I would like to know if any have tried to break the subject areas into separate classes. i.e. History class, Literature class, Writing class, etc. Each of the classes following the course work for each week of the curriculum. Has anyone done this? Do you like it? What works and doesn't, etc.

Our co-op meets weekly and we break out each level into history, writing, lit, and add on
Communicators for Christ, geography, science and grammar.
It makes for an exhausting day, but the kids LOVE co-op and love their classes.
Our co-op all work out of the redesigned and we are all working on the same week. On Fridays we come together and interact with the material in LG, UG, D and Rh.
Our problem is that we are trying to find a way to take bite size chunks of Tapestry- to allow for other subjects. I agree that one of the hardest parts of TOG is choosing what NOT to do....it is all so delicious!
We are trying to find core books that we can use in history discussions as we are all finding that history readings are taking over our homeschools and leaving less time for science, languages, and other electives.

If anyone has found a good system for choosing books for co-op, I would love to hear your input!!

lisa

I've led co-ops for years, and the best I've found is to make requirements for classes and leave the assignment decisions to parents.

With TOG, you have questions each week on D and R levels. We require students to have these answered (the AQs in their heads if their parents OK it; the TQs in writing) for class. They can use whatever resources their parents assign: our core/in depth ones, our Alternates, Internet resources, library books not on our lists, books parents may have on their shelves, etc. While it is EASIER to have lockstep reading assignments (and easier still for R's who need some of the actual Tapestry-assigned resources that are interpretive of history) it is not necessary. I found that the cross pollination from a variety of resources added to the depths of our discussions.

What you have to emphasize if you follow this course, though, is thorough preparation each week according to the discussion questions.