April 13, 2010
Using TOG Secularly
I get many, many questions about using Tapestry of Grace in a secular manner.
TOG is extremely protective of copyright, so I will use sample material that they make available. Click on the link to find samples from Year 3. This is a three-week sample that focuses on the early British colonies in America.
The sample begins with Week 20. The topic is "Early New World Colonies and Eastern Europe." Here is the reading list for that week. Take a look at it.
The left-hand page shows the most important readings, history core and in-depth, and literature. None of the texts listed are religious in focus, with the possible exception of "The Age of Religious Wars," a rhetoric-level in-depth history text. Further down the page, under the "Worldview" heading, you will find several age-appropriate religiously-oriented texts. However, all you have to do is skip this section.
Now take a look at the right-hand page. It lists alternate texts, which you may use if you 1) don't care for the primary texts, or 2) want additional reading on those topics.
As you can see, there are several books to choose from at each level, and in each category. You can customize to your heart's delight.
The Student Activity Pages are keyed to the primary recommended books. However, a little creativity can fix that. Most of the SAPs in the curriculum focus on literature; TOG provides pdfs of blank response sheets that can be used with any history topic or text.
Here you can find samples of the Student Activity Pages for Week 20. Scroll down until you find the page with the Dialectic level history questions. Read the "Thinking Questions."
Yes, some of those questions have religious content. We either skip them, or we run with them. It's important to understand why Galileo's telescope threatened the Catholic Church! The answers we find are always interesting, and spark great discussions.
You might argue that by doing so we are not using TOG secularly. It is not my goal to strip all religious references and ideas out of our learning. My kids live in a world full of religion - they ought to understand it, and have at least some familiarity with the ideas of the great religions. We don't find that doing so threatens our beliefs.
And, religious questions such as the ones in the sample do not pop up every week.
TOG does not preach. They give you a good deal of choice in the readings, thoughtful questions to ponder, and yes, some questions about the Bible, or how events or people should be looked at through the lens of the Bible. These are never woven into the readings or the content of the program, and so they are easy to skip, modify, or discuss, as you wish.
We find it very easy to work with.
Year 1, however, is different. Year 1, ancient history, is explicitly Bible history. Many weeks use the Bible as the only reading for history. This will not suit our purposes, and it is not easy to modify; and so we will not be using Year 1 for ancient history. We have used the second half of Year 2, all of Year 3, and are about to start Year 4, and have been pleased so far.
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January 7, 2010
How We Use Tapestry of Grace, and Will We Continue?
My sig line at The Well-Trained Mind forums states that we use Tapestry of Grace, as well as Classical Writing and a general curriculum that follows, more or less, the LCC philosophy - all of which are teacher-intensive and take up a great deal of time.
Lately I've received a slew of questions, asking me how I can possibly manage all that? Specifically, people want to know how I can use Tapestry of Grace and everything else?
I feel almost guilty answering, because I'm not sure that my answer will help anyone. The short answer is that we only use the parts of TOG (or any curriculum) that serve us. We don't use it as fully as it is intended to be used, and so the way we use it may not be cost-effective for many.
TOG is meant to be a full-service curriculum: history, literature, worldview, geography, philosophy, government, and even some fine arts. In fact, the reason it is so popular is because it is an all-in-one program. If you use TOG, all you have to do is add in some science, math, and a foreign language, and you're done! But we use it for the history, and some of the literature and geography. And that's it.
I have one student in TOG's Dialectic level, and one in the Upper Grammar level. Our process is the same for both: I assign them the readings, they read them, and then we discuss. I use TOG's teacher notes and discussion questions/answers, and our discussions are excellent. Occasionally, I will have them write out the answers to the history questions on the Dialectic Student Activity Page.
And that's it. It's a small part of our day, which is largely taken up with Latin, math, Greek, and reading.
I know that many people spend hours of their day on TOG. It's certainly meaty enough to do so. However, I just needed a solid dialectic history schedule, one that held my hand through discussions. TOG serves that purpose well. We have very much enjoyed our TOG history.
Will we continue to use it? I don't yet know. This year we are studying modern history, which means that next year it's back to ancients. TOG Year 1, which covers ancient history, will not work for us. Year 1 is overtly, inescapably religious, with a full 14 weeks out of the year spent in reading only the Bible for history. While I do plan on giving my poor heathen children some Bible literacy, that's a little much for us.
