Homeschooling with Tapestry of Grace

There is one question that I am asked more frequently than any other by my homeschooling friends and acquaintances:
How do you make Tapestry of Grace work for you?
It seems that TOG is one curriculum where many people who have contemplated its use decide they will forever have a love/hate relationship with it. They love the depth, quality of literature, unit study, “living books” blended with classical approach, etc. that TOG offers, but hate the fact that they just can’t seem to find their rhythm with a curriculum that at first glance (and 2nd, and 3rd!) appears daunting.

I am so incredibly thankful for, and enamored with, TOG. It has transformed our homeschool. It has been the tool that allows me to achieve my goal of providing a meaningful, Christ-centered, academically rigorous, “real books” as opposed to “text books”education for my children. I am always excited by the opportunity to share my TOG experiences with others.

My goal for this post is to offer a glimpse into a typical TOG week in our homeschool, explaining how we continue to learn and grow, one day at a time, with God’s blessing and Tapestry of Grace. My hope is this will lend encouragement to new TOG users, provide a “jumping-off point” to help get your feet wet, and perhaps minimize the legendary “TOG fog.”

Our week “begins” on Friday…
On Friday, I give students a very brief (like 5 minutes) overview of what they will be studying in the week ahead. Together, we break up any lengthy reading assignments (e.g. history, literature, church history) into daily chunks. The children begin reading these assignments that very same day. This provides 3 extra reading days (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) so that the kiddos are not overwhelmed trying to read a 200 page book in 3 or 4 days the following week. (Ask me how I learned this tip the hard way!)

Over the weekend, the kids continue to read from the week’s selections (according to the chunks we determined on Friday). They usually read before bed or when they wake up in the morning, leaving our days free for sports, church, friends, and general fun!
As their teacher, I also have a few “assignments” to complete over the weekend. I read through the Teacher Notes (and usually listen to PopQuiz) in preparation for Tuesday’s lecture. I make sure all photocopies for the week are prepared (if they haven’t been previously) so I’m not scrambling for necessary materials during the week. Also, since I am using the library for approximately half of the TOG resources (I purchased the other half), the weekend is the time I order books for 3 weeks ahead (using the library’s online request system). Each weekend, I order books for that third week in the future. This way, I always have the books I need in plenty of time. I have yet to have to wait longer than 2 weeks for a resource to arrive at my local branch.
Monday is our co-op day. The children continue independent TOG reading in the evening.

Tuesday is “History/Geography Lecture Day.” On Tuesday morning, all kiddos gather together with me to begin our in depth discussion of the week’s topic. I “lecture” using the teacher’s notes and the “General Information for All Grades” sheet from the TOG week plan. I highlight the most important concepts with the goal of helping the children gain a general understanding of the “flow” of main events during this particular period they are studying. I don’t go too in depth here, but rather give them a basis for further understanding everything they have been reading and will continue to read this week.
Also, we do our group mapping at this time. I lead the children in mapping any important places, or changes in geographic or political boundaries, in order to give them a clearer picture of what they will be studying in history throughout the week.

Individually, the kiddos will continue their weekly reading assignments later in the day.

Wednesday is “Timeline & Church History Day.” Together, I lead the kiddos in discussing the “people” we’ve encountered this week, as they glue timeline figures into their timelines and list important dates. This is the day we “make connections” to events we’ve studied previously. For example, during our study of the Byzantine Empire, the kiddos were timelining the beginning of the controversy in the Eastern Church and the rise of the Iconoclastic movement, which eventually led to the Great Schism (split into Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church). Through timelining, the kiddos made the connection that at this very same time the Anasazi tribes were building pueblos and settling throughout the “Colorado” plateau. Also, this time period was the very height of the Mayan civilization on the Yucatan Peninsula. Timelining helps us to view “His-story” as a whole, rather than segmenting it into nice, neat, independent, random events.

