Memoria Press 2nd Form Latin Unboxing

Super excited to get this package in my mailbox today and wanted to share it with everyone.    So welcome to what is my first ever unboxing video.   If you like it and would like for me to do more of these in the future, let me know :)

Today I am unboxing the 2nd Form Latin Complete Set from Memoria Press. We will show what's included and give a sneak peak of each component for this Latin Curriculum for Grade 6+. Be sure to visit the blog on May 20th when we will give a full review of the 2nd Form Latin curriculum.

Fifth Grade Literature Set (A Homeschool Crew Review)

Some time back, I had the opportunity to review one of the literature sets from  Memoria Press. However, at that time, the format of the curriculum did not fit well with my children.  That was roughly three years ago and through those years, the kids have changed.  When we were given the opportunity this time around to once again review a literature set,  I was curious to see how Ashleigh would now do with the classical style literature curriculum. 

For this review we were given our choice of a full grade literature set (minus the books).  After much debate, I opted for the Fifth Grade Literature Guide Set  because I felt that Ashleigh would really enjoy the book selection for this set.


About Memoria Press

Memoria Press is a well know provider of classical education curriculum.  A family ran company founding in 1994 by Cheryl Lowe, Memoria Press has developed K-12 classical curriculum at Highlands Latin School in Louisville, Kentucky.   Our family uses Memoria Press curriculum for Ashleigh's Latin studies and we recently purchased the Greek Elementary curriculum for Garrett to begin this fall.

About the Fifth Grade Literature Guide Set

For this review, we received a 6 book set of literature study guides for three books on the 5th grade reading level: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Heidi and Lassie Come Home.  The set includes one student guide and one teachers guide to be used while reading the corresponding novels (Memoria Press offers a set that includes the three required novels if necessary).

Each book set includes a student guide as well as a teachers guide.  The Student Study Guides each follow the same format, starting with reading notes that help to introduce readers to words they might not have been familiar with in the reading, followed by vocabulary exercises, comprehension questions, quotations, discussion questions and enrichment exercises.

The Teacher's Guide has all the questions that the student guide contains, only with the answers provided.

This guide also contains appendices which contains map activities, biographical sketches, and/or other activities that offer enrichment for the book, as well as answers for the discussion questions and printable quizzes and tests as well as the answer key for those.

The quizzes, which cover a few chapters each, build upon the vocabulary and comprehension activities provided in the student guide.  A comprehensive final exam that covers the entirety of the book as well as the exercises in the student guide.  The quizzes are two pages each while the comprehensive final exam is four pages in length and are made up of matching, multiple choice and short answer questions.

Each of the books has saddle stitch binding with wire staples.

How We Used It

For this review period, we began with the guide for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.  This was a book that I knew that both my kids would enjoy and I could ease Ashleigh into the writing work involved in these studies.

 These studies are designed to take the student on a deep journey through the story, delving into the characters and their decisions and really end up with an understanding of what the author wanted to convey in their writing.  Because of this, for grades 2nd - 12th Grade, each literature study should take roughly 6-7 weeks.  For our purposes, Ashleigh and I have been working with the literature study three days a week.

Following each chapter in the novel, there are two corresponding pages in the Student Guide.  Each page offers a vocabulary exercise where Ashleigh must look up words in her dictionary and write the definition out and then there are several comprehension questions about what was read in the chapter.

Comprehension Quesetions following a biography about C.S. Lewis

In addition to the written work, we also have included the enrichment activities in our lessons.  In one lesson, we given instructions as to how to make Turkish Delights, a confectionery treat mentioned in the book that is flavored with rose water. 

This was a fun activity and gave Ashleigh something else to do besides just write out answers.  However, our household was not a big fan of Turkish Delights - they were way too sweet for our taste.  

Overall, our reintroduction to the literature study set by Memoria Press has been a positive one and I'm looking forward to completing the study we are currently working on and using the remaining studies through the year. 

For more information about the literature studies for various grades offered by Memoria Press,  please visit their website.  You can also find Memoria Press on the following social media platforms:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/memoriapress/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MemoriaPress

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/memoriapress/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/memoriapress

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/memoriapress/

Memoria Press was very generous by giving members of the Crew their choice of Literature studies to share with their students.  Be sure to click the banner below to read their reviews and see which ones would be right for your school today.  

Memoria Press (A Homeschool Crew Review)

Recently, members of the crew were offered their choice of four curriculum available from Memoria Press ranging in subject and grade level. 