Next year is also our first year of high school. For high school, we plan to try The Well-Trained Mind's plan of doing a Great Books study, combining history and literature. If that goes well, we will probably just continue in that vein throughout high school. History is Connor's favorite subject, so I am willing to largely leave the decision-making up to him. He has many options - returning to TOG for the rhetoric level, continuing with Great Books, sampling community college courses, or creating his own course.
For my younger students, we'll go back to our tried and true Story of the World. They will also get Classical Studies through our wonderful co-op, which dovetails nicely.
For my rising 7th grader? I don't yet know. Stay tuned.
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November 22, 2009
...And Then The Server Died/ The Co-Op
It looks like blogging ability is back, now. O hai!
People keep asking me, "how's school going?" It's going well, thank you, but let me say that working outside the home makes things challenging. I'm not working that many hours, but still, the fact that I'm working at all seems to affect everything.
My instructional time with the kids is limited to Monday mornings, four hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and all of Wednesdays (except that's also the day we'll have to fit in most doctor/dentist/orthodontist appointments). Friday we have our all-day co-op, and while that is a full day of school it's not my school.
So it's challenging. The kids are having to learn to work more independently.
On the one hand, my lack of direct time with them means that what we're doing is not as rich or complete as before. For instance, the older kids are completing their history readings, but we now lack the time to do projects, or much in-depth discussion. (Although thanks to Tapestry of Grace the older kids always end up with some form of meaningful history discussion.)
On the other hand, our fledgeling co-op is fantastic! We co-op teachers are still learning, and finding our way, but already this is a huge benefit to us. The older two are getting weekly Latin and Greek instruction, plus drama, science and a fantastic Greek history course in which they read "Antigone" and discuss Plato. The younger two have art, spelling, baby Latin, natural history, geography, and science.
All of the kids have weekly recitation, at which we also work on singing.
We pulled all this together based solely on a bunch of moms who have never been involved with a co-op, but who had the same goals and were willing to jump in and do it. I teach the lower-level geography class, and the upper-level Latin (Lingua Latina).
Aren't you jealous?
I have fantasies of this continuing and eventually developing into a cottage school. I haven't spoken these words out loud to the other moms, though, and I don't know if they share that dream, or if they will run screaming at the thought. I also don't know if any of them read my blog. I guess I'll find out.
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September 14, 2009
Reading Lists
Our 2009-2010 reading lists:
Connor - 8th Grade
- Literature
- Great Expectations
- Huckleberry Finn
- The Red Badge of Courage
- Kidnapped
- The Hound of the Baskervilles
- The Invisible Man
- All Quiet On The Western Front
- Animal Farm
- Lord of the Flies
- Our Town
- Classical Studies
- The Odyssey
- Antigone
- Agamemnon
- History
- Abraham Lincoln's World
- The Gilded Age - A History in Documents
- The Cold War - A History in Documents
- The Good Fight - How World War II Was Won
- Science
- Science Matters - Hazen
Aidan - 6th Grade
- Literature
- Tom Sawyer
- Alice in Wonderland
- The Invisible Man
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
- Lord of the Flies
- Our Town
- History
- Story of the World 4
This is all subject to change. Nor do I expect everything on these lists to get read. Plus, the boys may be involved in a monthly book club, which would read books like Ender's Game, Childhood's End, Watership Down, etc. and where I find the selections worth it, I will modify their school reading so that they can participate in the book club. Plus, I see that we don't really have anything on the Holocaust ... and Connor would love to read biographies of the people involved in WWII.
Call it a reading list in progress :) But aren't they all?
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August 28, 2009
I'm Back!
It's been a rough year, but we're still here, and still homeschooling. This year I'm teaching 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 8th grade, and we're gearing up for the Great High School Adventure next year (eek).
And we're busy. This year we have a weekly D&D group, Lego League, Scouts for everyone, and a new co-op. Plus, I am working part-time as a tutor for Kaplan. So ... it's going to be interesting.
Our plans for this year include:
2nd and 3rd Grades
Right Start Math/Singapore Math
Writing With Ease 2
First Language Lessons
2 (2nd Grade)
Rod and Staff English 3 (3rd Grade, until I can buy FLL 3 - OR I may go with the incomparable Kathy Jo's Language Lessons Through Literature - just published! Do yourself a favor, and check this out!
