Memoria Press full program

[Amy C]

Has anyone used the full Memoria Press program for upper elementary? I would love to hear what you think. I've searched the boards and it looks like most of reviews are by people using K - 2nd grade. I am interested in using 6th grade next year for my son. Specifically, are the student workbooks and literature guides busywork, or is there more to them than that? I think my ds would like the books used; I would probably use them anyway. It would be great to have a schedule.

 

If someone could compare Memoria Press to Oak Meadow that would be the icing on the cake for me! I am looking for a secular program (or something that can be used secularly) that is planned out, with some questions to answer. We have tried SL, TOG, WTM, and "winging it" (multiple times for each).

 

Amy

[laughing lioness]

I'll be doing a reveiw of Core 6 soon (waiting to receive it). I've used several of thier guides before, along with 2 lit guides for ancient. I've found everything to be excellent. It all follows the same format. This review might help you get started on your decision making.

[5 Hikers]

MP is the total opposite of OM. OM has a lot of hands-on focus, crafts and other activities like life-skills.

 

MP is a pure classical curriculum. The manuals are very cut and dry. You have lots of vocab, memorization and comprehension questions.

[Amy C]

I'll be doing a reveiw of Core 6 soon (waiting to receive it). I've used several of thier guides before, along with 2 lit guides for ancient. I've found everything to be excellent. It all follows the same format. This review might help you get started on your decision making.

 

Thanks! Your review is very helpful. Do you think the teacher's guide is necessary if I am doing all of the reading? Does it contain more than the answers to the student guide?

 

Amy

[Amy C]

MP is the total opposite of OM. OM has a lot of hands-on focus, crafts and other activities like life-skills.

 

MP is a pure classical curriculum. The manuals are very cut and dry. You have lots of vocab, memorization and comprehension questions.

 

 

Thank you. It sounds like OM is my fantasy of homeschooling and MP is my reality. It's taken 7 years of homeschooling for me to accept my kids just want to get through school work and go play.

[littlefurfamily]

We did/are doing MP 3 complete and bits of 6 this year. We do like it very much, but my daughter is really missing the hands-on activities. It is very read, comprehend, memorize....don't get me wrong, it's good stuff. At the end of the day there is the "we finished that day's work, let's go play" feeling which is super...but still I, too, am drawn to OM.

 

Oddly, strangely and crazily enough next year I am going to try to combine OM 4 with the MP items that worked best. I can speak more clearly once I see the bottom of my coffee cup.

[laughing lioness]

Thanks! Your review is very helpful. Do you think the teacher's guide is necessary if I am doing all of the reading? Does it contain more than the answers to the student guide?

 

Amy

 

I like the TM's becasue I don't have to think so hard, but htey aren't totally necessary. For material I'm not familiar with- (latin, The Divine Comedy- they are terrific!).

The TM's do contain much more than just the answers- there are teacher's helps, chalk talks, etc, depending on the subject. I love the First Form TM's - sooo much info. And for The Divine Comedy- they talk about the differences in translations, the background, overview, along with specifics. Plus, memory work, of course. Since we are doing other memory work this year we are skipping most of that, but it's good to just read to get a sense of what MP believed was important enough to memorize.

We are 3 weeks in and LOVING it- the maps, the drawing- it's hands on enough for my kiddos- but we get lots of hands on arts and craft work at co-op, too.

[Abbeygurl4]

Has anyone used the full Memoria Press program for upper elementary? I would love to hear what you think. I've searched the boards and it looks like most of reviews are by people using K - 2nd grade. I am interested in using 6th grade next year for my son. Specifically, are the student workbooks and literature guides busywork, or is there more to them than that? I think my ds would like the books used; I would probably use them anyway. It would be great to have a schedule.

 

If someone could compare Memoria Press to Oak Meadow that would be the icing on the cake for me! I am looking for a secular program (or something that can be used secularly) that is planned out, with some questions to answer. We have tried SL, TOG, WTM, and "winging it" (multiple times for each).

