I got my catalog and my first order yesterday! :hurray: ...Perfect timing!...I just got the third grade stuff in, will order the first grade stuff in a few more weeks...

If doing it today, I would like to have done Memoria Press K with my older two when they were 6 years old...I still wouldn't do much before turning 6...

Say it ain't so! :scared: Just kidding, I understand totally about not wanting to be tempted...Lots of catalogs hit the recycling bin once they get here, but I have to read "The Classical Teacher" ;)

I was thinking the same thing as Tress - there is a new catalog?...I have the Winter one, but nothing more recent... I made an order with them Friday to take advantage of free shipping...It should be here tomorrow :D I guess I did throw just about everything else aside to try their packages...We will be using three packages in the fall...

:iagree:

It really depends on what you want...I will try to answer as much as I can... Rod & Staff English has a writing component to it that is good enough to me, especially in the early grades if you do not want to use anything else...It teaches concepts like paragraph formation, etc....If you plan to use Rod & Staff, you should be fine... WWE is different from R&S in that it teaches copywork, narration, and dictation skills...If that is what you are looking for, you can use R&S for the grammar element only, and use WWE for the writing portion...One word of caution is that it may be difficult to start with WWE 4 if you haven't done one of the previous levels...The reading selections can be difficult for some 4th graders who have never done the program...You might want to look over the samples to see if you should start with level 3 or even level 2 depending on where your student is... MP Composition teaches something called the progymnasmata which is designed to teach persuasive writing by first giving you literary works to imitate and do several exercises that teach the technique of writing...If that is what you are looking for, this would be a good choice... Personally, I think any of the three of these are great programs depending on what is needed that year...I own all three of what is mentioned above, and they are all fine choices, it just depends on what you want to accomplish... Bottom Line - If you are looking for the most for your dollar right now and a fuss free introduction to writing for your 4th grader, Rod & Staff is enough...If you are concerned about the copywork and narration elements that WWE would bring, you can add that in on your own using any passages and sentences you choose from any subject area...

I would prefer to have it...I am using the 2nd grade R&S spelling book now and I like having the teacher's guide...Sometimes I have no clue what the picture is suppose to be and I look it up...

Thank you, this is helpful...My 3rd grade plans should be here this week, so I will end up doing the poetry book along with the lesson plans...I already own the poetry book, as I was going to use it in the way I described above, but since I am doing MP third grade next year, I will just follow their plans... If you are not doing MP packages next year, I would imagine it could still be used as a stand alone...

This is true...With a 5 year old, I would just listen to the CDs and get the reproducible pages on PDF so your daughter can color while listening to it...

I bought all three and only used the CDs and the AG...My younger two loved the coloring pages and I liked the guided narration for discussions with them...The book was not used at all in this house...We all sat together listening to the CDs...And my boys love Jim Weiss!...They actually sat one day and listened to the entire SOTW 1 in one day while playing, the entire 8 hour thing :001_smile:

I have this book and am planning to use it as poems for memory work for the boys...I listened to an Andrew Pudewa talk about Suzuki method poetry memorization, and I intend to use the poems in that way...We won't get through all of the poems, and I don't think it is necessary to...But the book gives me a good base of poems for us to use to work on memorization...

I have some experience with Memoria Press...We did some of it last year, dropped it to try something else, and is moving back to it this upcoming fall... The major reason I dropped it was because I was unaware of how to use it properly...I saw the student guides as "workbooks" the boys needed to fill out and complete, rather than a teaching tool I am free to use however I see fit...Two of my boys joined a Junior Classical League classics club in our state...I sat in on a meeting with them and the woman in charge of the group was using a MP book, but she was using it more as a discussion tool rather than a workbook to hand to the children...My boys loved it!...Instead of expecting them to know the answers when she asked, she helped them come to know the answer by using the teacher's guide...At that moment, I realized how the books are intended to be used... You can do some of the writing, but you don't have to do all of it...You can teach based on discussion, not fill in the blanks...You can read difficult works with your children out loud; they don't have to know how to read every word on every page...You can even take turns reading everything if you want to...I guess my point is that I discovered (finally) that curriculum is just a tool to be used however you see fit; whatever will work best for your family...I read through the MP forum and realized that what I am describing above is what is done at Highlands Latin School anyway (the school Memoria Press curriculum is made from)... I like the lesson plans, vocabulary, teacher's guides, and many other things that come with Memoria Press...I believe I can use it in a way that would help us to be more organized and more successful in our efforts...We have been using some of the package anyway (math, Latin, Spelling, Grammar), so we will just add the rest in the upcoming fall... Another thing is the price...For the money we have available to spend on the upcoming year, Memoria Press packages are the best financial deal for us for what I am looking for...I am sure other options may be cheaper, but this is the "best bang for your buck" for us right now ;) We will use the 1st grade, 3rd grade and 6th grade packages next year...My son will be in 7th grade, but will be using the MP 6th grade package... I hope this helps and good luck with your choice whatever you decide :001_smile:

