 

Even with all that said, I wish I had used TOG from the earliest years. Not only for my children's benefit, but for my own.

 

***To be fair, those 3 families who discontinued TOG are not homeschooling either. One family returned to public school, one joined a hybrid homeschool/private school, and the other opted for a mix of public & private schools.

Edited June 28, 2012 by cbhrbooth
clarification

[cmac]

I'm a very new to this, but wanted to share anyway. I am considering TOG for history for my 3rd grader, and currently am leaning on buying the digital edition for affordability even though it is still expensive. But I would definitely take a laid back approach even though I would like him to retain the information. I just want him to enjoy history at this stage. I am picking TOG because of their books. I know my son would not be interested in the books of the other programs. So to get back to your question, if your kids are not retaining, maybe immersing them into the subject more by supplementing with TOG LG books might be enough? Just a thought. And definitely try out their free trial.

[melmichigan]

At that level it would only depend on what you plan to do later on with history. If you plan to use TOG through R then it might benefit you to go through it yourself and you would have it. I have DE+print so I'm set through my 4yo. ;) That said I think you could just as easily wait until your kids get a little older and just use SOTW now, it is used in the alternative readings for UG. You might want to look at the TOG lapbooks if you are looking for something to help cement information and review. My younger kids love them. You could also print the flashcards from hannah's helps yahoo group or do the memory work from CC (at home).

[Pammy]

I love it, but I admit the first year was h*ll for me. I highly recommend finding a co-op to help you with the accountability, and for the benefit of your children. There are so many facets to using TOG, and everyone is different in their approach. These last few years, I haven't been able to be in a co-op, so the planning and implementation has been a bit more difficult (I also work part time, am a college student, and now am planning a wedding for my oldest dd).

 

So, this year, I decided to do the laid back approach. By that, I mean I am using one History core book and one literature book selection each week, plus the map work. I make a little spiral book for each unit with all the activity pages and maps for each kid (this year, I will have LG, UG and DL kids). They will have all their pages and assignment readings in this book to make it easier for them to keep occupied while I am at work. On Fridays, we do our Literature and History discussion (the history discussion is an abbreviated session at the UG level only). Each kid has their own Literature discussion time with me. Over the weekend, they start reading the book for the next week. If I am lucky, we do one hands on activity every other week. I am NOT a crafty person, so it is rare that I get that done.

Hope this helps some!:)

[Tracy]

I use TOG along with the SOTW audio CDs. If you are looking for better retention, I don't think that you are going to find anything, because retention is not the point in the grammar years. Rather, it is exposure. As a PP said, TOG tends to feel choppy in the early years, because the grammar levels are written as a tagalong to the upper levels. However, I think this makes a lot more difference to the teacher than it does to the students. I don't think that even bright grammar-aged children necessarily connect all the dots, even if those connections are part of the program.

 

Good hands-on activities can help with retention, and TOG has excellent, age-appropriate activities.

 

Personally, I am using TOG partly because my dd7 loves history, and I want something that ultimately will offer a lot of depth. And I also use it because it is something that I can grow into. The first year, dd was 5yo, and we mostly just did the reading, and a little mapping and activities. The second year, we added more mapping and activities. Next year, we will do some narrations. The following year, dd will begin to do some independent reading. All without me having to learn a new program and seeing where we will be as we move into the higher levels.

[mandymom]

I like the curricula that I am using for subjects that TOG also covers. It is just history that we are having an issue with. I don't want them to miss out, history is facinating.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! :bigear:

 

I think that using TOG for just history wouldn't be worth it. One of the beauties of the program is how it weaves all the humanities together to create a "tapestry".

 

I personally love it, but I have mostly older kids and this coming year will only be our second year of homeschooling. I would probably use it if I only had younger students, but not if I only wanted a history curriculum.

[MathNut]

We really enjoy TOG. The books are very appealing for my kids, lots of visual appeal and interesting variety. Activities are scheduled.

 

THe benefit of starting now, IMO, is that you learn the TOG system (while the kids' content is light) and your kids grow into more indepth studies and grow more independent each time you cycle through.

 

Best,

[lea1]

I'm a very new to this, but wanted to share anyway. I am considering TOG for history for my 3rd grader, and currently am leaning on buying the digital edition for affordability even though it is still expensive. But I would definitely take a laid back approach even though I would like him to retain the information. I just want him to enjoy history at this stage. I am picking TOG because of their books. I know my son would not be interested in the books of the other programs. So to get back to your question, if your kids are not retaining, maybe immersing them into the subject more by supplementing with TOG LG books might be enough? Just a thought. And definitely try out their free trial.

 

I have found that SOTW and TOG actually use a lot of the same books, at least in Ancients/Year1 anyway.