Balancing The Memoria Press Classical Core Curriculum? Let's Talk About It

On today's episode the team is back to talk about the Memoria Press curriculum packages, specifically when the sheer amount educational material in those packages start to feel like a bit too much for a given homeschool situation.
We've heard a lot of discussion and review at the beginning of the year about how to adapt and streamline our classical Christian curriculum, and we wanted to a share our two cents on that topic.
We believe that those who have chosen to provide a homeschool education for their children are making the best choice for their families. All families are different and have different situations, challenges, and needs. Through it all we are here to help those families give their children the best possible classical Christian education possible, and we're here to talk whenever you need us.
You can find us at memoriapress.com
or you can call us directly at [phone] to speak with our Customer Service Team about student placement, curriculum concerns, or anything else that will make your homeschool experience the best it can possibly be.
For more information on how Memoria Press can get you started with new books for your home and school visit us at memoriapress.com/?KZbin&CETC&
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[@Clothmom1]

Thank you for saying that it should take 5 to 6 hours per day for upper elementary and beyond. I am so tired of people saying that all you need is 3 hours per day to homeschool. Not, if you are being thorough and not if your kids are just normal learners (I.e. not gifted).

[@kb8990]

Wow, more episodes like this, please. I LOVE that you’re talking to homeschoolers.

[@dakotabebo2024]

The comment about libraries is spot on and one of the huge reasons why I have started purchasing so much of our personal library through Memoria's enrichment/science/literary/read-aloud lists. I trust them and the content they have/promote is rich and beautiful. We've had MULTIPLE and TERRIBLE experiences with our local library and the content placed right out for kids to grab. It's so sad!

[@RachaelNewman]

Great discussion. The customer service staff at MP always leaves me feeling uplifted. The MP CSRs cannot be topped.

[@garlandofbooks4494]

@26:16 Winter is actually the best time for bird study! The birds actually come to the feeders because there’s not much else to eat, their feathers stand out beautifully against the snow if you get snow. We were snowed in last week and had lots of birds at the feeders, even saw a new one we hadn’t seen before

[@lauriemischa7883]

I have to second what Tanya was speaking about with the content in library books now. I was shocked when I found books promoting gay marriage, cross dressing, and being taken to pride parades in the TODDLER section of my local library. None of these books made it clear from the title or cover that they contained these things, it was only once I looked through them that I found it. I love the booklists that Martin has put out and I would love more book lists from Memoria knowing that I'd be able to trust the content in them!

[@lindsaysimplified]

I would love to hear a podcast on how to transition from one curriculum to Memoria Press (maybe that’s answered in this podcast, I haven’t gotten super far into it yet). We used Abeka this year but we are going to Memoria Press next year. We’ve been incorporating Latin, Reading, Math, and Grammer from Memoria Press on top of the Abeka. I’m hoping it’ll be smooth going into 3rd and 1st grade. 😅

[@audella777]

Very happy to have listened to this episode. We are 100% Memoria Press curriculum in our household, and we see how jumping around from one curriculum to another each year sort of reflexively does not give a complete big picture academic study. So we're choosing to stay exclusively with MP. We actually left a private school that started out using all MP, but then they switched some subjects to BJU between one year and the next. BJU, to me, feels like modern public school curriculum with some God sprinkled in, but doesn't nourish the soul in the same way that MP does. They said "the kids want to do science experiments" or "the test scores were not high enough" as the reason for switching. I don't think those are good reasons. MP is broccoli--it's good for kids, and the more they do it, the more they'll grow to appreciate it and love it. Learning is hard work! Not everything should be entertainment. I wholeheartedly believe that MP is the best curriculum that is currently available for kids PreK-12. (No, I am not paid to say this; it is just the truth about what I think.) I have seen our kids absolutely blossom using MP curriculum. I wish I had had access to this kind of schooling as a child!

[@gloriakoech3515]

I agree!

[@leanneg4040]

Hear hear! I'm so happy Memoria Press now have a UK distributor, we also have Brian Lapsa as our UK rep too. I'm not paid to brag about it either 😅

[@thebaptisthomeschooler]

Is there a link to purchase the MP tumbler or other merchandise? I tried looking on the website but couldn’t find anything.

