Can I start TOG in the middle of a year plan?

[wyomom]

I have been looking at TOG for several years and now that my oldest will be 14 next year and we have added another baby to our already hectic school day, I am thinking this is a great time to start. My two oldest dd's with be 14 and 12 next school year in 8th and 6th grades and my ds will be 7 doing 2nd grade work and a preschooler added in for fun.:tongue_smilie: My oldest two have already been planning out their week of school independently using a school planner I found in the CLE catalog. They are doing great with that so I was thinking the weekly plans in TOG would work well for them.

 

I am in sort of a delimma with where to start out though. It makes most sense to just get year 3 and start there but chronologically we will be wrapping up MOH 3 this year which stops at the early 1700's which actually matches up with TOG yr 2 unit 3 or 4 I believe. We would miss out on a whole half year of TOG which doesn't bother me much since when we rotate back through we could pick it up again but those are the time periods my dd has been wanting to study. Plus, since we haven't had much american history I would like to start them from the beginning. Starting with colonist settlements, writing the constitution ect... before we jumped into year 3 subjects.

 

Would it be difficult for a new TOG user who has never used or seen this curriculum to start out teaching 3 dc with year 2 unit 3?

 

Is that going to really mess us up since we take summer breaks to start in the middle like that schedule wise?

 

I was going to try the american history program sold through bright ideas press and timberdoodle that is supposed to be similar in format to MOH. (sorry, I forget the name of it and don't have a catalog handy to look at) Then I was going to start TOG year 3 but I am liking the scheduling, organizing and handholding it appears TOG has to offer instead of the ecclectic approach I am using at the moment.

 

Anyone have advice as to which approach to take here. I was getting anxious to get started with TOG but maybe waiting one more year after after the American History would be best. Not sure what to do.

[ncmomo3]

I just did this myself. I started TOG Y2U3 after Christmas and it has been absolutely fine. It was no problem to jump in there, but I did do quite a bit of reading and planning on implementation. It is totally doable.

[Mama Lynx]

I just did this myself. I started TOG Y2U3 after Christmas and it has been absolutely fine. It was no problem to jump in there, but I did do quite a bit of reading and planning on implementation. It is totally doable.

 

Same here. We started with Y2U3 last year, and had no trouble doing so.

 

Will your oldest be doing Dialectic?

[wyomom]

Yes my oldest will be doing dialectic.

 

Thanks for the replies!!

[siloam]

Julie,

 

I jumped in with TOG year 2 week 28 and I actually think it was beneficial.

 

There are several pieces of TOG that build during the year, like Philosophy and Writing. IMO it is hard to jump into EVERYTHING all at once, and if you don't get those down right off then it could be a problem. By starting back on year 2 you can narrow your focus of what you are going to cover at first, get used to things, then look at picking more up when you start year 3 and really nail them because you aren't overwhelmed and learning everything all at once.

 

Heather

[Staci in MO]

There are several pieces of TOG that build during the year, like Philosophy and Writing. IMO it is hard to jump into EVERYTHING all at once, and if you don't get those down right off then it could be a problem. By starting back on year 2 you can narrow your focus of what you are going to cover at first, get used to things, then look at picking more up when you start year 3 and really nail them because you aren't overwhelmed and learning everything all at once.Heather

:iagree: If you're going to use TOG for writing, it could be tricky (I haven't done the philosophy yet), but otherwise it would be fine.

[momee]

IMO, you want as many weeks of dialectic work under your belt before moving to rhetoric as possible.

 

I would, however, caution about the newborn baby thing. Emotions were high and confusing over here with homeschooling a few and using TOG because I was postpartum and TOG requires momwork weekly.

 

It's a great program. The kids will learn a ton. Your dh will be impressed with their growing knowledge of worldview and God's work throughout history. BUT it can easily overwhelm and having a new baby is a joyous special time.

 

Don't do too much, enjoy it doing just a few things, getting all of your family's feet wet and you'll be happy for the change.

 

Fret, frequent everyone's blogs (especially those pretty ones with coop groups doing reenactments of greek plays or making the Hagia Sofia out of pine straw, jk, will put you over the edge.

 

Email me anytime I can help if you go with it, we've btdt so much with TOG I've probably been through whatever angst you're dealing with. At the rhetoric level, the biggest skill I should have concentrated on was doing a schedule and fulfilling to the utmost of their ability the workload on their own. PRICEless. God bless your family on your new one.