I just finished my third year of TOG. I did year one during the 2008/2009 school year. Princess E was UG, Princess S was LG (though she did read many things on her own), Princess L was three turning four and Princess M was one year old. I only glanced at the Teacher's Notes most week, preferring to get what I needed to know from reading many of the girls books a week before they did. It was just more interesting and easier that way. We did maps the easy way - I gave them the teacher map and they copied in the answers. They didn't color the maps unless it was necessary for understanding. We did several cookie dough maps, several hands on projects and that was all I could handle. During the 2009/2010 year, I started Princess L in preschool (which was really MFW K done over two weeks per lesson) and that made me busier. We did year two. The big changes were few. We added in The Story of the World, which I purchased the audio CDs for and we listened to them over lunch. Because I was busier with Princess L, Princess S did the LG reading on her own. Princess E did three units at the UG level and then transitioned to some D level work that last unit. We did a few hands on projects, not as many as I would have liked, and called it good. I began to see how unprepared Princess E was for the D level. I began to see some skills that needed to be built up.
For the 2010/2011 year, I decided to skip year three in order to join a TOG co-op that was a half hour away. Princess E did full time D level, Princess S did UG level work, and though I intended to do some LG with Princess L, I just didn't have time. Princess L did MFW 1st Grade. Princess E and I struggled, all year long, with the Socratic Discussions that are done at the D level. She fought the work load - whining that she couldn't find the answers in her reading and not reading for understanding but reading to get Mom off my back and have her free time. I grew weary of the argument. Needless to say, I realize that I've got some more work to do in order to get Princess S ready to transition to D in another year.
Next year we will again be doing year one. Both Princess E and Princess S seem to remember many of the facts they learned the first year. Actually, I'm kind of surprised by that. It tells me that they were probably reading and understanding more than they let on. One thing I did then, that I am planning to continue now, is something I learned from MFW. That is the concept of the book basket. When I went to the library to pick up the books I had reserved, I would look at the call numbers and go to those sections. I would pick up other books in those sections that looked interesting. Then I kept them in the library basket. I didn't assign those books, but inevitably, the girls would pick them up and read them. I think the majority of their learning came from the reading they didn't have to do. But, since the books had the facts that were deemed important on the Threads pages, I was fine with that.
Here are some of my learned strategies. First, the LG level is all about the fun. I'm planning to make sure I get to the History Core book each week. I plan to read it with Princess L and have her narrate back to me - a la Charlotte Mason - and do one of the LG Response Pages for the book. I have the History Scribe books, and I will pick out one or two that go with the threads for the week to have her copy and draw a picture for. If I have the History In Depth book, or if it looks interesting to me and our library has it, I may add that in if we have a lighter week. I want to make sure to get in at least one hands on project every other week with Princess L and Princess M. And instead of doing the paper maps at this stage, we're going to do one cookie dough map per unit. I also have a map skills workbook that I purchased from Sam's Club years ago that I will be using with Princess L.
Second, for Princess S, this will be her last year at the UG level. I have identified some skills that I want to build up so that she is able to transition to the D level by the end of the year. I plan to have her do a KWO - a la IEW - for her History Core book each week. She is going to fight this - but I think that it is a skill that will help her to find the important facts in her reading. She has had great trouble with that this past year. She will narrate from her KWO what she has learned. For the History In Depth books, I will not require the KWO, but I will require her to narrate the book to me, and complete some type of response page. I will be using the History Scribe pages for her as well, more for the fact that she needs the handwriting practice, but she might as well practice on something that has meaning. I am considering having her do some of the D level literature books. She certainly can read at that level, and I think she would have an easier time transitioning in this area than learning to do the AQ/TQ questions and discussions. That would give us less to have to deal with next year. I won't have her do all of them, but I will have her do at least two D level books per unit.
For Princess E, this will be her second full year at the D level. Next year, she will be doing the LLC for her history discussion. For the moment, I am planning on being one week ahead of the LLC for our reading. That way she is assured of getting her reading done. We run our TOG week from Friday to Thursday. Her online discussion day will be Wednesday. So she will have time on the weekend to catch up on anything that she is missing. If that proves to difficult for her, we can switch things up easily. I will be requiring her to do a KWO for her History Core as well. She will have to read the History In Depth, as there are often AQ/TQ questions from those as well. I'm debating whether to require the KWO for that as well, or just to have her narrate them to me. I will have her turn in her written AQ/TQs to me and look them over. She usually does these on her netbook as she can type much faster than she can handwrite. She won't have to do any copywork, but I will be adding in some dictation for both my elder princesses, as I have determined that their ability to listen and put down what they heard on paper is sorely lacking.
I have come to the conclusion that Charlotte Mason's idea of Reading, Narrating, Copywork and Dictation are all skills that my eldest two have been lacking. We are going to use her ideas at a much higher level next year. And I know how to focus my efforts with my little two in the future.
I've come to embrace the idea that TOG is a smorgasbord. There is so much there, but I just don't have time to do it all. I need to use the TOG materials as a springboard to build up the skills that my kids need, and how I use it will be determined by what skills they need. I also will worry a lot less about getting every thing in at the early years, and even with my older two, and instead focus on the Threads pages. If they can understand the two or three concepts I think are most important, I'll call it good. I'll worry less about whether we've completed all the SAPs we can, or whether we've read every book. Instead, I'm going to focus on their listening skills, and their ability to comprehend what they read and communicate it back to others.