 

Amy

 

We are into week 5 of 4th grade and I'm loving it and my 9 yo dd is thriving! I've used SL, HOD, MFW and Trail Guide POS, and so far MP is the only curriculum I haven't had to drop books, add books or tweak. DD likes knowing what's happening each day and can actually do parts of MP on her own. The lit guides are NOT busy work in my opinion. They have vocabulary, comprehension questions, discussion questions, quotations and an Enrichment section that includes various copywork/dictation passages, drawing or lit analysis. My dd did NOT like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when she read it last year on her own. When I saw that it was part of MP's 4th grade I almost let her skip it but I'm so glad I didn't. She actually understands it better and is enjoying it because of the lit guide. And First Form Latin ROCKS! We've used other Latin programs and FFL is by far the best as far as my dc are concerned.

 

MP has shown me that there truly is beauty in simplicity and certainly much more than meets the eye. If you buy it, even if it doesn't look great to you when you get it, use it for at least 3 weeks before you form an opinion. It took us a while to get into it and really appreciate what was being taught. I'm already planning on ordering 5th grade! I've finally, after many years, stopped curriculum hopping.

[AimeeM]

Also, MP is not secular; I'm not sure that it could really be used secular either. The copybooks are christian, the math and english books used are mennonite, the history books are from a christian perspective (and the student guides as well), the full curriculum also has bible study...

[Abbeygurl4]

Also, MP is not secular; I'm not sure that it could really be used secular either. The copybooks are christian, the math and english books used are mennonite, the history books are from a christian perspective (and the student guides as well), the full curriculum also has bible study...

 

No, it's not secular. But math and language arts are only scheduled, you can use whatever you want for those. Christian Studies is only one day a week and can be skipped. Famous Men of Greece and Guerber's Thirteen Colonies is just barely Christian. I have FMOG and I don't think it's very Christian at all. Hopefully someone in the know will chime in, but I think it would be extremely easy to secularize all of MP but the Christian Studies.

 

Here is the sample of The Thirteen Colonies

 

http://www.memoriapress.com/images/book_insides/American%20Modern/13colonies_Guerber.pdf

[AimeeM]

No, it's not secular. But math and language arts are only scheduled, you can use whatever you want for those. Christian Studies is only one day a week and can be skipped. Famous Men of Greece and Guerber's Thirteen Colonies is just barely Christian. I have FMOG and I don't think it's very Christian at all. Hopefully someone in the know will chime in, but I think it would be extremely easy to secularize all of MP but the Christian Studies.

 

Here is the sample of The Thirteen Colonies

 

http://www.memoriapress.com/images/book_insides/American%20Modern/13colonies_Guerber.pdf

I think I remember the FM study guide we used as having christian slanted questions; and I'm pretty sure that the Dorothy Mills books used for middle school are pretty christian - I could be wrong though (just something I read in a review somewhere when I looked at them). The History of Medicine (Tiner) is definitely Christian (scheduled as, I believe, 5th grade science?) - I own that now and love it. I'm sure the lower latin is christian (as in it includes prayers and chants); I'm admittedly unsure about the First Form series (we only did a few chapters of FF1).

I guess I'm just not sure how much one would get out of the program if they ditched the science, the grammar, the math, the christian studies, possibly the latin, possibly the guides for history, and the copy books in an effort to secularize the program. Lol.

Edited September 24, 2012 by AimeeM

[sunnylady303]

We are using MP 1 complete package and MP 2 grade with 3rd classical studies, christian studies, science, and geography added in. I also love it. I've tried pretty much everything. I am done curriculum hopping for a while also.

 

I have a decision when my older DD hits 6th grade (she's in 3rd now) about whether to stay with MP or go with TOG. But I have time and for the next few years we're an MP family.

 

It really gets it done, simply and beautifully. We are on week 6 and I just adore it.

[sunnylady303]

I think I remember the FM study guide we used as having christian slanted questions; and I'm pretty sure that the Dorothy Mills books used for middle school are pretty christian - I could be wrong though (just something I read in a review somewhere when I looked at them). The History of Medicine (Tiner) is definitely Christian (scheduled as, I believe, 5th grade science?) - I own that now and love it. I'm sure the lower latin is christian (as in it includes prayers and chants); I'm admittedly unsure about the First Form series (we only did a few chapters of FF1).

