memoria press 2nd grade??

[Courtnkids]

I am considering Memoria Press for my ds for next year second grade. What are the teacher guides like? How is the history? Thanks for your input.

[sleeplessnights]

We are about to start MP 2 for the second time. The focus of 2nd grade is on basic skills: reading, writing (copywork - Bible), and math. They use Prima Latina in 2nd, which is a light intro to Latin with a focus on English grammar. The reading program assumes that you have a good reader (starting with Courage of Sarah Noble).

 

The other subjects you do once a week: music, art, poetry, social studies, and science. Their history/social studies is a survey of famous historical Americans, holidays, and events. Their science is also a survey of a variety of topics. These usually coincide with their read-alouds.

 

MP's real history and science programs begin in 3rd grade with Greek Myths and Astronomy. Up till then, the focus is on the 3 R's.

 

The curriculum guide includes a daily recitation, phonics activities, music & art lists, and spelling lists. I love the guide because I'm a "check the box" person, though I tweak things and move topics around.

[Courtnkids]

Thanks so much for the information! My mind is scattered all over the place with all the different curriculums. But MP seems to have most of what I am looking for. A focus on the basics.

 

Also, I was curious about the Greek myths. I'm not a history person, but why a whole year on Greek myths??

 

I've been doing Sonlight this year with my ds who is 6 and there's just so much extra fluff. I love all the books but, flipping through the huge manual and reading all the notes is just too much. And their language arts is too easy for him. I'm tweaking everything so we'll probably switch to something else.. maybe MP. He is reading well so I don't think the MP reading would be too hard for him.

 

Have you tweaked Mp and what did you change? Did you feel you had to add extra stuff to make it complete or is it good all by itself?

 

I have read some of the MP's forum and I'll have to consider joining that as well!

Thanks!

[sleeplessnights]

Here is an article describing the MP sequence of courses in elementary:

 

http://www.memoriapress.com/articles/Winter%2009/Two-TrackHistory.html

 

I guess the reasoning for studying Greek Myths for the year (once a week) is that they come up all the time in literature, so you should be familiar with the characters. My kids love the stories and have already seen references to them elsewhere. Greek Myths is studied alongside Astronomy, which is awesome because many constellations are based upon the Greek Myth characters.

 

We have used MP's K, 1, 2, and 3rd grades. We are starting grades 4 & 2 in January, with my youngers tagging along. We love MP's Latin and extra subjects. We use CLE for math (I need something less teacher-directed with four kids) and CLE for LA. We use WWE for writing. I also pick and choose read alouds, science, and social studies topics for the youngers so I can combine them. We also listen to SOTW in the car.

 

MP's recitations are also great. My kids have fun with these each morning. The writing might seem to be a lot in the younger grades, but if you follow the curriculum manual, you will see that many of these assignments are broken up into smaller pieces. Also the literature guides in the younger grades are supposed to be used following SWB's method: narration, form a good sentence together, then copy into book. These are not designed to be done independently.

 

I wanted my children to be able to learn at their individual challenge level, so although they are often working on different topics, I like that they can complete a lot of the work independently.

 

Hope this helps,

[Courtnkids]

So you are an expert on Mp! I'm so glad because I don't know anyone who uses it.

 

 

I have 3 younger children as well ( 4,2,3m) and wasn't sure how to do it all. I want my ds to be able to do some independant work so I can focus on my younger ones.

 

I know nothing of latin and am scared to start and not finish it. I have great ambitions for teaching it but I'm afraid it will get too complicated for me. However, if it's meant to teach young children I should be able to handle it right? How far have you gone in the Latin?

 

We use MUS for math. What is CLE? I'm starting to decode everything, but am a little slow. Thanks!

Courtney

[Courtnkids]

That link really helped!! Thanks so much!

