Five years ago I found myself in need of a new curriculum for our family homeschool. For several years, I had been using a family integrated curriculum but when our oldest child reached Jr. High level I found that it was no longer suitable for our needs. For one year I picked and chose my own curriculum for him while continuing the other with the remaining three children. I was concerned that I wasn’t really meeting the needs of this one child, looking ahead toward high school, and the future needs of the other three.

We prayed about what God would have us do and He reminded me of a curriculum that I had walked past at a homeschool conference a few years earlier, Tapestry of Grace. At that time their website was not user friendly and they were just beginning their redesign project. After much prayer, we decided to jump in and I have never regretted it!

Tapestry of Grace is a classical, family integrated, unit study curriculum based on a chronological study of history from a biblical worldview. It covers history, literature, writing, fine arts and hands-on projects, with elective options in government, philosophy and church history. We are a family that enjoys history and loves to read. This curriculum helps me to keep all four of our children on the same theme of study while giving them reading material and assignments that coincide with their individual learning levels. The curriculum runs on a four year cycle through the whole of history and when you finish the rotation you go back through but this time the student is at a different learning level.

We are now comleting our fourth year in the program. Our high school age son will be done with his home studies soon. I have no doubt that we have given him the best education available. I am looking forward to starting Year 1 over again next year with the other kids one of whom will be starting high school. I will still have hands on projects for my younger children and challenging literature assignments for a bookworm freshman. Take a look at their new, very user friendly website and see what God may have in store for you now in a new digital formatted curriculum.

Click on the Tapestry Banner to find out more!

A few years ago a friend introduced me to The Homeschool Magazine. At the time I had let all of my magazine subscriptions expire. I just never had the time to read them. Later, at a homeschooling conference I was handed a free edition. I found the articles were helpful and the ads told me about homeschool products that were new to me. Now in my thrid year of subscribing to this magazine I have found it to be very helpful and encouraging in my endeavor to homeschool.

I also enjoy being a subscriber to several of their newsletters. “The Homeschool Minute” centers around a specific theme with articles from each contributor. There are links to products that would be useful with the theme presented. An issue in September was about babysitting. It had helpful links to unit studies on teaching young girls on the subject. We will be starting these soon! “Freebie Friday’s” is just that, a Friday newsletter with a look at what is out there for free. Something we all like to hear! I also receive the “Teacher’s Toolbox.” The January issue is on nutrition and includes a link for a free nutrition unit study project pack, enrichment tools, a healthy, kid friendly, budget conscious pizza recipe to try, as well as links to additional resources you may want to purchase.

They also have a store with many products that will help in your homeschool and shipping is always free. I am currently trying out the TOS Schoolhouse Planner and will let you know what I think about it once I have had a chance to use it for a while.

If you are a homeschooling family, I encourage you to click on this link to The Homeschool Magazine or the banner below to learn more about both print and digital subscription options. Check it out and let us know what you think.