TOS Crew Review – Lampstead Press/ Tapestry of Grace
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I had heard lots of praise as well as some not so glowing words regarding the Tapestry of Grace curriculum. Those that love it really LOVE it. Those that don’t love it talk about how overwhelming the product was for them.
When given the ability to pick a unit for review, I opted for Year 2 Unit 1: The Middle Ages. We have been studying this time period in our local co-op this year and I figured anything we did during this review would just reinforce or build upon what the boys had already covered. So, after selection we were sent a link to the Digital Edition download and a separate email with a key to unlock the specific unit we had chosen.
As the company was still working out a few bugs with the system, the ride did have a few bumps in the road. But, a recent download of the Ancient Egypt study in the digital edition had me pleased with the final results.
Overall, this is a very “meaty” program which allows a family to cycle through multiple times to cover the different levels of learning. Rather than each child studying a different time in history, the whole family progresses through history working at their own levels.
The program is in essence a set of lesson plans for 4 distinct levels to cover history, geography, art, and literature as well as multiple levels for language arts/writing. Knowing that some of their suggested reading selections might be more difficult for a homeschool parent to find, they offer alternate reading selections for each week.
If you utilize all the subject areas covered in this program, you will only need to add math to the mix to balance out your family’s learning. For some of their literature selections, there were worksheets for the younger grades. Once they hit dialectic (around 6th grade), there are questions for the child to answer and the parent is supplied with short, appropriate answers. The lesson plans also include excerpts from the encyclopedia to give the parent a bird’s eye view of what is going on for that particular time in history.
After 3 weeks of working this program, I can honestly say that you have to be quite selective for what you do. If you try to read all the suggested materials, you might just become very overloaded.
With boys in three different levels, I spent a fair amount of time tracking down resources through the local library systems and then doing read alouds for the younger boys. When a primary source was unavailable, I chose something from the alternate list. For the most part, I was able to locate plenty of reading through our library systems. But, when they were alternate selections I lost the ability to use a provided worksheet to ‘document’ their learning. And, with that happening for multiple weeks I felt the value of TOG to decrease as it became a loose guide to learning for us.
Along with the Middle Ages unit, I was sent the Evaluations CD for review. It was a great resource to see what the boys should be getting from their studies each week. I did not end up using it for written quizzes or tests.
Of course, that’s the beauty of homeschooling ~ you can tailor something to fit your current needs. For the parent that likes a nice, tidy papertrail for review or one just wanting to make sure the main points are covered, Evaluations is a nice add-on to TOG.
As for the new Digital Edition format of TOG, I liked how I could print just the pages I really needed rather than have a large 3-ring binder housing it all. While I did a fairly good job of controlling the printing of pages, I still found myself with several to print each week.
The reading list was one that consistently was printed and then I could use it to document what was read, who read it and when they read it. A definite bonus for the new format is that if something happens to your computer, TOG will allow you to reload to your computer. Having purchased some ebooks from other retailers online that only allow a download over a short period of time, having peace of mind that you can get full access again after a computer ‘malfunction’ is great.
Now for what I see as a potential negative for the new single family license…. there is no permission for resale. If you know this format of learning works well for your family and you plan to take multiple children through the program, the cost is quite reasonable. However, if you were to purchase a complete year and find it rarely gets touched, you no longer have the option to sell it as used and recoup some of your initial outlay. Having fallen ‘victim’ to making that kind of purchase in the past, I know I appreciate a way to minimize my losses through the used curriculum market. The cost for one unit in DE format is $45 or you can purchase the entire year for $170 (a small savings off the individual unit pricing.)
What I would suggest to anyone considering taking the plunge with TOG is to download the 3 week sample unit on Ancient Egypt in the new Digital Edition format. Having recently done this, I can say that the process was relatively quick and had no pain involved. The program even puts a short cut onto your desktop so you can quickly access the material when you need it. If you are just starting out on the journey through history, then you have your first 3 weeks all ready for you. And, if you elect to continue with TOG and the Digital Edition, there is no long wait to get the next group of weeks.
