President File Folder Game

This is a game I made up to teach my Grammar Level son the order of the presidents.  I purchased Debra's President Notebooking Pages. (Instead of making the President cards that TOG suggests, my children are notebooking the presidents, btw.)

As for the game....

Debra has included some nifty bookmarks in her Presidents package.  I printed out the first 25 of them and cut each in half.  The top half is the name of the president and a picture.  The bottom half states the number and the dates served, along with a presidential seal.  

Next I took a manila file folder.  I glued the Presidents "notebooking" cover to the front of the folder.  Then I opened the folder and laid out all the bottoms of the bookmarks, the ones with just the number and dates.  You can do this however you want, but I laid out the first 12 (in 3 rows of 4) on the left side and the 2nd 12 on the right side.  #25, William McKinley had to go on the back.  I glued/taped these down to the folder.

Next, I laminated all the tops of the bookmarks.

Then, I found two envelopes and stuck them on the back of the folder (under William McKinley....I actually just laid him sideways, but you might not have to do that.)

I added these game directions to the front:

Game #1:  Using the answer cards as a guide, match all the presidents with his correct number and years of office.

Game #2:  After completing #1, put back all but the first 10 presidents and try to match them without using the answer cards.  As you get better and better, do this with the next 10 and so on until you know them all.

Next, I took the file folder to Office Max and had the whole thing laminated. (My laminator is too small for file folders.)  Make sure they open up the folder and lay it flat through the machine.  Keep the envelopes closed though.

Back at home, I slit open the envelopes.  In one I placed all the tops of the president bookmarks....the parts with the names/faces.  In the other, I placed the answer cards.

Answer cards:  I printed out another set of the bookmarks.  Without cutting them up, I mini-sized them so that the "card" was small enough to fit into the envelope.  (So these cards have 5 presidents on each one...so there are 5 cards to go with the 25 presidents.)  Then I laminated them and placed them in the other envelope on the back of the game.  

I have a laminator that I bought at Sams last year.  If you don't have one, you can just take the smaller items with you to the office store and have it all done at once. 

Let me know if you have any questions.  I guess I need to get busy and make the game for the remaining presidents for Year 4 :-)

TOG Print or DE?

One of the frequently asked questions on the Tapestry Yahoo groups is which format of TOG is preferred:  Print or DE (Digital Edition.)  In print, the whole year is shipped printed and ready to be put into your own binders.  In DE, the entire year is either available for download onto your computer or is shipped to you on a cd.  (See a great format and price analysis here:  http://www.tapestryofgrace.com/2010prices/)  question is then, which is better?

This is such a tough question.  I have used the print version for 6 years.  I like pulling out my binders and turning to whatever page I need at any given time.  I did try DE for 2 units last year so that I could get to know that process a little better and be able to help others with either format.  I did like having DE along with my printed copy.  I liked being able to print out just the TN's and discussion script that I needed each week, mark them all up and then toss them when I was finished.   (With my printed version, I use page protectors on the weeks that I teach and mark them all up with sharpies.)  . Here's the thing though; I am a part of a co-op so I only teach about 8-9 weeks out of the year.  If I had to teach every week, I think I would stick with the print version, because I wouldn't want to print out everything each week. (Although, I do have a laptop now and would consider downloading the DE to that and just take the laptop with me...hmmmm....)

I also LOVED being able to print the Reading Assignment pages with the click of a button.  I would just print out one sheet for each child and highlight their assignments.  It was so easy!!  (Saved time too)

Another benefit about DE is the awesome interface that comes with it now.  From one page, you can plan out your entire week with any supplements you have purchased like Map Aids, Writing Aids, etc.  I think this feature has the potential of cutting planning time in half.  I haven't actually used it yet though except for playing around with the trial version over the summer.

These are basically the pros and cons of each format according to how we use Tapestry.  For me, the printed version offers a savings in ink and paper.  The DE offers a savings in time.  In my opinion, owning BOTH would be ideal.  However, I personally could make either version work for us.  The curriculum is exactly the same and that is ultimately what we really need.

