First Week with Tapestry of Grace

I finally ordered a unit of Tapestry of Grace after looking at it for several years and thinking how expensive it is. I ordered unit 3 of year 2, since that is where we left off in time with Truthquest. I ordered the digital edition (I am using a Mac) because they did not sell this single unit in print. I much prefer print because I do not like to read off the computer, nor be tied to it when making my plans. But it downloaded without a hitch (even though I am not computer savvy at all), and I was quickly on my way to planning out our first week. We started with week 20, which is the beginning of this unit, and actually took 2 weeks to do it. We will continue to take 2 weeks for each week, as this particular year plan is very full.

First, let me give some background. When I first decided to make my own literature based history plans, I started with Christine Miller's All Through the Ages. While it is a great listing of books for each time period, there is no real outline to go by. The books in each section are listed in alphabetical and not chronological order. This would not do for us. So then I discovered Truthquest History, which we have been using for several years. I thought it was just the outline I needed, with lots of great book suggestions. I never did care for the commentary, and neither did my girls, though most people seem to love it. It is just too "chummy" for us. We do not like that at all, nor do we agree with most of her theology.

Well, what I came to discover is that we would do a section of Truthquest, choosing books to read about the particular topic, then, a few sections later (which would be weeks or even months later in some cases), we would come across a section of people from that time period, or perhaps a section on the science of that period, etc. These topics and people should have fit into the previous lessons, but because of the way the TQ book is arranged, we kept having to go back and forth in history, instead of keeping up a steady chronological pace. I was quite annoyed with this. When I recognized the people or events, I could insert them where they belonged, with a bit of messing around, but in many cases I just didn't know without doing tons of research.

Next, I ordered year 3 of Biblioplan. It only took one look to realize this was not for me. It is just so sparse, for lack of a better word. Not good at all for someone who likes choices and planning. :-)

Enter TOG. It is just what I have been wanting. Each unit is sort of a unit study, where you cover all the people, events, etc. of a particular period at one time. So far, I love the books they suggest, but because it is by topics, I can always substitute if needed. We are only using the history, and even that we are not using "properly." I pick and choose from among the levels as I see fit, and we just read and discuss and read and discuss. It is working great for us.

Our first "week" covered the Roanoke colony, Jamestown, the 30 Years War in Europe, and all the folks associated with those things. We do not like reading long passages from books at a time, so I divided our reading up so that we read a section from each book each day. We read from these books:

The World of Capt. John Smith

Don Quixote (an adaptation)

Here Comes Galileo

Story of the World 2 and 3

Our Island Story

Trial and Triumph

Life in Colonial Times

Also, Big Girl read Lion of the North by Henty, and a couple sections from Clarence Carson's Basic History of the United states. Little Girl read the Childhood of Famous Americans book about William Bradford.

We read from these books for 9 days, then on the second Friday, we read the Pageant of Philosophy aloud together, and reviewed using the teacher notes and student questions and answers. I did not have the girls do any worksheets, nor do we do any projects. But that is the great thing about TOG - you make it work for you! It is very customizable. In fact, I like it so much, I went ahead and ordered unit 4, but in print, so I can sit wherever I want and plan. TOG is a planners dream. :-)

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