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Mosdos Press?? Anyone use it??


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I recently came across Mosdos Press and am very impressed by what I see.  It is a reading/lit program with a secular moral focus and the curriculum looks like something my son and I would both love.  There are texts with the readings and study guide info all together in one; there are additional student workbooks with more activities; and there are teacher guides.  Each text has tons of short stories, plays, a novel, and lots of poems.  I love the focus on teaching morality through excellent literature choices and I especially love that it's secular.  I'm just so impressed by it and can't wait to get the 7th grade book for my son.  I had never even heard of them before so I was wondering if anyone else has used any of their books?

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We used the 4th grade book and I loved it.  Unfortunately, the 5th grade book didn't thrill me as much.  I have no experience with the 7th grade book.

 

Was it simply that you didn't like the particular selections included in the 5th grade book or was there another problem with it?  The selections in the 7th grade book that I was able to view samples of looked perfect for my son. 

 

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You know, I can't remember what specifically the problem was.  I just remember that I thought the 4th grade book was totally amazing and that, three months later, the 5th grade book was disappointing.  I don't know if it was that my son changed (or I changed) or that the book was really that different.

 

I do think that Mosdos makes a quality product, so if the samples look good to you, it will probably be a good fit.

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We have used them all the way through, and I can tell you they are FABULOUS...I am always surprised more homeschoolers aren't aware of this wonderful anthology series and how rock solid it is.

 

One thing I have found interesting is that we have used them with both our ELL/ESL and LD kids as well as our gifted kids (we have a nice array around here! LOLOL!), and every single one of them has benefited hugely from Mosdos.  What I like about the textbooks is:

 

1)  The accompanying workbooks (purchased separately) are not busy work, they are well devised activities to develop literary analysis, critical thinking, and vocabulary.  They are somewhat graphic in presentation.  Do NOT miss out on using the workbooks, even if you select pages here and there and don't do all of them.  You will really miss something helpful if you don't use them.

2)  All the best authors, ALL the best are represented.  Our kids were introduced to authors many don't encounter until high school, and it led them to look for their full length works at the library.

3)  Their story selections simply can not be beat.  I can't begin to tell you how many times after finishing a story that our kids all exclaimed, "That was SO good!  I love that story!".

4)  In particular I really appreciated the morals and character development through literature.  They do a fine job of this, more than anything else, and without coming across as preachy.  They sneak it in, and kids don't realize they are being indoctrinated into a world of thinking about their actions and trying to do the right thing at all times.

5)  Quality materials...the textbooks are beautiful to look at, with nice illustrations throughout.

6)  The literary analysis begins early on, and it is repeated at ever increasing levels.  By the time our kids are through with 8th grade, they already know more about lit analysis than most high schoolers do.  Last year I had my first 9th grader, and we jumped into an 11th grade textbook because it was American Lit and followed our history.  It was a very challenging textbook, but he did so well with it!  It was clear he had been stretched a lot by Mosdos, and extremely well prepared.

 

If you like Mosdos Press, and are looking for what to use for high school, I highly recommend the Implications in Literature series from http://www.textword.com/ .  It has been the perfect pairing for high school coming off of Mosdos in elementary/middle school. It is very rigorous, with the same attention to thoughtful selections to be included, and a very nice combination of work to do after every story that is not at all busy work.  It takes it all to the next level, and your child will be extremely well prepared for college if they use this series.

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Mosdos and TextWord are completely secular, but not what I'd call neutral.   They were written specifically for use in Orthodox Jewish girls' schools, which have quite a few restrictions on the literature that can be studied.   I'm not clear on all the details, but among other things, it's my understanding that they would avoid certain types of references to other religions (including holidays).   I noticed this in the samples; there were stories set in Latin America, but without any references to Catholic culture.   It was kind of odd.

 

There's a blog post here about TextWord taking out references to "gods," along with a bunch of other lines, in their edition of Julius Caesar.  

 

It's not that I'm against bowdlerization per se, but my conclusion was that I'd rather do my own selecting and editing.   Our own family's concerns are quite enough without adding in someone else's.   :tongue_smilie:

 

That said, there's enough good material in Mosdos that we might use the books as a supplement.   But not at anywhere near the list price, which IMO would only be justified if we were using it as a main curriculum.    

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We have used them all the way through, and I can tell you they are FABULOUS...I am always surprised more homeschoolers aren't aware of this wonderful anthology series and how rock solid it is.

