Every week I grow increasingly frustrated with spending vast amounts of time to make book choices that will address the main points for the week and that will help my students find the answers on their activity sheets that will adequately prepare them for the discussion periods. I have been told that this is one of the main issues being addressed in the redesign. But in the meantime can anyone give me some suggestions on how to deal with this situation? My students are equally frustrated with this "guess which resource holds this week's answers" game. Sorry for the venting. Thanks for help.

When we come across situations like this, I refer my students to the textbooks - either Streams of Civilization or Western Civilization. If we can't find the answers there, then I tell them what the World Book says.

HTH!

Hi! What ages/grades are your kids? If they are R (and sometimes D), they can take some ownership in finding answers to the questions posed in their accountability and thinking questions, even if the answers aren't in their assigned readings.

How long have you been using TOG? Is this part of the 4-week fog or have you been using it for more than a unit or two. I had this same problem when I started. (My 4-week fog lasted 7-8 weeks!) I was spending hours each week scanning resources. Now, I look through the Major Themes and People sections of the weekly overview before I assign reading. For things that aren't obvious, I check the indexes of our books. I tell them during our Monday morning meeting what the themes and people are for the week. If when we came to discussion time, prewriting time, or lapbook booklet time they hadn't found something in their assigned resources, I ask them to figure out how they can track down that information. Sometimes we look at indexes in other resources on our shelves or we Google something. Also, I see nothing wrong with conducting an impromtu mini-"lecture" on a topic during discussion time, if needed. It's good practice for their note-taking skills!

Hope this helps! Blessings,
Monica

How relyable are the World Book notes in Tapestry of Grace. Just wondering if it has been well researched from a secular and Christian perspective. There are many opinions on our nations beginnings.
Thanks
Chris

Hi Chris,
If there is anything questionable about a particular section from WB, we tell you in the Teacher's Notes. So, you are getting a balanced perspective with the combination of WB articles, our commentary, discussion questions, etc.

Blessings,

I worked through this last year also, but have found that by looking at the evaluation for the week, the teacher's notes and the sample discussion script, everything was there that I needed to conduct an excellent discussion for us to get the bottom of the questions posed from the kids.

I ask my R students to do the best they can in answering the questions in the weekly time frame given, and we cover it all - including that which they missed on Thursday afternoons when we gather to discuss and learn.

Pam