HS Omnibus-Great books track or Dual Enrollment/college courses for hist/lit.?

[Homeschoolmom3]

Would love to know how everyone feels on this topic.  Such a TOUGH decision.  Whether to let a child get college credits during their HS years for prerequisites or continue on using a rigorous well educated curriculum plan for history, literature, social sciences. etc.  Thanks!

[Lori D.]

I think the point of homeschooling is not whether or not you do it all at home, or whether or not you use all of one type of program or resource. I think the point is to use which of the many resources you have available to you that will best help you and your high school student achieve the educational and life goals that are important to YOUR family.  :)

 

Hence, my answer: we did both, and I don't see how that could be considered a cop-out, so I didn't vote for any of the options. ;)

 

To flesh out my response: while we didn't use Omnibus, in high school we went for what worked for us: a "do-it-yourself" ala Well-Trained Mind/Well-Educated Mind History/Literature, with a majority of the Lit. tied to the History period, and covering primary source documents as part of the History, as a modified "Great Books" study. And DSs took some courses (Foreign Language) as dual enrollment in 12th grade.

 

That allowed us to tailor our choice of Lit. and History to best fit each student's individual needs and interests, and best prep each student for possible future career paths.

 

What are your student's interests now? What about possible future career path interests? What life skills and values are important to you to cover during high school? What about extracurriculars that you want to have time to explore or build on? All of those are important factors to consider in setting your goals for high school, and then from there helping you narrow down which curricula or outsourcing options will best help you reach those goals and prepare your student for adult life.

 

For example, in the scenario you have set up in your poll, you can easily do Omnibus at home for your English and History credits (which are the subjects Omnibus does best, IMO), and then use dual enrollment for those credits that will be most likely to benefit your student as future college credits: Math, Science, Foreign Language. Maybe some Vocational-Tech courses… or special interest courses for pursuing a passion… 

 

And then it's important to consider your student's learning style and specific interests. Does your student LOVE History and/or Literature? Does your student excel in research, writing, discussion, and drawing conclusions? Then Omnibus would be a good choice. Is your student a natural engineer or artist/musician? Then maybe Omnibus is overkill; yes, expose the student to some of the Great Books and to the Humanities, but at a lighter level to allow time and energy for exploring and soaring with the student's passion of engineering or medicine or art or music or...

 

A good stepping stone towards dual enrollment later in high school is to do a few online classes in 9th/10th grades. That allows the student to learn study skills, time management skills, classroom skills, learning under an outside-the-home teacher, and the computer tech skills needed for online classes. All of those skills will be needed for dual enrollment classes, and learning them in a setting where withdrawing or re-doing a class are options if the student isn't quite making the grade is very nice, before trying it "for real" with dual enrollment where it "counts".

 

An aside: do some reading of some past threads on dual enrollment before jumping into it -- you want to make sure your student really is ready for many reasons. A big reason is that the grades earned via dual enrollment are part of the student's permanent college transcript and can affect future college admission.

 

 

Finally, I would just note that high school is a time of great changes in a student and so it's best to stay flexible in your planning, and not hold too tightly to just one option, thinking that it will last all the way through all four years of high school.  :)

 

Hope you get the responses from your poll and from comments that will best help you think through  the choices for your family's high school journey! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Homeschoolmom3]

Thanks for your comments Lori, I guess I should have been more clear, looking at more the Hist./Lit areas

[G5052]

For history/lit, we chose an Omnibus/Great Books approach. The community college mine go to takes a secular, adult approach that I wanted to delay for a bit.  One of mine has done Omnibus classes through VPSA, and the other takes a local class with a teacher who uses Omnibus as her basis with some book and project changes.

 

That said, I've been fine with dual enrollment in other subjects.

[Lori D.]

Thanks for your comments Lori, I guess I should have been more clear, looking at more the Hist./Lit areas

 

Then ignore my overly long post above, and cutting to the chase: doing both (Omnibus/Great Books at home) and dual enrollment is great, and I can't see that it will be a problem at all. :)

 

Many college degrees only require 2-3 semesters of Social Sciences as part of the Gen. Ed. requirements for a degree, and you usually have to take specific courses from the list of transferable credits, so taking History as dual enrollment is not going to save you as many credits at college as you might think. The most transferable dual enrollment credits, and ones that tend to help knock out the most Gen. Ed. courses in advance of starting a degree program at a 4-year university, tend to be, in this order: Foreign Language, Math, Science.