 

One thing I have found interesting is that we have used them with both our ELL/ESL and LD kids as well as our gifted kids (we have a nice array around here! LOLOL!), and every single one of them has benefited hugely from Mosdos.  What I like about the textbooks is:

 

1)  The accompanying workbooks (purchased separately) are not busy work, they are well devised activities to develop literary analysis, critical thinking, and vocabulary.  They are somewhat graphic in presentation.  Do NOT miss out on using the workbooks, even if you select pages here and there and don't do all of them.  You will really miss something helpful if you don't use them.

2)  All the best authors, ALL the best are represented.  Our kids were introduced to authors many don't encounter until high school, and it led them to look for their full length works at the library.

3)  Their story selections simply can not be beat.  I can't begin to tell you how many times after finishing a story that our kids all exclaimed, "That was SO good!  I love that story!".

4)  In particular I really appreciated the morals and character development through literature.  They do a fine job of this, more than anything else, and without coming across as preachy.  They sneak it in, and kids don't realize they are being indoctrinated into a world of thinking about their actions and trying to do the right thing at all times.

5)  Quality materials...the textbooks are beautiful to look at, with nice illustrations throughout.

6)  The literary analysis begins early on, and it is repeated at ever increasing levels.  By the time our kids are through with 8th grade, they already know more about lit analysis than most high schoolers do.  Last year I had my first 9th grader, and we jumped into an 11th grade textbook because it was American Lit and followed our history.  It was a very challenging textbook, but he did so well with it!  It was clear he had been stretched a lot by Mosdos, and extremely well prepared.

 

If you like Mosdos Press, and are looking for what to use for high school, I highly recommend the Implications in Literature series from http://www.textword.com/ .  It has been the perfect pairing for high school coming off of Mosdos in elementary/middle school. It is very rigorous, with the same attention to thoughtful selections to be included, and a very nice combination of work to do after every story that is not at all busy work.  It takes it all to the next level, and your child will be extremely well prepared for college if they use this series.

 

Cindy, thank you for this -- our Opal student text and workbook are supposed to be arriving this week.  I am feeling pleased about the purchase!  

 

I did not order the instructor guide....Do you feel it necessary?     

 

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Cindy, thank you for this -- our Opal student text and workbook are supposed to be arriving this week.  I am feeling pleased about the purchase!  

 

I did not order the instructor guide....Do you feel it necessary?     

 

 

Actually, I found the instructor guide super helpful.  It helped steer me toward much more thought provoking questions, as well as a lot of concrete ones as well.  It was a far better teacher's guide than some other products.  While it is expensive, if you really tend to actually teach literature rather than just read together, this is the single best tool I have had in 5 years of homeschooling for literature.  I really, really love this company and its products, it helped us achieve MUCH greater fluency and vocabulary development with our ELL kids adopted at older ages...so much so that they tested out of ELL in two years total.  I was incredibly careful about the materials we used, because they came to us so far behind.  This was instrumental in their reading skills development, with pointed work that was not at all a waste of time.

 

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did/do!

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Actually, I found the instructor guide super helpful.  It helped steer me toward much more thought provoking questions, as well as a lot of concrete ones as well.  It was a far better teacher's guide than some other products.  While it is expensive, if you really tend to actually teach literature rather than just read together, this is the single best tool I have had in 5 years of homeschooling for literature.  I really, really love this company and its products, it helped us achieve MUCH greater fluency and vocabulary development with our ELL kids adopted at older ages...so much so that they tested out of ELL in two years total.  I was incredibly careful about the materials we used, because they came to us so far behind.  This was instrumental in their reading skills development, with pointed work that was not at all a waste of time.

 

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did/do!

 

I don't mind purchasing worthwhile items, and I couldn't get a feel from the samples.  I'm ordering the last bits-n-bobs this week and will include it. 

 

Thank you for this -- I hope so too!

 

Donna

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We tried Mosdos when my daughter was in third or fourth grade.  I thought it looked really good.  On the other hand, my daughter HATED it.  I  ended up letting her drop it.  She has always loved to read and does an excellent job with it.  I don't usually change curriculum just because she doesn't like something, but I did for Mosdos.  I didn't want her to lose her love of reading so we went another direction.  Hopefully those of you who try it will have different results. 

 

Suzanne

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