A couple questions about VP Omnibus...

[MamaChristina]

I've been looking at this for my upcoming 9th grader. This is our first time with HS so I'm a bit lost. Anyways, I would like to know...

 

1. Are there readings for Western Civilization written into the Omnibus book or is that something to just compliment it?

 

2. Are notes included to help students comprehend the great books or would I need to purchase Cliff Notes for them?

 

Other than that, how much time would one need to spend on it per day to do it justice?

 

I'll be looking forward to your answers!:)

 

Blessings,

[Michelle in MO]

I have to start running my girls to piano/voice lessons! More later! :)

[Cedarmom]

1. Are there readings for Western Civilization written into the Omnibus book or is that something to just compliment it?

 

Yes, there are readings, however they are very short. They just have you read about 10 pages per book. I added more, because I did not think it was enough.

 

2. Are notes included to help students comprehend the great books or would I need to purchase Cliff Notes for them?

 

 

Yes, they have notes. Some people have used cliff notes as well, but I have never felt the need. One of my favorite things about Omnibus is that before each book is a section telling about the books content and worldview. THe discussions also help. I have found the teacher cd very helpful.

 

3. How much time per day?

 

The readings take my son about 45 min. a day. We do discussions for about 30 mins. Discussions could take longer though , if you had someone who liked to discuss. We only do the Primary reading, this will be longer if you add in the secondary reading.

 

Cedarmom

[Michelle in AL]

I agree w/Cedarmom. I would add in an extra 45 minutes/day for secondary readings.

 

I think for most books, you can discuss them with your child even though you haven't read them yourself. The answers to the discussion ?'s are on the Teacher's CD that comes in the back of the book. If you haven't read the book it may help to read free online chapter summaries, so you'll get the main idea of the readings.

[Michelle in MO]

We did mostly the Primary readings, and the discussions generally took 30-45 minutes, depending on how well they cooperated :) Then, the reading took anywhere between 30-45 minutes. I would say if you did all of the Secondary readings you would duplicate that.

 

So, it would be conceivable that you could spend 2 hours a day on Omnibus. If you use some of their writing assignments (I wouldn't do all!) you would have to add in extra time during your school day to help the student get enough time to write.

 

Here's one post where I give more description about Omnibus and how we've used it (scroll down to my name, after I answer Beth in SW WA):

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21254&highlight=Omnibus

 

There was another discussion about Omnibus on the old WTM forums, and Beth in SW WA found it, but I can't seem to locate that particular post in which she gave the link for the old forums!

 

Beth, if you're out there, can you help with this one?

 

In the meantime, I hope this gives you something to get started with!

[MamaChristina]

Thank you everyone! I feel much better knowing these things and I'm getting psyched up to actually get into this. Michelle thank you for the link to the other discussion as it was also very helpful.

 

Blessings on the rest you your school year!