Is there enough history in Omnibus for it to be a history course?

[Mommy7]

I have talked to several people who have used it and they say you almost need a history text with it because it is really more of a Worlview through literature course than history. True?

[Cedarmom]

They do use Spielvogel as a spine. However, they only list a few pages for each reading. I had my son read corresponding chapter to what we were reading. Spielvogel has online multiple choice questions and essays which we have used occasionally. Many of the Omnibus's readings are primary sources, so I felt it gave a pretty good foundation. But, I also felt like my son needed a little more history to flesh out the readings and give them context.

[Michelle in MO]

I would recommend reading the entire chapters in the Spielvogel book. If it's not overkill for your family or your schedule, I would also see about having your dc do practice tests. Yes, there is plenty of history reading in Omnibus, but I like the idea of a text to pull it all together, so to speak.

[Mommy7]

I've never heard of that text before. Is it a Christian perspective? Where would I find it? Do you know where I could find a sample? Thanks!

[Cedarmom]

No, it is not from a Christian perspective. I am a conservative christian, and I felt that SPeilvogel has a good reporting perspective. The book is Spielvogel, History of Western Civlization. You can find it at Amazon.com and Wadsworth.com. There are several editions, it is fine if you buy an older edition used at a much lower price.

If you didn't want Spielvogel, you could probably do the same idea with a Christian Text,such as BJU History. One thing to keep in mind, the reading for Omnibus are time intensive. Along with the reading Spielvogel , I had my son do a test, but it was a multiple choice and not very time consuming. Just something to keep him accountable for reading the material.

[Chris in VA]

I agree with Cedarmom--we should have had ds read whole chapters instead of snippets. I really liked Spielvogel, except for 20th cent history (felt it was too light there).

If you do Omni, you can give one credit each for history, theology and lit., so you bet it's a history curriculum! But because you are reading primary sources and GB's to get that history, many people don't consider the history to be enough. I think that's just a perspective problem, not a problem of the history content itself.

[Kathie in VA]

From what I understand, if you all of Omnibus primary and secondary work then you may claim 1 credit for history, 1 credit for literature, and 1 credit for bible. However even if you choose to just do the primary work, Veritas Press says you can still get 1 credit for history. (although that one credit may require more hours of work then most 1 credit courses, imho.... and that's before you add in the full chapters from the Western Civ text)

hth