Tapestry of Grace and History Revealed?

It’s the time of year when I get questions on curriculum choices! I love to talk curriculum. And today I am sharing a question Holli asked about the homeschool resources Tapestry of Grace and Answers in Genesis: History Revealed. It’s a post I’ve promised for a while.

Hi Tricia,

Q: I really wanted to ask you a question about history at your house.  I know that you used Tapestry of Grace (TOG) and all of your posts have given me an extra dose of peace that this is the curriculum our family should use (I have 6 children).  But, I recently saw that you are using Diana Warings’ History Revealed alongside TOG. Now I’m all in a fluster!  : )  Would you mind telling me how this works for you?

Your review stated,”It is the Biblical basis of history that I now realize I never had in my schooling.”  It SOUNDS like you are having your eyes opened to things that you didn’t see in TOG. Am I correct in assuming that?  I’m wondering if you prefer one curriculum over the other or if you could just share any thoughts with me as I am preparing to finalize curriculum choices for next year.

Thank you so much, Tricia, for any help you can offer and for your time! In Him, Holli

Holli,
A: Thank you so much for taking the time to ask me about this! When I shared the review of History Revealed it confused several people. Let me clarify right now. I dearly love both Tapestry of Grace AND anything by Answers in Genesis! I love Tapestry of Grace and that is what we use for history. I also love Answers in Genesis (AiG). When the chance came along to get my hands on anything AiG – I jumped at it. And yes, I love it as well.

However, this past year we used AiG: History Revealed as more of a supplement. Not that Tapestry of Grace needs a supplement. But the AiG History Revealed year we chose matches the Year 3 of Tapestry we were studying. It was nice to listen to audio recordings of famous people that we were studying, open a textbook with more information on what we were already reading about. So, basically it is the icing on the cake for us. It does not replace TOG at our house. Though it is rigorous and full and I absolutely recommend it – we are sticking with Tapestry.

As for the statement, “It is the Biblical basis of history that I now realize I never had in my schooling.” That is definitely true of both Tapestry of Grace and Answers in Genesis: History Revealed. It is also true of Rod and Staff English and most of the other curricula we use and love in our home. I did not have the privilege of using Christian based curricula in my education.

Tapestry of Grace is more than enough – we never finish everything offered! But History Revealed is an absolutely wonderful curriculum as well. For our age range – for us – I still feel Tapestry is best. Though I’d love to have both each year!

In Summary

• I am thankful for the Somervilles and their Tapestry of Grace, for Diana Waring and her History Revealed and for Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis. Praise the Lord for such Godly, homeschool leaders, mentors and writers with years of experience.
  
• Also, children learn in various ways. If you have the opportunity to try something you think would work well for your family, why not? I remember hearing Susan Wise Bauer speak on this at our local GHEA State Homeschool Convention many years ago. She was talking about using different math curricula. And how they used two different resources because it was good to learn the same concept in different approaches. (We’ve even been known to pull out the audio CDs we have of Story of the World! Those that match our Tapestry of Grace studies are perfect for listening to in the car).
• In addition, there is also something to be said about Sticking with What Works <— I wrote a whole post on that! If something is working so very well for your homeschool, why change?

 

• If I were at the start of our homeschool journey I would definitely look closely and consider both Tapestry and History Revealed. Both are God-honoring curricula. Both are thorough, exhaustive and fit many ages. I would consider learning styles and which curriculum would fit easily with an age range (if that is what you have at your house). And you can do what I did (and highly recommend) – download and try the free Tapestry of Grace trial.

Ultimately friends, prayer and research will point you in the right direction and answer the needs of your homeschool! I know that very personally and first hand.

My full reviews and more on both Tapestry and Answers in Genesis:

• Tapestry of Grace review at The Curriculum Choice
• What I’ve Learned Homeschooling with Tapestry of Grace
• Answers in Genesis: History Revealed Review at The Curriculum Choice
• Hodgepodge Curriculum Review Index – where I list seven Answers in Genesis resources I have reviewed

• Coming in the next month: A review of Tapestry of Grace’s Marcia Somerville’s Love the Journey book and the new Tapestry of Grace Primer (for Kindergarten and first grade)

Even more questions answered today at The Curriculum Choice where the authors are sharing a comparison of the resources they love for the classical model. Including a comparison of Tapestry and Sonlight. And Tapestry and Classical Conversations…

So, have I been thoroughly confusing or does that all make sense?