This year marks our first official year of homeschooling! We have registered our daughter with an umbrella school as a kindergartener and it’s so exciting! When it came time to choosing a curriculum, we knew that we wanted to use a one that was Bible-based and had sound doctrine. After searching and doing our due diligence, we found Tapestry Primer from Tapestry Of Grace!
What Is Tapestry Primer?
Tapestry Primer was written by Mike and Jessica Somerville with the purpose of providing a gentle introduction to the full Tapestry Of Grace curriculum program. Tapestry provides a full family education approach with its curriculum in a fun interactive, hands-on way.
The Primer curriculum was written for Kindergarten and First Grade age children and can be taught in either one or two school years. The program is literature-based and was written to provide an interactive, easy-paced approach to teaching history while introducing children to the joys of story-driven learning.
This program also uses the 4-year curriculum that the full Tapestry Of Grace program offers which means that you repeat teaching it 3 different times, and what your child learns will gradually get harder as they get older.
The assignments are similar each week in that a set core of assignments is given in history, literature, and geography. There are optional hands-on and memory work assignments that can be given as well. Each assignment comes from a book you can check out at the library or
Along with the Primer assignments, you get to pick which math, phonics and spelling curriculum that you want to use.
Components Of Tapestry Primer?
There are 4 main components to Tapestry Primer which consists of:
Primer Handbook: This the “Teacher Guide” and is where you will find the core assignments and content. It will come as 8.5”x11” loose-leaf paper and is already hole-punched which is perfect for putting in a 3-ring binder for easy access. It contains 12 mini-units that are preplanned which makes it easy for lesson planning and keeping track of what’s being completed. Each mini-unit can be taught in one week or two weeks and provides what books to read from, memory work, geography, as well as arts and crafts.
Primer Guidebook: This parent only book is golden and is a must-read! It will help you gain a better understanding of what you’re teaching and covers the deeper history and background of each weekly unit. It provides a “big picture” of what’s being studied and will help give you teaching points to discuss with your child. This is great for new homeschool moms and will help you as you teach.
Love The Journey: This is a book written by Marcia Somerville, who is the author of Tapestry of Grace. She is a homeschool mom of six and wrote this book many years after homeschooling and graduating her children. (Her son and daughter in law wrote Primer!) It truly offers so much wisdom for the first time homeschool mom and it helps encourage parents to love the journey of homeschooling even when it may be difficult.
Primer Activity Book: This is a coloring and activity book that can be used for an extra activity to aid with memory work or it can be used while your child is listening as you read aloud from the history or geography books.
The following is an optional component:
Primer Big Story Game: Although this is optional, it is a fun way to learn memory work or can be used as a supplemental activity.
How Much Does Tapestry Primer Cost?
Tapestry Primer is available for purchase in two options, print and digital.
The Primer Print Package costs $84.50 and includes the following:
- Primer Guidebook
- Primer Handbook
- Primer Activity Book Set (12 individual booklets)
- Love The Journey
The Primer Digital Package costs $44.50 and includes the following:
- Digital Primer Guidebook (not printable)
- Digital Primer Handbook (not printable)
- Digital Primer Activity Set (12 printable booklets)
- Digital Love The Journey (not printable)
You can also purchase The Big Story Game for $24.50 as well as purchase a physical copy of each of the items above separately.
You can find a list of required read-aloud books HERE
How We Used Tapestry Primer
We are using Tapestry Primer as our primary curriculum this year. Although this curriculum is for Kindergarten and First Graders, I took the one-room schoolhouse approach and included my preschooler in the lessons.
I broke up our week into 4 days of teaching/learning and 1 day of review. This format has been the best fit for us and we can be flexible with our days if needed. I initially planned on using this curriculum for a year, but after the first few weeks, I decided that it was best for us to split it into two years because it is filled with so much rich information.
My Thoughts On Tapestry Primer
I have really enjoyed using Tapestry Primer. I like that it’s written with a Biblical worldview and displays God’s hand on history.
The initial learning curve on how to use Tapestry Primer was a tad bit overwhelming because at first glance it seems like a lot. However, once I read through everything, I gained a better understanding and everything began to make sense. The first two weeks of lesson planning was also a learning curve because I changed my original plan from 1 year to 2 years.
I like that the assignments are low-prep and are taken from real books that you can purchase or check out at your local library. Using Tapestry Primer with our chosen math, phonics and spelling curriculums has been a breeze.
Do I Recommend Tapestry Primer?
Yes, absolutely! I highly recommend Tapestry Primer!
It is a great introductory for new homeschool moms and has everything you need to homeschool your Kindergartener and First Grader. It’s safe to say that both my Kindergartener and Preschooler approve and enjoy learning with Tapestry Primer.
I am excited to continue using Tapestry Primer this year and again next year!
Get Your Free Three-Week Sample Of Tapestry Primer
You can download a free three-week sample of Tapestry Primer HERE to test and see if this curriculum will work for your family before you purchase!
**A big thank you to Tapestry of Grace for sponsoring this post! A positive review was not required and all opinions expressed are 100% my own.**
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