Gileskirk

[tmkclscroggins]

Has anyone used this and enjoyed it? It's pricey...is it worth the money? How much time did you spend with this?

If you had to choose between the 4 for a 10th grader, which would it be?

1. TOG ( we tried Yr 2 once and I got overwhelmed!)
2. Omnibus
3. Gileskirk
4. Trisms


Thanks,
melissa

[Moira in MA]

Can I say 2 and 3?

We really like Dr G in our house -- now that is. My youngest (then a 7th grader) initially hated his style, I think she's become his biggest fan. But the curriculum really only covers history w/reports, projects tests and exams. It assigns reading both for history and literature but doesn't offer any assistance with the analysis or even set the context for the literature selections.

I feel that Omnibus is light on the interpretation of history so in our house we combine. We did Omnibus I with Antiquity last year (9th & 7th) and are doing Omnibus II with Christendom this year (10th & 8th). Next year isn't such a great fit in terms of coverage so we may use something else with Americana and then Modernity in 2009. There are more helps available for those books and I'm more experienced with Socratic dialog.

Both curricula are very reformed theologically.

Timing-wise we cover the 48 lectures rough 3 every 2 weeks. They're each about an hour long. Tests every other lecture take about 20 minutes. There are 4 projects/year which take however long they take but are due roughly quarterly. Readings for history take about 20 minutes

Omnibus is a lot of reading, but much easier this year. I think this is because we are more familiar with the material being discussed -- ideas develop in response to what has been thought before. Still we have 5 sessions for primary and 3 for secondary books each week. The time depends on the assignment -- discussion, writing, debate etc. -- but averages 30-40 minutes/session and usually I will include material from Gileskirk is some way.

Reading takes 30 minutes to an hour each day. For each primary book, I require a context sheet and time line work plus the associated Western Civilization reading. This take about an hour and is done sometime during the reading of the book over 1-5 weeks.

HTH