Since timelining only takes 10 minutes or so, we also talk about the “character” and “characteristics” of the historical figures we’ve encountered in our reading. How do they measure up to God’s standards? What were their motivations? Etc.
Also, we review the discussion questions for our “church history” readings on Wednesday. I usually have the kids complete the church history reading by Wednesday morning so we can answer the questions together and discuss.
Keep in mind that by Wednesday, the children have been reading from their selections for 5 days already (F-Tues) so they have a general understanding of the people and events by this time. They can actively participate…and I expect them to!

On Thursday, we use the TOG “Dialectic” or “Rhetoric” discussion outline (this will only apply to older students) to wrap up all the history we’ve been studying throughout the week. We complete all History Thinking Questions and Accountability Questions. We also watch a video (if applicable) on Discovery Streaming to support the topics we’ve studied this week, provide a fun visual resource, and enhance understanding of the topic. Lastly, if there is any additional mapwork (transparency overlays to show changing boundaries, etc.) we will take care of that as well.
For younger students, this can be “Fine Arts Thursday”. Review any information from “Fine Arts” reading and select one or two crafts to complete. Also videos that reinforce topics studied are great for this age.

On Friday, older students participate in our literary analysis lesson, using the “Literature Discussion Outline” in the Teacher Guide. We also complete the literature worksheets, and learn any new literary elements that can be effectively applied to the week’s literature selection. All of this information is provided in the Teacher notes (discussion outline) so it takes no effort on my part…I just need to ask the questions! Since TOG’s Literature program is so rich and in-depth, we devote at least an hour to discussion/analysis of the week’s selection and completion of the student activity page(s).
Younger students can complete the worksheets and perhaps make a “narration page” about the literature selection.

We end our Friday “TOG-time” by introducing the next week’s topic and breaking down the reading selections so kiddos can get started over the weekend (bringing me right back to the beginning of this blog post!)

Several notes:

1) TOG includes history, geography, writing, literature, fine arts, government (for older students), and philosophy (for older students). I have opted to use a different writing program this year, so I omit the TOG writing assignments. If I were to use TOG writing (as I did in the past), I would introduce the week’s writing assignment on Tuesday morning (after the students have had some exposure to the material), and require that the assignment be turned in on Friday, adding the assignment review onto the end of our Literature discussion. Our Math, Latin and/or Spanish, Science, Spelling, and Grammar studies are completely independent of TOG.

2) We do all of our TOG “group” discussions/activities in the morning, along with our other mom-intensive subjects, leaving independent TOG reading and other independent subjects for the afternoon.

3) We complete all the Primary Resource readings each week, but we rarely use the Alternate Resources. Only my Lower Grammar student uses the Alternate Resources because she is a voracious reader and she tends to read all the LG selections on the first day! Since the TOG primary resource reading selections for older students are quite lengthy, I can’t imagine ever having additional time to dig into the alternate resources. It is not uncommon for older students to have upwards of 200-300 pages to be read each week (total reading in all TOG subjects). Adding any more would be overkill, imo.

4) I try to make each activity fun. For example, my kiddos LOVE mapping because they LOVE using transparency overlays (don’t ask me why, because I have NO idea!). If I provide paper maps, they are only mildly enthused. But when we add “overlays” to our paper maps, it’s as if they’ve won the lottery! Also, I’ve found that the more excited I am about the material, the more responsive my kiddos are.

5) I always try to complete crafts with my youngest dd (LG level). I require my older students to complete the Fine Arts readings, but not the hands-on projects.

6) The only thing required of me, as a teacher, is my weekend work (see info. above), and finding a video on Discovery Streaming to enhance our studies (my kids like videos!). The teacher notes provide EVERYTHING I need!

I hope you’ve found this post to be helpful if you’re considering adding TOG to your homeschool journey. Be encouraged…you can do it! And TOG makes it easy. Just find your rhythm and continue marching to the beat.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the “comments” and I’ll be sure to answer.