I’ve explained how I personally use Tapestry of Grace with a large family and a loose schedule, but I thought it might benefit you to get a good overview of the curriculum minus all my tweaks and interjections…well, I’ll still interject things, but I’ll try to keep that to a minimum.
Tapestry of Grace is, in its essence, a Classical Curriculum. But… (see I told you I was still going to interject things) …you DO NOT have to be a Classical Mama to use it. It isn’t THAT kind of Classical Curriculum. In fact, in my mind, it is one the most flexible curricula out there.
Do you love living books? This is the curriculum for you!
Do you love a curriculum that is woven through all the subjects? This is the curriculum for you!
Do you need a curriculum that works for all age groups? This is the curriculum for you!
Do you want your children to have a meaty, but interesting educational experience?
Yes, this is the curriculum is for you!
I was initially drawn to Tapestry of Grace for 2 reasons:
- It is chronological. That is the nature of Classical curricula, and that is how my brain likes to organize things. I was fascinated by how interwoven history was – something I was not taught in public school – and I wanted my children to learn history that way.
- It uses living books. I knew I wanted to read aloud to my children from the very beginning of our homeschooling days, but I wasn’t sure how to pick books, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to figure out how to teach history from living books without a little help.
I’ve since learned to love many more things about TOG! I love that I have one curriculum for ALL of my children. I love that I have a smorgasbord of ideas to choose from. I love that my kids love it!
I do need to mention that Tapestry of Grace is what is considered a comprehensive “Humanities Program,” so you will not see science, math, phonics, grammar, or foreign language included. However, they do often reach into these subjects. For instance, inventors are discussed in their respective time periods, so your child is connecting people and events with what they are learning in their science books. I like being able to choose my own books for these subjects, so I’ve never seen this as a problem.
Tapestry of Grace can be purchased in either digital or print (I prefer to buy the combination because the digital curriculum updates automatically, but I like to have the notebooks to work from). The full curriculum is broken into 4 years – from the Ancient World to Modern Day. Your child may end up going through the curriculum 3 times at different levels during their homeschooling career; however, don’t let that trip you up. I typically take 1.5 – 2 years per Year program. (If you would like to see a Scope & Sequence of what is covered in each year, scroll to the bottom of each Year page. These can also be printed off for your convenience.)
There are tons of extras you can add on to TOG. Many of the following I do not use, but that is because when I first started using Tapestry, these things were not available and I’ve just stuck with what I know. That said, preparing for this overview has opened my eyes to some things I think would definitely be beneficial for our homeschool. I’m not going to go in depth with all of the extras, but I do want to mention a few:
Writing Aids – Tapestry provides you with writing assignments for every grade level, but perhaps you feel you need more explanation or guidance to teach the assignments properly. This is where Writing Aids comes in handy.
Map Aids – Tapestry includes tons of geography! Map Aids gives you all the needed maps and answer keys for the geography portion of the curriculum. No more searching online for just the right map!
Lapbooks – Do you like the Unit Study feel? Tapestry can definitely give you that! Use their Lapbook templates to supplement your learning and dig deep into each unit!
PopQuiz – If you are trying to find ways to include Dad in your homeschooling efforts, this is a great option! Perhaps Daddy travels a lot or is in the military. He can use these “Pop” quizes to brush up on what the children are learning (via audio or text) and then use the provided questions to “quiz” or simply discuss that week’s topics with the children.
Now, let me answer a few more questions about Tapestry of Grace that might help you make your decision as to whether or not this curriculum is for you…
How difficult is it to plan out Tapestry of Grace lessons?
I feel like it is fairly simply (and I like simple!). At the beginning of a Year, I look through all the books needed and decide which books I need to purchase for the year.
After that, I plan weekly. Yes, weekly. The levels in TOG are color-coded, and everything I need is included in each week plan. You can watch this video (and be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss subsequent Tapestry of Grace videos!) to get a quick overview of my weekly planning sessions. It really is very simple because everything is right at your fingertips. You do not have to be uber-organized to use this curriculum.
(Get free sample lessons plan at Tapestry of Grace!)
At what age can I start Tapestry of Grace?
I started TOG when my oldest was 6; however, Tapestry has a product called Primer that I believe would have been very beneficial for me to start with instead.
