Time for my annual delusion that I have time to do Tapestry of Grace,

[ktgrok]

Every year I have to peruse it for a while, drool over it, etc. Then decide no, it is not for us. At least I only bought it once, lol!

[ktgrok]

Crud....it's sucking me in! I love all the living books! Remind me again why I don't want this? I'd be smarter, and use it down a level, not up. As in, my 4th grader I'd probably use more lower grammar than dialectical stuff. Last time I tried it I used stuff on the higher end and regretted it. Man. I was all set on Biblioplan....

I need something that I can do with both the 1st and 4th grader, that isn't boring, that has flexibility. We are Christian, but liberal, old earth, evolution believing Christians with a focus on social justice. Attend an Episcopal church but have a Catholic background (it's complicated...). 

Edited July 29, 2019 by Ktgrok

[historically accurate]

Build Your Library? Any of levels 1-4 could be done with a 1st and 4th grader. Lists of extra readers for levels 1 & 2 (not scheduled) are available on the website for your 4th grader. It uses Story of the World as the spine and adds in living books. It's not Christian, but flexible enough to add in what you want in the way of religious instruction. Biblioplan sounds like a fit as well. 

Personally, I found Tapestry of Grace was so overwhelming to me that I ended up junking it after about a week and a half. I do not understand how people keep all of the pieces moving together. I do not have time to have a "learning curve" on homeschool curriculum. 

[HomeAgain]

You're a little late! 😄   I do all this drooling over pretty packages in April, second guess my choices at the beginning of July and look all over again, and may go back for a third round in November once the newness wears off.

My thing is Memoria Press.  It won't work for us for wayyyy too many reasons, but man, I do love how neat and tidy it is!

[freesia]

40 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

Crud....it's sucking me in! I love all the living books! Remind me again why I don't want this? I'd be smarter, and use it down a level, not up. As in, my 4th grader I'd probably use more lower grammar than dialectical stuff. Last time I tried it I used stuff on the higher end and regretted it. Man. I was all set on Biblioplan....

I need something that I can do with both the 1st and 4th grader, that isn't boring, that has flexibility. We are Christian, but liberal, old earth, evolution believing Christians with a focus on social justice. Attend an Episcopal church but have a Catholic background (it's complicated...). 

We started TOG when my oldest was in 6th grade.  Really, I wouldn't start before then.  I liked Sonlight/Bookshark way more for living books, tbh.  I do love the Dialetic and Rhetoric discussions, though.

[ktgrok]

53 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

You're a little late! 😄   I do all this drooling over pretty packages in April, second guess my choices at the beginning of July and look all over again, and may go back for a third round in November once the newness wears off.

My thing is Memoria Press.  It won't work for us for wayyyy too many reasons, but man, I do love how neat and tidy it is!

Ha! Bought that last year...didn't last. 

[ktgrok]

50 minutes ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

First grade with TOG would be a tough sell for me. I wouldn’t start it before 4th grade tbh. It might be great for your 4th plus kids (on phone and can’t see sig for your kids ages). But if irc y’all didn’t like SL and Book Shark....idk- I felt like the TOG books were drier. 

 

48 minutes ago, freesia said:

We started TOG when my oldest was in 6th grade.  Really, I wouldn't start before then.  I liked Sonlight/Bookshark way more for living books, tbh.  I do love the Dialetic and Rhetoric discussions, though.

The kids found books like Milly Mindy Mandy or whatever her name is boring as heck. And we don't like sad books. The non fiction books are the bigger draw. Those usually go over really well. 

[ktgrok]

1 hour ago, beckyjo said:

Build Your Library? Any of levels 1-4 could be done with a 1st and 4th grader. Lists of extra readers for levels 1 & 2 (not scheduled) are available on the website for your 4th grader. It uses Story of the World as the spine and adds in living books. It's not Christian, but flexible enough to add in what you want in the way of religious instruction. Biblioplan sounds like a fit as well. 

