Jump to content

Menu

TOG feels disjointed after I used SOTW


Recommended Posts

I have been using Story of the World 1, 2, and 3. Now I am trying ToG and I miss the spine that SOTW provides. TOG feels disjointed.

Anyone else feel this way? Also the boys don't like to do the worksheets that much.

I miss SOTW combined with Sonlight Readalouds and readers.

I hope I like TOG more than I do now as we get used to it.

Any suggestions?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used both. I started using TOG and SOTW at the same time, so I don't know what one is like without the other. I really liked how SOTW summed up the week for us. Are you using year 4? Is STOW not scheduled? It was in year 1.

 

We didn't use the worksheets much either but still had a great year.

 

Paula

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just started trying TOG a couple weeks ago.

It just made me realize how much easier to use just SOTW and its recommended supplementary history and literature books in the AG plus our Sonlight readers and read alouds.

I am trying TOG mainly to prepare us for the upper levels.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are going to be starting our 3rd year of TOG. I use both TOG and SOTW together. There is no question that TOG is disjointed in the grammar levels. It was meant for the grammar level kids to tag along with older siblings. But sometimes the topics that the older kids are studying are not appropriate for the littles, or there are just no books available for the subject at that level. The result is a program that was not designed for the youngest ages, but rather, one that was designed to keep a devoted homeschooling mom sane.

 

However, I will guarantee that your kids do not notice the disjointedness. They still haven't put that timeline and the geography in place in their heads yet.

 

It just made me realize how much easier to use just SOTW and its recommended supplementary history and literature books in the AG plus our Sonlight readers and read alouds.

 

:iagree: Yes, it is easier to just use SOTW, for the moment.

 

 

I am trying TOG mainly to prepare us for the upper levels.

 

:iagree: I consider TOG an investment. I don't have a lot of time to read through teacher's notes, but when I do, I am so impressed with the upper levels. When we started 2 years ago, I had some health issues and couldn't spend a lot of time with the TOG materials. But now that I am doing better, I am commited to spend at least a little time with the teacher's notes each week. I want to be prepared to have those delightful Socratic discussions when the time comes. Of course, I have a dd7 that is crazy about history and regularly asks the kind of questions that you would find in a TOG Socratic discussion. So I see TOG as becoming a better and better fit as she gets older. If I started TOG at the D or R stage, I think I would be very overwhelmed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

after reading that everyone is using it earlier to prepare for the later years I am thinking I might have to do the same.

 

I was planning to finish Story of the WOrld series ..Right now we will start medieval and I have kids in 3rd grade and 5th grades. So by the time they finish the story of the world series we were going to start up with TOG when fifth grades are in 9th grade. Will that be too late?

 

What kind of prep does TOG give?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

after reading that everyone is using it earlier to prepare for the later years I am thinking I might have to do the same.

 

I was planning to finish Story of the WOrld series ..Right now we will start medieval and I have kids in 3rd grade and 5th grades. So by the time they finish the story of the world series we were going to start up with TOG when fifth grades are in 9th grade. Will that be too late?

 

What kind of prep does TOG give?

 

A lot of people start TOG at the D level and do just fine with it. It depends on a lot of variables--your own history/lit background, your ability to adapt a program to your family's needs, your ability to understand and apply a particular educational philosophy (in this case, the Socratic model), your planning and organizational skills, etc.

 

TOG is not a box-checking program. You have to be able to look at the materials and prioritize what you want your children to learn. Then you need to decide how that is going to get done. I, personally, do not have good planning and organizational skills. But I find that I can overcome that weakness by establishing good habits and routines for my family. So using TOG at the grammar level is part of that process for me.

 

I also have a very poor history/lit background, and this is one of the reasons that I like doing SOTW and TOG together. SOTW gives a broad overview while TOG goes deeper into fewer subjects. A lot of people get bogged down with TOG because they have a hard time choosing what to study. I feel like studying TOG and SOTW together is preparing me to make those choices later on, as I will know a bit more about what we are studying, enabling me to make more informed choices.

 

As far as prep work, TOG provides the topic of study for each week, along with a very long list of possible activities. There are books to read, maps to make, crafts to do, discussions to participate in. By design, there is more than one family could possibly do in a week (one 9-wk unit fills one large binder) so that the teacher can choose those books and activities that are most important for her family's circumstances. So the prep includes making those choices, gathering those books, and reading the teacher's notes in order to lead a Socratic discussion each week. IMO, TOG is only worth the investment if you understand and are committed to the concept of the Socratic discussion. Otherwise, it is just a list of books and activities, which anyone can get anywhere for a lot less money.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting comments, love to hear your opinions.

We did SOTW1 in 1st grade, but then switched to TOG year 2 with SOTW as a spine in 2nd grade. The key for us was to use the questions from the TOG evaluation set to join the different books, threads, weeks, and so on together. We did not really use them as evaluations, but discussed how events, people, ideas were connected or lead from one point to another. I still love SOTW, but for example we never got out of it how Marco Polo's travels and book were a big factor in the beginning of the Renaissance in Italy. Why people suddenly opened up again, became curious. That's what TOG did for us.

