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Cottage press vs Memoria Press composition


countrymum
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I have a dd doing Memoria Press Fable and Rod and Staff grammar 4. It is a good combination for her, but would Cottage Press Fable and Song on up be more efficient and get to the same place?

Any reviews of either composition program? Does Cottage Press have *enough* grammar?

I would like her to do either Biblical Greek or add Spanish back in next year, but she does not really have time now...

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1 hour ago, countrymum said:

Your very welcome;) I don't think it's too new...at least I hope someone will chime in so I don't have to do all the thinking myself;) I like the looks of grammar and progymnista (this word is my nemesis) all in one:) 

Progymnasmata = Progym.

I love short hand.😁

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Cottage Press uses Harvey's Grammar in the upper levels, which is pretty rigorous from what I've read.

 

Edit - This is from the F&S Teacher Helps. Haven't actually used the program yet but plan to with my younger kids.

"Cottage Press makes use of literary selections to illustrate and practice grammar concepts. ... At least one new grammar concepts is taught in each fable lesson. ... Grammar concepts and definitionsshould be reviewed regularly." They cover the 8 parts of speech with flashcards that you can print from the website. "In addition to memorizing grammar terms and concepts, there are exercises for practicing, identifying, and analyzing grammatical construction of sentences. The most important analytical exercise is the sentence diagram."

Hope this helps! 🙂

Edited by wisdomandtreasures
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I just responded to you on MP's forum, lol.  I have looked at Cottage Press.  www.classicalwriting.com also includes grammar lessons in addition to the progymnasmata exercises.  We already have an ELA program I like, but I want to include progym exercises in it. My only concern is if it would be too much to use both, especially if the grammar part makes the writing curriculum that much better.  I'm looking away from MP because I am not happy with how they gave 8th graders a lesson titled "against abortionists" at the 8th grade composition level.  I also messaged a teacher at a classical school who has a progym outline on the Internet.  It's wonderful information; I am just not sure I have the confidence to design my own curriculum since I didn't learn to write this way.  I've used both MP and CAP's Fable.  I am sorry I do not have experience with these others.  Just wanted to chime in and let you know about another option. 

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No I don’t think it’s more efficient since you still need to do grammar… I personally like programs that keep LA separate.  They also include spelling.  The layout is overwhelming to me but I also have covid brain ATM.  All my kids do every exercise written and are super fast with it now.  Maybe she’s just not used to it.  

Edited by Lovinglife123
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I'm going to revive this a wee bit. Is there a reason why Cottage Press waits until high school to get beyond the narrative stage of the progym?  Is it a philosophical reason (best left for upper grades)?  I am considering just following an outline I received instead of a curriculum, but on the other hand, I am not sure I am ready to let go of the hand-holding, lol.

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Off the topic and maybe a little scattered:

Even Susan in WTM says the majority of the progym is best left until high school. I can't remember Susan's point to why. Maybe someone who has WTM 4th on hand can look it up and share. But I do agree with her.

The MP forum says somewhere that CC is more a thinking skills/development course than writing. I'm sticking with IEW for my olders after too mnay failures to name trying to get true progym to fly here. It boils down to what is your purpose and/or priority? I plan on MCT for Little Man so I am quite curious to see if his philosophy of writing development more closely follows my own or not. Otherwise, IEW it will be again or maybe at the same time!

Edited by Green Bean
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1 hour ago, Green Bean said:

Off the topic and maybe a little scattered:

Even Susan in WTM says the majority of the progym is best left until high school. I can't remember Susan's point to why. Maybe someone who has WTM 4th on hand can look it up and share. But I do agree with her.

The MP forum says somewhere that CC is more a thinking skills/development course than writing. I'm sticking with IEW for my olders after too mnay failures to name trying to get true progym to fly here. It boils down to what is your purpose and/or priority? I plan on MCT for Little Man so I am quite curious to see if his philosophy of writing development more closely follows my own or not. Otherwise, IEW it will be again or maybe at the same time!

That seems logical. It’s why I was concerned to see such deep subject matter in MP’s common topic, but also some deeper ideas at the lower CC levels.  I may very well just follow the outline I found. For my others, I’m considering the programs that wait until later on to introduce the exercises beyond narrations. But I do see value in MCT’s writing approach, so I do not want to fully abandon it. I haven’t used IEW. It looks decent to me. Back to MP, last year I think I was stuck on following every little step instead of looking it as a whole and its purpose. 

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My daughter is loving fable and will not complete it this year. I think we will stick with it at a perhaps slower pace as I add in other writing assignments. She likes Rod and staff as well and wrote a cute little poem for an assignment in that last week. ...She actually likes to write. He redone fable is pretty good too I think . ...I can see it as logic preparation. 

Incedentaly, I was talking about her spelling in another post. She really liked All about spelling when we did it earlier this year. Perhaps I'll go back to it. She would learn the rules and I think I could do it with her just 3x a week for 15 min. I think I could fit it in, and I already own it;)

How about this for LA for 4th and then 5th in fall.

AAS 2- whatever, MP Fable and perhaps begin narrative, Rod and Staff 4 then 5 next year, assigned lit books, 1 written narration for history each week, answering some science questions in her apologia notebook (incedentaly she likes this really well too).

 

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We are on our second year doing Memoria Press Classical Composition and R&S for grammar. I like the combination of the two. We are doing the writing lessons in R&S as they touch on very different skills. So far it has been a great combination. But we plan to take CC slowly as it ramps up. 

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