Tapestry of Grace

by Tiffany
(Forestburg, Tx , USA)

Product: Tapestry of Grace
Subject: Humanities/History Based Unit Studies
Levels Used: Lower Grammar & Upper Grammar
Dates Used: 2008

Likes: WE LOVE TAPESTRY OF GRACE & EVERYTHING ABOUT IT!! WOW! From a mom/teacher perspective I love being able to keep my children in the same era of time, yet challenge them equally at their different levels & still have group discussions & work together.

The book choices Tapestry of Grace offers are incredible & give the teacher/parent options & even describe your options. Ex. Text, core, read aloud, in-depth, etc. It is a K-12 curriculum so I do enjoy seeing what my kids will be reading/doing when they are at the next level in year so come. -- It is reassuring to me that they aren't currently "missing" wonderful books. All the books used with Tapestry are "real" books & even my preschooler enjoys laying in the floor flipping through them with us.

Within a TOG guide you will have the opportunity to teach your children history chronologically, with vocabulary, people, timelines, lapbooking, literature, geography & church history with fabulous hands-on-activities. My kids have not felt overwhelmed with this curriculum & look forward to what new project each week will bring.

I love how TOG takes the opportunity to reinforce each topic with Writing Aids, Evaluations, etc. My husband (& I) have been truly grateful for the Pop Quizzes TOG offers. The Pop Quizzes have filled my husband in on what we are working on each week & given him fun ideas for him with our children - creating lasting memories. In addition to this he is able to hold our children accountable for their studies with dinner time questions! LOVE IT! I haven't been asked, "what did you do all day" since we began using Pop Quizzes. He knows now & I didn't have to give him the run down! WONDERFUL!

I could go on & on about how great TOG is, but I will say one can't live without part of TOG that I couldn't do without is the other mom's that use it. TOG has established the forum, as well as yahoo groups for moms to support & encourage one another. These women have inspired me to teach far beyond my wildest dreams. They have answered questions & explained until I got it. The support that comes with this curriculum is not offered with any other curriculum out there (to my knowledge).

By purchasing this curriculum my family has been so very blessed. I am not only feeding my kids minds with these studies but their hearts as well (and mine too).

Dislikes: First I have to say, you have to make the curriculum work for you & not you for the curriculum. This is very important for not becoming overwhelmed with TOG. There is/can be a lot of planning involved with TOG; however, you have to decide what will & won't work for your family & not worry about the rest.

I will also say to keep in mind that this is designed to be used again so don't be overwhelmed by size or page number. You will only use what applies to your learning levels.

TOG can be expensive, but again, you have to choose what is best for your family. There is no contract or rule that says you have to do it all. :) A library close by would be very helpful, but some planning in advance will be required for this. Although, you will find that most of the books you are reading are ones you will want to add to your personal library anyway. Another consideration when the prices go to rising is to remember you can use it again in a few years or resell the books when you are done with them.

Getting the hang of how it works takes time (like most things), but the support you will get will walk you right through it & soon you will think it is a walk in the park.