History/Literature selections drawn from The Latin-Centered Curriculum
The Writing Road to Reading (co-op)
Song School Latin (co-op)
Song School Greek (co-op)
Geography (co-op)
Science/Nature/Art (co-op)
6th Grade
Latin Prep 1 (plus Cambridge Latin at co-op)
Elementary Greek 1 (co-op)
Singapore Math 5-6
Classical Writing Homer B
Tapestry of Grace Upper Grammar/Dialectic Year 3/4 (modern history 1850-present)
Literature and Classical Studies drawn from The Well-Trained Mind, TOG and LCC
Greek History (co-op)
Science (co-op)
Drama (co-op)
8th Grade
Latin Prep 2/3 (plus Lingua Latina at co-op)
Elementary Greek 2 (co-op)
Dolciani Algebra I/II (he's about 2/3 finished with algebra I)
Classical Writing Diogenes Chreia
TOG Dialectic/Rhetoric Year 3/4 (modern history 1850-present)
Literature and Classical Studies drawn from WTM, LCC, TOG
Greek History (co-op)
Drama (co-op)
Science - Science Matters (Hazen) and The Joy of Science lectures, also by Hazen, from The Teaching Company, plus experiments for a general overview of science.
I think this means we will have no time for drawing, this year, which is irritating. You can't do everything, though. We're going to be in the car a great deal, which is where I will pull out music appreciation and poetry CDs.
We've just finished week 3. So far, so good. The older two are currently reading:
Aidan - Tom Sawyer, D'Aulaire's Norse Myths, Story of the World 4
Connor - Great Expectations, The Odyssey, Abraham Lincoln's World, and This Country Of Ours
I would link more for you, but MT is not behaving, and I just want to post. something.
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June 17, 2009
Pregnancy/Childbirth Books for Sale
A Cooperative Method of Natural Birth Control - Margaret Nofziger
The Birth Partner - Penny Simkin
A Good Birth, A Safe Birth Third Revised Edition - Korte and Scaer
Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom - Christiane Northrup
The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy - Vicki Iovine
Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way - Susan McCutcheon
Spiritual Midwifery - Ina May Gaskin
Special Delivery - Rahima Baldwin Dancy
Heart & Hands, A Midwife's Guide to Pregnancy and Birth - Elizabeth Davis
Immaculate Deception II - Suzanne Arms
Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn - Penny Simkin
Birthing From Within - Pam England
The Pilates Pregnancy - Mari Winsor
Gentle Birth Choices, plus video (VHS) - Barbara Harper
Holistic Midwifery - Anne Frye ($50)
Myles Textbook for Midwives - Bennett/Brown (hardcover)
Many of these are well-loved, and I'll adjust the pricing accordingly. Please email me at mamalynx@gmail.com for pricing and payment info. And thank you so much, those of you who linked my sales at your blogs - that's a great help! Anyone may feel free to do so!
Posted by lynx at 12:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
June 9, 2009
Sale!
Yes, folks, it's a sale!
The economic times have hit us hard. Jeff has been unemployed for several months now, and I'm liquidating books and curricula to help us out of this hole.
I'll be adding more to this list, so please check back! For most items, make me an offer (an offer that includes shipping cost and bears market price in mind). I have listed a price for certain items. Please email me about item quality. Elson readers are all the older versions, not the recently republished versions.
I have struck through the items that have been sold, and am marking the items that are pending.
Educational Materials:
Kingfisher Illustrated History of the World (the white one)
Homeschooling For Excellence - Colfax
A Charlotte Mason Education - Catherine Levison
More Charlotte Mason Education - Catherine Levison
Stories and Poems For Exceptional Children of All Ages - Howard Bloom (used with Lightning Literature) (pending)
What Your 3rd Grader Needs to Know
What Your 4th Grader Needs to Know (pending)
Latin Book One - Horn
Using Latin Book One - Horn
Using Latin Book Three - Horn
The Elson Readers Book 3
Classical Rhetoric and Its Christian and Secular Tradition from Ancient to Modern Times - George Kennedy
The Harp and Laurel Wreath - Berquist (pending)
Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum - Berquist (pending)
Elson Primary School Reader Book Two
Learning All The Time - Holt
Dumbing Us Down - Gatto
American History to 1877 - Eisenstadt
The Landmark History of the American People - Boorstin
Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics - Liping Ma
Latin Via Proverbs
Science Explorer - Chemical Building Blocks
Literary Lessons From Lord of the Rings - Teacher’s Manual ($50)
R.E.A.L. Science Pre-Level 1 Chemistry
Introduction to Classical Studies - Memoria Press (pending)
Exploring the Sky - Moeschl
The Writing Road to Reading - 4th and 5th editions
Spell to Write and Read - Sanseri
Civilization - 10th edition (history text used with Connect the Thoughts curriculum)
Tapestry of Grace Year 2 Units 3 and 4 (with Loom disks, $40 each) (pending)
