Omnibus III or Notgrass -- for US History/Lit...

[Beth in SW WA]

for ds 14/9th grade who is my sssslllllooooowwww reader. I'm thinking Notgrass might be a better fit. This will be for next year (2009-10) but I need to make a selection and start my pre-reading.

 

I need a TM and student workbook w/ questions, (so that pretty much cancels out Great Books ala WEM).

 

I also own LL American Lit and it looks short and sweet for the lit portion. Then I would just need a history spine.

 

I'm planning to purchase TTC Classics of American Lit w/ Arnold Weinstein for my own edification (and to make dc suffer next year through a college level lit lecture series) :)

 

Thoughts from the collective?

 

Thanks in advance!!

[Alphabetika]

Hi, Beth,

 

I don't have experience with Omnibus, but I do have a 14yo/9th grade dd who is using Notgrass American this year. We have always done a literature-based history approach, but she actually asked for something with questions, quizzes, etc, and we chose Notgrass. She loves it.

 

Notgrass does not have a TM; it has two student texts and a question/quiz exam book. Also (and this is what sold me on it) it includes a chunky book full of source documents/literature readings that accompany the text and are scheduled right into the chapters. Maybe you already know all of this.

 

My dd has found that the reading of the history is very manageable, but sometimes the extra reading can be time-consuming because it is in the writing style of the day, which can be somewhat flowery and confusing. Often she'll ask me to read these portions to her and I enjoy doing so, because it gives me an education I never had! Also, I can help interpret some of what they say, though sometimes even I am baffled!

 

I've done some adding and substituting for the literature, too, but that's just my preference. Feel free to ask me anything and I'd be happy to share!

 

I should note, too, that we also own Notgrass Gov't and World History, and neither of these are as plump as the American History. So, unless you have a specific reason to do American History first, you might start with World History (that is, if you decide on Notgrass overall). My dd started with American because she really wants to do the gov't course and I recommended she study American history first, since the last time she studied it was with Sonlight in about 4th grade. :001_smile:

 

HTH!

[Beth in SW WA]

Thanks for the feedback. Its extremely helpful.

 

My plan has been:

 

7th: Ancients

8th: Middle Ages - Ren

9th: US History

10: Ancients w/ Omni 1

11: Church History/British Lit (I love those Brits!)

12: American Govt./Econ

 

The Notgrass materials sound wonderful. I've read all the prior posts here and it gets great reviews. Is it "classical" like Omni? Not sure. But does it really matter if it gets the job done? I plan to purchase Omni 3 for myself as a reference, either which way.

 

What lit choices did you select from Notgrass? Is there a writing element?

 

Thanks again!!

[Sharon in MD]

I have not used the Veritas materials. But I do, pretty much, understand the ideas and ideals behind "classical". I would say that Notgrass is closer to a high school version of what I've always thought of as Charlotte Mason, but not quite classical....does that make sense?

 

I used Notgrass American History for my ds last year for 11th grade. He is not a history buff. We only did the history portion of the course because we had other plans already in place for Bible (Summit's World View course) and Am. Lit (through our umbrella). I added the TTC's History of the United States video lectures. Lo and behold, ds liked history last year for the first time ever!.

 

There is not a separate TM with Notgrass, but it is laid out completely in the text...so that doubles as your TM. The Notgrass text breaks the lessons down into daily assignments so that one lesson is supposed to equal one day. I sometimes reassigned the source material so that it was a little more spread around if it was too heavy on any one given day. I did use this before the current version came out, which I think looks a little easier to use. There are tests and questions for review and they do have the answers for you.

 

We really liked their product. We especially liked pairing with TTC's video lecutres....it worked really well.

 

Good luck!

Sharon

[Beth in SW WA]

Sharon,

 

Thanks for your input.

 

I bought Linwood Thompson's TTC lectures on early American history (for $30 here on the For Sale board). We have thoroughly enjoyed his World History lectures this year. He is wonderful.

 

Which TTC dvd did you use w/ Notgrass?

 

It sounds like Notgrass would be a good fit. Both my dc will use it (they will be 7th & 9th). I bought Bill Bennett's book and Roadmap To The Last Best Hope to help w/ my self-ed this year.

 

The price for Notgrass seems fair, although my eyes are peeled for a used copy (hint, hint) :)

 

Thanks again!

[Sharon in MD]

We have great access to these at our local libraries. I did actually purchase this set because I knew we'd be using it all year and didn't want to have to keep checking out the different volumes of it as I went along. But, this year, I've been using the library for the ancient history stuff we've been doing and it has worked out really well. It has not been the hassle I thought it would be.

If you can get them from the library you could also see if you liked them enough to bother buying them. Here is a link to the set

http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/CourseDescLong2.aspx?cid=8500&pc=History%20-%20Modern

 

They aren't on sale now, but sometimes you can get them to give you the sale price if you are a first time buyer. It is usually somewhere around 200 bucks though even then, I think.

 

If I still had my Notgrass I'd be happy to sell it to you, but I'm afraid it is already gone. Now if I could just get my act together to sell off my other stuff......anyone want a nice used piano? ;)

[Heather in Savannah]

now if I could just figure out how to get it down to Georgia :D

 

We have great access to these at our local libraries. I did actually purchase this set because I knew we'd be using it all year and didn't want to have to keep checking out the different volumes of it as I went along. But, this year, I've been using the library for the ancient history stuff we've been doing and it has worked out really well. It has not been the hassle I thought it would be.

If you can get them from the library you could also see if you liked them enough to bother buying them. Here is a link to the set

http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/CourseDescLong2.aspx?cid=8500&pc=History%20-%20Modern

 

They aren't on sale now, but sometimes you can get them to give you the sale price if you are a first time buyer. It is usually somewhere around 200 bucks though even then, I think.

 

If I still had my Notgrass I'd be happy to sell it to you, but I'm afraid it is already gone. Now if I could just get my act together to sell off my other stuff......anyone want a nice used piano? ;)

[Sharon in MD]

yep....that would be tough.