Kicking Story Time Up a Notch: A StoryTime Treasures Review

My house is most certainly a reading house.  On a typical morning the kids will drink their smoothies while perusing the closest book pile and my husband is always reading something new.  Since the first of the year he's made it through Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre and currently working on The Count of Monte Cristo (and yes I do realize he's one of a kind!).  We like our books so getting a chance to use and review StoryTime Treasures from Memoria Press was a promising opportunity for us.   Memoria Press is a family-run publishing company that produces educational materials that align with a classical education, which emphasizes language, mathematics and the cultural Christian West through works of history and literature.  For this review, we received the StoryTime Treasures Student Study Guide and StoryTime & More StoryTime Treasures Answer Key (one answer key for both collections), which is considered to be 1st grade curriculum.  It was very generous of Memoria to include the Study Guide for 5 stories when we might only have time to look at 2, if that. The activities in this study guide use real books (as opposed to books created for reading instruction) to teach and reinforce all kinds of language skills like vocabulary, punctuation, comprehension, and composition.  In college, I ended up studying the beginning of the 20th century in 3 different classes all in one semester.  From then on I have LOVED learning concepts from in the midst of real and varied venues.  This study guide pulls from each story important learning concepts on top of highlighting really great children's literature.  It's a rich combo!

During our review time, we were able to look at 2 stories out of the 5 available, Little Bear's Visit and Caps For Sale, and their corresponding activities.   Each book's activities were divided up into lessons that provided plenty of work for my young first grader.  In these two units of lessons alone, we were introduced to verbs, characters, setting, and verb tense as well as vocabulary, reading comprehension and even some math in Caps for Sale! While there is valuable content surrounding each book, in this collection there is no required order so jumping around - at least in this set - would not hurt one bit. 

We started with Little Bear's Visit and tried to work on a half a lesson to a whole lesson per day a few times a week.  There is quite a bit of writing involved and my son did tire of that pretty quickly (though he is young and activity driven so it wasn't surprising).  If we didn't get to everything some days we would finish it up during our nap or nighttime story time.  Toward the end sometimes I would skip the actual writing of the answers (because it took the longest and resisted the most by my son) and work on the understanding of things orally.  Cutting down or eliminating the handwriting portion would definitely make this collection suitable for engaged kindergarten level students. 

For each book, which included 3 or 4 lessons in the Study Guide, there was Comprehension Questions, Fill-in-the-blanks, Language Lessons (introduction to grammar terms), and Just for Fun sections that involved things like drawing or simple math.  The Answer Key includes a half page on each lesson of all 12 stories in StoryTime Treasures and More StoryTime treasures with corresponding answers for every question or activity. I didn't use the Answer Key very much because of my familiarity with language concepts, but it helped to make sure we weren't missing something intended.  

 When ordering this curriculum you are given the option to buy the literature along with the Study Guide.  They are great books to have in your own library, but it isn't required to purchase them, which is nice because all of them are available at our local library.  On most pages there is a downloadable sample page to view a portion of the actual text before committing to a purchase.

As a literature lover in college, this curriculum reminded me of all the classes in college where we discussed books continually! It provides so many opportunities to discuss matters beyond just an answer on the page. I loved it!  If your student(s) are older, Memoria has a great assortment of curriculum for every grade level that continues and enhances this dynamic with all kinds of literature.

As teachers and learners, we are all in need of differing things so in the younger grade levels if you are looking for work that is predominantly independent, this might not be what you are looking for.  We're still trying to reach reading fluency with my son so this really did take our story time to a new level!  Thankfully, our reading house didn't mind one bit!

New American Cursive 2: A Memoria Press Handwriting Review

Memoria Press is beginning to be a household name around here.  We have gotten the chance to review for them a couple of times before and this time we are trying out one of their cursive handwriting books, New American Cursive 2 (Scripture).   Most people have a love or hate type of a relationship when it comes to cursive handwriting, but we have really embraced it.  Even though J gets tires of it easily (he struggles with tensing up when he tries really hard), he is terribly proud of himself when he writes in cursive.  Either way, it is nice to find high quality curriculum to rely on if/when your students pursue it.

Memoria offers a complete New American Cursive penmanship program for Grade Levels 1-4 and we were given Workbook 2 with Famous Quotations and Scripture.  The book itself is spiral bound at the top so that left or right-handed students can successfully utilize it equally.  Workbook 2 begins with a 7 paged Teaching Guide that covers everything surrounding learning to write in cursive.  They discuss the value of learning cursive, posture and pencil position, testing, how to use the workbook, complementary exercises, and even the best type of music for handwriting practice!  If you don't have a clue about penmanship or teaching it, this teaching guide gives you more than enough to equip you. 



