Omnibus III in the middle of this?

[3girls4me]

Hi ladies,

For those familiar with Omnibus, tell me if this sounds like a good fit.

7th - american history year using many sources

8th - omnibus III primary and secondary

9th - HOD world geography

10th - HOD world history

11th and 12th - HOD American history and government/economics

 

I'm trying to decide whether to stretch out American history over 2 years prior to the HOD run for high school or plug in Omnibus III in 8th grade. I love the idea of Omnibus but really am drawn to HOD high school. Wondering if that sounds like the next thing to plug in there.

Thanks!!!

[Guest]

I think not because Omnibus is very different from HOD. How about using HOD for 8th? That way your child and you can try the program before it "counts" and see if it is a good fit for your child.

[3girls4me]

Thanks for responding. I should have included - we have used 3 years of HOD and are taking off this year to bring back all my kids into history together one more time. We love HOD. I just have wanted to do more of a Great Books study at least once or twice.

[Lori D.]

Omnibus is pretty intensive, and it might not be easy to jump into the middle of the program (Omnibus III) rather than building up to level III. And it's a rigorous program slated for 9th grade (Omnibus I is scheduled for 7th, Omnibus II for 8th).

 

If you have an advanced 8th grader who is a strong reader/thinker, and who's learning style and interests would fit with a formal structured program, then Omnibus might work.

 

However, Omnibus is very different from Heart of Dakota, and if you're DC have enjoyed HoD, Omnibus might not go over very well. I just went and looked at both programs:

 

Heart of Dakota uses a lot of living books, and for 7th-8th grade. Virtually all of the books are grade 5-8 level. In the Missions to Marvels level for 7th-8th grade, there are no high school level works, and no older classics (which require more effort to read due to vocabulary, sentence structure, and references). The history and bible/religion books are also at a late elementary/middle school level.

 

Omnibus, in contrast, is very formal and rigorous -- rather than living books, the history is a textbook written at a high school level, and primary document readings (at a high school to adult level). The bible/religion is mostly upper high school/college-level theology books. The literature is at an upper-level high school or even college level of reading / interest / analysis & discussion. For example, below is the list of Omnibus III books -- I blued the titles that could work for the average middle schooler in reading level/interest level, and purpled the titles that might be of interest to a more advanced reader. That's JMO, and your student may be much more interested in these advanced works, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt. ;)

 

JMO: I'd suggest waiting until high school to do a Great Books study (with Omnibus, or other program), when the student is more likely to have grown into being able to handle the heavy-hitting works that all of the Omnibus levels contain. For this next year, you might look at the Logic stage booklist in The Well Trained Mind and either supplement/add to your choice of program (HoD again perhaps). Or substitute some of those classics and Great Books that are at a middle school level and would be of interest to your student for some of the books in your program of choice.

 

BEST of luck in deciding what works for you!

 

primary - semesters 1 & 2

The Westminster Confession of Faith

The Pilgrim's Progress

Of Plymouth Plantation

The Social Contract

The Federalist Papers

The Anti-Federalist Papers

A Tale of Two Cities

Reflections on the Revolution in France

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings

The Communist Manifesto

The Great Gatsby

Mein Kampf

1984

 

secondary - semesters 1 & 2

The New Foxe's Book of Martyrs

Frankenstein

Pride and Prejudice

Gulliver's Travels -- excerpts from the Lilliputian section

Benjamin Franklin: The Autobiography

The Autobiography of Charles G. Finney

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Little Women

The Killer Angels

Christianity and Liberalism

Old Man and the Sea

Animal Farm

Death of a Salesman

Postmodern Times

How Should We Then Live?

 

Edited June 19, 2017 by Lori D.

[3girls4me]

Thanks Lori! Very helpful!

[Pistachio mom]

When I was contemplating when to start Omnibus, I called the publisher and asked.  They told me many people start a Jr. high student in Omni 3 because it is easier reading than Omni 1. Personally, I chose to wait until 9th grade to start the Omnibus books with level 1 in 9th. It was a huge jump with all the reading assignments. But the way the Omnibus books are written, you do not need to go in order.

 

For 7 - 8th grades, I chose to split America the Beautiful into 2 years doing half the book for the first semesters of each year. We filled in the second half of each year with some other world history references from Yesterdays Classics that fit the time era of our trivium cycle. My goal was a solid general understanding of world history before we started Omnibus.

 

I waited until 9th for Omnibus because I thought  my daughter needed more maturity before diving into seriously hard work. Looking back over the last 2 years, I do not regret it at all.  Another option for Veritas is to choose either the primary (mostly history and lit) or the secondary (mostly lit and theology) rather that try to tackle both. It is also possible to audit the self paced courses so to adjust the order or substitute a book. You would have to keep your own quiz average in that situation. Since Veritas tends to have accelerated reading levels, you could also check the elementary self paced online courses for the last 2 cycles; they contain a lot of American history. The reading list for 4 - 6 th grades in the cycles we have used have had lots of teen appropriate books too.  Personally , I pick and choose from their elementary lists to make it work for my family.  The free trials on the Veritas website helped me to know the level of the self paced. I needed to make sure it was not too babyish.

 

Since I have not used HOD, I cannot speak from any experience there.

 

Other considerations for similar content:  BJ Press 8th grade American Republic textbook, Beautiful Feet  Jr. High would be much easier than Omnibus,  Apologia also has a nice Am lit anthology for high school students.

 

[3girls4me]

Thanks. That's kind of why I thought Omnibus III might work. I had heard it was easier reading than I and II.

What you wrote helped a lot. Thanks for taking the time. I want my kids to learn, to love what they learn, to grow from what they learn and prayerfully be spiritually stronger at the end. If that happens while using curriculum that is advanced and like college work when they are in 10th grade, fine. But I'm more concerned with them growing and having interest and passion in what we are learning. I'll take another look at the samples in the VP website.