I felt like I was drinking from a fire hydrant and gave up on Tapestry over and over for many years trying to get my bearings with it. Primer is a gentle introduction to how history is woven into a tapestry. From there, you can move into formal Tapestry of Grace.
Personally, I believe WHEN you start depends on the child. Some children need a little more maturity under their belts before they can truly enjoy Tapestry.
Do I need to buy all the books Tapestry recommends?
Short answer: No.
Long answer: The books TOG recommends are really, really, really good. They are one of the big reasons I decided to go with Tapestry. That said, I do not use every single book they suggest. I have a lot of books and resources in my personal library and at our local library that work just fine.
Have more questions?
Take a look at my Tapestry of Grace page!
Joellen says
Tapestry of Grace was one of the frontrunners when we were looking into homeschool curriculum years ago. I almost chose that one, but went with Heart of Dakota because it includes everything, including activities tied into the lessons, math, and science. Now that we have five kids spaced between two and two and a half years apart, having each kid in a different book because skill and comprehension is vastly different in the early years is becoming overwhelming. In the last year and a half, coinciding with my third trimester and the birth of my now fifteen month old, I think I’ve opened the HOD curriculum guides once or twice. We’ve almost been unschooling, with grand results in science and math, but the 10 and 7 year olds are way behind on language arts, especially writing skills. I’ve thought about switching curriculum to something more suited to group educating, but the thought of changing at this point is also daunting. Do you have any advice or insight on switching to Tapestry partway through elementary school? If we were in public school my oldest would be in third grade this year, due to severe health issues. By age, she should be in fourth grader, but she remembers very little of life before her liver transplant at age six and a half.
Amy says
We took a break from TOG and then went back to it at about the ages you are talking about. The only thing I regret is that I didn’t just go into the next time period rather than starting back over with the Ancient World. Because of all my curriculum flip-flopping during those years, we ended up doing Ancient World 3x in a row with 3 different curricula. I like TOG’s way of doing writing better than anything else I’ve tried because it is practical. And yes, it was way easier for me to teach all the same content at their specific age level rather than trying to teach lots of different things. HOD always intrigued me, but not enough to pull me away from TOG.
Tania says
This is a really great review, you mentioned most of the reasons we love TOG, my 3 kids 10,8,7 love it and I feel like I’m learning so much learning History with them chronologically. The reasons you chose it are pretty much the same reasons I loved it and that it fit perfectly with my desire to have my kids have a biblical world view. After that I realized how its set up for learning in a classical form which makes so much sense!
Julie Filter says
I have 7 kids ages 15, 14, 12, 10, 9, 7, and almost 5. I have done such a hodgepodge through the years, but I’m planning on doing TOG next year and moving forward. My process has been LONG but I’ve always anchored to a Charlotte Mason style of sorts. I needed to really “see” what else was out there before really understanding the value of TOG and how to make it my own. I feel far less intimidated now than when I first looked at it a decade ago. I wish I had the wisdom then to just go SUPER slowly at first. I was SO overwhelmed then and I threw TOG away due to my kids being so young at the time. But, lesson learned and I now still have a bunch who will benefit from anchoring to something solid moving forward. Thanks for the solid overview
Kb says
I do Abeka and Easy Peasy and have heard of Tapestry but never knew if I would like it (or understand it!). I need things simple, and the way you detailed this out makes it sound simple. What are the subjects that are “covered” by Tapestry? In other words, would I need to do any of the subjects with a separate curriculum? Thanks!
Amy says
Yes, you do need to add in math, science, and phonics in the early years. TOG can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. 🙂
Lauren says
Great, comprehensive overview!! (From a fellow TOG Mama. 😉 ) We are in our third year of Tapestry, and when we began, it was our third new thing in as many years, so I was a little cautious at first in my enthusiasm, but I am now unabashedly 100% sold on Tapestry. It continues to be the thing we most look forward to, as it has become our daytime all-together time during school. I do love that you said that you take 1.5-2 years to go through one year. That’s really helpful to hear…so many of the topics seem to beg for more than just one week of study!
Just wanted to say hi! Out of curiosity, where are you in the cycle at the moment? We are Y3W15, starting tomorrow. 🙂
Amy says
Hello! We’ll be on Y3W22 tomorrow!