My family has been using TOG (D and UG) for a year, and we are very satisfied with its content and joyful learning. I am, of course, starting to consider options for the rhetoric stage. I'd just been assuming that we would continue with TOG. However, the issue of having the required or "correct" paperwork in order for college admissions and/or job seeking is on my mind.

I have a friend whose two children got a full merit scholarship to a local community college after completing a very popular and accredited homeschool DVD HS program. They would not have received the scholarship had they not earned the diploma from an accredited school. I've also read that having a school diploma is necessary for some jobs. However, after doing some searching, I haven't found an accredited HS program available to homeschoolers that comes close to the quality of material or rigor of TOG.

I'm very interested to know if Mrs. Sommerville or another would be gracious enough to share their experience and opinion of this issue. Also, does anyone know of any options for using TOG through an accredited school that awards diplomas to homeschoolers?

Trying to cover all the bases!
Thanks!

I can only speak from experience of reading many, many homeschoolers' post on college admissions that having an "accredited" diploma is not necessary to secure either college admission or scholarships.

HSLDA has a big page of stuff on high school that you may wish to explore:
http://www.hslda.org/highschool/default.asp

Hi Terri! I'm not Marcia, but maybe I can help a bit. :-) I just graduated from college a couple of years ago after going through Tapestry in high school, and the universal experience of all the kids I knew who were in Tapestry co-ops was that getting into college was no problem. My two older brothers both got full rides to community college (with a summer at Cambridge in England thrown in) and then went on to Hillsdale and University of Maryland. I and my baby sister both got into Patrick Henry College. My other sister is at Towson University (she also won a three-week scholarship for a trip to Italy and an internship at a Smithsonian museum), and my little brother got a full ride at UMBC.

Other kids I know who were in Tapestry have gone to and done well at Hood, University of Maryland, Hillsdale, UMBC, and community colleges, several of them with scholarships or even full rides thrown in. Those I know who are now out of college have qualified as nurses, engineers (I know of one at Lockheed Martin), graphic designers, teachers, etc.

That's from my limited experience, but hopefully it's pretty current information. And what it all boils down to is this: "No problem!"

HTH!
Christy Somerville

Thanks a bunch for the reassurance and reference to HSLDA. It is a great blessing to hear of others who have completed TOG, been recognized, and are continuing to thrive! Christy, you mentioned, "kids I knew who were in Tapestry co-ops." There is no co-op in my area despite my many and continuing efforts to get one rolling. What about those of us who are doing this at home without interaction of other families? I would guess that, here again, there is the question of accountability. How can this problem be averted? By testing, following the requirements outlined on the Loom for earning credits, and keeping detailed and thorough records?
Thanks again,
Terri

Yes Terri, I think it boils down to just faithfulness on our parts as teachers to keep good records and discipline ourselves to have those class discussions, supervise those papers, etc. Co-ops are helpful for accountability and stimulating for the kids because they get to discuss with one another, but I don't think the lack of one poses a huge threat to your student's ability to get a good education. As with so many other things in our lives, I think this is an area where we need to just be faithful and trust God! :-)

There are, however, a fair number of "virtual" web-based Tapestry co-ops. Have you considered joining one of those so that you could benefit from accountability and discussion options?

HTH!
Christy

I have considered the virtual co-op option and plan to rethink it. Thanks for sharing your experience and insight.
Terri