Blessed mom Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 I would appreciate any advice or insights any of you have about these two curriculums. I am considering which to use for an upcoming fourth grade son. I am drawn to Memoria Press. I like their philosophy of studying less material, but digging deeper. I eventually plan for us to study Latin (possibly have a Latin centered curriculum). I love their study guides. I think they help organize the material and teach a student to articulate his or her thoughts in writing. I love their lesson plans. I love how they are concise yet thorough. However, I love how Sonlight chooses great books and instills a love for reading. I love the idea of cuddling on the sofa with my son and discussing good books. ( However, I also have a 5 year old, 4 year old, and 8 month old; therefore, I don't know how much cuddling will be done in reality). My son loves to read, but does not like to write. I know that he would enjoy Sonlight much more. So, I had almost decided to go with Sonlight for either one or two years doing their American History cores D and E or D plus E condensed. However, I know that Memoria teaches many writing skills through their study guides. I began to fear that if my ds did the Sonlight program which I believe answers questions orally he may not be prepared to jump back into MP in the sixth grade. I know I could have him write out some of his answers for Sonlight, but there is so much reading, I did not know if there would be time for that. If any of you have used either of these programs and could give me some insight, I would greatly appreciate it! Also, a few specific questions: Do you feel the writing practice in Sonlight is good preparation for being able to articulate thoughts in writing in middle school? If you used MP, did your children enjoy the study guides or burn out from them? Have any of you started your Latin study in First Form Latin before any previous experience, and if so, how did that go? Thank you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Since you like MP and plan to go back to it I would stick to MP. Especially if your son is currently willing to do the writing portion. Even if he doesn't "like" it-- I think you are ahead. My ds hates to write and I struggle with him over it daily. If you are getting it done I would not stop. I also think it will make it easier to add the latin into your program because it is sort of expected. MP was no where near as developed when I started home ed. I love the look of the programs and suspect we would have loved the full programs. We have used the Christian Studies, Prima Latina and up, and First start French. Loved all of it. We have also done a bunch of SL because the books were the best I could find and the study guide kept me organized. Usually used Shurley for LA. I have not seen the new LA programs but I never used the old ones except to use an occasional essay idea. There is no reason you can't integrate some or all the SL books into your routine. I would try one and see how it goes. The reading lists are great. If you are reading along with your child you will come up with plenty to discuss. Google things like locations and customs as you go. You will be fine without the study guide if your purpose is more the curl up together and enjoy a good book. If you have been happy with the MP track I would stick with it especially since everyone is comfortable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clear Creek Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 I would appreciate any advice or insights any of you have about these two curriculums. I am considering which to use for an upcoming fourth grade son. I am drawn to Memoria Press. I like their philosophy of studying less material, but digging deeper. I eventually plan for us to study Latin (possibly have a Latin centered curriculum). I love their study guides. I think they help organize the material and teach a student to articulate his or her thoughts in writing. I love their lesson plans. I love how they are concise yet thorough. However, I love how Sonlight chooses great books and instills a love for reading. I love the idea of cuddling on the sofa with my son and discussing good books. ( However, I also have a 5 year old, 4 year old, and 8 month old; therefore, I don't know how much cuddling will be done in reality). My son loves to read, but does not like to write. I know that he would enjoy Sonlight much more. So, I had almost decided to go with Sonlight for either one or two years doing their American History cores D and E or D plus E condensed. However, I know that Memoria teaches many writing skills through their study guides. I began to fear that if my ds did the Sonlight program which I believe answers questions orally he may not be prepared to jump back into MP in the sixth grade. I know I could have him write out some of his answers for Sonlight, but there is so much reading, I did not know if there would be time for that. If any of you have used either of these programs and could give me some insight, I would greatly appreciate it! Also, a few specific questions: Do you feel the writing practice in Sonlight is good preparation for being able to articulate thoughts in writing in middle school? If you used MP, did your children enjoy the study guides or burn out from them? Have any of you started your Latin study in First Form Latin before any previous experience, and if