Rod and Staff English 3 student text and teacher’s book
Elson Grammar School Reader Book Three
Education in Ancient Rome - Bonner
The Dangerous Book for Boys
Norms and Nobility - David Hicks
Science and History:
The Druids - Stuart Piggot
Stars and Planets - Muirden
In The Shadow of the Alamo - Sherry Garland
Backyard Ballistics - Gurstelle
Literature/Mythology
A Wonder Book - Hawthorne
Tanglewood Tales - Hawthorne
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court - Twain
Parenting and Health:
The Ten Principles of Spiritual Parenting - Mary Doe
How to Raise a Healthy Child In Spite Of Your Doctor - Robert Mendelsohn
A Mother’s Guide to Raising Healthy Children Naturally - Sue Frederick
Yoga Made Easy - Howard Kent
Taking Charge of Your Fertility - Weschler
Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom - Christiane Northrup
The Wonder of Boys - Michael Gurian
Firm for Life - Anna and Cynthia Benson (pending)
Music:
Music Theory - George Jones
INXS - The Official Autobiography
Elementary Harmony - Robert Ottman
Organization:
Organize Yourself! - Ronni Eisenberg
The Family Manager’s Everyday Survival Guide - Kathy Peel
Confessions of an Organized Homemaker - Schofield
Confessions of a Happily Organized Family - Schofield
Gardening:
Lasagna Gardening - Patricia Lanza
Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots - Lovejoy
Miscellaneous Books:
Home Buying for Dummies
I also have many books on childbirth/midwifery, plus a complete set of Great Books of the Western World that I'm willing to sell (pending). I'll put the childbirth/midwifery books up soon, but don't hesitate to ask if there's anything you're looking for.
Email me at: mamalynx@gmail.com
Posted by lynx at 1:54 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
March 11, 2009
Simon Bolivar, Redux
Okay, I'm sold.
The three-week study of Simon Bolivar is, in reality, an excuse to jump into the study of South America for a few weeks. We can do that.
I broke down and bought the main recommended text:
I highly recommend this book. It covers the history of each country in South America in a style that is easily readable, but not condescending. It includes information about local flora and fauna, and resources. It does not shy away from discussing the drug trade. I'm glad I bought it, as the library system simply has nothing comparable.
And South America is fun, and interesting. So we will, after all, follow the progam.
Posted by lynx at 8:18 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
March 9, 2009
Simon Bolivar
Tapestry of Grace has us scheduled for a three-week study of Simon Bolivar's life and deeds.
We plan to read about him, yes; but can anyone give me a compelling reason for spending three weeks on him? Right now, I'm thinking we will condense the study into one week, and move on.
Am I missing some reason to go in-depth here? In 5th and 7th grade?
Posted by lynx at 12:04 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
March 6, 2009
Field Trip
We took a little field trip last Friday, to do something I never, ever thought I'd do: take part in a political protest, in front of the White House.
We attended the D.C. New American Tea Party, and had a great time! I will happily go again. Approximately 300 people were there, all energetic, all enthusiastic, and all fed up with the way the government is handling our money.
One of the piggy pork balloons
One of my favorite signs
It is true, and funny, that more conservative folks don't know how to have a good protest. We tried, but it's just not in our natures. We're not good at outraged chanting. We're outraged, yes, but screaming and chanting slogans? It's just ... not us. Or maybe it's just the more libertarian conservatives, because Republicans chanted well enough at their rallies. Either way, this Tea Party group need some work. Yes. Nevertheless, we were all having a good, outraged time, and I hope there are more. I am happy to do this. Thrilled!
And we all had a good laugh at the Wall Street Journal column covering the event (no, I'm not going to bother linking). This columnist described the gathering as a group of zombies, chanting dead slogans from the zombie Right. I ought to go back and count the number of times he used the word "zombies." If he uses the word enough times, that makes it true, right? Plus, if you want to make your point that this was an insignificant, tiny gathering of whiners, you'd do better to ignore us completely. Spending an entire column to proclaim our irrelevance doesn't quite get the job done. Who's whining?
Afterwards, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the Smithsonian. For Friday science (and history) we took in their exhibit on atomic power/bombs. To tie in with history we viewed the flag that flew at Ft. McHenry during the War of 1812, the one that Francis Scott Key was watching when he wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner." That, folks, is an amazing thing to see.
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