TOG...a wise investment?

[Melis]

Hello! :)

 

I have purchased Tapestry of Grace Year 1 and although I think it is a beautiful curriculum, I'm beginning to wonder if it's worth the money I have invested for what I am actually using it for. Upon review of SOTW and it's activity guide, I couldn't help but question if TOG was a wise investment on my part since I am only utilizing it for the reading assignments, timeline and some projects. It seems to me I could have used the SOTW and activity guide and saved myself a lot of time and money. Has anyone else found this to be case after the fact? I guess I'm just in a panic over the money I have spent and the fact that I still need to get additional readers to "tell the story" of history.

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts! :)

~Melissa

[WTMindy]

Well, it depends on what you want long term. I love TOG for the dialectic and especially rhetoric work, so I purchased it for our second rotation of history. We are loving it. However, I wouldn't have traded 4 years with SOTW for anything! So, I think it is worth it because we will use each volume twice.

[Melis]

Yes! Thank you so much for that reminder of thinking in terms of the "big picture", Mindy! :) My boys are still very young (K and 2nd), but when I decided to purchase TOG, it was with the expectation of doing the 4 years of rotation. Now that I am thinking in terms of this year and staying within budget, I just lost focus! LOL Thank you for helping me put that back into perspective! :)

[Trivium Academy]

We used SOTW 1 for first grade with the AG, in 2nd grade mid-year of SOTW2, we switched to TOG2. TOG is a much better fit for us than SOTW was. We didn't use most of the activities this first year using TOG but we're going to be using a lot more now in our 2nd year including Evaluations, MapAids and Writing Aids.

 

We will use each year plan 2 to 3 more times per child and I have two children.

[anewday]

Well, it depends on what you want long term. I love TOG for the dialectic and especially rhetoric work, so I purchased it for our second rotation of history. We are loving it. However, I wouldn't have traded 4 years with SOTW for anything! So, I think it is worth it because we will use each volume twice.

 

This is the path we're taking at this stage (I think ;)). We're doing SOTW for our first round, then likely going with TOG at the older stages. :)

 

I have heard mixed reviews on TOG for the early levels. Some love it, some feel that the amount of material is not necessary and don't get the full benefit. However, I do have a friend who chose TOG for the first go round because she knew she'd be using it for the second as well.

[Janice in NJ]

Hi Melissa,

 

One of the biggest benefits that TOG offers is that it is K-Mom. Don't forget that. ;)

 

I would suggest that you start to look ahead to some of the topics that are coming up in the rest of your unit. Scan your library's shelves, choose a book (or two) at the D level or the R level (I heartily recommend the lit - especially the R level lit. :001_smile:) and devote some time to your education. It's GREAT for your kids to see you modeling self-education, and you will be glad that you started peeking ahead asap when your kids get older.

 

TOG does an excellent job of offering multi-level resources... even if you don't have multi-level kids. I always heard that the wise hsing momma teaches to the oldest child in their homeschool and then FOLDs in the younger kids as they go. One of the BIGGEST ta-da moments for me was when I realized that *I* was the oldest "student" in our homeschool. Once I learn the material, I become a master-teacher. WHAT a difference. Great stuff!

 

And that's why TOG is SO worth it to me!

 

Peace,

Janice

 

Enjoy your little people

Enjoy your journey

[susie in tx]

I've never been incredibly successful at going through a year of SOTW. I've tried, truly, but I need the hand holding that TOG provides.

 

Last year, we used SL Core 6, SL Core 1, and part of SL Core B. I was trying to keep everyone on their own level. It was very hard. This year, it's much easier because I can open up the TOG yellow pages and see what everyone is supposed to do. My LG students listen to SOTW and do the mapwork. They also listen to the lit books. MY UG student listens to SOTW, does all of the UG history and some of the alternative UG and D history, the mapwork, and the lit.

 

Sometimes, it kind of feels disjointed because everyone is working on their own, ftmp. I don't tend to have all of us working on TOG at the same time.

 

However, I love the dialectic history and accountability history questions. i also love the lit from LG on through high school. I bought TOG for the D and R levels, but I'm pleased with the lower levels, as it helps to keep me on track. I wasn't able to do that with SOTW alone.