I guess I'm just not sure how much one would get out of the program if they ditched the science, the grammar, the math, the christian studies, possibly the latin, possibly the guides for history, and the copy books in an effort to secularize the program. Lol.

 

I think that it depends on how "anti" Christian one is. We are Christians and love it but found SL and MFW rather inconsistent with our beliefs. MP is much better. I have friends who are not Christian and use it. She says it's not an "in your face" Christianity and she wants her children to know about Christianity and so the places in appears are not a big deal.

[AimeeM]

I think that it depends on how "anti" Christian one is. We are Christians and love it but found SL and MFW rather inconsistent with our beliefs. MP is much better. I have friends who are not Christian and use it. She says it's not an "in your face" Christianity and she wants her children to know about Christianity and so the places in appears are not a big deal.

Understood, but the OP did specify she wants a secular program or one that can be made secular.

[Abbeygurl4]

I think I remember the FM study guide we used as having christian slanted questions; and I'm pretty sure that the Dorothy Mills books used for middle school are pretty christian - I could be wrong though (just something I read in a review somewhere when I looked at them). The History of Medicine (Tiner) is definitely Christian (scheduled as, I believe, 5th grade science?) - I own that now and love it. I'm sure the lower latin is christian (as in it includes prayers and chants); I'm admittedly unsure about the First Form series (we only did a few chapters of FF1).

I guess I'm just not sure how much one would get out of the program if they ditched the science, the grammar, the math, the christian studies, possibly the latin, possibly the guides for history, and the copy books in an effort to secularize the program. Lol.

 

The math and English/grammar are NOT integrated, they are only added to the lesson plans. There is no reason she wouldn't be able to use whatever math and English/grammar program she wanted. Many people buy the packages without R&S Math and English. Copy books aren't used from 4th grade on (the op said she was looking at 6th grade). 80% of the questions and all of the geography in FMOG and FMOR are secular, the rest could easily be skipped. FFL is very solid and has a negligible Christian references, I really doubt that all but the most anti-Christian would be bothered by it. I think if you skipped the Christian content in the FM guides and in FFL you wouldn't miss much, but including it certainly wouldn't turn someone unintentionally Christian. Science I don't know. Fourth grade insects certainly isn't very Christian but I don't know what you'd do about the Tiner books. I think even if I weren't Christian I'd have my dc read them.

 

I think it is a matter of how secular the OP wants the curriculum to be. MP has a lot of great stuff that would be a shame to miss out on. Heck, when my older kids were in Catholic school a loooong time ago (back when we were still Catholic) they had Muslim students there who just wanted a good education and sat out during Mass. They stayed true to their Muslim beliefs and just filtered out the things that weren't in their belief system.

 

Of all the Christian curriculum out there, this is the VERY least Christian. Although I am Christian, I find MFW and HOD too much for us.

[AimeeM]

The math and English/grammar are NOT integrated, they are only added to the lesson plans. There is no reason she wouldn't be able to use whatever math and English/grammar program she wanted. Many people buy the packages without R&S Math and English. Copy books aren't used from 4th grade on (the op said she was looking at 6th grade). 80% of the questions and all of the geography in FMOG and FMOR are secular, the rest could easily be skipped. FFL is very solid and has a negligible Christian references, I really doubt that all but the most anti-Christian would be bothered by it. I think if you skipped the Christian content in the FM guides and in FFL you wouldn't miss much, but including it certainly wouldn't turn someone unintentionally Christian. Science I don't know. Fourth grade insects certainly isn't very Christian but I don't know what you'd do about the Tiner books. I think even if I weren't Christian I'd have my dc read them.

 

I think it is a matter of how secular the OP wants the curriculum to be. MP has a lot of great stuff that would be a shame to miss out on. Heck, when my older kids were in Catholic school a loooong time ago (back when we were still Catholic) they had Muslim students there who just wanted a good education and sat out during Mass. They stayed true to their Muslim beliefs and just filtered out the things that weren't in their belief system.

