JadeOrchidSong Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 We used TOG 4 and TOG 1 and this school we have been using MOH 2 and 3. My boys do not love TOG and it is hard for me to pull it off. So if you are TOG dropouts, what do you use for middle and high school for history and literature? Ds is heading to 8th grade and I really would like to have some kind of plan in place. Thanks for y help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Indeed Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 No answers, but wanted to bump for you because I am figuring my way right now too. Trying to decide between doing my own thing, or going with something more "boxed" like Sonlight, HOD, or MFW. I know my limits and TOG exceeds them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 I jumped out of me doing it all together. My ds has taken potters school classes and will be doing their classical track next year. He has done very well and I love not having to keep a teenage boy accountable to doing quality work. I even wound up doing something different for my next two kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjssully Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I know this is kinda a personal issue but I am wondering how much does Potter school cost for the classical track, bethben? Do you mind me asking that?? I am also in the same boat with 8th grade boys We have done TOG for 2 years now and I have been thinking of virtual co-op, but even that sounds like a lot of work! I do like their book choices however, I do like the discussions that we have! But.....it is a LOT of work.! pj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 For middle school with Kid1, we have used K12's Human Odyssey and tied some writing to WWS. I have no idea what we are going to do with Kid2. He is 2E and I'm not sure how much reading load I can push on him; we may need to find an audio option. For high school, the plan is History of the ______ World. My kids have an excellent understanding of history. I'm choosing to keep everyone on the same 4 year history cycle (I have a ten year age range in kids with multiple students), but to tweak each kid's school schedule for what they need. Kid2 will especially need History of the ______ World on audio combined with some Teaching Company stuff. For Kid1, I suspect we are going to add a long list of literature to read and really focus on writing skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momtofive Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 We haven't used TOG, but have used MFW, SL, and HOD for quite a long time. This fall we're going to use BiblioPlan. I love that BP offers much more flexibility in choosing *what* and *how much* we incorporate into our studies. With the others, we were always trying to keep up with someone else's schedule and book preferences. Now we can fine tune that to what we need, but still have just enough guidance and support, so I'm not doing all the planning myself. I've read that some consider BP as a "TOG Lite". Not sure about that, as I've not used TOG. Although I've looked at it many times, I know it's not a good fit for *me* in the amount of planning needed. I'm hopeful BP will fit the bill of what we need. Blessings! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelBee Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 I have used TOG for 4 years and will be using it again next year. What things are you feeling overwhelmed with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingiguana Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 I've found that using just the readings from boxed curriculums (or places like Ambleside Online) and then sending the kids off to read wikipedia or whatever for background has worked pretty well. If we haven't bought anything, we don't feel compelled to do it all, so we don't get overwhelmed. The education may look a little lopsided from the standpoint of even historical coverage, but my goal has always been to teach the tools -- reading, writing, research -- and let the gaps fall where they may. We also watch a lot of documentaries on TV. Just watching two documentaries back to back about the same time period is bound to bring up all kinds of questions about the nature of historical research. And we do whatever Teaching Company CDs that the library has that interest us and don't feature a completely boring lecturer. Be forewarned, though. When you send your kids off to college they will likely be bored in their history/literature/religion classes. Because they will have heard all the lectures already by Elizabeth Vandiver or Amy-Jill Levine and will actually know more than the professor. (Sad, but true) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 I know this is kinda a personal issue but I am wondering how much does Potter school cost for the classical track, bethben? Do you mind me asking that?? Not Bethben, but here you go: You can look up the tuition/fees on the Potter's School website by browsing through the online class catalog. It looks like the classical track (integrated History and Literature, so 2 credits since you're covering two subjects) runs about $950/full year, so just about $240 per subject per semester. That looks to be pretty similar to what some of the other Potter School high school classes are running -- about $480/full year for Algebra or Biology, for example, which is again about $240 per class per semester. Overall, that's quite reasonable, as I'm seeing $300-500 per class per SEMESTER for some classical online classes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise in IN Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 I love the idea of TOG, but when I try to use it I get terribly overwhelmed! I've had better success with Biblioplan. It has similar elements: 4 year cycle, living books, multi-age, multiple components, discussion. But it is much more straightforward and easy to use. It does have suggested literature, but no discussion guides or question to go with the literature. Biblioplan is not as intense/rigorous at the higher level, so that is a consideration. I don't think my boys could manage the Rhetoric level reading & literature. One of my friends uses it successfully at that level, but her teens love to read. So it depends on what your students need! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Pjssully, I think for the classical track and all the classes they are supposed to take for it is around $1500. It includes 4 class times. I think that comes out to around $10 a class period. For that, he gets discussion, assignments, graded work, and someone else to keep him accountable plus a fairly rigorous prep school quality of work expected of him. For this kid, the more I can be hands off with him, the better he does. He very much likes to be in charge. I find it hard to know for the high school levels what should be expected in terms of work and quality of work. Sure, I can give a test in math and grade that easily - the answer is either right or wrong. English and history are much more subjective and I have no idea what is quality and what was slapped together randomly. Potters school also has just history classes and English classes. You don't have to just do the classical track - there are so many other options at different price points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane Elliot Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 I don't really qualify as a TOG dropout. I bought it used and resold it. Just looking at it made me hyperventilate. I don't ever see this mentioned here, but I'll say that www.thegreatbooks.com has worked well for us in high school. My kids, some who are graduated from college now, still talk about this as one of their best memories from their homeschool years. We've also used and liked straight TWTM as described in Chapter 26. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom@shiloh Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I'm a TOG drop-out. We switched to Biblioplan as well. I find it much easier to implement with multi-age students, I prefer the literature choices and I find it to require much less planning on my part. My preference is to use a spine for history, but BP is flexible so I can substitute other books if we have one available. When we use the spine (which is most of the time) my kids can do the Cool History questions and that helps to hold them accountable for their reading and follow through is easier for me. The family discussion questions are great and another huge time-saver for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 I could never get it off the ground. Too much planning. A bit of a different beast, but have you considered Notgrass? We are tackling their new middle school world history course, Adam to Us next year for my 7th and 4th. It actually looks doable. I have hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h2bh Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I don't have high school kids, but I do use Old Western Culture from Roman Roads Media for my own education. It is much simpler to implement than TOG and I'm really enjoying it. My oldest is starting Great Conversation 1 (omnibus) at Wilson Hill next year. If you are considering outsourcing, that might be an option too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeOrchidSong Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share Posted April 19, 2015 I am now trying to sell my TOG redesigned Year 2 Unit 3 and Unit 4, TOG redesigned Year 3 all units, which I bought from a friend; and TOG redesigned Year 4 all units. I have invested a lot in the year plans. I did use Year 4 and Year 1 (I borrowed Year 1) and found that neither I nore my boys enjoyed using it. I only got to the discussion one time with my dialectic age son. So i conclude that if two years don't make us fall in a good groove with it, then it has to go. I am looking at Notgrass. Maybe some online classes, too. I'd like to outsource writing and science. History will hopefully be done still at home. Potter's school classic track sounds insteresting. But with more intense math and writing in high school, I do not want hisotry to take too much tome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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