[VeritasMama]

^{I think CLE stands for Christian Light Education?}

 

^{We are using MP for 2nd grade this year along with some other curriculum. I love the recitiation, the poetry selections. I am a "check the box" type gal myself, so I really like the layout of the weekly lesson plans. We use Singapore Math, and we also use some selections from AO and some Catholic curriculum for religion.}

 

^{Prima Latina is very user friendly. At this level, the latin is mostly vocabulary, which includes reviewing Latin words and their English derivatives. I use the DVD's, which can be a bit dry, but they work. The teacher guide is also very useful for people like me who have little to no Latin themselves.}

 

^{I love the fact that they focus on the three R's in the early years. I read on their forums that they did indeed use Writing WIth Ease as a source when they designed their literature guides, and these are excellent. My son is not the strongest reader or writer, and so I read the literature selections to him or we use an audio book, and then we complete the literature guide lessons together orally, or with me writing his answers on a dry erase board for him to copy.}

 

^{The forums are also a great source for information and ideas to help you adapt it to your own needs.}

 

^{Good luck!}

[VeritasMama]

Oops, double posted somehow :)

[Courtnkids]

Thanks everyone for your input! I'm sure I'll have more questions!

[sleeplessnights]

 

I know nothing of latin and am scared to start and not finish it. I have great ambitions for teaching it but I'm afraid it will get too complicated for me. However, if it's meant to teach young children I should be able to handle it right? How far have you gone in the Latin?

 

 

We have done Prima Latina and Latina Christiana I. Both of these programs need to be taught by the parent. We got the DVD's for LC, but they were slow and dry, so I usually watched them and then taught the lesson myself.

 

We will be starting First Form in January and it is written to the student with lots more practice pages, so I'm expecting him to be a lot more independent this year too (although I need to learn along side to answer questions).

[Courtnkids]

Do you have your children doing the same history, bible and science?

 

 

 

 

We have done Prima Latina and Latina Christiana I. Both of these programs need to be taught by the parent. We got the DVD's for LC, but they were slow and dry, so I usually watched them and then taught the lesson myself.

 

We will be starting First Form in January and it is written to the student with lots more practice pages, so I'm expecting him to be a lot more independent this year too (although I need to learn along side to answer questions).

 

[sleeplessnights]

Do you have your children doing the same history, bible and science?

 

 

My kids aren't that old, but we all do Bible together at breakfast (they each have their own AWANA lessons). We all listen to SOTW in the car and the younger three do social studies (history topics) and science topics together. My oldest does his MP science and history, though he likes to know what the younger kids are doing. My 2nd son reads a lot of biographies of famous Americans to himself. I intend to have them doing their own history and science using MP's curriculum once they reach 3rd grade. Up till then, we just hit on various topics like the water cycle, holidays, major historical events, etc.

[Courtnkids]

Thanks! One more question.. I would like to get a writing and language supplement for my ds now. Should I order copy book II or WWE and first language lessons? I'm thinking of getting the copy book just to get a taste of MP. Would I need any kind of instruction manual for the copybook or is it self explanitory? Right now I have my son copying scriptures and prayers but I would like to have something more structured. I don't feel he is getting enough instruction in grammar either at this point. Thanks!

[VeritasMama]

The copybook has pages assigned in the lesson plans for each day. They also have a seperate handwriting program and writing involved in the literature guides and some of the phonics lessons, and grammar is taught through the literature guides and through Latin, so the copybook really is just to practice making a "fair copy". The copybook is made up of bible verses, so it is a supplement to the language arts and bible studies, we use it to help memorize verses. It starts at the beginning of Genesis and works it's way from there.

 

i would say that if you are looking for a language supplement, you could start with one of the literature guides. The books read in 2nd grade include The Courage of Sarah Noble, Little House in the Big Woods, Mr. Popper's Penguins, and The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter. The student guide includes writing excercises that mirror the types of excercises in WWE. WWE is literature based as well, it's a great program, but if you wanted to get a taste of MP their guides along with handwriting and copywork make up an excellent language arts program.

