Hi all,

I hope I'm posting this in the right place...

Since TOG is a 36-week program, *and* according to information on the site, a high school student has to complete every regular assignment to receive honors credit in English and History, how can one fit vacations and other days off into the schedule and still allow a summer break? My dd will need to continue to do school work nearly every day of every break (Christmas and Easter remaining) to complete school in mid to late June (we've had to stretch one of our weeks into two already, putting us a week behind schedule). It seems that without leaving some things out (and again, according to TOG's own information, we can't if my dd wants honors credit), she has no flexibility for time off during the school year. This seems like simple math, but is there something I'm missing? I think I'd like to see a 32 week program that assumes some breaks. We're *loving* this, though!

Thanks for your help!

Maybe I'm not understanding your question, but my family will school for one unit and then take a break. We start in July and school for 9 weeks (one unit). Then we take a 2 week break. Unit 2 will usually begin for us in late September/early October. We school for 9 weeks and then take a 5-6 week break for Christmas/New Year's. We pick up with Unit 3 in January and go for 9 weeks and then take a 2 week break in March. We do Unit 4 for the full 9 weeks and are typically done in mid-May. At that point we take another 6 week break that I call a summer break. By the time July rolls around my kids are typically getting bored. This schedule works well for us. I figured out that I'm a happier mom if I take breaks between each unit. I'm not sure if that's what you were asking, but I just thought you might like to see another TOG'ger's schedule. There's no way I could school for a straight 36 weeks.
hope that helps!

We also started our Unit 1 in July so that we could take breaks throughout the year and still cover the material.

If you want to give the child the "honors" credit than I think that you should try to cover the curriculum. Thirty-six weeks of school is still only 180 days. We have 365.

TOG does offer you the flexibility of doing 3/4 of the "suggested" honors level in order to obtain a STRONG high-school level credit. If that is a level that you are comfortable with, then I would award her the credits accordingly. If she wants an honors credit, then I would use this as an opportunity to help her to set long-term goals and then reach them.

So far my ds has done all of the work for Year 1 R level honors, but I'm starting to think that we might switch gears. It does take up a lot of time, and I know that he would like to focus on some other things.

However I will not give him the honors credit if he hasn't met the course's objectives.

... just my two cents.

Peace,
Janice

P.S. And as far as a summer break: my sister's kids attend a good high school. They read and write response papers in the summer. It's just part of what they do. So technically they don't get a three month "break" either. Their "vacations" throughout the year include projects and assignments that they have to do at home during their "break." I don't think that TOG is out of line at all when they suggest a full 36 weeks of work for a high-school credit.

For our schedule we started the first week of September and will end at the end of the first week in June. This allows for one week off in Nov, one week in Dec, one week in Feb, and one week in April.

For Monday holidays, we either school on that day or do 5 days work in 4 or call it "homework."

Thanks ladies...

I was hoping to complete the curriculum and allow the girls' summer break to coincide with their friends' breaks, but it's obvious that for us, Tapestry means an extended school year. I discussed it with my older dd, and we decided we'll just expect to complete the school year at the very end of June or first few of days of July. The good news is, she really enjoys the curriculum, so while extending the year isn't ideal to her, it isn't the end of the world, either. (The bad news is, her sister isn't nearly as amiable about it... but she'll live. )

Thanks for taking time out of your busy days to offer your experiences/opinions!

Cynthia