VP Omnibus Vs. TWTM The Story of the World

[Angela in California]

Let me rephrase that....I'm trying to decide on a history curriculum for my 1st grader. Anybody familiar with VP's History curriculum for the elementary age child and/or TWTM's The Story of the World? Any thoughts on the strenths and weaknesses of either program?

[cajun.classical]

I'm trying to decide on a history curriculum. Anybody familiar with VP's Omnibus and TWTM's The Story of the World? Any thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of either program?

You're much more likely to get responses on the High School Board. Try there.

[Beth in Central TX]

I think these two programs are published for different ages: SOTW for the grammar stage and Omnibus for the logic stage (and eventually the rhetoric stage). I used SOTW for my boys when they were in K to 5th grade. I'm using Omnibus I next year with my 7th grader.

SOTW is strictly history and doesn't inlcude the biblical history that I would like to see. A better option for the ancients cycle is Story of the Ancient World by Christine Miller. However, I think the SOTW series is well written for the intended audience. In addition, I found the corresponding activity guides for each volume to be helpful. The mapwork was a big hit with my boys.

The Omnibus series incorporates literature, history, and Bible study, but it is written from a reformed perspective (which can be a strength or a weakness depending on who you ask). I don't have much experience with the Omnibus series yet, but I do have the book, and I'm hoping to read through it a little this summer before school starts next year.

HTH!

[OhElizabeth]

Hehe, that was some title! Yes, Omnibus is VP's offering for middle school and high school. You're looking at the VP elementary history series. If you look through their catalog and the downloads in their resources (lots of goodies there!), you'll see they suggest doing a survey of geography, state and local history in 1st. They start their history in 2nd. It's not that you can't start earlier, but the writing component to the history is going to be more on-target for most kids if you wait till 2nd. Also, they won't be able to do as much of the reading for themselves. And if you start the sequence early, which is what we did, you hit the Middle Ages (VP MARR) before they're really ready to tackle it in that way, with all the church history and stuff. So in general I'd recommend waiting to start OTAE until 2nd, just my personal opinion.

VP vs. SOTW? Well they are different obviously. The main thing to remember is it doesn't have to be all or nothing. You could use SOTW as your spine and just sing the VP songs and memorize the cards. You could do VP straight and incorporate SOTW readings where they apply. People find their own ways to use VP. I like VP because it's a distinctly christian program, integrating the biblical and secular history, and because it gives me the flexibility to use as many projects and extra readings as I want with a flexible structure. My dd likes to read history books for herself, so it just works out for us. We read and discuss the card together, possibly do the worksheet, then I hand her a pile of books and say have at it. That works for us. Other peope regiment their VP differently, doing read alouds together, etc. It's flexible and lets us do history the way we like.

There's a promo video for VP on their website btw, showing how it works if used as they intend. Also check out the VP_Elementary yahoo group to talk with others using it. Like I said, the VP cards and songs can be a great resource and supplement; there are lots of ways to use them!

[cajun.classical]

I read the post as Omnibus versus Story of the Ancient World by SWB. Sorry. If you are talking about elementary history, then I second what OhElizabeth said.