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...

TOG Unit Celebration

Our co-op is going through Year 3 in Tapestry of Grace this year. Each year, we try to fit in a big Unit Celebration before we all get busy for the holidays. Year 3 in Tapestry covers the 1800's and Unit 1 (there are 4 units in the year) finishes with a mini-3-week study of South America. For our celebration, each of the families chose a South American country to represent. We did our best to turn the back lanai (patio) of a local church into the Amazon Jungle!

Can you believe this thing? Lisa, one of the co-op moms, and her children BUILT this "paper mache" Moai representing Easter Island. I just have to say that we have some pretty talented families in our co-op! We used it in one of our games: toss the hula hoop over the Moai.

The highlight of the evening was a maze which one of the families "built" in a classroom. It wasn't as easy to get through as you would think.

All of us gathering together to pray and devote our evening of celebration to God.

I love this! One of our moms, Kim, made a little sling for her "baby".

Another family made these passports for all the students. The passports were "issued" upon arrival and then "stamped" with each country's flag as the "traveler" visited each country's table.

Our family presented the country of Ecuador along with the Galapagos Islands.

Callie constructed this 3D map of the Galapagos Islands:

The three of us in our Ecuadorian attire (Dad was sick and couldn't come)

Our cookie map of Ecuador! This was also our contribution to dessert. Good thing we got a picture...

Progressive Dinner-TOG Unit 2 & 3 Celebration

   Our Tapestry Co-op decided to celebrate Units 2 and 3 together in February by holding a Progressive Dinner. The idea was to create an Exploration of various geographical locations studied in the two units, throwing in some games, skits, reviews and even stories.  Read on…

   Our first stop was in the Far East.  The Youngs transformed their carport into an oriental garden, complete with homemade lanterns!  Upon arrival, we all tested our spice knowledge with a game of guessing spices.  We feasted on gyoza, fried noodles, and hot tea while watching a remarkable skit about Marco Polo.  What a delightful way to begin our journey!

   Next, we were handed maps to South America for the “Exploration/Reformation” part of our journey!  Our compasses pointed the way to the Smith house where we were greeted by none other than Martin Luther.  (Apparently he had gotten on the wrong boat.)  After nailing the 95 Thesis to the front door of our home, we all proceeded through the door singing A Mighty Fortress is Our God.  After our meal, we settled into a somewhat friendly game of Jeopardy as we reviewed the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.  The winning team received small bars of gold nuggets (aka Hershey’s chocolate.)  We were soon feasting on homemade tacos, chips and salsa—Ole’! 

  Our next stop was charted on a beautiful handmade map.  We soon found ourselves crossing the wide ocean (aka H2—one of Hawaii’s three freeways) to the New World!  However, as our “ship” pulled into the harbor, we faced a surprise attack from the local natives, who quickly carted off all our precious cargo (the children!!)  Sadly, we continued our search to find the perfect landing spot in hopes that the natives would turn friendly and return our charges.  The Poulos house proved to be a fine location.  Before taking possession of the location, and after welcoming back our children and their now friendly captors, we took a moment to measure out the actual dimensions of the Mayflower.  Then we all stood in the “boat” to see what it would have been like to travel in such confinement.  We were all amazed at the fortitude these new Americans must have had. 

   After praying to God in thankfulness of all we have been blessed with, we were welcomed into the New World with more feasting!  There were aromatic pies, moist bread pudding, apple cider, and many more sweet treats waiting for us near the warm hearth.  The night was cool (even for Hawaii), and we all enjoyed huddling in blankets around the campfire listening to some of the men tell their stories.  Uncle Mike told a hair raising story about a recent trek to a neighboring island (aka The Big Island.)  We were all wide eyed as he told us of his encounter with hot red lava!!.  Soon, the friendly natives shared with us their secret of popping corn and we once again marveled at how blessed we are to have such wonderful friends and a mighty, loving God. 

   Our Unit 2 & 3 Progressive Dinner & Celebration was an event that we will all remember for a long time.  As usual, all the moms and dads were in awe of the talent and knowledge of all our children as they shared what they had learned over the last few months.  After our Medieval Feast in the fall, the moms were not ready to hold another huge more formal event, so this dinner proved perfect in bringing us all together to celebrate with very little effort.  We had about 8 or 9 families and just divided ourselves among the three stops to prepare.  Many of us wore costumes (with Lisa P. changing for each stop!)  I think the most enjoyable part of the whole evening for the Smiths was sitting around the campfire at the end of the night.  The whole evening was remarkable!

Medieval Feast

We have a fantastic group of families who are studying the same time period in history as we are. We are all using Tapestry of Grace, Year 2 which covers the time period between the Fall of Rome and the writing of the United States Constitution. We spent the first 10 weeks of the year covering the Medieval period, otherwise known as the dark ages. Since it is the beginning of the year, and motivation is still very high in many homeschooling families, a group of us decided to put together a Medieval Feast. Eight families came together to plan menus, organize games, provide entertainment and design a castle for one night of feasting and fun. I'm sure we all made memories that will last a long time in our children's hearts and minds! Following is a slide show of the event...

12/27/09: oops! Looks like Moblyng has dropped my slide show. I'll try to get some pictures uploaded again.

Visit www.moblyng.com to make your own!

b...b...butter

In A.J.’s phonics lesson today, his assignment was to make homemade butter since he is learning about the letter B. It just so happens that in history, we are reading “Little House in the Big Woods” by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Yesterday, we read how Ma, Laura and Mary made butter! Isn’t it neat how both those subjects lined up? So, we couldn’t resist trying out the recipe for homemade butter today. We took 2-4oz. jelly jars and poured in some heavy cream. A.J. and Callie shook their jars as I read the next chapter out of “Little House in the Big Woods”. They had to shake them a bit more after the reading too. About 20 minutes later, there was butter forming in the jars! They were so excited. They poured the buttermilk into a glass and drank it (just like Mary and Laura did in the story), and then used the butter on toast and noodles for lunch. Needless to say, it was a fun lesson for them.