Since this is Workbook 2 in a series, it begins with a review of the entire alphabet in cursive, pencil grip, posture and correct paper placement.  The next section highlights the individual letters, two to a page, along with practice words to trace and copy.  Every few pages there is a fun or open-ended page perhaps with a writing prompt and encouraging the student to illustrate their response.  The next section focuses on the size of their writing, encouraging the correct placement of letters on baseline.  Here several creative writing, scripture and quotations exercises are introduced.  Near the end of the book there is a Handwriting Evaluation Checklist that helps you determine what your student needs to work on.  It would be a handy page to reproduce whenever you need to check on their progress.

What We Thought:
Since J is not brand new to cursive, this level was great for him.  The review reminded him of what was expected out of his handwriting and inched him a little further in refining some of his letters.  The variety of exercises was perfect!  From days of the week, relevant scriptures like obeying your parents and being kind, to the incorporation of journal writing and drawing, there was always something new to distract from the usual weariness of handwriting.  This is a great resource for strengthening  handwriting skills that have already begun, but it is even more useful for building that bond of pencil and paper with journaling, something I strongly believe in.  This program shows a lot of wisdom and forethought for various learning styles as well.

We highly recommend Memoria Press and Workbook 2 with Famous Quotations and Scripture. is worked very well for our needs.  The Crew reviewed other books in the penmanship series as well as Traditional Logic and Classical Composition.  Don't forget to check out what they thought about the rest of the products.

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Traditional Spelling II: A Memoria Press Review

Like most things in my life, the needs and interests of homeschooling ebb and flow.  There are periods of freedom and then some of serious structure.  When I was pregnant with the race car and very sick, school looked different for a while.  J and miss Z thrived just the same, but there was more real world education some days.  Now that the race car is 1, life has slowed and gaps have shown themselves.  Since J loves reading and has always done well in that area, we definitely went light on language arts outside of reading.  When this review of Memoria Press came along, I knew I wanted to try their new spelling series!  

Memoria Press is a regular standard in the curriculum world for Classical Christian Education materials and in my experience all of their resources are very thorough and equipped to get the job done! Their spelling series continues in that reputation and we are enjoying Traditional Spelling II.  Traditional Spelling I is intended for grade level first graders coming directly out of Kindergarten.  Traditional Spelling II is geared for 2nd and 3rd graders already on the road to mastering phonetic skills.  We went with Traditional Spelling II since my son reads so heavily and does fairly well in spelling already. 

What We Received:

The set we received included a teacher's manual, a student book, practice sheets, Phonics Flashcards and Classical Phonics, a book of phonetically arranged word lists.

How We Used It:  We started at the beginning with Lesson 1 where he is introduced to a list of words by categorizing them by a particular phonetic component, such as words that end in -ly or begins with a consonant blend. The next section requires the student to color code each part of the words to reinforce the phonetic components. Each lesson continues in the same way, with the following page being some kind of at-level reading that includes several of the lesson's words in it.  These readings include all kinds of topics from recipes and how to make butter to famous people of history.  Following that is a section of fill in the blank using list words.  The final activity is dictation that includes all words and a final sentence.  We followed this pattern and generally kept to one lesson a week.  The flash cards and the Classical Phonics book were mainly used in reference, especially when labeling or explaining new components like a consonant team, something we had never talked about like that before.  The dictation section often served as the spelling test when he would get all of the words right.

What We Liked About It: When completing all the activities, it is difficult for the student to just race through it, which is what my son would rather do.  He is very smart, but would either rather conquer it or simply move on to something else.  Even though he didn't always enjoy slowing down to complete all the sections over the same set of words, it required him to really let the details soak in, which has really payed off in other areas of school.  I also appreciated the reading section and fill in the blank section that truly gave the words a context, something that is easily left out in spelling.

What Didn't Work For Us: The flash cards and Classical Phonics book were only mildly useful so far, but that may be because of the level my son is at.  If he were younger and/or struggling more, I could see them being very useful.

The Homeschool Review Crew reviewed several other products from Memoria Press and one of the subjects they are known for is their Latin programs.  Until this review, I had never really considered using a Latin program in my children's curriculum, but I've been sold on at least trying their introductory program, Prima Latina, that teaches English grammar along side Latin.  I'll have to let you know how it goes, but be sure and read the rest of the Crew's reviews over their entire Latin program, Traditional Spelling I and Music Appreciation I.  Talk about a lot of interesting options!

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Simply Classical Writing - Step-by-Step Sentences: A Memoria Press Review

Our educational system is very compartmentalized simply because it is easier to evaluate that way.  Students are divided into grades and sorted by scores.  The reality of learning and development is that two people will never grow at the exact same rate in the same way.  We as parents get caught into the milestone game from day one where delay is bad word and a different approach is automatically called therapy.  We let other people's labels and schedules push us into corners that usually don't help and borderline hurt students.  This may seem like an odd introduction to a couple of writing books, but Memoria Press's books: Simply Classical Writing Book One: Step-by-Step Sentences (Bible Story Edition) and Simply Classical Writing Book Two: Step-by-Step Sentences (Bible Story Edition) with Teacher Key, taught me a very important lesson about the skewed perspective we are so often taught.  