Personally, I found Tapestry of Grace was so overwhelming to me that I ended up junking it after about a week and a half. I do not understand how people keep all of the pieces moving together. I do not have time to have a "learning curve" on homeschool curriculum. 

Hmm, it didn't occur to me to be able to use Build Your Library for more than one grade...may revisit that idea. We are not huge Story of the World people though. I really think they like books with more pictures - like the You Wouldn't Want to Be book, etc. 

[Slache]

I do this with MFW!

I think you should buy it and then send it to me.

[EmilyGF]

1 hour ago, HomeAgain said:

You're a little late! 😄   I do all this drooling over pretty packages in April, second guess my choices at the beginning of July and look all over again, and may go back for a third round in November once the newness wears off.

My thing is Memoria Press.  It won't work for us for wayyyy too many reasons, but man, I do love how neat and tidy it is!

Me too!

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

13 minutes ago, Slache said:

I do this with MFW!

I think you should buy it and then send it to me.

Me too! I’ve looked at MFW every year since my oldest was in 2nd grade. I’ve recommended it to other people who have used it and loved it. I just didn’t want to be tied down to a plan someone else came up with! I LIKE pulling my own stuff together. 

This year....I bought MFW for the first time. I’ll have 10th, 8th, 7th, and 5th grades. Older two will be doing 9th grade Ancient History and Literature, youngest two will be doing Exploring Countries and Cultures. I have to say that I LOVE the looks of it even more as it sits on my shelves than I did at a convention or in a catalog. I love that so much of the planning has been done for me. I might actually have time to plan some of the fun extras I never seem to get to! I hope it works out as well as I think it will! 

[ktgrok]

I should add that my 1st grader would just tag along, maybe do the coloring pages, and any crafts/activities. I'm not expecting to "do history" on any large way with him. But I do like showing him the pictures in the books, discussing it a bit with him, etc. 

My thing I remember not liking with Build Your Library was it included language arts, which didn't work for us with a dyslexic student. 

[ktgrok]

MFW is another I drool over - but I think the emphasis on missionaries might drive me crazy....i have mixed feelings on missionary work, to say the least. Also, supposedly my 1st grader would need something different than the 4th grader with that one too, right?

[freesia]

You know what I'd consider in your place.  Even though you are not big Story of the World people, I'd consider getting the Activity book and then getting books from the related reading sections and just reading them.  Or put together a reading list of books that look good from whatever history period you are interested in.  This is pretty much what my youngest has done up until this year.  She has always done the same period as the rest of the kids are doing, but she's never liked SOTW or actually a lot of other history books.  She loves the You Wouldn't Want to Be series, fiction, occasional biographies and activities.  So, I just use TOG and Sonlight and a list of the Wouldn't Want series and sometimes a search at the library.  I put lots on hold and then we just read what we like.  I haven't had her do much output yet (through 4th grade.)  I wanted to move her from hating history to enjoying it.  If you post the period you want, I bet folks would let you know their favorite non-sad books.  It really doesn't take that long and while I have a calendar of how long we are spending on each mini-topic, I don't plan out page numbers or anything.

(I think your oldest's age is wrong on your sig)

[Slache]

1 hour ago, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

Me too! I’ve looked at MFW every year since my oldest was in 2nd grade. I’ve recommended it to other people who have used it and loved it. I just didn’t want to be tied down to a plan someone else came up with! I LIKE pulling my own stuff together. 

This year....I bought MFW for the first time. I’ll have 10th, 8th, 7th, and 5th grades. Older two will be doing 9th grade Ancient History and Literature, youngest two will be doing Exploring Countries and Cultures. I have to say that I LOVE the looks of it even more as it sits on my shelves than I did at a convention or in a catalog. I love that so much of the planning has been done for me. I might actually have time to plan some of the fun extras I never seem to get to! I hope it works out as well as I think it will! 