For this review, I selected the Simply Classical Spelling program.  This included two books - Simply Classical Spelling Book One: Step-by-Step Words and Simply Classical Spelling Book Two: Step-by-Step Words.  This spelling program is for grade levels 1st-3rd as well as struggling writers.   I selected this selection because while my son excels in many different aspects of his homeschool education, language arts has always been a huge struggle with him. 

Written by Cheryl Swope, Simply Classical Spelling approaches word/sound recognition using a multi-sensory approach.  Students work thru necessary skills such as concentration, memory work, and phonological processing to help students to master spelling.   This program uses a phonics based oral spelling method . 

We were given both Book One and Book Two of the Simply Classical Spelling program.  These are consumable workbooks that the student completes their work in. No other materials are needed to teach this spelling curriculum. 

  

Book One works to introduce beginning sight words as well as consonant/vowel/consonant words, silent e words, plurals, consonant blends, consonant digraphs and possessives.  Book one includes 34 weeks of lessons with 30 different spelling lists.  It is a softcover book printed in black ink on white paper and is 76 pages in length. 

Book Two continues with more advanced combinations of phonograms, multi-syllabic words and includes more challenging words each week.  After studying words each week, students then can be tested to identify specific sounds, write the words that are comprised by those sounds, and then write full sentences using those words.   Book Two also includes 34 weeks of lessons. This softcover book is 154 pages in length and is also printed in black ink on white paper.  The last 20 pages of this book include an index that include weekly dictations,  weekly assessments (spelling tests), a scope and sequence for the course, and a "Certificate of Merit" at the end that is presented to the child after completion of the book. 

How We Used It

While Garrett is above the target age/grade for this program, I really thought he could benefit from it.  Garrett has really struggled with reading and spelling.  Being a special needs student, Garrett has a hard time making connections between letters in order to create sounds.  For example, Garrett recognizes the word "car" and will pronounce it properly most of the time.  However, the word "care" will more times than not trip him up and he will want to pronounce it much the same as "car". If I remind him "What does the E make the A do?" he will instantly make the connection and then pronounce the word properly and proceeds until he comes across the word again and the cycle continues. 

For our review period, we initially began working with Book One. However, after two weeks, we switched to Book Two simply because I thought he could benefit more from the format as well as the more advanced words included in those lessons.  

Because Simply Classical Spelling takes a multi-sensory approach, it seems to read Garrett on a different level then simply repetition does.  

This was the Week 1 work from Book 1.   These lessons consisted of two pages per week with activities using these words spread out over the course of the week.    The spelling list consisted of 5 spelling words along with two to three "Words to Know".

For Monday, Garrett would have to read the word aloud, spell each word out aloud, and also read the words in context section.  Tuesday, he was asked to again read and spell the words aloud and he would identify the patterns he found find in each word (CVC words, short e words, ect).   Wednesdays again he would read and spell the words aloud from the book and then we would have him close his book while I asked him to spell the word for memory.   Thursday we would do a spelling test  where he would write the word dictated to him.  Depending on how he performed on this test, he would spend Friday working on the words he misspelled until he could recite it correctly.

After two weeks of using Book One, I made the decision to instead switch him to Book 2.  Our use of this book following much of the same format as the weekly schedule for Book One, however, the weekly lessons in Book 2 are much more time consuming.

Book 2's spelling list consists of 8 words (although a few lessons have 9 words) as their Key Words as well as five "Words to Know".   Each week, the Key Words follow a specific spelling rule, such as Short A words, Double Consonant words,  CK words, ect. Each lesson consists of 4 pages in total to be works over the course of the week.

Using Book 2 was much similar to using Book 1.  Day 1 was spent introducing the key words and the words to know.  Garrett would read the words aloud and spell them and well as reading the sentences provided in the "Words in Context" section.  He would also take the time to write the word one time on the provided blanks.  On Tuesday, he would again read and spell each word, and read the sentences.  Day Three he would again recite the words and on this day he would write each of the words a second time on the blanks provided.

Thursday he would again have a quiz where he would  have a quiz.  This quiz would simply be my reading each of the spelling words aloud and Garrett would have to write them properly from memory. Any words incorrect he would then have to go back and correct and write three times in order to help him remember next time.