 

If you are looking for more grammar, FFL would be easy to use as a supplement, it doesn't take much time to implement at all. I used it with my oldest son and it only took us 15 minutes a day 3 days a week. It didn't feel like "overkill" for us, even with the grammar in his Latin.

 

HTH!

[Courtnkids]

Thanks so much for the information! I am getting WWE and FLL soon and I'll try those out.

 

I like that the copybooks have scripture! That's a big plus for me. I'll consider that when I decide on a curriculum for next year.

[WIS0320]

We are loosely using the MP 2nd grade guide. I use the poetry, read aloud literature selections, copywork, cursive, and literature guides. We started Prima Latina this week. We are not using Rod and Staff Math (subbing in Singapore) and I use Phonics Road for phonics and grammar. We also use the other things in my signature. I am using MP K for my son replacing Rod and Staff math with Singapore 1a and we don't use the poetry or classical music selections as he is four and accelerated in core areas but I am not particularly worried about content or enrichment with him yet.

 

I love MP! I would buy their guides because they are well priced and I like to see their pacing and plans. This isn't to mean that I use them exactly but I think they are very well thought out and laid out and would be very usable to implement if one wanted something planned and ready to go. I am using a traditional history cycle and I need science in the early grades to be more laid out than it is in MP but other than that there is a lot to like!

[Courtnkids]

We are loosely using the MP 2nd grade guide. I use the poetry, read aloud literature selections, copywork, cursive, and literature guides. We started Prima Latina this week. We are not using Rod and Staff Math (subbing in Singapore) and I use Phonics Road for phonics and grammar. We also use the other things in my signature. I am using MP K for my son replacing Rod and Staff math with Singapore 1a and we don't use the poetry or classical music selections as he is four and accelerated in core areas but I am not particularly worried about content or enrichment with him yet.

 

I love MP! I would buy their guides because they are well priced and I like to see their pacing and plans. This isn't to mean that I use them exactly but I think they are very well thought out and laid out and would be very usable to implement if one wanted something planned and ready to go. I am using a traditional history cycle and I need science in the early grades to be more laid out than it is in MP but other than that there is a lot to like!

 

 

 

I would be interested to see how the latin is working out for you. I go back and forth on jumping in with latin. I was never taught it and don't know anything!

I was wandering about their history. It seems like there's not a lot of American history. Of course that can be supplemented in but when do they actually teach it?

[Courtnkids]

 

 

I would be interested to see how the latin is working out for you. I go back and forth on jumping in with latin. I was never taught it and don't know anything!

I was wandering about their history. It seems like there's not a lot of American history. Of course that can be supplemented in but when do they actually teach it?

 

 

Do they work on a 5 day a week plan? And are there project or hands on suggestions? I need help in those areas.

[wormbuy]

The lessons are scheduled over five days, but I find days four and five easy to combine. Day five seems light to me, and we have a one day co-op, so it works well for us.

 

Hands on - not really but I gather from their forums that plans are in the works for some grades.

 

The second grade Latin is totally doable for moms with no Latin, my DS loves Latin! It is a great intro.

[Courtnkids]

Your convincing me!

 

The lessons are scheduled over five days, but I find days four and five easy to combine. Day five seems light to me, and we have a one day co-op, so it works well for us.

 

Hands on - not really but I gather from their forums that plans are in the works for some grades.

 

The second grade Latin is totally doable for moms with no Latin, my DS loves Latin! It is a great intro.

 

[WIS0320]

 

 

I would be interested to see how the latin is working out for you. I go back and forth on jumping in with latin. I was never taught it and don't know anything!

 

 

Prima Latina appears to be very slowly paced. It is scheduled one lesson per week and we easily made it through all the content for the week in one day of working through it. We watched the DVD lesson and then used the student workbook. We've reviewed daily the vocab words and the basic sounds of Latin vowels but on the whole it feels extremely do-able - especially with the DVD lessons!

 

We've obviously only done one week so who knows if it ramps up but it seems very gentle to me.