How to Use the Tapestry of Grace Pop Quiz -

“Pop Quiz” from Tapestry of Grace is not what it seems. You think they are quizzes for your students after they study their history and literature assignments for the week, right? Nope!

What is Pop Quiz?

Pop Quiz is a set of audios (on CD or MP3 download) with a set of small cards for Dad (“Pop”) to use in discussing (“quizzing”) the subjects with his kids each week! It’s really ingenious.

I have been listening to the CDs in the car and really enjoying them. Each of the 4 units (9 weeks) of each year plan is on a separate CD. So, Dad just needs to pop it in his car CD player on the way home from work to get a few ideas to talk with his kids at dinnertime.

Each Unit starts with a longer description of the history the students will be learning for the next 9 weeks. Then for each week, there are 4 separate tracks–an overview, Grammar level, Dialectic level, and Rhetoric level. Dad can listen to all four (the times vary, but about 5-10 minutes for each) or he can just listen to the track that corresponds with his child.

What I love about Pop Quiz:

A Dad is narrating it–like one dad talking to another
I can see how I can use it as well–to get an overview for me and my kids at the beginning of each unit and week and as a review at the end of the week to make sure they really learned what we hoped they did.
It’s interesting stuff! I listened mostly to Unit 4 of Year 1, which is about the Roman Republic, Empire, and Fall. It was fascinating to listen to.
There are ideas for Dad on what he can do with his kids each week–read a particular book aloud to them, make a salt dough map, wrap a toga around them, etc.
Dad gets specific questions–both on the cards and on the CD–to ask his kids to aid in discussion.

The Pop Quiz cards are simple–just a small card labeled with the Unit, Week, and Age Level. There are 3 questions to ask the kids, but no answers! You might find that you have to go back to the books and search out an answer!

I haven’t completely decided, but I am seriously considering getting Pop Quiz for Year 2 since that’s what we’re studying this next year. I would love for my husband to have a better idea of what we’re studying, as well as to get some specific ideas of what he can do with the kids himself. But, really, I’m envisioning more of how I’ll be using the CDs myself!