The final part of the program is the Friday Dictation.  I would simply use the list provided for each week in the appendix in the back of the book.   These dictation quizzes included him having to identify the sound I dictated, write the words dictated, and write the sentences that I dictated to him. 

While we are only a few weeks into Book 2, I am finding that it has been helping Garrett develop some confidence in actually writing in another curriculum that we are using.  While he's not composing large paragraphs, he is writing more than he has in the past without complaints, using many of the words he has studied so far with this program.   I highly recommend Simply Classical Spelling for any family who has a very reluctant writer/speller, especially special needs students,  as it's approach really seems to work well for these types of students.

For more information about Simply Classical Spelling or any of the other offerings from Memoria Press, be sure to visit their website.  You can also find them on the following social media platforms:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/memoriapress/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MemoriaPress

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/memoriapress/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/memoriapress

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/memoriapress/

Members of the Crew were offered their choice of four products for different age/grades from Memoria Press.  Be sure to click the banner below to read their reviews. 

Latina Christiana (A Homeschool Crew Review)

Ashleigh loves Latin.  After trying our hand with Chinese, Spanish and French, we struck gold when two years ago we were given the opportunity to review Prima Latina from Memoria Press.  Ashleigh absolutely loved it and her choice in foreign language was cemented for her.  This time around, we are reviewing Latina Christiana which is the next level Latin curriculum also from Memoria Press.


About Latina Christiana

Latina Christiana is considered an Introduction to First Form Latin, written by Cheryl Lowe.  As like most of Memoria Press's Latin courses written by Ms Lowe, it follows a Trivium learning path - grammar, logic and rhetoric learning.  In the first stage of learning (Prima Latina thru Fourth Form Latin),  students memorize Latin grammar and vocabulary words to create the foundation needed to progress to the Logic and Rhetoric stages of learning.   The Logic stage brings mastery of syntax and translation skills and the final stage, rhetoric has students reading Latin literature such as Ovid, Caesar, and Vergil.

Designed for grades third and fourth, the course is designed so that younger students will be prepared to move on to First Form Latin with success. Lessons are structured in such a way that even a parent who has had no previous education with teaching Latin can easily pick up the teachers guide and successfully teach the material. 

Latina Christiana picks up where Prima Latina leaves off.  The course is taught by Jessica Watson, Latina Christiana goes beyond simply memorizing vocabulary words and begins to introduce conjugations and declensions.  Designed to be taught as a beginning Latin course for students, the course is broken down into 25 weekly lessons.

For this course, students learn two of the five declensions and three of the six conjugations found in Latin.   By the end of the course, the student should be able to:

• pronounce, spell, and translate approximately 200 Latin words, 25 Latin sayings, 2 prayers and 3 songs
• understand concepts of tense, number, gender, and 1st, 2nd, 3rd person
• conjugate first and second conjugation verbs in the present, imperfect, and future tenses
• decline first and second declension nouns and adjectives
• give the singular and plural forms of first and second declension nouns

What We Received

For this review, we were given the following items:

• 3 disc DVD Set:  Contains all video lessons for the curriculum.  Roughly 5.5 hours of lessons taught by Jessica Watson. 

Screen Capture from DVD of Ms Watson

• Pronunciation CD: Audio CD containing complete pronunciation for each lesson as well as prayers and songs covered in the lessons. 
• Student Book (Fourth Edition):  105 page softcover book that serves as both the student text as well as workbook.  Contains 25 weekly lessons as well as 5 review lessons. Exercises reinforce memory work and teach grammar in incremental steps through simple translation. Grammar coverage includes 1st-2nd declension nouns, 1st-2nd conjugation verbs, 1st-2nd declension adjectives, the irregular verb to be, and 1st-2nd person pronouns.
• Teacher Manual (Fourth Edition): 187 page, soft cover, spiral bound teacher's guide that is designed for teachers who have no prior background in Latin.  Contains the complete copy of the student book with overlaid answers, comprehensive teaching instructions, grammar overview, as well as tests and quizzes. 

• Latina Christiana Flashcards:  pre-cut 3.5 x 2.5 inch heavy cardstock cards that contain all vocabulary, Latin sayings, and grammar forms taught in each lesson.  Latin is printed on one side while the English translation is printed on the opposite side.  Cards are numbered in the top corner to indicate what lesson the material was presented.