Would you sush! My spine actually came in the mail today (happy dance!) for my homemade geography through cartography with living books curriculum. Wish me luck.

49 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

MFW is another I drool over - but I think the emphasis on missionaries might drive me crazy....i have mixed feelings on missionary work, to say the least. Also, supposedly my 1st grader would need something different than the 4th grader with that one too, right?

According to them, yes. According to mom, meh.

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

5 hours ago, Slache said:

Would you sush! My spine actually came in the mail today (happy dance!) for my homemade geography through cartography with living books curriculum. Wish me luck.

Haha! Sorry! If it makes you feel any better, the tipping point for me to actually buy MFW this year was that the other, not homeschool related, parts of my life are insane right now and I simply didn’t have the time, energy, or focus available to put together my own thing. I needed something where at least a good deal of the work had already been done for me. Suddenly, MFW went from something I drool over every year to the thing that might (fingers crossed) give us a decent school year next year. 

I saw the thread where you talked about the geography curriculum you’re putting together. Sounds awesome! Just the sort of thing I’d like to do if I were able. You’ll have to let us know how it goes. 🙂 

[ByGrace3]

I used to visit the idea of TOG every year . . . and then end up with Biblioplan. BP is like a paired down TOG with a SL feel. I think TOG is wonderful but a lot more work and unnecessary for the younger years. I think its great if you want it, but I liked the streamlined feel of BP. 

[Momto6inIN]

Cracks me up that ToG, Memoria Press, and MFW are all 3 the ones I drool over at this time of year ... after I already have this year's stuff bought and planned and ready to go ... the time for second guessing has come 😉

[ktgrok]

someone explain how I started out with my usual drooling over TOG and ended up with my finger poised over the "buy" button for Winter Promise?!?!

Cause that's where I'm at. Living, non fiction books - check. Several levels of LA to choose from, so my more advanced reader for his grade and my dyslexic can have appropriate levels. Lots of hands on, lots of projects, lots of drawing, etc, which they both like but especially my 4th grader who needs to rediscover her love of learning. And a schedule for me! 

[homemommy83]

I used to do that with MFW rotations.  I love the idea of teaching all of my children together except the younger and HSers, but in reality I only have time for Family Bible/ Readalouds, A littles readaloud period before naps, A primary group social studies/ science/ health and safety rotation, and tutor each child for about half an hour during our Robinson style rotation.  We do 1 hour writing/ English, 1 hour Reading-2 in HS, 1 hour Math- almost 2 hours in HS.  I loved the years when all of my children were young and I did have time to teach them all together...but now I have 3 groups plus a newborn.  

Brenda

Fwiw...I have also googly eyed over Tapestry but knew I could never do it.

[homemommy83]

18 hours ago, Ktgrok said:

someone explain how I started out with my usual drooling over TOG and ended up with my finger poised over the "buy" button for Winter Promise?!?!

Cause that's where I'm at. Living, non fiction books - check. Several levels of LA to choose from, so my more advanced reader for his grade and my dyslexic can have appropriate levels. Lots of hands on, lots of projects, lots of drawing, etc, which they both like but especially my 4th grader who needs to rediscover her love of learning. And a schedule for me! 

I love the looks of Winterspromise to!  I always disliked extra crafts and such...because it felt like here mom is you a craft to do..but now my kids actually do this type of stuff for fun so it would be great for them.  Off to day dream about Winterspromise while nursing our little sweetheart.

Brenda

[BooksandBoys]

On 7/29/2019 at 2:21 PM, Slache said:

Would you sush! My spine actually came in the mail today (happy dance!) for my homemade geography through cartography with living books curriculum. Wish me luck.

Oh! Tell me more! This is what I dream of doing for geography!!

ktgrok, I’m with you. So much drooling, so much not buying. I keep coming back to Bookshark for my oldest (6th this year, very 2E) because a) I can borrow it from my charter school, so it’s free, b) we are so very much a books family, and c) he’s an excellent reader, so I have him read about half (or more) of the read-alouds to himself because I can’t keep up.  

