Omnibus vs Ambleside - ? for Kim in Appalachia

[naturalmom]

I saw from your post that you used Omnibus I and II, but are switching to Ambleside next year. I'm considering a switch between these, and wanted to know more of how you made your decision. I used Ambleside with my son from Year 2 to 7, and then this year we've done Omnibus I.

My daughter will be doing HEO Year 7 next year, and I'm trying to decide if ds should do Omnibus 2, or if he should pick up HEO Year 8.

One thought is this: If he does Omnibus, they'll both be doing the same time period. Then they could both go on to Year 8 after that. The downside is, he wouldn't get to 20th Century History that way because he'd only hit Year 10. But it would be nice to have them working together - discussions go better that way, plus it's far easier to plan and schedule.

Other thought: If he does HEO Year 8 instead of Omnibus, they can still do Plutarch, Shakespeare, hymns and poetry together. Then he could complete the whole history cycle.

I do like the organized setup of Omnibus, though, and ds has benefited from the very clear layout. And he actually prefers to read books quickly, Omnibus style, instead of having lots of books at once.

I like the reading of Ambleside, and I admit that I have missed the poetry and arts that Ambleside brings. But I like the built in study guides of Omnibus (though we don't always agree with everything they say).

So, Kim, I'd like to hear your thoughts - plus anyone else who is familiar with both these programs.

Sorry my post is scattered...am fighting multiple illnesses at the moment, and my thoughts are kind of fuzzy right now.

[Kim in Appalachia]

It is hard to make these decisions, isn't it?

My dd has liked Omnibus. She likes the layout, knowing what is expected each day, and she likes having that textbook. My biggest problem is that is goes so fast, and if we slow it down we loose the layout that she likes so much. Because it goes so fast, the program works with her strengths, while making her weakness worse. She is a fast reader. She is very good skimming material, and pulling what is needed or relevant out of it. Since Omnibus focuses on the "big picture", she never has to read a book in-depth, and I have been having a hard time doing that with her. (I tried to add some extra things this year, like making context pages for the books, and writing some seperate summaries, but it has been hard to keep up with).

We are doing Ambleside "light". She will be reading 7 novels, 3 bio's, the history book, 3 devotional books (one will be one of the worldview recommendations), and doing the poetry (plus something for geography and 3 books on economics/gov't). Shakespeare and Plutarch will be covered as a family, as well as the composer and artist study. This is still a lot of books, but reading them slowly. I want her to slow down and to be able to clearly narrate each section of the book she reads. I want to force her to read more slowly, getting the idea that we are studying these books, not just reading them for fun. She reads every book the same. It could be Herodotus, Song of Roland, or Nancy Drew.

She likes to read, so this is why I'm giving Ambleside a try, I have been tempted to go with BJ English, or something similiar just so I could work on her "problem" areas. We shall see what happens in 10th grade.

One other reason I like Ambleside is the amount of time we spend on US history. This will enable us to cover all the history and government for the required HS credits.

If you ds really likes Omnibus, and he is keeping up with the work and getting a lot out of it, it might be hard to switch him. My dd liked the idea of spending so much time on US history, so that helped convince her that we should switch.

I would not want miss the 20th century, so I would not do a schedule that did that.

I would think, that even with 2 kids in different time periods, you could still have good discussions, since both have covered those time periods at least once before. But I understand how having them together makes it easier. I have my 10 and 8 year old together for that purpose, but next year I will have to seperate them.

Those are just a few thoughts. I have been going a bit crazy planning and thinking about HS for my dd. It is overwhelming.

HTH

Kim

[naturalmom]

I may have ds do Omnibus 2, so they're both in the same time period, and can overlap - but the year after that, they would both be in Year 8. When I first mentioned it to him, he didn't like the sound of Year 8 when he would be in 10th grade - but of course, it's not an 8th grade course by any means.

Then I'd have two doing the SAME BOOKS and I might even have time to read some of the them myself! Unfortunately, it would mean ds wouldn't get to 20th century history (Year 11), so we may have to make some adjustments for that.