Flashcards for practice

How We Used It

Memoria Press uses a Classical Education approach to their learning materials, something my kids do not typically do well with, especially with their literature studies.  However, their approach to Latin education has always been well received in our home - Ashleigh does VERY well with their format.  Unfortunately, we hit a stand still last year when we tried to skip right to First Form Latin, which she wasn't ready for so we took a bit of a break.  I was pretty happy to be offered the opportunity to review Latina Christiana, the step below First Form, to allow Ashleigh to jump back into her Latin lessons without being overwhelmed.

Latina Christiana has been perfect for her needs.  While it wasn't part of the review items, we did purchase the lesson plans for the program from Memoria Press, which helped to break down what we should work on each day.  From there, it was really easy to add Latin back into our homeschool routine and only add roughly 20 minutes extra to our day.

Optional Lesson Plans for Latina Christiana

Our schedule worked as followed :

On Monday, Ashleigh watched the video lesson located on the DVDs.  These lessons are roughly 15 minutes in length and we found Ms Watson to be very easy to understand, although there were times we had to pause the video to allow Ashleigh to complete tasks in her book.   Each weekly video does a great job of breaking down the lesson so that Ashleigh can understand it.  Graphic slides, when presented,  are clear and easy for Ashleigh to read and follow along with in her book.

Capture from Latina Christiana Lesson 

After watching the lesson, Ash would work on her vocabulary drill sheet, simply writing each of her ten vocabulary words both in Latin and English as well as the weeks Latin saying.   Monday is also the day we would add her flash cards to her growing pile to work on all vocabulary during the week.

Ashleigh working on her Day 1 Vocabulary Drills

Tuesdays we listen to the included audio cd which helps to solidify proper pronunciation of her vocabulary words.  This audio lesson is also taught by Ms Watson and is perfect for uploading onto her tablet.  We also converted the CD to MP3 and put it on a thumb drive so that we can listen to the lessons when riding in the car.  After listening to the audio cd,  Ashleigh then works through the exercises located in her student workbook.  We also drill through her flash cards at least once and then she works on filling out another copy of her vocabulary drill sheet.  Tuesdays also have her working on her Grammar drill sheets where she can work through the conjugations and declensions of her words.

Day 2 Bookwork

Wednesdays and Thursdays are review days.  We spend a good bit of time working though flashcards, listening to the audio CD, and working on our vocabulary and grammar drills.  Ashleigh's goal over the course of these two days is to be able to write her Latin vocabulary words properly from memory to prepare for her weekly quiz. To help accomplish this, I will dictate the word to her and she fills out her grammar sheet, writing first the word followed by the English translation.

Finally, on Friday, Ashleigh has a quiz.  These quizzes are located in the back of the Teacher's Manual and can be printed out for the student to use.  These tests are pretty short and to the point - simply translating the English translations into her Latin vocabulary words as well as to show knowledge of her grammar portion of the weekly lesson.

One of Ashleigh's end of the week quizzes

Final Thoughts

Latina Chrstiana has been the perfect bridge between Prima Latina and First Form Latin and I really wish we had not tried to skip this step previously.  Ashleigh was completely over her head with trying to figure out the declension of nouns and the conjugations of verbs that it really shook her confidence in learning Latin.  Latina Christiana eases the student into this material, allowing them to get comfortable with it slowly so that they fully understand the process.    This has been a game changer for Ashleigh and I have no doubt that once she finishes this particular curriculum, she will be more than ready to move on to First Form Latin - the next step offered by Memoria Press in their Latin language curriculum.

For more information about the many different products Memoria Press offers, including their huge selection of Latin curriculum, be sure to visit their website.  You can also find them on the following social media platforms:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/memoriapress/ 

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/MemoriaPress    Tag: @MemoriaPress     

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/memoriapress/         

Instagram:   https://www.instagram.com/memoriapress/    Tag: @memoriapress     

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/memoriapress/ 

In addition to Latina Christiana, members of the Crew were offered the opportunity to review curriculum for Phonics, Latin, and also Prose and Poetry.  Be sure to click the banner below to read their reviews today. 

Roman Roads Media ( A Homeschool Crew Review)

 Over the last few weeks, Ashleigh has been supplimenting her Latin lessons and improving her Latin Vocabulary using Picta Dicta Vocabulary Builder from Roman Roads Media.