When these books first arrived in the mail, I noticed Memoria Press Special-Needs at the top and immediately started worrying there had been a mistake.  My kids are not classified as special needs so I was afraid that I had misread something and committed to this review as if they were.  Turns out, Memoria Press offers books like this that simply go at a slower pace and break down the subject into smaller chunks than traditional methods might.  This approach seems very appropriate for those with learning difficulties, but what surprised me was how spot on this approach was for my son whose only learning disability is his gender! Ha!  My son loves to read and is great at the things he loves, like the piano and baseball and soccer and cooking.  Do you see a pattern? He loves things that comes naturally to him and he can accomplish them without hesitation!  Things like long division or writing more than a sentence or two are hard because they take time.  

So, while he is not behind or having a difficult time with his grade level work, he does drag his feet a lot in certain areas, sentence writing being one of them.  As it turns out, this gradual " Step-by-Step" process is exactly what a boy full of boundless energy can get behind!

What We Received:

We received 3 books in all: 

Simply Classical Writing Book One: Step-by-Step Sentences (Bible Story Edition) 

Simply Classical Writing Book Two: Step-by-Step Sentences (Bible Story Edition) 

A Teacher Key corresponding to the above Book Two

How They Work:

Each lesson has a theme taken from a passage of scripture where various skills are then practiced using words and phrases from that story.  Both books work towards improving students writing skills through combining copywork, grammar, composition, and artistic expression.  There is a large focus on rules about sentences in the beginning of the books that gets reinforced throughout the lessons. The Teacher Key provides all answers and  some nice resources in the Appendix like a template for extra practice, a theme outline of the entire scripture scope of the book and a certificate of merit.

How We Used It:

The intended grade level of this set is 1st-3rd grade, which happens to be where my kids are at so I was able to begin using both books.  My daughter (almost 6) has started first grade work so Book One was right on target for level.  My son (8 1/2) is about halfway through 3rd grade, but often loathes sentence writing perked right up and never complained when we started him in Book Two.  In the Teacher Notes it has a variety of teaching schedules, but we chose the One-Day Schedule where you cover the entire lesson in one day.  The reason for this was simply because they kids wanted to continue working in the books because they enjoyed it. Made my decision easy with that kind of attitude!

Since our society categorizes children so automatically, it becomes a negative thing to consider them to be in a transitional place academically.  The truth is, though, they are always in some kind of transition.  Just because we say 2nd grade ends on May 31st and 3rd grade begins on August 15th does not mean their education is somehow still.  Learning is always transitional and finding resources that honor that reality is a huge blessing! 

 

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Memoria Press contributes significantly to the homeschool curriculum community and the crew reviewed several of their products including Spelling and History.  Click on the link below to find out what the other texts are like and how families used them!

StoryTime Treasures and More: A Memoria Press Review

It's nothing new around here how important reading a great book is and our latest review is a wonderful tool to utilize great books to your students' learning even more!  Since both of my big kids have taken off in the reading department, it is so easy to just give them books to read and leave it at that.  While independent reading is very important, not following up with questions or activities can cut the learning a little short.  For today's review we are looking at one of our favorite vendors again, Memoria Press!   Miss Z and I explored some great books with the help of  StoryTime Treasures Student Guide and Answer Key and More StoryTime Treasures Student Guide and Answer Key

What We Received:

We received StoryTime Treasures Student Study Guide with its Teacher Guide and More StoryTime Student Study Guide with its Teacher Guide totaling 4 books in all.  The target grade level for these books is 1st grade.

A few years ago, we reviewed part of this product with my oldest son and this time we're getting a chance to use the entire set with my daughter! Since that time they have release a 2nd edition of the set which includes a few changes to the book selections, converted to spiral-bound student books and separated the Teacher's Guides into two separate books rather than one combined.

How It Works:

Both StoryTime and More StoryTime are layed out the same way with a series of lessons that correspond with the reading selections.  The teacher and child are to read through selections together, allowing for the student to have ample time reading aloud. Each lesson highlights different types of language elements like vocabulary, capitalization, parts of speech, comprehension and includes different activities such as word scrambles, drawing/coloring, fill in the blank, and even some math equations!  Both Teacher Guides provide answers to questions and activities, but also a layout of procedures or activities that go along with that day and/or section of the book. The Teacher Guides recommend a possible 5 day schedule, but ultimately recommends the teacher/parent to use their best judgement for each circumstance.