We not only listened to a beautiful narration of events and learned about that event, but drew connections from one to the other.

In short, for us, it's just the opposite from how you feel. We consider SOTW rather disjointed, it does not show how different events influence each other. Maybe it's just us, but that is what we got from TOG, despite using LG mainly and only a bit of UG.

Again, the ideas from the evaluation questions brought the whole thing together. Without them, I could easily see how you would find TOG disjointed at the grammar level.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What are evaluation questions? Are they included in the teacher notes, or are they sold separately???

Thank you, though, for the help. If the evaluation questions do the trick of connecting the dots, I will definitely use them. I do need to know where they are. I am very new to TOG, you can tell. Thanks a lot!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We did SOTW1 in 1st grade, but then switched to TOG year 2 with SOTW as a spine in 2nd grade. The key for us was to use the questions from the TOG evaluation set to join the different books, threads, weeks, and so on together. We did not really use them as evaluations, but discussed how events, people, ideas were connected or lead from one point to another.

 

This is very interesting. I have never even considered getting the evaluations, because I am very much against using evaluations at the G levels. It never occurred to me that they might be useful in some other way. I am going to check this out, because this is the big thing that I have felt missing from the G levels. Thanks for sharing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are just doing L/UG, I can see how you would feel that way. I drooled over TOG for many years but didn't actually buy/use it until my oldest was in 8th grade.

 

Dialectic and Rhetoric levels are very very well done. Not that the lower levels are lacking, exactly, but really I think it was designed with high schoolers in mind, and younger kids tagging along.

 

If I had to start all over again, I'd probably have started my oldest with TOG in 6th or 7th grade with the dialectic level to really prepare him well for the rhetoric level work.

 

As for what I get - I get almost everything :) - digital/print, evaluations, Writing Aids (one time purchase), Pop Quiz, Map Aids, lap books, govt. docs...I have 6 kids and this is my big investment. I'm very very happy that I've now purchased all 4 years, and next year my schooling budget will be about half what it's been the past few years :hurray:.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This means I have to buy TOG NOW to understand what I will be doing in a few years!!!!!! UGH! More money.....

No you do not. We switched to TOG last year when my oldest hit dialectic. It works for my family bc of the "tag a long" element and the wonderful questions/discussion with my D child. We had no learning curve.

 

While it is certainly possible to use TOG with just Grammar stage folks, I don't feel anyone should feel they HAVE to for any reason. There are lots of excellent ways to do grammar stage history. SOTW w/ activity book is an excellent way. Save TOG for later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

would i buy the older levels and then study up on how to teach them when they get there or better to start them on tog now???

What to do? How to begin? WHat to buy?

 

When you buy a TOG unit or year-plan, you get all levels. So even though I am just doing LG right now, I have all of the materials for UG, D and R, as well. The levels are all intermingled so that people with multiple children can teach them all from the same materials.

 

for just the print edition mainly doing just dialectic ....do i really need the teaching training thing?

 

I have never used the videos. If you get it are are feeling a bit :confused:, then you may want to invest. Some people really find them helpful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been using Story of the World 1, 2, and 3. Now I am trying ToG and I miss the spine that SOTW provides. TOG feels disjointed.

Anyone else feel this way? Also the boys don't like to do the worksheets that much.

I miss SOTW combined with Sonlight Readalouds and readers.

I hope I like TOG more than I do now as we get used to it.

Any suggestions?

 

 

I have felt that also so I have been using SOTW 1 and using the books recommended in both SOTW and TOG Ancients. My two sons are in 1st grade so we are just out of the gate so this has worked well for us this year. But I had wondered how I would handle it after finishing SOTW 1,2,3&4 and then moving solely to TOG. I was thinking I would really miss the spine book that ties it all together. I will have to look into the evaluations, as I did not get those with TOG Ancients. I also gave up reading the teacher's notes in TOG after the first couple of weeks because I was just trying to figure out how to teach everything and which math curriculum worked best for us. Now that we have settled in pretty well, I need to go back and look at it again. I would love to be able to move just to TOG (since that is what I want to use long term) and not have to also purchase SOTW for the next three years (although we are enjoying SOTW;).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would love to be able to move just to TOG (since that is what I want to use long term) and not have to also purchase SOTW for the next three years (although we are enjoying SOTW;).

 

:iagree: but I love them both! I can't believe all the money we are spending on history when my oldest is only 7yo. :svengo: But I guess I shouldn't fix it if it ain't broken. :tongue_smilie:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:iagree: but I love them both! I can't believe all the money we are spending on history when my oldest is only 7yo. :svengo: But I guess I shouldn't fix it if it ain't broken. :tongue_smilie:

 

Me too!:tongue_smilie:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...