 

However, there are times when I would really like the coloring pages in the SOTW activity book. The grass is always greener, eh?

[Kris in Wis]

Hello! :)

 

I have purchased Tapestry of Grace Year 1 and although I think it is a beautiful curriculum, I'm beginning to wonder if it's worth the money I have invested for what I am actually using it for. Upon review of SOTW and it's activity guide, I couldn't help but question if TOG was a wise investment on my part since I am only utilizing it for the reading assignments, timeline and some projects. It seems to me I could have used the SOTW and activity guide and saved myself a lot of time and money. Has anyone else found this to be case after the fact? I guess I'm just in a panic over the money I have spent and the fact that I still need to get additional readers to "tell the story" of history.

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts! :)

~Melissa

 

I thought it was expensive when I bought mine 6 years ago! It's WAY more expensive now!

 

If you plan to recycle through it, it may be worth it. Of course, by the time you get to the cycle again, it will have been revamped . . . again, and they will offer you an upgrade (discounted, of course, but it still costs you).

 

It was not worth it to us, because it was not a good fit for our situation at the time. It was extremely time-consuming (I got burned out quickly with 4 kids in 4 different levels), and had way more stuff included than we ever needed or wanted. There are other reasons, probably not relevant here, why it wasn't a good investment for us. However, it is a good curriculum, just not for everybody.

[Mama Lynx]

Yes! Thank you so much for that reminder of thinking in terms of the "big picture", Mindy! :) My boys are still very young (K and 2nd), but when I decided to purchase TOG, it was with the expectation of doing the 4 years of rotation. Now that I am thinking in terms of this year and staying within budget, I just lost focus! LOL Thank you for helping me put that back into perspective! :)

 

In general, I really prefer to just use SOTW with my younger kids. However, TOG is definitely worth it, IMO, for the upper levels.

[Jill- OK]

...a set of very expensive Teacher's Notes, lol.

 

Seriously; I use TOG as a sort of supplement. We're using living books/projects/some SOTW for my youngers, and Spielvogel's HO for my olders (with a bit of SWB's ancient history book for adults), and I've loosely arranged it according to the TOG outline (with certain weeks of TOG going solo, for Bible history).

 

I got TOG before the price hike, but, still...it's spendy for a supplement, lol.

 

We don't use many of the same resources they suggest. We've done a couple of projects. I've combined weeks and ditched so much of it that someone more sane than I might wonder how I can even say I'm 'using' it at all!

 

That said, I still don't regret buying it, or using it this way. I may or may not be able to go the next round without it, but it's handy to have, to just flip open and find a project or bit of useful information about a civilization/time period.

 

That's the beauty of it, for me, a woman with five kids, attempting to give a very relaxed classical education to my kids (and also devoting some time to working on a very limited basis). Even 'very relaxed' classical takes a bit of brain power, you know? The time for self-education either isn't there, or, if we're being frank, just isn't at the top of the priority list for me. I need...a cheat sheet. And TOG sorta has that, in the form of their Most Excellent Teacher Notes. (I guess a discussion about a serious history curriculum isn't the best place for a Bill and Ted reference, lol? Sew-Crates, anyone?)

 

I can be somewhat unprepared (here's the confession part), and still sit down and lead a halfway (and I do mean halfway) intelligent discussion with my Bigs. I still learn. I can find great ideas, even if I only use a few of them.

 

And I don't have to give up watching TiVo'd Judge Judy episodes in my free time.

[gardenschooler]

(I heartily recommend the lit - especially the R level lit. :001_smile:) and devote some time to your education.

 

Well. Yeah. Goodness.

 

I completely flipped out last week, looking ahead to this week at the lit. It took awhile, but I finally gave myself permission to skip The Song of Roland and spend two weeks on Beowulf. (I want to do it ALL - but for crying out loud, she just turned 14!) Let's just say dd is seemingly doing fine with the R Lit, while it's a bit of an adjustment for me. :)

 

It's GREAT for your kids to see you modeling self-education, and you will be glad that you started peeking ahead asap when your kids get older.