[@taysrats]

Would you guys maybe be willing to make an episode about “what to do during summer”? Context: We are set to finish the full kindergarten curriculum in the beginning of May and I’m struggling to decide whether I want to take the summer off or continue to first grade immediately. OR what would you guys suggest for those families that do have a summer off, to ensure that our children don’t data dump everything they’ve learned the year prior?

[@mrs.jaywojo5426]

I personally have gone straight through, perhaps 3-4 days some weeks, because I have found that my younger kids had a harder time getting into the swing of things after such a stretch of time off.

[@anthonyskrobul3726]

Thank you for another great podcast. I found your channel two days ago, and I am binging episodes. The opening discussions about books are wonderful. Like Martin, I am a big fan of Rick Bragg. I have read his "All Over but the Shoutin'" and I was hooked on his work. My next read will be "Where I Come From." FYI, I am a retired Ph.D. organic chemist, and I am not an educator in the classical education space. America is blessed to have educators like you at Memoria Press. You are doing the Lord's work.

[@heidib.4089]

Astronomy best done in winter - summer for us is dark sky by 10pm! By the time the kids are in 7+ they are often doing mostly independent work and having the videos that complement the many courses (like Logic) really helps keep the momentum going!

[@dakotabebo2024]

This is a GREAT comment. We are in the plains region and it's the same here. Night shows up LATE, and I completely overlooked this thinking we would do astronomy (with 5th grader) during the summer. Thank you for this!! Winter or fall it is!

[@mum2twourbanfarmer229]

Thank you for a lovely episode for us homeschoolers! Can we please - have an episode with a recent graduate of the MP program and of the Simply Classical programs, chatting directly to our teenagers, for our teenagers? Why should they study stuff that other kids don't learn (Rome) Why should they study so hard? Why does Christian Studies have to be an academic subject? Does Classical Composition become fun? What's the point of Classical composition, anyway? It would be great to have a bookmark for such an episode. It would be very inspiring for my own teenager, studying in our little homeschool, to have a "why" video. I have "saved" Tania's short-form video of "why do we have to study latin and what's a classical education anyway?" for days when it seems hard. She makes me laugh *every* time and I'm reminded of the truth, beauty and goodness of it all and that the curriculum and supporting materials are beautiful to work with and add so much to our homeschool days.

[@leanneg4040]

"Does Classical Composition become fun?" I can hear my 11 year old here 😂

[@DiannaKennedy]

This is such a fantastic idea! (Getting ready to graduate my oldest homeschooling student in May, and her brothers are freshmen (former SC students)

[@emmysrandomcrafts]

I started Memoria in 9th grade, I'm almost done with it now. It was a lot to catch up with and learn, having never done classical schooling before, but I absolutely love it. The only subjects I don't do with Memoria are your math and science. I LOVE the Logic curriculum, it is my best and favorite subject (as if I could pick), thank-you for all your amazing courses!

[@anonymous1984y]

Your k-2 enrichments have been so helpful for me to know what to look for in the library.

[@ddchomeschool]

Listened to the podcast version. Loved!!

[@SWKS_AG05]

Great topic of discussion ❤. I have heard through grapevine that MP offers free shipping but I don’t know when 🤷🏻‍♀️….

[@user-gc2dv9ub8l]

I think it’s usually in February

[@SWKS_AG05]

@@user-gc2dv9ub8l Thanks!

[@anonymous1984y]

As a creative person that spent years putting it together i wish i had allowed myself to do that in SOME subjects but stuck with r&s and Memoria with math, literature and Latin

[@amandalovesmusic]

How can a work from home mom still give children a classical education?

[@sha-toinaswint2152]

Great discussion 🩷🩷

[@Lilzippity]

I love this video but we do add a complete English Grammar program. EGR is the only disappointing product we have seen from Memoria. We only need a 2-3 hours a week to complete an additional English Grammar program with expository writing. The results are worth it! My older children's prior classical prep school did this and the ling term success was great for my children. Yes, we are doing Latin as my 5th grader is in Second Forms Latin at Memoria Academy. Yes, we add other expository writing to Classical Comp. (5th grader in Chreia at Memoria Academy).

[@cquinn12]

What do you use for expository writing?

[@monicaaarts4804]

Love this conversation! What's the modern book being referenced in the first part of the talk?

[@user-gc2dv9ub8l]

The author Amor Towles