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CherryBlossomMJ

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Posts posted by CherryBlossomMJ

    Literature keeps falling through the cracks

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    This thread has been so valuable for me to read. My daughter, just turned eight can read anything and is taking forever with just one Literature guide. I haven't been able to give myself permission to just let her read like crazy until late Middle or high school. It definitely would release some tension in our school day. She loves Reading but it is the picking apart that she just doesn't favor.

    Veritas Press for kindergarten?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted · Edited by CherryBlossomMJ

    I have done both and have lots to say about them. As well as long reviews written. I'd be glad to answer any questions you might have.

     

    When you say you have done Memoria Press preK. Do you mean Preschool or Junior Kindergarten? The preschool is new and doesn't involve writing, while JrK has a few more years under its belt and some basic writing and coloring skills.

     

    Memoria Press is more of a trace the dots, ball and stitck sort. Phonics Museum is a fill in the hollow maze letter in D'Nelian Italic manuscript.

     

    My oldest has used MP since the beginning with JrK (before the days of their Preschool), she did Sonlight P3/4 at that point. Same heart of a program, read aloud classics. She went full Veritas Scholars Academy for second and still did the MP Second Grade in her free time by her request. She continued full VSA for third and we were hating every minute. In February we went back to full Memorial Press and have left the full VSA behind us. We do still use self-paced history and the literature lists. We dropped the rest. (Although we love History of Art and Live Class Memory Period). She is continuing Phonetic Zoo and not switching to Spelling Workout.

     

    My middle daughter started in VSA full Kindergarten last year while her sister was in third. We were so unhappy with Third that it was a big distraction. But also VSA Kinder was just dull in comparison to the life and excitement we had with Memoria Press Kindergarten Enrichment in past years. We dropped the full VSA K and kept Phonics Museum (review of the app is coming soon on my blog, but I have plenty of positive to say and have on the blog page of Facebook for Creative Madness Mama). Bede's was okay but not terribly exciting. We dropped it for her to tag along with sister. Saxon for the early Grammar grades is a nightmare. We gladly went fully back to Rod&Staff Beginning Arithmetic which she was doing by choice anyway. Bible Timeline was horribly boring and very dated. Pull back out the Memoria Press guides! Memoria Press Enrichment is my school life-line!! MP choice for math with R&S. We have kept Phonics Museum. We have kept the Art Primers. However, she is also doing First Start Reading and Classical Phonics. She is also finishing up the Alphabet Books.

     

    So what will I do with my three-year-old son when he gets there?? He is doing the Phonics Museum app now. He is not ready to write. He will do the Phonics Museum workbooks whenever he is ready. He will also do Memoria Press Classical Phonics (oral) and Christian Liberty Press Adventures in Phonics for extra practice. (Side note: both girls are doing this and have been since before MP decided to switch from SRA to Core Skills Phonics - this is all for practice and we chose Adv. in Phonics while they were changing up the beta of the program.) I still might have him do FSR, but with his oral experience with the iOS Phonics Museum app we might not need it. Rod & Staff Math and probably Math Lessons for a Living Education (that's an entirely different conversation), Art Primers, and Memoria Press Enrichment.

     

    I love Memoria Press. I love every single thing there is to do with Memoria Press. We only left to go fully accredited. In the end we decided it wasn't worth it and wanted the delight and love of learning back. I love the materials that Veritas Press publishes. I love the Phonics Museum. I love the History of Art. I like self-paced history, so Bible is another story. I like Bede. I like Legends & Leagues (my daughter does not). I fully intend to use some products of VP but my main program will most forever be MP. For the things MP doesn't publish, I like their choices but we are still experimenting (math, American history, science).

     

    But again... I could say a lot more.

     

    See my reviews of Memoria Press Junior Kindergarten, Kindergarten, First Grade, and the start of some Second Grade reviews on my blog.

     

    http://creativemadnessmama.com/blog/2013/04/29/memoria-press-junior-kindergarten-review-part-i/

     

    http://creativemadnessmama.com/blog/2015/01/26/memoria-press-kindergarten/

     

    http://creativemadnessmama.com/blog/2015/04/13/memoria-press-first-start-reading-review-classical-curriculum/

    Will She Ever Move On??

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted · Edited by CherryBlossomMJ

    My daughter started with the Egyptian Kane series, but has now stopped on percy Jackson. But I've gotten her D'Aulaires and we got a eBook library book in the Kate O'Hearn Pegasus series and she is loving those too. She also keeps going back to Magic Tree House and Ramona. While I let her, I keep telling her "this old one is fine, but you need to spend some time on new book X before reading Y again".

     

    I label my books per school year. So I can say go read a purple to your brother (toddler), orange or pink to your sister (CVC reading Kinder), or read a yellow or green on your own. Here she's will have a big choice, but she can choose. (Red is 2nd, yellow 3rd, green 4th). Now I need to start finding a color for 5th...

    X-Post: Memoria Press K

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted · Edited by CherryBlossomMJ

    My first child loves the idea of school and is a super Reader. My second child has the attention span of a butterfly and is a "spirited" child. In short, a totally different animal to teach.

     

    Still using Adventures in Phonics add-in with Bob Books as I mentioned previously.

     

    I'm using the material and added in a bit from Simply Classical 1 as well as Kindergarten for her. She is very slow to catch on and try reading but can do the seat work and handwriting as well as Math. We are not covering quite as much Enrichment with her as with her sister, but still do some. This child needs more time to focus on learning to love the idea of reading.

     

    But as to changes. I haven't left the MP Kindergarten plans for her. As a matter of fact we did try something else and came back because nothing is as good for the earliest levels than what I have found here.

     

    Next year, I will be doing Memoria Press Preschool with my son, in addition to MP 1st/SC2 with my now K daughter, and 4M with my now 3M daughter.

    Veritas Press vs Memoria Press?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    We started all MP. Spent 2nd grade and a partial third grade with VP and have returned to almost full MP after lots of stress.

     

    If you are just talking curriculum and not enrollment in Diploma, then VP has a lot of wonderful things. We love the self-paved courses so far, we are really enjoying a live Memory Period. At History is awesome and the Pages of History books are fabulous. VP has good reading/literature lists.

     

    Memoria Press has it all together in an easy to follow lesson plan with no busy work. (VP LP are laden with "school at home busy work") MP is gentler eet I feel like ey cover more and grasp the concept of Classical better.

     

    With that said Classical Academic Press has some greats too. Especially in Song School Latin and some others.

    I have years of experience with all three and would love to answer any specific questions.

    X-Post: Memoria Press K

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Yes to FSR. I actually don't like Core Skills. We use Adventures in Phonics instead, cheaper and covers more too. If you don't want writing with phonics then OPGTR with Bob Books would be fine. I love both, my kids prefer the gentyle writing in FSR A-D.

     

    We use Bob Books instead of PP just fine. Love the ALS readers, even though they cost more.

     

    Love R&S math, and the Numbers Books are just the right amount of extra practice. (I own MM and prefer R&S.)

     

    If you want the Bible memory verse aspect, don't skip Copybook 1, or, even possibly consider SC Copybook 1 if you need something more gentle. Otherwise, Getty-Dubay A is good. As is Queens. As is Brookhouse Bible Copy work. As us Handwriting through Language Lessons. But all run approximately ~$12.

     

    I've written tons of long winded posts on JrK and K on my blog with details using the curricula with my oldest. I'm currently using Kinder with my second daughter also.

     

    http://www.CreativeMadnessMama.com/blog/tag/memoria-press-kindergarten should get you there...

    • Like 2

    MP all the way through?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I've been using MP full curriculum since they started full sets. We are starting third this year. I have my second child in the simply classical and third child starting the new preschool this fall. I do know a lot about their full curriculum across the grades if you have any specific questions.

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    • Like 1

    3rd Grade Planning Thread 2016-2017

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    7-yr-old Third Grader

     

    In the summer my girls will have birthdays and this will leave me with two students for the first full time year. An advanced 7-yr-old third grader and an attention-span of a butterfly spirited princess 5-yr-old Kindergartener. (And a soon to be two-year-old toddler brother in the background.)

     

    Not much* joined this year. But plans to combine when DD2 hits 2nd in the future when DD1 will be in 5th. Repeat or continue rather joining when DS hits 2nd and DD2 will be in 5th.

     

    Bible: VPSA OT2: Judges to Kings. Grapevine Studies when requested. Finish HSITW OT Pak. Continue Dover coloring.

    Apologetics*: continue Who is God?

    Math: Saxon 5/4 with DIVE. IXL. ESA.*

    Grammar, Writing and Vocabulary: Shurley 3. LOE Essentials 2nd edition*. IEW, finish Bible Heroes and start All Things Fun and Fascinating. Maybe Fairy Tales and Fables or Ancient Times if we need more. Imitation in Writing Greek Myths. IXL. ESA.*

    Spelling: complete Phonetic Zoo A. LOE ESS*. ESA.

    Penmanship: Continue Classically Cursive, maybe continue New American Cursive. ELTL workbooks, and transition all work to cursive.

    History: VPSA New Testament, Greece and Rome. Continue Wayfarers Ancients. Read aloud* from resources including MOH 1, SOTW 1, CHOTW, and From Adam to Us. Includes Greek Mythology. HSITW NT Pak. (Interested in recommendations for similar for Greece/Rome. Maybe Great Wonders/World Empires?) Coloring?

    Geography: Legends and Leagues EAST. Wayfarers Ancients Geography fiction reading list and schedule for Asia, etc. ESA. Coloring?

    Latin: Finish Song School Latin. Complete Latin for Children A, self-paced. Headventureland.

    Science: Finish Science Shepherd Introductory Science, and also, reading at will from the Apologia Exploring Creation series and Science in the Beginning as related to history.

    Poetry: IEW Poetry Memorization. Reading at will from our collection of treasuries.

    Literature & Reading: Lists from: VPSA 3rd. MP 3rd including Modern/American biographies. Finish/continue ELTL 0, 1, & 2, maybe start 3. Use Wayfarers Ancients reading lists and read alouds. Rereading and her reading aloud to siblings books from ELTL 0, SL P3/4, SL P4/5, MP Enrichment K-2 on demand and her Marvel/DC Comics. As well as whatever pops up. Listening to Audible.*

    Art: Continue VPSA History of Art as it aligns with history. Access to Artistic Pursuits books. Art literature primers. Maybe COAH Worlds Greatest Artists.

     

    Extra:

    Private violin lessons*

    Frontier Girls Clubs*

    Netflix/Hulu documentaries*

    Runners and Track Club*

     

    Honestly, I wish she would take two years to complete third grade for age. But I wanted that in kindergarten and first too and she just continues to surprise and keep on. Finally, we are a little behind with our second grade materials but only by a few weeks, not even a month.

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