 

At the very least, I'm trying to do it to a) keep up, and b) let dd know that she's not in this alone! Considering I do have the time, I don't want to let her get too far ahead of me. I also want to be able to show her that it can be done, and it won't kill us. We're having to study A WHOLE HECKUVA lot more than we ever have in our lives. This TOG is making us think - well, we have to, to be able to write about it, don't we? (The only thing I've sped up is the writing - we're working on essays, tying them to the history, as I hear that's what we'll be doing down the road anyway).

 

Definitely look ahead! I wish I had spent more time on self-education over the last few years, but it was hard to discipline myself. Now I have to. I did some of my oldest dd's English/Lit with her for 9th, but she took a lot of outside classes for those subjects, too. Had I done more with her, I'd be better prepared now, w/dd14.

 

I'm getting there, though, and TOG is pushing me, which might be why I'm so exhausted by it right now. It's not the myriad of choices or the layout in so many pieces or any of that that's bothering me, as I thought....it's making me work! :lol:

 

Sorry for hijacking your thread. I hope someone can learn something from my lack of preparation!

[Mama Lynx]

You know, I actually started buying it to use like you're describing. I just wanted the notes, and the discussion questions.

 

For me, the program is worth it for the multilevel reading lists, and the discussion questions. We were going through history, SOTW was great. But as my kids got older we needed to bump up the level of thought/connections/analysis. I always thought I could just manage that myself, but it turns out that maybe I *can*, but I wasn't. Ha.

 

So it's funny. I bought it for the questions, and so far we've been doing their schedule, and the geography to boot. Occasionally we do their lit, too, as about half the time it dovetails with what I had planned to do anyway.

 

I bought one unit just to try it out, and just ordered the next.

[Mama Lynx]

You know, it's funny. My kids don't all work on TOG at the same time, either. But I feel less disjointed this way than I did when some were doing SOTW, and some were doing Kingfisher. I think it's that the discussion gives me that feeling of it being tied together. I try to do the discussions in the car, when all of the children are a captive audience. The younger kids will then often chime in, or ask questions.

 

I should add that I do this when DH is the one driving the car :lol:

[melmac]

This is what we have/will be doing, as well.

 

So, I agree with Mindy.:)

 

 

Well, it depends on what you want long term. I love TOG for the dialectic and especially rhetoric work, so I purchased it for our second rotation of history. We are loving it. However, I wouldn't have traded 4 years with SOTW for anything! So, I think it is worth it because we will use each volume twice.

[Tracy in Ky]

I really love TOG. We did year 1 last year, but it was too much for my dialectic student; it just pushed too hard and went too fast. We loved it and learned a lot, but the pace and intensity was a bit much. SO, this year, as we do year 2, we are going at half speed. We are taking 2 weeks to do each week, and it is much, much better. We can take our time and soak, enjoying what we learn without feeling like we have something chasing us. It will probably be a bit slow for my LG student, but she is 3rd grade so I am adding in lots of UG reading for her, to keep her busy! :)

 

A note about SOTW. Ds went through all 4 volumes before we switched to TOG. I took dd through volume 1 before we switched over to TOG. So, as a supplement, she just listens to the SOTW books world on cd. She loves them and has learned a lot of history from just listening to the books. It is an easy, comfortable way to use both!

[Jill- OK]

...so far we've been doing their schedule, and the geography to boot. Occasionally we do their lit, too, as about half the time it dovetails with what I had planned to do anyway.

 

...I forgot to mention the geography! We use a lot of that, too, and that's a good thing...it's one of those subjects that seems to slip off to the side when I'm winging it on my own.

 

I think what I like so much is that it's not so cut-and-dried, as something like Sonlight is, but it's really just a format, and suggestions. You can still do your own thing, but get a lot of direction and help if you need it.

 

Their lit suggestions for upper levels have been helpful, although I follow a WTM approach a little more, and wish they'd included notes for the Iliad, rather than the Odyssey.

[trisharog]

I have embarked on a fantastic journey this year to homeschool one child at a time. My twins are in 4th grade and one attends a classical Christian school and the other is with me. While I am certain of all of the benefits of HSing , my "schooled" child comes home with greater depth in history than I am coming up with using SOTW2 ,History Lives , VP cards and many library books. I just feel I need more teacher notes. I have been wondering about TOG for next year but really just want the teacher notes that supplement that time period. Is there anything available with more meat to go along with SOTW3 without buying the whole TOG unit?