 

Of all the Christian curriculum out there, this is the VERY least Christian. Although I am Christian, I find MFW and HOD too much for us.

I'm not disagreeing at all that MP is a fantastic curriculum, but for what it's worth, most Catholic schools (we are Catholic and up until 4th grade our daughter attended a Catholic school) use a completely secular program but for religion specific class(es).

I have a love hate relationship with MP :D. I want it and try it every year, but know I would substitute so much that I end up sighing in depression and giving up. Lol. I *adore* that they go out of their way to truly make an attempt at being non-denominational (even though most non-denom curricula is heavily protestant); they have an awesome mix of Catholic/protestant publishers.

As for the Latin, I wasn't sure if her child had had Latin before - the Latina Christiana and I believe the Prima Latina seem to be heavily prayer and worship oriented (at least it appeared that way when our co-op used them).

 

ETA: just reading this thread made me go back and look at the curriculum - wistfully. Lol.

Edited September 24, 2012 by AimeeM

[abrightmom]

We are into week 5 of 4th grade and I'm loving it and my 9 yo dd is thriving! I've used SL, HOD, MFW and Trail Guide POS, and so far MP is the only curriculum I haven't had to drop books, add books or tweak. DD likes knowing what's happening each day and can actually do parts of MP on her own. The lit guides are NOT busy work in my opinion. They have vocabulary, comprehension questions, discussion questions, quotations and an Enrichment section that includes various copywork/dictation passages, drawing or lit analysis. My dd did NOT like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when she read it last year on her own. When I saw that it was part of MP's 4th grade I almost let her skip it but I'm so glad I didn't. She actually understands it better and is enjoying it because of the lit guide. And First Form Latin ROCKS! We've used other Latin programs and FFL is by far the best as far as my dc are concerned.

 

MP has shown me that there truly is beauty in simplicity and certainly much more than meets the eye. If you buy it, even if it doesn't look great to you when you get it, use it for at least 3 weeks before you form an opinion. It took us a while to get into it and really appreciate what was being taught. I'm already planning on ordering 5th grade! I've finally, after many years, stopped curriculum hopping.

 

Your review is moving me closer to trying MP. Are you using all of 4th grade except for the math? I see you are also using CLE LA and IEW; we have started CLE LA and I have yet to,pop in the first IEW DVD.

 

The line up you have seems like a lot of writing. How is your DD handling the writing load? I have four kids and wonder how well I could run MP with my oldest 3 in different guides.

[Abbeygurl4]

Your review is moving me closer to trying MP. Are you using all of 4th grade except for the math? I see you are also using CLE LA and IEW; we have started CLE LA and I have yet to,pop in the first IEW DVD.

 

The line up you have seems like a lot of writing. How is your DD handling the writing load? I have four kids and wonder how well I could run MP with my oldest 3 in different guides.

 

We are not using any R&S. I replaced R&S English with CLE LA and IEW. We are doing IEW very slowly. I tried Classical Comp., but I just don't feel confident teaching it and I bought IEW before I bought MP. At first 4th grade was very teacher intensive but as my dd got the hang of it she is doing much of it on her own. We do FFL together because I want to make sure she really gets the most out of it and I really like it too (-: I suppose it would depend on your dc and their ages. I would think that around 4th grade and up they could do a lot of MP on their own. Ask on the MP forums, Tanya is extremely helpful and easy to work with. She could let you know which things you could combine your dc in to make it easier. If you haven't done Christian Studies or the Famous Men series you could combine them in that and probably science. MP is more than willing to customize their lesson plans for you! (No, I don't work for them (-;)

[Abbeygurl4]

I'm not disagreeing at all that MP is a fantastic curriculum, but for what it's worth, most Catholic schools (we are Catholic and up until 4th grade our daughter attended a Catholic school) use a completely secular program but for religion specific class(es).