About Picta Dicta Vocabulary Builder

Picta Dicta Vocabulary Builder is designed for junior high, high school and college students and uses pictures, auditory cues and text to teach and reinforce the learning of Latin vocabulary.  The program uses 31 lessons, plus Review exercises to teach vocabulary words based on different subjects, such as items on a map, weather, time, geography, anatomy and more.  By the end of the program, students will have learned over 1,000 Latin verbs, adjectives, prepositions and nouns.

Upon enrolling your student, you will need to select either the Easy or Normal version of the program.  The first three portions of these two versions are exactly the same, with the addition of two additional exercises in the Normal version.

Each lesson consists of different exercises that use repetition of both audio and visual cues to help students learn and retain the information.  The first exercise is the LEARN exercise and introduces the students to roughly 25-30 vocabulary words at a pace of 5 words at a time.  Each word is presented, with the pronounciation, along with a picture and the definition of the vocabulary word.

After the student has been introduced to five words, the student is then given a review of those words.  The word is given and the student must then select the word from a list of pictures, matching the picture with the word.  If the student gets it correct, the word is marked correct and they continue with the other words.  If the student gets the word incorrect, the program will show them the correct picture, along with repeating the word and it will be recycled and presented to the student again later in the exercise.

The second exercise, the CHOOSE exercise, is an expanded version of the review included in the first exercise. The word is given and students must select the proper picture for all the words for that lesson.  Again, if the word is correct, the program continues through the rest of the words.  If the student gets the answer incorrect, it against gets recycled and will be presented to the student until it is selected correctly.

The third exercise is the SPELL exercise.  The  student hears the word pronounced and then must correctly type out the spelling of the word.  If the word is spelled correctly, the program again moves on.  If the word is spelled incorrectly, the proper spelling is shown and it is again recycled into the exercise until the word is spelled correctly.

If using the Normal version of the program, there are two additional exercises to complete.  The first of these is the FORMS exercise, the student will practice writing out any extra forms for the words that had been studied in the previous exercises.

These Nouns, you may be required to give a genitive form and/or a gender. For adjectives, you may be required to give feminine and neuter forms or sometimes a genitive form. For verbs, you may be required to give the third and fourth principle parts.  All of these are given in the text when the words are originally presented.

The FORMS exercise works very simliar to the SPELL exercise in that the student is given the word and then they must type the correct information for progress in the exercise.  Like previous exercises, if the answer is wrong, the correct answer is given and the question will be recycled for the student to answer again in the exercise.

The final exercise builds upon the previous exercises, again having the student spell the various forms for the vocabulary words they have learned.

Exercises are graded on a Star sytem, an excellent score is awarded 5 stars and the more the student misses, the less stars they are awarded.  You can see the stars from the dashboard to see how you or your student are doing on the different lessons.

How We Used It

While all three of my kids were given access to the program, this focus will mainly focus on Ashleigh, who has used it more than anyone else.  However, Garrett has also used it quite a bit and has learned a few Latin words.

Garrett Using Picta Dicta Vocabulary Builder

Ashleigh is in her second year of studying latin so this program has worked really well as a supplimental activity for her. She has especially enjoyed when she was given words that she had already learned previously.

While Ashleigh does have prior Latin instruction, I opted to sign Ashleigh up for the Easy version of the program, as she is only in 4th grade and this program is designed for older students.  The Easy version seems to be perfect for her and she is able to work thorugh the program pretty independently. 

The only hicup that we have had using the program is with the Spell portion, which is a bit more difficult for her.  This just means that we spend a longer amount of time on the vocabulary words. We have been working on the spelling of the words away from the program and then she returns to the program to pass that section of the lesson.  This isn't a fault of the program at all and is just a simple modification to the process that we have had to make for Ashleigh's learning ability.

I've personally been using the Normal version of the program and I have to say, I'm really impressed with it, both in using it myself and using it with Ashleigh.  Yes, the Normal version is harder but it is proving that you can teach an old dog new tricks (or in this case - an old mom a new language).   I admit I struggle with the forms but I'm indeed learning.

For more information about Picta Dicta Vocabulary Builder, be sure to visit Roman Roads Media's website.  You can also find them on the following social media platforms:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RomanRoadsMedia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/romanroadsmedia/
YouTude: https://www.youtube.com/user/romanroadsmedia
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/romanroadsmedia


In addition to Picta Dicta Vocabulary Builder, other members of the Crew were given the opportunity to review Fitting Words Classical Rhetoric and Picta Dicta Natural World subscriptions from Roman Roads Media.  Click the banner below to find all their wonderful reviews on these products.