Need advice about TOG

[momee]

DS 1 did TOG.  For many outside reasons, he came to resent the rigor and wasn't at all a great books type kid.  We got through years 1 - 3 and I feel he learned alot.  His heart wasn't in it but I was impressed with the material nonetheless.

 

DD 2 watched all that happen, attributed the rigor to TOG and so chose SL for her 4 years of history and did very, very well.  My oversight in making sure the work was done was really all she needed as she is a very independent learner and was highly motivated to do all asked of her.

 

This fall I'm beginning 9th grade with DD 3 and she has chosen TOG for history and literature (we will do Intro to Rhetoric with WTMA for writing).

 

Would any of you who use TOG at the rhetoric level give me a bird's eye view of what a typical week with a kid who is willing but not a super stellar classically motivated learner should look like?

 

I have to be honest, I could use some help in watching for that fine line of challenge vs. overwhelming.

 

We've done about 9 weeks - she does the reading just fine, but has no interest in the literature vocabulary cards or thematic study (so this is a challenge to teach her) of the literature component.  Her answers for the history questions are fair, not as deep as could be and  I think we need to step it up a notch there but don't want to overwhelm her.

 

I welcome any thoughts...

[momee]

This makes my kids seem lazy, which isn't what I meant.

 

How about I redo and ask, might someone be so kind as to give me a week glance at how you handle TOG rhetoric?

[Scuff]

You're kids don't seem lazy. It's a lot and I admire how you let them choose. My DS has decided he hates TOG and wants to just do a textbook. He's decided to use Notgrass. I don't know what we're going to use for dd in a year. She'll enjoy the books better. But, I'm honestly looking at MFW or Sonlight or whatever, because TOG Rhetoric seems daunting. I was overwhelmend just making out the list of R books for ds this year (before we switched)! And we've already used TOG for 3 years! But, with a new high schooler, a new kindergartener, a new middle schooler and an 8th grader and toddler, part of me wants a curriculum that just tells me what to do next. Even though I hated that 3 years ago. 

[melmichigan]

Your kids don't seem lazy to me.  I think this is very individual and customizable to each child so advice is hard.  It also depends on which year plan you are using.  

 

I combine and/or skip weeks without guilt.  I cut things when needed based on overall class load using the Loom documents for Literature.  In the past I've cut the year plans.  Last cycle I only did three units in Y2 in one year because of the amount of material.  I made up the time in Y4.  It's to early to decide if I will do that again with kids in R, D, UG, and LG this year.

 

We don't do the literature cards.  We use Vocabulary.com for lists related to the books we are reading.  We are also doing the 100 words that your high schooler needs to know.  When we finish that we can move on to college lists.  (We also have MCT CE lists for easy reference.)  We do use quizlet to review the literature terms, but many of them are repeats of what DD has already learned (I use the Terms and Poetics Readings list from the loom to know which ones are assigned each week.)  We do a quick review of anything new or really relevant to that weeks reading.

 

I mark which questions I want DD to focus on for discussion. (In the past I have made workbooks and I will continue to use those for the younger kids.  I don't have current plans to do that for R.)

 

I use the Teaching Company videos, Foundation of Western Civilization I and II, and The History of the United States, as correlated from the TOG Yahoo groups to help with lecture skills and to bring the overall big picture to our studies.  I also use Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition and title specific lectures to bring the lectures into our literature studies.  These are important for my student because she'd rather read than listen to a lecture, and it's a skill that needs developed.

 

This is only my second year with a child in Rhetoric level, so take my advice with a grain of salt.  It's subject to change as future kids move up the ranks.   :)  HTH!

[momee]

This is great advice and I appreciate your taking time to list resources.

 

Thanks for the reminder it is very pliable and easy to match to my needs!

[Hedgehogs4]

well, this thread is interesting because I am just about to start TOG / R with my first, a 14 yo boy who has been very motivated in the past with TOG. 

 

I have written a syllabus for the co-op that I do with three other families. I have predicted about 12 hours of work on TOG subject matter in an average week, but we will see how that works out in practice. We only plan to cover 3 units  this year so as not to make the work too overwhelming. I want them to get the depth of the material, but I am scaling back the amount in favor of a more enjoyable work pace.

 

I'll be interested in others' responses.  :lurk5:

[melmichigan]

well, this thread is interesting because I am just about to start TOG / R with my first, a 14 yo boy who has been very motivated in the past with TOG. 

 

I have written a syllabus for the co-op that I do with three other families. I have predicted about 12 hours of work on TOG subject matter in an average week, but we will see how that works out in practice. We only plan to cover 3 units  this year so as not to make the work too overwhelming. I want them to get the depth of the material, but I am scaling back the amount in favor of a more enjoyable work pace.

 

I'll be interested in others' responses.  :lurk5:

What year are you doing? :)