I am new and researching TOG for our family. I have several questions... and would love help from all you wonderful ladies.

1. Is this hard to implement with 5 children ages 13, 12, 9, 4 and 2??

2. What does a typical day look like??

3. Is there a booklist ANYWHERE to show what books will be used. This can make my decision so much easier We would be using Year 3

Thanks for any help,
Jennifer

For a booklist, go to the Bookshelf (see the link at the top of the page). The Year 3 booklist is not fully prepared, since they're still re-writing that year-plan. But they've recently posted the Unit 1 books.

I can't answer your other questions very well - I'd explore this forum and see what others have already said. It's hard to answer the question, "Is it hard?" since families are so different. Schooling with toddlers around is always hard! I find that Tapestry makes us busy, but it's doable with my kids, 7, 11, and 15.

We are finishing our second year of TOG (21st year of homeschooling). This year we did Year 4 with (current) ages of 18, 16, 14, 12, 9, 8, 4, and 2. My children love being on the same page together with Tapestry. The olders pick up the youngers' library/picture books, the middlers look through some of the olders' books, everyone watches videos where appropriate, field trips enrich everybody, and dinner table conversation often turns to what we're learning.

I've found that TOG is easy to adapt and pick-and-choose from. A typical day depends on which day of the week, but for us, it looks like this:

--Breakfast, dress, clean rooms
--Chores (house blessing!)
--Morning Time (Bible, memory work, poetry, Thinking Toolbox, short civics questions, then reading aloud--current book or Tapestry books--meanwhile, little ones are trapped in the den with us using gates and certain toys like animals/blocks or dollhouse, etc.)
--Individual math, reading, writing till lunch
--Lunch (it's every man for himself, unless you are the lucky one whose day it is to fix lunch for the 4yo and 2yo)
--30 minute outside recess (yard pickup or chores, then playtime)
--more reading, writing, naps/rest for littles

This is the short version, of course, but you don't have to make it hard and complicated. We have some good discussion throughout and most weeks we get all the reading done. I feel free to skip some weeks and do some longer. For instance, we spent longer on the Civil War and WWII, and left out some other things (but only after I prayed about these decisions for our family).

I hope this helps you a bit in your decision!

Charlotte
mom of 12, ages 2-25 (8 still at home!)