Anyone use TOG or Biblioplan and not like them?

[JaneGrey]

I'd like to hear from those who have used one or the other (or both) but didn't like the program(s). Can you give me a detailed explanation of why?

 

I've seen samples of both. I'm concerned with how these things work out and if I'm the kind of person that won't do well with one or the other.

 

Trying to decide between shelling out $$$ for TOG or scrimping with Biblioplan. That's some huge difference in cash outlay. Theoretically, you can use both all the way through hs, too, so I can't justify it that way.

 

Thanks!

[teamturner]

I used Biblioplan Middle Ages, Ren., and Reformation this year. It did not go well for us for the following reasons:

 

1. My dc did not enjoy all the reading from the Encyclopedias and Cultural Atlas type books. I ended up pairing it all down quite a bit.

 

2. I didn't plan ahead and have activities/crafts ready for each week. We did SOTW the year before that and although Biblioplan does include SOTW, I didn't preplan what activites we would do, etc. I think if I had done that it would have gone a little better.

 

3. 2 of my dc didn't like the read alouds. Again, that may be a problem unique to my dc since we already had gotten out of the habbit of read alouds. My dc prefer the books listed for their grade level and the books listed in SOTW activity guide. Picture books are what they prefer.

 

I think if your family likes crafts and activities, to make Biblioplan work you should plan that out ahead of time. I did have a Hands and Hearts Middle Ages History Kit that helped. If you just want an outline of books to read then Biblioplan would be fine all by itself. I didn't use the writing prompts for Grammar students either since I didn't think my dc were ready for that. HTHs!

 

Blessings,

[Tenaj]

We've used TOG in the past for several years. I finally, reluctantly gave it up and have been much happier without it. Mainly it was just too much . . . too many choices (this was the old TOG, not Redesign). I realized after we quit using it that I had always felt rushed and behind with TOG trying to cover the material at the pace set. Another problem we had with the old TOG was that if you didn't read all the suggested books than the worksheets/discussion questions became a problem because you just hadn't been exposed to the information. I think that the redesign addressed those issues but it was too late for us.

 

HTH

[Shelly in IL]

I got the best answers to this question "Has anyone ever failed with ToG."

 

The people of the board gave such great answers - and guess what? We are using ToG Year 2 Redesigned this fall! HTH

[M&M]

I really didn't think that there was that much for grammar stage, SOTW with the activity guide was a better fit. I saved it for the logic stage thinking that we would use it.

 

But here we are in logic stage, and now we are using TOG. TOG offers me things that Bibiloplan does not. The main things are, preparation for Rhetoric stage, and guidance in teaching using socratic discussion.

 

The bottom line for me is that TOG offers me a plan everything I need for K-12 for history, geography, philosopy/worldview, history of science, writing, and church history/Bible. It allows me to take what I learned in WTM and implement it for all of my children without all the work.

[JaneGrey]

Thanks so much, all, for taking time to reply to my thread! You've been a big help. My children will someday thank you.

 

Shelly: thanks for showing me your old thread. Hadn't found anything under "TOG review" when I searched the boards before posting mine. I might have a lot of questions for you if I take the plunge....:tongue_smilie: