Memoria Press: Pros and Cons

[MelAR05]

I am thinking of using it for 4th, 2nd, and K. What are MP's strengths and weaknesses. What do you enjoy most about this curriculum? What do you like the least?

 

TIA!

[MeganW]

We did most of the MP kindergarten last year with my children who were 6.5 years old. We did NOT use the phonics, handwriting, or math, as I had my own favorite programs for that. We used it for the other stuff - recitations, art, music, social studies, science, etc. For that, I LOVED it! I will say that I think it is best for OLDER kindergarteners, and would not use it with a younger child.

[MelAR05]

We used it for the other stuff - recitations, art, music, social studies, science, etc. For that, I LOVED it! I will say that I think it is best for OLDER kindergarteners, and would not use it with a younger child.

 

Thanks Megan! The K program appeals to me for those subjects. I will be using another phonics program and maybe math. My daughter is only 4 1/2 but is showing signs that she is ready to start kindergarten. I wanted to wait until next fall to start anything official, but she appears to have different ideas. :D She is learning her sounds, recognizes rhyming words, and writes constantly. The writing at this age for my other two girls would have been too much, but, I think, she will actually enjoy it.

 

What specific areas might you see a younger child have a hard time?

[MelAR05]

I use CLE for math as well. I will be using their Latin but maybe not the Bible and Christian Studies.

 

I am curious why are they weak in science, yet Cheryl Lowe's college degrees are in science? Do they just think it should not be a focus in the early years?

[MelAR05]

Overall, my children and I have loved MP. I plan to stay with it for as long as we homeschool. That does not mean I won't tweak. ;)

 

Thanks for this. I am hoping to finally find a curriculum I can stay with long term.

[4Hisglory]

:bigear:

[TheAutumnOak]

 

I am curious why are they weak in science, yet Cheryl Lowe's college degrees are in science? Do they just think it should not be a focus in the early years?

 

I think this may be the case with science...

 

If I were you, I would do MP Junior Kindergarten...I am getting ready to do MP K with my son who is already 6...It would have been too much for him last year and I don't think he would have gotten as much out of it...

 

I agree with a PP who said it is better for older K students...Even if the writing (which is a lot) is okay, the discussion and memorization may be over her head...

 

That being said, I like MP...I would just start with Junior K if I had a 4 or 5 year old...

[sleeplessnights]

I like MP's focus on skill subjects. In the younger years, the majority of the day will be spent on the 3R's and Latin. Other subjects like history, science, bible, and geography are done weekly. We use Singapore Math, substitute the SOTW books for the history, and have a family science curriculum going, but I still love MP! I like their "less is more" mentality. Sure, history can be so much fun, but when you are focusing all your energy on it, you're probably lacking in other areas.

 

The only thing I'm not 100% sold on is the science. We went through the Astronomy this year and I'm not sure it was worth it. Knowing the constellations is pretty cool, though. We've bought the Insects set for next year and the reader & workbook look great, so we'll see how it goes.

 

With four kids I'm curious as to whether I will be able to make it work in a couple years. Each child will be on his own level, so if it requires a lot of hand-holding we're going to have a problem. So far, so good, though. We're finishing up 3, 1, and K right now, with a little guy trying to join in when he can.

[MelAR05]

Thanks ladies! Looks like I will need to use Junior K for my youngest and add in some science for my science-loving daughter. I still plan on continuing with SOTW in the summer because my daughters enjoy it so much!

 

Memorial Press appeals to me because it is solid on the basics with a schedule to get it done.

[Sahamamama]

I am thinking of using it for 4th, 2nd, and K. What are MP's strengths and weaknesses. What do you enjoy most about this curriculum? What do you like the least?

 

We used Story Time Treasures and More Story Time Treasures this past year for 1st grade. While my daughter could have easily read the books themselves (e.g., The Story About Ping, Blueberries for Sal, Billy and Blaze) in Kindergarten or earlier, the choice of these books for literature study was perfect for 1st grade. We loved doing this course, and I think it helped make my daughter a more active reader. She will now "look over" a book before she reads it -- she checks out the author, the illustrator, the title page, understands something about characterization, personification, dialogue, characters, and so on. Perhaps a First Grader doesn't need this much, but for a young student who is reading (and writing) well, it's nice to have some more ways into the story, without turning everything into a unit study. :tongue_smilie: We enjoyed all the books in the course, too.

 

This coming year, we plan to use MP's Literature Guides for 2nd Grade. We're only going to work through Mr. Popper's Penguins, Tales from Beatrix Potter, and The Courage of Sarah Noble, because we also want to spend six weeks on poetry using this and this. MP offers Little House in the Big Woods for 2nd grade and Farmer Boy for 3rd. We plan to do these and some other things for formal literature study in 3rd.

 

We plan to start Prima Latina with the 2nd grader this year, and I am happily working my way through First Form Latin and Traditional Logic I. Mommy uses MP, too! ;)

 

We're also using New American Cursive products for handwriting instruction and copywork this year for the 2nd grader. We'll see how that goes.

 

I like some things about MP, especially how the choices for the primary grades seem gentle, without being a waste of time. I think they really do understand young children, as well as the "upward shifts" that usually take place around ages 8, 10, and further on. They seem to weight the workload according to what the child can carry, and they give me confidence that there is a proper time for each season in a young student's life. It's something I can't quite explain. Cheryl Lowe's reassurance that a First Grader doesn't need to do an in-depth study on Ancient Civilizations -- that Bible stories, classic folk tales, and American history & biographies will be enough -- helped me to let go of the idea of the 4-year cycle as the one right way to do History. I also agree that Latin is a good follow-on challenge for the student who has mastered phonics.

 

One thing that annoys me about MP products is that sometimes we find errors/typos and a few missing pieces (i.e., the flashcards for LC are advertised as containing all the material in Prima Latina -- but there are missing cards/phrases). This is just a pet peeve of mine, no big deal, exactly. I think that some of the products need another year or two (or more), so MP can work the kinks out. If you can overlook a typo here or there, you'll be okay. HTH.

[Sahamamama]

Thanks ladies! Looks like I will need to use Junior K for my youngest and add in some science for my science-loving daughter. I still plan on continuing with SOTW in the summer because my daughters enjoy it so much!

 

Memorial Press appeals to me because it is solid on the basics with a schedule to get it done.

 

Here's a link, hope it works.

 

http://www.memoriapress.com/descriptions/junior-K_Curriculum.html

[FairProspects]

Pros: Great phonics program, love SRA phonics too, read-aloud lists are fantastic.

 

Cons: Terrible fit for my VSL-engineering minded child who lives and breathes science and math and struggles in reading/writing. Since I am not going with Latin right away (as a PP noted) levels 2+ are out for us. LOTS of writing right away even in level K, which has been an issue for both boys.

 

MP is the way I wish I had been taught, unfortunately ds 1 is nothing like me. Ds 2 might be more so, but has still had issues with the writing. Their phonics is one of the best I've seen (and I've literally used 15+ with dyslexic ds) so I keep at it in phonics at least and use the read-aloud lists as a guide.

[WIS0320]

I'm using MP K with my 4 year old. It would have killed my 7 year old at the same age. He's accelerated and I'll leave it at that. I personally think the program is the best "in a box" option I've found for Jr.K-1st grade.

 

We are going to be using MP 2nd grade but I've tweaked it a bit. We are completely skipping the social studies and science portions of the plans and we are also not using the Literature studies. No comment on it as I haven't actually used it yet.

 

Tweaked MP Grade 2 Plans

[jer2911mom]

We've used parts of MP K and 1st grade. I use their schedules for read-alouds, poetry, art and music appreciation, and recitation to supplement our other curricula. I started off trying to use more of MP K, but I didn't like that the social studies and science asked you to talk about a topic, but expected you to find the information yourself. I preferred having the information at hand in a more open-and-go format. I also thought that overall, a lot of writing was expected in K.

 

I do like the recitation questions and use those in a laid-back manner. The art and music appreciation schedules have helped us look at art and listen to music every week for K and 1st, and that is worth the cost of the guide to me. I really like the questions they provide for studying the art pieces.

 

HTH,

Kathy

[MelAR05]

 

I like some things about MP, especially how the choices for the primary grades seem gentle, without being a waste of time. I think they really do understand young children, as well as the "upward shifts" that usually take place around ages 8, 10, and further on. They seem to weight the workload according to what the child can carry, and they give me confidence that there is a proper time for each season in a young student's life. It's something I can't quite explain. Cheryl Lowe's reassurance that a First Grader doesn't need to do an in-depth study on Ancient Civilizations -- that Bible stories, classic folk tales, and American history & biographies will be enough -- helped me to let go of the idea of the 4-year cycle as the one right way to do History. I also agree that Latin is a good follow-on challenge for the student who has mastered phonics.

 

 

Thanks for your summary! It helped alot! I really like your review, especially the bolded part.

 

Here's a link, hope it works.

 

http://www.memoriapress.com/descriptions/junior-K_Curriculum.html

 

Thank you! It looks wonderful!

 

I feel MP is weak in science because for my science loving, knowledgable older children, it was too simple and young for the grades/ages. Mine needed more depth. I find it incongruent with the level of the other courses in the same grades.

 

This is my biggest concern. My oldest daughter loves science! So much so that I can't stay ahead of her to find a curriculum she will like. This past year I did not do any formal science with her and she still learned sooo much.

[Amy Jo]

This is my biggest concern. My oldest daughter loves science! So much so that I can't stay ahead of her to find a curriculum she will like. This past year I did not do any formal science with her and she still learned sooo much.

 

Have you thought about unschooling science or interest-led science? There have been threads about discovery boxes, experiment kits, the Happy Scientist, living books for science, etc. It sounds like she was successful last year.

 

My plan here is to use the light/review days on Fridays and do BFSU. I'm encouraging them to use their nature books more, and I'd like to do nature study on Saturday mornings. I will be supplementing with living books, and probably just replacing their geography (covering the same topics, but more interestingly than a workbook).

 

For me the pros. are everything is laid out and simple to follow. They are very gracious and help you to customize a package. I'm loving the Latin. Oh, and the integration. The grammar works with both the Latin and the literature selections. Astronomy in 3rd to go with the myths. Etc.

 

Cons are the literature guides - not for us. I might refer to the teacher book for vocabulary and enrichment ideas, but I'd rather go with CM's methods. I'm not as impressed with the modern studies, but I can supplement that without to much trouble. I think there is too much writing in the lower grades, and probably won't use much besides recitation, book lists & Prima Latina in the K-2nd sets.

[AmyEliz]

I want to do MFW K and then 1, but I know the 1 goes a bit fast with the phonics, what should I get from the MP curriculum to supplement? The First Start Reading series, or the SRA? Or is there another better program out there? (I already have ETC). THANKS! I want to use MP bc I see how valuable the phonics learning is, but others have convinced me that the sequence of MFW is best, so just want to supplement :) THANKS!!!!