Questions about Omnibus I in 7th grade

[SS in MD]

We're (12 yo, 10 yo, 7yo, 4 yo- tagging along!) starting our history cycle again with Ancients in the fall. My oldest (12 yo) will be in 7th grade and I was wondering if anyone has opinions on VPs Omnibus I for 7th grade. Likes/Dislikes? Some of the books look pretty in-depth (Aeschylus I, Gilgamesh, Sophocles I... etc). They seem to be (IMHO) a bit beyond a 12 yos thinking. Any thoughts?!

Thanks so much!

[Beth in Central TX]

My soon-to-be 7th grader will start Ominbus I next August. I agree that some of the books have more mature themes, so I plan to skip those. In 12th grade, I have a Western Lit to Dante course planned to address those ancient/medieval books that are not appropriate right now.

Here is a link from the old board about the books that you might want to edit or skip altogether: http://wtmboards.com/HSboardOct242007/messages/40.html

[Kelli in TN]

I know that there are several parents on these forums that introduce those works in 7th grade. I know that if I tried that with my 12 year old he would totally squirrel out on me. He is simply not ready for that level of thought.

I think that is one of the things that is so neat about approaching education from a trivium viewpoint rather than a strictly grade level viewpoint. The trivium is fairly fluid and flexible. This 12 year old is thinking like a logic stage kid, that 12 year old is thinking like a rhetoric stage kid.

So pinpoint your guy's thinking level and go with that. My 12 year old still uses SOTW (with lots of add ins of course). If my 12 year old could handle Omnibus level literature, we might do that instead.

[Carol in Cal.]

I would not think that my DD will be ready for it at 12.

[MIch elle]

but I would NEVER use most of it for my 7th/8th grader! Most of the primary reading is college material.

Take a look at Sonlight 6; it's more age appropriate.

[Moira in MA]

Yes, I used Omnibus I with my then 7th grader, but also with my 9th grader. It was a compromise. If she'd been my eldest, we'd have waited.

That being said, she truly exceeded my hopes for her in the course. It was interesting to see which books she loved and which she hated -- not at all the ones I'd expected. Herodotus' Histories became her touch stone book for the year. She really felt (and had earned) a sense of accomplishment when she finished it. Did she love all of it? No, but there were enough interesting episodes to keep her going. I allowed her to skip several selections (her choice -- she is *not* a fan of Dr Sproul) but she did most of them. She'd often find a recording of the text and read along with it, which helped too.

If it had just been my elder dd, I'd have been tempted to skip some of the secondary books because we'd read them multiple times but we did them to help keep my 7th grader interested. The ideas and discussions in the secondary material always illuminated the primary readings and I feel we got much more out of both.

We're now completing Omnibus II and both of them are enjoying the readings more but so much of it builds on the Omnibus I readings that I doubt we'd have got so much out of this year without that first year.

HTH

[Shelly in IL]

I have a child that age, too, and have looked at both programs wondering how they would fit for the child. Any comparisons would be appreciated.

[Frontier Mom]

My oldest ds is a great reader. He had no problem reading the books but I wouldn't say he really enjoyed them. They were just really complicated and I feel I lacked the discipline and time he needed to make this work. So, I am putting the blame on me, not the curriculum.

I think it would work better in a setting where discussion with others was very regular. For me personally, I didn't think we had great discussions because the content was indicative of someone with more "life experience" than a typical 7th grader. It was just hard to tie it into real life because the content wasn't relatable.

Like I said, I just could never get into a rhythm so we didn't use it very successfully. I also hated that he was studying something we were not all studying. We have just always done things in a group way, not individual.

For these reasons, I am using TOG Redesign Year 2 next fall. I want us to be more in tune with each other and I think it will just work better for us. I also know my second ds could never read at the level required for Omnibus I. I think it just needs to be the right fit to work.

[Beth in SW WA]

My oldest (12 yo) will be in 7th grade and I was wondering if anyone has opinions on VPs Omnibus I for 7th grade. Likes/Dislikes?

My ds 12 could not have handled it this year (7th) so waited and he is taking the online class starting in the Fall. I'm nervous about the amount of reading -- he is not my fast reader -- and the maturity/intensity of the material. He will take the secondary readings course w/ Mr. Etter on Mon & Wed mornings. We will do the primary readings slowly over the year on our own. I might even take 2 years to do both primary and secondary.

I have been pre-reading the text and I just bought Spielvogel's Western Civ. I am slowly collecting the primary and secondary books ($$$). All I can say is "Wow" -- I have a lot to learn!

[Kim in Appalachia]

While we have enjoyed it I will not continue with the books, nor do I think I will use them for my other children.

The curriculum is very good. I liked the discussion questions and summas, especially from Omnibus I. My dd liked many of the books. The course is not meant to be an in-depth study of the books, but rather a broad overview. You discuss themes and ideas, you compare the works, but you never go in depth with the literature.

My main complaints have to do with the speed of the reading. It is too fast. Even a very good teacher would have to pull the kids along. Also, I would prefer to slow down and really digest the books. I also had a problem with how mature some of the books were. We did skip 12 Caesars, and this year we are skipping Cantebuy Tales. While I do think that books are the best way to approach the topics, some were very graphic (12 Caesars and Plutarch lives were the worst, IMO)

My oldest is a strong reader, and she skims material she finds offensive, but my next dd studies every word she reads. These books would truly offend her, and probably cause her nightmares. And I don't think I want my boys reading these until they are older.

I do think the text is a nice resource. I plan to hold on to the two I have in order to draw from them in the future. But next year I am switching my oldest to Amblesideonline. The others will follow that route as well.

Kim

[SS in MD]

thank you all for your posts. I think what I need to do is ... more research and look in detail to the books (TRY to read them!) covered!

[Chris in VA]

Hey Beth, do you need some more of the primary books? Pm me.