so, how did that go? Thank you!! We are using MP this year for 3rd and 5th grades (you can see which parts in my siggy). The lit is approximately 3 chapters/week, so it is not a lot of reading. The other guides (history, Bible, geography, etc.) are only scheduled once per week, so my children are not getting burned out on them, and the reading most days only consists of their lit and one other subject (far less than what I have heard is involved with Sonlight). As far as the amount of writing, I do a lot more orally with my 3rd grader than my 5th grader; the directions for the guides say to practice forming complete sentences together for the answers and have the younger students copy the correct sentence down in their book, as the students get older they practice forming complete sentence answers more and more on their own. I would not let the oral discussion aspect of Sonlight deter you; the process of writing down answers in complete sentences is a skill that most 6th graders should pick up pretty easily. The only writing instruction in the MP guides is practice writing complete sentence answers, and some occasional copywork and dictation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 We're doing Sonlight Core D this year and will do E next year. We are LOVING it. The reading is not really that much. Each day, there is a reader for the child, a history book for patent to read, and a read-aloud for parent to read. It takes me maybe 30 minutes per day? My son is doing the advanced readers, and he usually has the book finished much quicker than the schedule. I don't use their LA, but when I looked at it last, it was going to be too much writing for my writing phobic 3rd grader. I use a separate writing program with him. Sometimes I'll have him draw a picture and write a narration about something he read. I did that this week with a Paul Revere book. I think he was supposed to spend a week on that book? He re-read it and notebooked about it in one sitting. It was one of those short Fritz books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama2two Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 I agree that if your long term plan is MP then I think you should do that. You can always use Sonlight as an additional reading list if you want. We are doing almost all of 3rd grade Mp and plan to do almost all of 4th grade. My son also does not like to write, but I think it is good it is pushing/challenging him. If it is a real struggle I also agree with above and maybe do some of it orally with a goal to gradually move to them doing all the writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Do you feel the writing practice in Sonlight is good preparation for being able to articulate thoughts in writing in middle school? If you used MP, did your children enjoy the study guides or burn out from them? Have any of you started your Latin study in First Form Latin before any previous experience, and if so, how did that go? Thank you!! SL and MP utilize 2 different pedagogies. SL is a lit approach to education. MP is a classical approach. Imho, the downfall of a lit approach is that is can so easily be an overview and that's it. We love and use the SL catalog as a reference. There is always room for more great books in life! I don't know what they are using for writing these days but easy grammar was a waste of time imho. MP's new Classical Composition offers many of the same features as IEW and WWS- structure and style, it is not visually overwhelming (which I think WWS is) and it is inexpensive. MP study guides include lots of memory work. Memory work can be short or long term. When someone has somehting memorized they know that they know it. To me, that is one of the true values of classical ed. We have used and enjoyed MP for years. My kids are not burned out on MP and are eager for history and Xian studies. I like how uniform the study guides are- you know what to expect- the kids know what to expect and it gets the job done. The maps are always a terrific bonsu and sorely missing from many curriculums. First Form is a terrific Latin. MP latin is a gentle intro and might give the student some feeling of success with vocab, simple conjugation/declining before they hit the more grammatical demands of FF- it really depends on the kid/parent ( I recommend the DVD's if you don't know Latin yourself ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessed mom Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 Thanks to everyone for your replies! I am still trying to decide. Is there anyone who has used both of these that can tell me if you were going to choose only one which one you would choose and why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChicoryChick Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 FTR I have used neither although I have looked at both. If I were in your shoes I would use MP as my main curricula and add in books from Sonlight for extra reading. I think it would be very easy to add it in. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 FTR I have used neither although I have looked at both. If I were in your shoes I would use MP as my main curricula and add in books from Sonlight for extra reading. I think it would be very easy to add it in. :) I've used both and I'd do the above. Actually, it's kind of what we ARE doing this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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