MFW & Tapestry of Grace

[MamaBear]

I have used MFW for K, 1st & 2nd and am interested in Tapestry of Grace. What are the differences between these two curriculums? I am interested in any feedback you may have on them, pros, cons, etc.

Thanks,

Lynn H

[Karenciavo]

I've never used MFW, but I have looked at it. Off the top of my head they cover different subjects:

MFW covers history, Bible, & science and the deluxe package adds art, music, and I believe read-alouds.

TOG covers history, literature, writing, Bible (yr1), church history (yrs 2-4), some art and music history, crafts, government (HS), and philosophy (HS).

 

MFW is 2nd-8th grade and has a seperate high school program in the works, TOG is K-12.

 

MFW has a daily schedule, TOG has a weekly schedule.

 

TOG has much more extensive teacher's notes, especially beginning around 6th grade and up. Socratic discussion is encouraged and there are scripts included to help the teacher out with that.

Edited March 29, 2009 by Karenciavo

[sweetbaby]

You can do a forum "search" and find many threads posted on the comparison of MFW, TOG, WP and other history curriculums.

 

This was a popular thread:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36049&highlight=mfw+tog

 

HTH

[razorbackmama]

I shared a lot of my thoughts here: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88270

[MamaBear]

Thank you for your replies. I will check out the posts!

[Donna A.]

Just to clarify a couple of points....

 

MFW covers history, Bible, & science and the deluxe package adds art, music, and I believe read-alouds.

TOG covers history, literature, writing, Bible (yr1), church history (yrs 2-4), some art and music history, crafts, government (HS), and philosophy (HS).

MFW also covers everything you listed there for TOG.

 

MFW is 2nd-8th grade and has a seperate high school program in the works, TOG is K-12.

Right, except that you still have to buy all the age-appropriate books and resources for TOG high school, so even though the TM isn't an extra purchase, everything else is.

 

MFW has a daily schedule, TOG has a weekly schedule.

MFW's schedule is a weekly grid. You can see samples on their website.

 

TOG has much more extensive teacher's notes, especially beginning around 6th grade and up. Socratic discussion is encouraged and there are scripts included to help the teacher out with that.

And on the MFW side... the author of MFW doesn't tell the parent what to think. She includes teacher notes, discussion topics, and alerts to certain passages in the books being studied, emphasizing the need for you to discuss with your child. She also gives insight here and there, but again, leaves it to you and your dh to teach from your own doctrinal position. She lines up biblical and secular history very well... giving YOU the tools to teach your own children. So instead of reading scripted notes or copies of encyclopedia notes in the TM (for example), you would use the purchased resources for multiple years as part of your research. MFW teaches the student to gradually (over several years as they grow and mature) learn how to work independently and find the answers for themselves. So then by the time they get to high school, they are able to work *mostly* independently, with scheduled weekly meetings with mom or dad. (Thus, the separate h.s. programs for those students.) Elementary programs are done all together as a family.

[Karenciavo]

Right, except that you still have to buy all the age-appropriate books and resources for TOG high school, so even though the TM isn't an extra purchase, everything else is.

I don't understand your point. You need to buy books with MFW too.

 

And on the MFW side... the author of MFW doesn't tell the parent what to think. She includes teacher notes, discussion topics, and alerts to certain passages in the books being studied, emphasizing the need for you to discuss with your child. She also gives insight here and there, but again, leaves it to you and your dh to teach from your own doctrinal position. She lines up biblical and secular history very well... giving YOU the tools to teach your own children. So instead of reading scripted notes or copies of encyclopedia notes in the TM (for example), you would use the purchased resources for multiple years as part of your research. MFW teaches the student to gradually (over several years as they grow and mature) learn how to work independently and find the answers for themselves. So then by the time they get to high school, they are able to work *mostly* independently, with scheduled weekly meetings with mom or dad. (Thus, the separate h.s. programs for those students.) Elementary programs are done all together as a family.

 

The authors of TOG don't tell you what to think. :chillpill:

[AudreyTN]

I read the posts, but if I missed this forgive me...

 

The biggest difference that I noticed was that MFW schedules certain books to be used with the TM and those books are sold with the packages.

 

From what I understand of TOG (correct me if I'm wrong) is that all the money you put out is just for a TM. Then you decide which books you want to use and purchase them separately.

[razorbackmama]

I read the posts, but if I missed this forgive me...

 

The biggest difference that I noticed was that MFW schedules certain books to be used with the TM and those books are sold with the packages.

 

From what I understand of TOG (correct me if I'm wrong) is that all the money you put out is just for a TM. Then you decide which books you want to use and purchase them separately.

 

 

Sort of.:)

 

With TOG, the left page of the 2-page reading assignment page spread are all "required" reading. I guess you could leave out some of the reading assignments, but then you'd miss out on something. The right page of the 2-page spread are all alternate or optional readings. So really there's not anything to really "choose" with TOG either. But yes, you buy them separately.

 

The books are available separately from MFW also - you don't have to buy them in a package. For example, when I ordered mine, I already had many of the books, so I just bought what I needed instead of the whole package.

[Donna A.]

Quote:

Right, except that you still have to buy all the age-appropriate books and resources for TOG high school, so even though the TM isn't an extra purchase, everything else is.

 

I don't understand your point. You need to buy books with MFW too.

I just didn't want someone to get the impression that there is an additional purchase for MFW high school, but not for TOG. I was simply clarifying from the MFW side. :) (And a sidenote to the op: two years of MFW high school are now complete, and as of right now, everything remains on schedule for the last two years.)

 

 

Quote:

And on the MFW side... the author of MFW doesn't tell the parent what to think. She includes teacher notes, discussion topics, and alerts to certain passages in the books being studied, emphasizing the need for you to discuss with your child. She also gives insight here and there, but again, leaves it to you and your dh to teach from your own doctrinal position. She lines up biblical and secular history very well... giving YOU the tools to teach your own children. So instead of reading scripted notes or copies of encyclopedia notes in the TM (for example), you would use the purchased resources for multiple years as part of your research. MFW teaches the student to gradually (over several years as they grow and mature) learn how to work independently and find the answers for themselves. So then by the time they get to high school, they are able to work *mostly* independently, with scheduled weekly meetings with mom or dad. (Thus, the separate h.s. programs for those students.) Elementary programs are done all together as a family.

The authors of TOG don't tell you what to think. :chillpill:

Again, as I said in my first post, "Just to clarify a couple of points...." I wanted to clarify some points from the perspective of one who actually uses MFW. I think that's fair, don't you? ;) You had said, "TOG has much more extensive teacher's notes, especially beginning around 6th grade and up. Socratic discussion is encouraged and there are scripts included to help the teacher out with that." So again, I didn't want to leave someone with the wrong impression that MFW has no teacher helps or discussion notes.... But to also distinguish one difference between TOG and MFW, in that the notes in MFW are not scripted. :chillpill::001_smile:

[Donna A.]

I read the posts, but if I missed this forgive me...

 

The biggest difference that I noticed was that MFW schedules certain books to be used with the TM and those books are sold with the packages.

 

From what I understand of TOG (correct me if I'm wrong) is that all the money you put out is just for a TM. Then you decide which books you want to use and purchase them separately.

 

So you're not 'just' putting out money for a TM with TOG, right? Because you still have to buy all the books. And the Writing Aids, and the Map tools, and... ???

 

And I'm sure that some families can assume library useage with TOG just as they can with MFW... but that would vary from family to family regardless of which program they're using.