How We Used It:

While it makes sense to work through the pieces of literature in the order they appear in the workbook, the Teacher's Guide never explicitly says that you must and little, if any, of the information taught really builds on the previous stories' activities.  Since we didn't have access to all of the books in order right away, we decided to skip around with what we had.  Miss Z is quite the reader and loves all things school so she had no problem jumping from Little Bear to Caps For Sale and then to Billy and Blaze. In all cases she had already read the book before we sat down to work through the Student Guide so our initial reading was always her secondary at least.  Caps for Sale is a book we have owned since she was a baby so in some of it she could even quote it.  Still, breaking down vocabulary words and testing for comprehension was useful and important in sharpening her skills. Not to mention it highlighted how much we need to work on her handwriting! ;)

What We Thought:

As to be expected, miss Z and I enjoyed our enhanced Story Time and it was perfectly suited for her grade level.  She didn't need a ton of help, but when she did we had really good conversations about aspects of the story or definitions of words. While a teacher could get by without the Teacher Guide because the Student Guide's directions are self-explanatory, the Teacher Guide really allows you to get the most out of the activities and maximize your student's learning. That is especially true if you are working with a struggling or new reader.  The focus on their phonics skills is extremely beneficial in the reading process.  If you have an early reader that you are wanting to begin literature activities with, I would even recommend getting this and stretching out stories and activities further to slowly but surely build momentum in the area.

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Memoria offers so much and the Review Crew got to review a variety of their Literature  Guides.  If you have different grade level needs, click the link below to read other product reviews from Memoria!

Latina Christiana: A Memoria Press Review

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review.  I was  not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

Did you know that Latin is really easy to incorporate into a homeschool education?  So many English words have Latin origins and I'll bet you could guess the meaning for a lot of them.  Giving students a solid layer of understanding to build on as they get older is a wonderful blessing! Today we are talking about one of our favorite companies, Memoria Press.  Last year we reviewed Prima Latina, their beginning Latin program ideal for early elementary grades and this year we are reviewing Latina Christiana Complete Set that is suited for 3rd - 5th grades.

My 9 year old tried out Prima Latina last year while his younger sister observed.  This time around I decided to let her (6 years old) start Prima Latina while her brother started Latina Christiana.  The ages were appropriate and it gave me a chance to sufficiently compare the two.  

What We Received:

We received a Latina Christiana Teacher's Manual, Student Workbook, Instructional DVDs, Introduction to First Form Latin audio CD, and a set of Flashcards.

How It Works:

Whether you have an ounce of experience with Latin or not, everything you need to teach your children is provided for you in these materials.  The Teacher's Manual begins with a Grammar Overview that includes Cases of Nouns, Declensions, Latin Word Order, and Conjugations to give a teacher new to Latin an overview of what all will be included.  The Manual also gives student goals for the first year Latin and General Teaching Guidelines.  This gives an overview of possible schedules, and a summary of each element covered in individual lessons.  The program is designed to cover one lesson per week.

Instructions for each lesson are presented on the Instructional DVDs as well as written in the Teacher's Manual.  This allows for parent understanding to support students OR for a parent to do the teaching. Each student workbook has exercises for the student to complete during or after the lesson presentation, but there are also printable vocabulary and grammar drill worksheets in the the Teacher's Manual to be used throughout the week.  The flashcards and audio CD serve for practice and further engagement opportunities.

How Does Christiana Compare to Latina?

Latina and Christiana are very similar in procedure.  There are videos that introduce information, workbook, audio CDs and flashcards in both programs.  The biggest difference is found in the content.  While Prima Latina introduces students to grammar, Christiana builds on a basic understanding of Grammar.  Prima ends the program with an introduction to conjugating Latin verbs and Christiana begins  with conjugating.  The Prima DVDs walk to the student through the exercises pretty plainly, while the Christiana requires a bit more comprehension on their part.  This requires a little bit more parental oversight just to make sure there aren't any gaps, but I feel it is age appropriate. If you are trying to decide which program to use for your elementary student, the deciding question should be how much grammar knowledge your student has.  If they have had no grammar, start with Prima.  If they have a good understanding of basic (noun, verb, etc.) grammar, Christiana is a good fit!

What We Thought:

My kids really enjoy learning Latin and are starting to retain a surprising number of words.  I get asked "Is this like the Latin word ____ ?" a lot, which leads to interesting and educational discussions!  Since the procedure is very similar between the two programs, my son didn't have any trouble moving into Christiana from Prima.  The flashcards for Prima and Christiana are the same set so both kids were able to quiz each other, which is a great asset to both of them.  With both of them having their own program (even though they are so similar), they seemed to really appreciate their own work even though they would eavesdrop on each others just the same!

If you are interested in an elementary Latin program, this is an excellent one that solidifies grammar understanding along side Latin! 

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Did you know that Memoria Press makes several levels of Latin for Middle School and High School?  Check out the rest of the Crew reviews to see what other levels are like.