I have a love hate relationship with MP :D. I want it and try it every year, but know I would substitute so much that I end up sighing in depression and giving up. Lol. I *adore* that they go out of their way to truly make an attempt at being non-denominational (even though most non-denom curricula is heavily protestant); they have an awesome mix of Catholic/protestant publishers.

As for the Latin, I wasn't sure if her child had had Latin before - the Latina Christiana and I believe the Prima Latina seem to be heavily prayer and worship oriented (at least it appeared that way when our co-op used them).

 

ETA: just reading this thread made me go back and look at the curriculum - wistfully. Lol.

 

I agree, Latina Christina was pretty Christian. We tried it and it was pretty boring and my dc hated the videos. We ditched it.

 

Have you looked at Seton since you are Catholic? I looked at it for my ds for high school but I think it may be a little too Catholic for me ;)

[abrightmom]

We are not using any R&S. I replaced R&S English with CLE LA and IEW. We are doing IEW very slowly. I tried Classical Comp., but I just don't feel confident teaching it and I bought IEW before I bought MP. At first 4th grade was very teacher intensive but as my dd got the hang of it she is doing much of it on her own. We do FFL together because I want to make sure she really gets the most out of it and I really like it too (-: I suppose it would depend on your dc and their ages. I would think that around 4th grade and up they could do a lot of MP on their own. Ask on the MP forums, Tanya is extremely helpful and easy to work with. She could let you know which things you could combine your dc in to make it easier. If you haven't done Christian Studies or the Famous Men series you could combine them in that and probably science. MP is more than willing to customize their lesson plans for you! (No, I don't work for them (-;)

 

:001_smile: Thanks for answering my questions. :iagree: about the excellent customer service provided by MP. By far the BEST I have ever encountered...

 

Two more questions:

Are you using the DVDs with FFL? I own it and it looks awesome but I don't have the DVDs. I have heard that the FFL DVDs are good (as compared to LC).

Is your daughter handling the writing load with all of the MP materials plus CLE/IEW?s

[AimeeM]

I agree, Latina Christina was pretty Christian. We tried it and it was pretty boring and my dc hated the videos. We ditched it.

 

Have you looked at Seton since you are Catholic? I looked at it for my ds for high school but I think it may be a little too Catholic for me ;)

I'm pretty Catholic and we tried Seton - too Catholic :D (to the effect that it was insanely dry and boring). Kolbe would be the perfect fit, if Autumn enjoyed reading; it's difficult to work with for a dyslexic though. We may fall back over there for high school though.

[AimeeM]

And I did not know they would customize your lesson plans for you!

What do you mean by "customize", if I might ask? Will they leave blank what you want them to, or will they insert your curriculum choice - how does that work?

[mama25angels]

And I did not know they would customize your lesson plans for you!

What do you mean by "customize", if I might ask? Will they leave blank what you want them to, or will they insert your curriculum choice - how does that work?

 

They will leave blank what you want them too.

[sunnylady303]

They will leave blank what you want them too.

 

REALLY?!?!? Are you sure? :D That would be awesome!

[laughing lioness]

 

Here is my review of Core 6.

[Abbeygurl4]

 

Two more questions:

Are you using the DVDs with FFL? I own it and it looks awesome but I don't have the DVDs. I have heard that the FFL DVDs are good (as compared to LC).

Is your daughter handling the writing load with all of the MP materials plus CLE/IEW?s

 

We are using the DVDs and they are helpful. I didn't like the LC DVDs nearly as much as FFL. We watch a short video on Mondays and do the lessons as scheduled M-F.

 

DD needs a lot of work on her handwriting, but she's fine with the writing. I don't make her do all of the workbook questions in writing (except for FFL, which she always does all the writing) I usually have her do about half the Famous Men orally and most of the Literature in writing and all of the Science. CLE doesn't have that much writing and we are doing IEW at a pretty slow pace.

 

MP works really well for dd because she likes checking off the boxes and being able to do Lit, Science and Famous Men fairly independently. She really likes memorizing the flash cards and "Facts to Know" questions and the fact that there are no crafts, lapbooks, notebooking pages or art projects. It's just a great fit for both of us.