Currently, Tapestry of Grace is running their best sale EVER off printed versions of Years 1 and 2.  The sale runs until the end of January so NOW is the time to stock up.  Click HERE for the sale.

“TOG” Workbooks

First of all, let me say that I went FOUR years without workbooks.  In those years, I simply printed out SAP’s for the week and handed them to my children on Monday for them to put in their binders.  Sometimes I would print them out a unit at a time, sometimes not.  Workbooks have come about because I saw them here and fell in love with the idea of having all the pages bound and in one spot.

Our first year of workbooks was last year.  I printed and bound whole UNITS of History, Literature, Geography and Timline pages for each child and organized them by week.  This is the system that is explained on Karen’s website above.  These books were too thick to be bound with my Proclick (see info below).  Instead I took them to Office Max and paid a dollar or two to get the spiral binding.  With that kind of binding, I could not add pages throughout the unit, but I had printed out everything so the books were complete.  I even copied the Reading Assignment pages as well as the writing assignment pages.  These books took me about 2 days a unit to compile.  For the last 2 units, I had purchased TOG DE (Digital Edition) which saved me lots of time in printing out the various pages.  My Rhetoric son at the time LOVED his workbook!  It was perfect for him because everything was in one spot (and he only had to keep up with one book for most of his TOG work.)

This year, I wanted to try something different.  I have found that in our school now, we work much more efficiently when everything is broken down into smaller pieces.  So, I decided to make individual TOG Subject workbooks.  I printed out everything for the WHOLE YEAR for each subject and then bound them each in their own “subject book”.  Here is a picture of them…

I designed the covers in Print Shop and laminated them with a $30 machine I found at Sams.  Each of the books was thin enough to bind with my ProClick (see purchase info below.)  This is also a great way incorporate TOG into Workboxes.  (I promise to post about Workboxes in the future!)  Another benefit is the ease of adding and removing pages.  This feature came in handy when we decided to move Callie up to Dialectic Literature.  Callie also makes a timeline page each week with Timeline Creator and we punch that page to add it into her History workbook.

For the President books, I am giving each of my children a page or two from Notebookingpages.com's President Pages as we learn about each president.  I then add their pages to their Presidents' book.  (I did not print all these out beforehand because my children like to choose which pages they want for each president.)

We have probably had the best year so far in keeping up with our TOG work.  I am not sure this is because of the workbooks, although they certainly help.  Another contributing factor could be that I do not have high schoolers at home anymore J.

This gadget is worth its weight in gold...

No Excuses!

   One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to eat healthy and to lose weight.  I also have a goal of running a 5K this year!  I need to get moving!!  A couple of months ago, I purchased the No Excuses Work Out System that is featured on Fly Lady’s website. I also subscribed to Jonathan Roche’s emails. I have been reading a couple of his emails a week ever since and finally opened the NEWO (No Excuses Work Out) package the day after Christmas.

   Today, I am here to tell you that I have successfully completed a full week of Jonathan’s program!! (Please clap for me…this is a HUGE accomplishment…especially since I started the week between Christmas and New Years.) I feel good about following through with it, although my body is fighting me. I am able and willing to fight back though!

   After opening the package and logging on to the website with the registration number…and answering a TON of medical related questions--which I passed by the skin of my teeth…I received a personal work out plan. During my first week, I had 3 interval 30 minute workouts and 3 “No Excuses” workouts. The interval workouts are hard; I am not going to lie. I walked/jogged for the first 2, and suffered quite a bit with shin splints. The third I completed on our hand-me-down elliptical. My shins appreciated that exercise much better. On Monday, I tried the walking/jogging thing again, trying to walk correctly to avoid those painful shin splints.  They came, but weren't as bad as last week.  After these four interval workouts, I have learned 2 things about myself: #1: I am really out of shape. #2: I do not die when I exercise!  I'm hoping to learn more in the coming weeks!
  By the way, if you do wind up purchasing this program too, please let me know and we can set up challenges.  Also, if you mention that I referred you, I get some points for some free stuff.

New Years in Hawaii

This is just a taste of what goes on in Hawaii on New Years Eve.