Tapestry of Grace

I was very excited to see Lampstand Press’s Tapestry of Grace on the line up this year for review. I had heard many people talking about it, usually great things, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and see for myself.

TOG is a Christian, Classical, Literature based Curriculum that teaches based on a Unit Study approach incorporating multiple grade levels. TOG covers history, church history, literature, geography, fine arts, government, philosophy, and writing & composition. TOG does not include a phonics program, science, math, grammar, spelling, or foreign language. Though its publisher Lampstand Press does recommend various programs that cover those subjects.

TOG has a 4 year rotation approach to history. This means that you will cover all of history in a 4 year time span. However, you will cover it at different levels of depth depending on your grade level.

Those are the facts…now for the opinions.

Personally I was disappointed to receive a digital version. I know that many companies are going that route and I understand the reason for it. I have even learned to embrace the digital versions of some items. But TOG In digital format is just too much in my opinion. This is an amazingly thorough program. If you did just half of what is in this program with your students you’d have extremely well educated children. But to wade through ALL that information on a screen is just more than I could take. I am sure this will change as we become accustomed to this format, but for me and my house? Give me paper.

However, I must add, there is one benefit to a digital version that you do not find in the print format. Once you sign up on their site, and there are MANY benefits of doing this, from the loom to the forums, you’ll have everything you have purchased in digital format saved on the site. That way if your computer crashes and you lose it all, your curriculum will still be saved, safely stored on TOG’s website. That’s handy!

As for the curriculum itself, like I said, it is extremely thorough. I really like the idea of one central theme or period of study being applicable to many grade levels. This makes the mom’s life a little easier.

One caution I would give you is that if you are a box checker, a must-do-it-all personality, run, do not walk away from this curriculum. You will kill yourself and your children’s love of learning if you try to do this curriculum in its entirety. It is just TOO MUCH. But if you are of the mind that you take what works and use it and don’t worry about the rest, you’ll love TOG as there is MUCH to choose from.

You can go to TOG’s website to read more about it and you can go here to try a three week sample!

Happy Homeschooling!

WriteShop Primary Book A

When I first started homeschooling there were not a lot of options as far as curriculum. Don’t get me wrong, it was better when I started that it was back in the early 80’s when you had only the big curriculum publishers who sold to private schools and you had to jump through hoops to get it. There were more choices when I started but not to the degree there are today.

Take Writeshop for instance. They have some wonderful stuff! I reviewed their Story Starters earlier in the year and more recently I was given the opportunity to review their Primary materials.

I am an eclectic homeschooler. I love the idea of getting a little of this from here and a little of that from there. I prefer to buy a writing curriculum from a publisher, preferably someone aimed at the homeschool market specifically, who publishes mostly stuff on writing or Language arts. It just makes sense. You don’t buy a washing machine from a car manufacturer.

Back to WriteShop. I really like what they sent me. WriteShop Primary Book A (B & C are in the works) is geared towards the K - 3rd grades. It is very gentle and relational which I LOVE. It is simple and specific. It eases you into writing with your early learner.

When I went through the book I liked how it was incremental and simple. I remember when I first started homeschooling and I would open the box of curriculum and look over the teacher’s manual then cry and then call the local public school and ask when I could bring my child. Okay, not really, but so much of the curriculum was overwhelming at first. WriteShop Primary A is not overwhelming. You can open it up, read the first few pages, grab your student, a piece of paper and a pencil and start. It’s that easy.

There are print versions (which I prefer) or e versions which have their benefits; immediate access and no shipping fees chief among them.

You can go here to see samples and here for pricing.

To those of you just starting out in this homeschooling adventure with your littles…you have it made!

You can click on the icon below to see what other Crew members had to say.




Happy Homeschooling!

Apologia Zoology 1

I was so happy to receive Apologia Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day in the mail. I knew that Apologia was sending me something, but I was unsure what it was until it came in the mail. I am familiar with Apologia’s material since we have done General Science, Physical Science, Biology and Advanced Biology (Anatomy). And I use the term ‘we’ very, very loosely. I helped my kids get the hang of General Science, being that it was the first textbookie thing my kids had come in contact with. Once they had the hang of it, it was pretty much all them. I graded the study questions and gave tests and occasionally helped them study for tests, but as for teaching, Apologia did that for me. Oh Happy Day!

I definitely had nothing to do with the Advanced Biology my Highschooler is doing now. He is studying words I don’t believe I’ve ever heard before. I am so pleased with this particular course of study, because my son is planning to go in the Health Science field (that’s the masculine term for nursing, FYI) and what he is learning in this course will directly benefit him in his chosen field.

Even though I am familiar with most of Apologia’s work, we have never used any of the elementary material. Personally, my theory on science in elementary school is that it should be fun and relational and observational (is that a word?). It should not be from a textbook. Students should watch documentaries about the planets and make models, they should observe the caterpillar and draw it and identify it. They should look up fish on the internet and the birds that come into our yard in their bird books. Science should not come from a textbook in the early grades.

So, imagine my surprise to receive this early elementary textbook and actually like it! This is not your mama’s textbook. There are projects and experiments, suggestion for narration and notebooking exerscizes, and it’s all done from a creationist standpoint. The book itself has wonderful pictures and is written in a very engaging way. It is not the dry stuff of the textbooks of yore. One of my favorite things is the list of items the student needs for each chapter broken down by lesson at the front of the book. This is VERY handy.

I did a few chapters with my daughters (ages 10 & 11) to get a feel for the curriculum to be able to review it for you. However, I have decided to pick it up in the Fall and do the complete course. My girls really enjoyed this book and so did I.

I have done a little research on how I am going to implement it fully next year and have found a wealth of information and various extras that can be added on like book lists, lapbook ideas, schedules, and extra experiments. I was amazed at how many people have loved this curriculum and have done some wonderful things with it.

I can’t wait for next school year to dive fully into it!

Happy Homeschooling