Omnibus 2...

[Michelle in AL]

For those who've used Omnibus 1 & 2, was Omnibus 2 better, the same or not quite as good? I'm getting excited about next yr and was just wondering how it will go. Omnibus 1 has been great, but I've tweaked a lot, which I enjoy doing.

If Omnibus 2 was better, how so?

[Michelle in MO]

We enjoyed Omnibus II much more than Omnibus I, but I wouldn't blame that necessarily on "poor material" in Omnibus I. :) When we did Omnibus I, our homeschool group embarked on a huge project which took inordinate amounts of my time; hence, we simply didn't get nearly as much done as we should have. It was quite a disappointment, but again---not with the materials, but simply the way the year turned out.

I resolved to do Omnibus II differently. Following Janie's advice (on these boards), I did most of Omnibus II but changed a few things around. We read Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther by Roland Bainton instead of the heavily theological Bondage of the Will. We also skipped Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, but in retrospect I wish we had done that. We read all of the suggested Shakespeare plays, but skipped reading The Lord of the Rings since we'd read it so many times already. I also did the Summa essays with the girls for writing instead of the progymnasmata assigned in the book, mostly because I firmly believe that the progymnasmata are better approached in a more systematic fashion than what I see presented in Omnibus. I evaluated some of the essays, and had Cindy Marsch also do some of the evaluations. I tweaked the writing assignments and discussions where necessary.

I think because of all of this, I found our experience with Omnibus II to be much more satisfying than Omnibus I. However, I really am a medievalist at heart :D and find that time period fascinating, so I did get more out of it. I would imagine, though, that if I did Omnibus I again (which I probably won't, since my girls are in regular school this year) that I would get a lot more out of it.

Hope these thoughts help!

[Chris in VA]

We liked both Omni 1 and 2. We didn't do all the readings in either year, but both were pretty good nonetheless. For some reason, I found it easier to substitute my own choices for some of the heavily Reform perspective selections.
FWIW, Ds loved Song of Roland, AND loved The Odyssey--both years really are so strong.