Hi there, I am leading a rather large co-op (20 families). We have all ages birth through 12th grade. We will begin using Tapestry this year as a group. We are beginning with Year 2 because we have some graduating highschoolers who have not studied the middle ages yet.

There is so much to see and do with Tapestry. If I were doing this alone with just my family I wouldd just dive in and see where it takes us, but since I have 19 other families depending on me, I would like some pointers.

Many of our families look at the booklists and sqeel in terror, espeecially the families with one child in each learning level. They all want to know which books they have to have. I want to plan so that some of the books will be read at co-op, but having never done Tapestry I don't know how to make that determination aside from me sitting down and reading every page of Year 2- UGH! I don't have time for that.

So, any veteran TOG moms out there with advice, please let me know. These folks want to start looking for books ASAP and I have not idea.

Hi Jenny,
I was in your same shoes two years ago so I can sympathize. It takes a little more guidance the first year to get a co-op started with TOG, but it's worth it. Our co-op is only 10 families, but we have several families with children in every grade level. Our co-op meets weekly; here's how we manage each level. We meet for 5 class periods, but one hour is Spanish and one is science. The other three are TOG focused.

LG -The first hour is history. We focus on hands-on projects during this class. No particular books are required, but some were read aloud in class. The second hour was art. The art lessons were based on suggestions in TOG. The 3rd hour was music. Our teacher taught recorder the first two terms and used medieval music (the recorder originated in medieval times). The last term we did Colonial dancing. The teachers of history and art gave out a syllabus so parents knew what activities and books were plannned for class.

UG - Functioned much like LG. No particular books were required. The class did discussions and oral presentations along with hands-on activities. We did give a unit test to this group, but a study sheet was given with the most important points studied. UG and LG were together for music and most of the art projects were identical to LG. Many families with UG and D kids just used the D books for both.

Dialectic- These kids had a history discussion class each week. The only required books were the "history core" books, but we made it clear that some research may be needed if "history in depth"resources were not purchased. We found that the families who did not purchase "history in depth" books could often find other resources at the library to cover the same topics. The teachers basically followed the history discussion outlines. The students were expected to complete geography assignments using MapAids. The Dialectic group also did some of the group activities suggested in TOG. Second hour for this group was a Composition and Literature class. We basically followed the Lit assignemnts in TOG and used Writing Aids for writing assignments. Third hour for this group was art. Many projects were a more complex version of the projects offered to the younger groups. Art appreciation was also included for this group using the fine arts assignments in the TOG manual. Reading the Fine Arts assignments was not required. The teacher just taught the information during class.

Rhetoric - This group functioned much like the Dialectic group. I taught the history and comp/lit class. I required most history core books be purchased and expected the students to use the internet to answer questions for "in depth" books they did not have. There was one quarter that I had to eliminate some questions because I did not require the "in depth" book. I assigned presentations to cover topics that were covered in resources that were only used 1-2 weeks. I gave out a syllabus with the required reading assignments and a list of topics being covered by class presentations. Parents could decide for themselves if they wanted the "in depth" resources. For the additional threads, I gave extra credit for students who would give informal presentations on fine arts, church history, or philosophy. In hind sight, I wish I had required the students to buy the "in depth" books. These books followed European history and I wish all the students had read these great resources. For Literature I followed the second level of "cutting" as recommended in the Loom for the 9th graders. The older group did all of the literature. If you are including Literature, the teacher MUST read the "Teaching Rhetoric Literature" document on the Loom before planning.

It took me a whole year to convince the teachers of the younger classes that we need a syllabus. It really helps the moms of large families to know what is being planned for in class activities. Another suggestion is try to make the LG/UG classes "homework free". Managing additional assignments makes co-op a burden rather than a help. I keep stressing that co-op is supposed to releive a burden for the mom of UG/LG students. I try to encourage the teachers to plan their classes this way. For Dialectic/Rhetoric students we want our students to get used to classroom expectations,high standards, and dealines, while inspiring them to love learning. The challenge has been to keep the standards high without becoming too "school oriented".

If you are doing year 2, don't miss the Medieval Feast. We followed the basic outline in unit one and had a great time!
For unit 4 we hired a dance teacher and we learned Colonial dancing. It was a blast!

I'd be happy to answer more questions.
Blessings,
Leanna

Hi Leanna,

I want to thank you for your wonderful reply to Jenny's question. This will be my second year to lead a TOG co-op. We're up to 11 families with 40 kids. I teach the rhetoric class and, although I have both a composition and a literature teacher to help me, I was feeling a little overwhelmed teaching history, art history, music history and philosophy by myself. After reading your reply, I decided to take your suggestion and assign my students one art history or music history lesson each semester. I'm also going to share the philosophy with the composition teacher. I feel much better now.

thanks again for your timely comments,
Tresa

Tresa...

Last week we did three webinars on co-opping. You might glean ideas there as well. They are available recorded at www.lampstandpress.com/conferences/virtual under "workshops"

Two of them are on virtual co-opping, but still reflect work divisions and student responsibilities.

HTH!