For those grades, if you were looking to only get 1, I would get the teacher's guides...You can always ask the questions orally, but it would be difficult to do without the answer book...

You have a great resource there on your blog...Thank you for sharing your hard work...It is really appreciated :001_smile:

:iagree: Great post and I agree with you...This pretty much sums up what I would like to acheive as well...Only I can't back off on math...We are still trying to catch up with my oldest :blushing:

I agree with you all and wonder why Memoria Press schedules it so early...

I am planning to use a lot of Memoria Press stuff next year, but I do have my reservations about the complete packages...I think they are fine when children are younger, but when you get to the middle grades, it is more like I would want my high school to look like...For example, I plan to read "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" in high school, not 7th grade...Actually, much of it can be done later than they schedule it, and that is the problem I have with using the packages...I am piecing together my own plan, and using the items I can from them in the years I need them...Overall, I like the books...I just plan to do the literature as discussions rather than a workbook I hand to them to do alone...The workbook aspect of it does not excite me, but the discussion questions, vocabulary, and other parts of the teacher's books do... I am still trying to work out a plan I love and can stick too...I am also curious about others thoughts on this topic...

Not sure, but I am under this impression as well...I am getting Storytime Treasures for the first time for next year, and I am getting the set with the student guide and teacher key...

Yes...The teacher's book is just the student book with the answers on the blanks and any tests in the back if the book has tests...The only time you will have a problem is if it is a worksheet you want filled out because the answers will be there...If you do it orally, you won't need a worksheet...

I know I am full of questions today, but... When did you or do you plan to study "D'Aulaires' Greek Myths" in your homeschool?...This question assumes that you will study it, and that you are educating classically... I want to study subjects when my boys are old enough to get the most out of it...I know that I cannot save everything for high school, so I am trying to make decisions about the elementary years...Memoria Press does D'Aulaires' in the 3rd grade, but I wonder if that is too young to really understand and get something out of it...Any opinions?

I would argue that it is the student book that is unnecessary...I would definitely get the teacher's book...The student book can be done orally, thus eliminating the need for the student book...The teacher's edition is needed for the discussions...I am not sure about the tone...The ones I have seen just seem to deal with the books...I haven't found them to be overly Christian in tone, but since I am a Christian, I just might not notice such things...

Any thoughts on these?...I have a few of "The Famous Men of..." books, but have been looking at the Dorothy Mills books...Are the Mills books better for middle school, or can they be used for high school?...I am trying to figure out a way to include both, but having a hard time doing so...

Has anyone done (or is planning to do) "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" in the 7th grade?...Memoria Press has it in their new 7th grade package, and I am wondering if that is a good time, or just too early...I am thinking through my plans for the boys, and am struggling with what to study when...I would think that "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" would be great for freshmen year, but wonder if anyone has any pros or cons to studying them before high school?...I am trying to make a plan from the top down, but it is difficult because there are so many things I would like to cover, and not enough time to cover them all...Coming up with a general scope and sequence is proving to be more difficult than I thought! I posted this on the logic stage board as well, but decided to post here, so you can ignore it over there if you want :-)

Has anyone done (or is planning to do) "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" in the 7th grade?...Memoria Press has it in their new 7th grade package, and I am wondering if that is a good time, or just too early...I am thinking through my plans for the boys, and am struggling with what to study when...I would think that "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" would be great for freshmen year, but wonder if anyone has any pros or cons to studying them before high school?...I am trying to make a plan from the top down, but it is difficult because there are so many things I would like to cover, and not enough time to cover them all...Coming up with a general scope and sequence is proving to be more difficult than I thought!

I am so sad because I want to go!...I just heard Andrew Pudewa speak at our local homeschool group talk today (Andrew was the only speaker) and I just loved his talks!...I am in conference talk mode right now and really wish I could go, but Ohio is far from me...