 

As G5052 also mentioned, Social Science courses such as History, Sociology, Anthropology, and Psychology -- and depending on the instructor and choice of readings, Writing or Literature courses -- tend to have material that may be more adult/mature than a high school student may be ready for.

 

Another option for "double dipping" is to use Omnibus, and at the end of the year, pick up the CLEP study guide for the corresponding History time period, study it for a few weeks, then pay to have your student take the CLEP test for that History credit -- usually about $125 for the test & facility fee, and regardless of score, as long as it is over the minimum required to pass, the student earns the college credit. :)

[Homeschoolmom3]

Thanks for all of your thoughts.  My son is looking at taking college credits through a Christian college online so I don't worry so much about content as much.  I guess I am struggling with paying $600 classes for Omnibus (because I don't have time to read all the books enough to discuss well with him) or letting him take college courses for only $100 getting college and HS credit.  I know I sound like a terrible parent but I want him to make the most of his time and money.  Would be nice to get as many credits out of the way for such a great deal then having to pay full price when he graduates.  Anyone ever contemplate this?  Thanks everyone for your responses!

[Lori D.]

Thanks for all of your thoughts.  My son is looking at taking college credits through a Christian college online so I don't worry so much about content as much.  I guess I am struggling with paying $600 classes for Omnibus (because I don't have time to read all the books enough to discuss well with him) or letting him take college courses for only $100 getting college and HS credit.  I know I sound like a terrible parent but I want him to make the most of his time and money.  Would be nice to get as many credits out of the way for such a great deal then having to pay full price when he graduates.  Anyone ever contemplate this?  Thanks everyone for your responses!

 

You've thought through all the pros and cons, and listed out all your goals and needs. Go with what best works for your family, and no apologies needed. That is great! :)

 

If dual enrollment with a Christian college best fits your family's goals (and financial goals are a very important and valid part of planning for both college AND high school), and it also best fits your circumstances (lack of time or ability to mentor/teach as you'd like or as would be needed), and if your student is ready for the increased workload and speed of a college course and has the work ethic and study skills/time management skills in place, then go for the dual enrollment. :)

 

Just FYI: I would strongly recommend, since this is a young student (from your signature, looks like 14yo), going with just ONE dual enrollment class the first semester to see how it goes. Online college classes are difficult for college age students to keep up with -- easy for it to be "out of sight out of mind" and end up missing deadlines. Or, not "get" the material without a live teacher for questions and office hours or tutoring. Or fall behind because the student's not "getting" the material and doesn't want to tell mom or doesn't know how to seek help -- and because subsequent classes build on that material, a student can fall too far behind to catch up in just a matter of a week.

 

Once your student has navigated one online dual enrollment class successfully, then try two the next semester. Build slowly so you don't have a major crash-and-burn disaster.

 

As for what to do as your first online dual enrollment class -- I'd recommend a subject the student does well right now (not a struggle subject), to allow your student to focus on transitioning into college-level work, how to navigate the online college system, manage his time/homework, etc.

 

BEST of luck! Warmly, Lori D.

[Homeschoolmom3]

Thanks Lori for your comments!  I agree with you, I had my son take full reigns on his classes over the past couple of years and have let him plan them out and just have given him some deadlines.  Also, having experience with online classes and me forcing my self not to have any part in them (he's on his own) has helped too.  I know he is not like most HS kids, wouldn't consider for my middle son unless he matures fast...ha!  I still have to sit over him with his assignments and crack the whip...J/K   :rolleyes:

[Lori D.]

… I had my son take full reigns on his classes over the past couple of years and have let him plan them out and just have given him some deadlines.  Also, having experience with online classes and me forcing my self not to have any part in them (he's on his own) has helped too...

 

Sounds like you are good to go! :)

 

 

I… wouldn't consider for my middle son unless he matures fast...ha!  I still have to sit over him with his assignments and crack the whip...J/K    :rolleyes:

 

lol! I had one like that, too… Had to sit with him to keep him on task WELL into high school. But, he also totally surprised me by being incredibly responsible and self-motivated for the dual enrollment he did in 12th grade, so they get there… eventually… sometimes as glacial pace… but they do get there. ;)