If you’ve read any of my schooling or history review posts you know I love history.  Maybe I’m not even a great reviewer for history curriculum any longer because I love them all!  Yet, perhaps that makes me a better reviewer because I’ve used a few and can compare for you.  I want to remind you that as homeschoolers we are meant to bend the rules (or guidelines), change curriculum to fit our kids, and add flair to make it ours.  I’m warming you up for this review because I don’t want to scare you away if you’re a Charlotte Mason, eclectic or unit study homeschooler:  Tapestry of Grace is a Classical curriculum, but I want you to know it is full of historical fiction, a.k.a. “living books,” and for the Grammar levels, it was just another unit study to me. 

 What is Tapestry of Grace?

I can't answer that better than they do at their website:  "Tapestry of Grace is a homeschool curriculum: a plan of study that helps parents provide a Christian, classical education using a guided unit study approach, with the history of the world as the core organizational theme. From Grades K–12, all students cycle through world history every four years, with all ages studying the same slice of history each week, each at their own learning level. Detailed lesson plans and discussion outlines enable parents to be their children’s primary teachers and mentors and shape their students’ biblical worldviews."

 

Tapestry provides your entire curriculum, except for math and science.  I love TOG.  It is laid out so well; much of the planning work and helpful scheduling is done for me.  I’ve used a history-based unit study in the past, but I really struggled to get it all organized and include each subject in our study.  The similarities between that unit study and TOG was how they both used historical fiction, which I love, and I did have to spend time retrieving these books.  This was not difficult for me, as I love to look for old books online, and my local library is great at getting books through interlibrary loan.

I want to give a quick overview of the program.  The schedule is color-coded by level (Lower and Upper Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric).  Then there are the “Threads” (of the Tapestry) which include:  History, Writing, Literature, Geography, Fine Arts and Activities, and Church History.  There is a Reading Assignment page, which is divided by the threads, further dividing History into Core and In-Depth, also including Worldview.  There’s an Overview section that helps “at a glance,” listing the people, vocabulary, and geography you’ll be studying and any activities you’ll be doing.  Then the most impressive part to me is the Writing Assignments!  I think a lot of unit studies expect creative writing but leave the technicalities of writing (grammar and punctuation) to the wayside.  Perhaps it’s because TOG is a Classical Curriculum, but I like how they handled the language arts aspect, and I don’t feel as if I need an additional program to complete this unit study.  But apparently others do, so TOG has provided an additional Writing Aids  program that is integrated with the study of history.  

Tapestry addresses all learners, including “hands-on” activities, like our salt dough map, and the Lapbooks offered for each unit for the younger kids; these make great show-&-tells for the grandparents and portfolios and review for the kids.  There are Pop Quizzes on CD and “flash cards” to include dad and offer various means of review.  Blank outline maps made by Terri Johnson of Knowledge Quest for the kids, with filled in maps for the parents ;-)  And Evaluations for optional tests, quizzes and more for each level of learner for each Year Plan.

TOG has been around since 1998, and they asked TOS Crew to not just review the curriculum itself but to review the new Digital Edition.  They wanted us to help work out any bugs with downloads and such.  I personally messed up my download and customer/tech service was quite helpful.  Even when my 6-year-old answered the phone and hung up on them; they just e-mailed me with their phone number ;-)  I think The Crew has worked out the kinks for them, and I feel they addressed our complaints including:  quicker, easier installation for PC (no downloading separate programs, then installing each), answers to questions all in one place, immediate access to purchases (no waiting for an e-mail to retrieve), and accessibility to and safety of your purchases.  If your computer crashes, you just go to “My account” and you’ll be able to retrieve any of your previous purchases!

As much as I love hardcover books on my bookshelf, that shelf is getting pretty full!  I actually enjoyed the Digital Edition of TOG.  It’s easier to print out what I need and  skip what I don’t and more convenient to print out 2-3 copies of a worksheet or quiz from the computer then having to print from text or purchase more than one activity workbook.  Tapestry of Grace will be a part of our Homeschool next year and in the years to come; I really think the price is worth it.    It is so well-organized for me, I can use it with several ages at once, and my sanity is worth more than money ;-)  You can purchase an entire year or each unit (one quarter of the year) separately.  You can purchase the Digital Edition, printed or both!  They are really trying to please everyone!  An entire year of Digital is $170, while print is $225.  You can buy a Digital unit for $45, while the individual print units are $60.  If you’d like to see a free sample of a unit Go to Egypt or Sail to the New World - Colonial America.

 

Helpful and generous

Having this program given to me to review was much different than if I’d researched it for myself.  I really haven’t taken advantage of all they have to offer with the forum and The Loom.  This is the section with the planning and scheduling help.  There are also additional resources which aren’t specifically for TOG curriculum, and they’re available to anyone, so go check out The Loom! 

 

And how about a free sample of the new "Map of the Humanities?"  People are paying $24.95 for the poster version, but TOG is giving the digital version away for free!  Here's the tinyurl link: http://tinyurl.com/MOTH1

 

How's that for a review?  I love the philosophy behind the company, the product/curriculum provided and the support and information they continue to offer.  This is definitely an intensive program, but you won't need to supplement it with a lot of other curriculum.  And they offer so much information and help along the way!  Please click on some of the links above and check them out!

Thanks for stopping by,

Danielle