Luanne Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Can anyone give me pros and cons of both programs? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle in MO Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I assume that you mean Omnibus? If I'm wrong, I'm sorry! We have used Omnibus for two years now, so we've done parts of Omnibus I and more of Omnibus II. We honestly didn't get nearly as much done with Omnibus I as I would have liked, because of a large homeschooling project our homeschool group did in the fall. Also, it was the first year my two older girls (then in 9th and 7th grades) had ever done a small-group discussion (of course, it was just the three of us! :) ) and at first they were kind of like little "dead-heads"! It was very frustrating! However, I remember something that Jeff Baldwin said on his Great Books website: to keep at it. So, we did, and this year they're doing much better with discussions. This year we're doing Omnibus II and it's going much better. We're doing essentially the Primary Reading books, plus a few of the secondary reading books (mostly the Shakespeare ones) and we seem to be keeping pace a lot better with VP's recommended schedule. The book is beautiful, and I really like the discussions. I can always "branch off" from the recommended discussion in the book, or bring out additional points I want to remember, or tell them when I disagree with a certain point. There is plenty of writing material in Omnibus, as well. Generally speaking, I've had them do some type of evaluation with each book: with the historical books, I've had them take the evaluation (on the Teacher's CD, at the back of the Teacher's Edition book); with the literature books, I've had them write an essay. Now we're doing Macbeth, so they'll be writing an essay. For our family, I find doing mostly the Primary Reading books is plenty, and we're using Spielvogel's World History: A Human Odyssey. We're just reading it straight through and using the Practice Tests as our tests for that. Human Odyssey was a better fit for my 7th grader (last year) than Western Civilization, so we went with that. Next year my oldest could easily jump into Western Civilization, if we still do Omnibus. I also think reading whole chapters in either Western Civilization or Human Odyssey is better. Omnibus recommends sections of the readings, but honestly I think the kids can read whole chapters and keep straight in their minds the flow of history, even if it doesn't pertain exactly to what they're reading in the Primary or Secondary Reading books. I hope this helps! Julie on these boards is the wife of Bruce Etter, who teaches the online courses for Omnibus I (and possibly Omnibus II) and she is also very helpful. You might find her on the K-8 Curriculum board, because I think her dc are younger. Blessings! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle in AL Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I've used TOG yr 3 and have just started Omnibus I. To me, Omnibus is much more user friendly than TOG. So far, Omnibus is truly an open and go book. The discussion ?'s truly make you think and help apply what you've learned to current society. There's also plenty of writing and sometimes a "fun" type project. TOG and Omnibus both have Literature, writing, Bible and history. TOG has more lit/history choices, but to me that makes it more difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momee Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Luanne, I think if you do a search of the K-8 boards for posts by karenciavo you'll find a bunch of information she did on these two programs. It may prove helpful to you in your search. Stephanie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.