This is the first year I’ll have a second level of literature/history going. I’m combining my younger two boys (DS2 is 3rd/2nd grade and DS3 is 1st grade). We’re doing the same history as Bookshark 6 (which is Story of the World 1 and 2), so I picked up the Activity Book for Ancients, and we’ll do the audios in the car because I already own them. For literature, I’m pulling my favorites from Bookshark 1-2, BYL 1-2, and Ambleside 0-1. I’ve decided that if I’m reading all these books aloud (because neither are ready to do any independent reading on these harder books), I’m only reading books I love. But...I wish I had the time to just buy a package and follow it. It’s easier than this piecemeal stuff, if there was only more time. 

[alisoncooks]

I love this thread. I drool over ToG/MP/MFW -- all of them -- every single year. And I *know* that those sort of programs would fail abysmally in our home...but they're so pretty! My kids are so uneven in their abilities (reading far below grade level, etc) that a package would be a waste.

(I did buy Bookshark 6 Science for this coming year...and my rebellious, do-it-my-own-way self is already slightly panicking at the laid-out schedules and books and stuff.)

[Shoeless]

Ha, I was actually thinking of TOG earlier today.  Someone gave us TOG a year or so ago, and I just felt so overwhelmed looking at all of it.  The lady that gave it to me is kind of intense, and I think maybe I'm way too laid back for something as hefty as TOG. 

I keep peeking at the Moving Beyond the Page website.  I love how orderly and tidy it all seems, but I suspect DS11 would get so bored with it after a few weeks. I'm probably going to just cherry pick a few of the topics that seem interesting to him.  

[ktgrok]

So, I think I've talked myself back into Biblioplan, lol. Not because it is less work, but because it is less to store/organize/etc. Less pages to look at and flip between, basically. I may focus more on the non fiction books from the library, etc than the spine some weeks, but this way I HAVE a spine. Also will get the Usborne History Encyclopedia, if I don' have a copy around here. 

Edited August 2, 2019 by Ktgrok

[scrapbookbuzz]

Interesting that I found this thread when all I did was search for AmblesideOnline on this site and there is ONE mention of it and it is 
simply referred to as "AO." LOL

Oh, how I get the "Oh, shiny!" glazed eye response to pretty, packaged pages of new curriculum. I've bought my share over the years!
Here's what I know: you will never like ALL of it. You WILL get frustrated: with the curriculum, with yourself, with your kids. You may not 
ever FINISH (check ALL the boxes) on the Teacher's Manual/Instructor's Guide. And here's a secret: you're NOT supposed to. In almost all
of them, the publisher makes a statement to the fact of, "We've included more assignments for each day than can be accomplished on most
days because..." followed by whatever reason they're giving. I'm also quite confident that as long as you are actually paying attention to your kiddos
and are concerned about their education, they are getting a MUCH better education than they would in a brick and mortar.

Mamas, it is quite okay to drool over the "Oh, shiny!" prettily packaged pages. But you do not have to second guess yourself. You chose the curriculum you 
already have planned for a reason. What was that reason? Give it a chance to show up and bless your days. Peruse the books and TMs/IGs before school starts - 
that's a better use of your time, honestly. 

I say all of this because I have BTDT (been there, done that). What I've also noticed is: many of the curricula use the same books. They just might be approached
in a different manner. My goal is only to encourage you - to let you know you're doing just fine, and that new curriculum you bought last month or at convention, that now seems 
to be second-best to what you're currently drooling over, most likely IS the smart investment you thought it was at that time.

And if you don't think you have the right curriculum and are wondering how to afford curriculum you're pretty sure you'll need, there are options for that, too.

Thank you for letting me hop on this bunny trail (for me). Now I need to get back to what I was really searching for! B-)