MP curriculum reusable for siblings?

[mjk2010]

New to Memoria Press. Coming from a different curriculum which was cheaper, but I would need new books for each kid. I have 4 kids. I have one in 2nd, a preschooler, toddler, and a baby. It will be more of an investment to outfit my daughter with 2nd grade curriculum and get all the read alouds (want to buy because it's too hard to consistently get to the library and get books back on time with no fines!). And looking at Jr. K for my preschooler. My husband is bulking at the amount of money. It seems like a good curriculum and I love the literature component. But is it able to be passed down to siblings? Will I be investing now for my younger children who could use the same books? I want to assure my husband this is the right curriculum for us. I just want to be wise with our budget especially if we will have all 4 kids use it in the future. Thank you!

[MamaHill]

Hey there!

I can only speak to the MP 2nd grade, since we haven't used the Jr K program.

Yes, you can definitely use certain components of MP over and over with each child. I do love that aspect of it! I can reuse my Teacher's Manuals and the actual books/texts from child to child. The Student Guides will need to be purchased for each child, however, since that's the consumable portion. Certainly the Literature & Enrichment portion can be reused over and over again (art cards, etc), as well as Classical Phonics, Phonics flashcards, and the Curriculum Manual itself.

In future years, it's similar - you can reuse Teacher's Manuals and the actual texts or literature books, and then just purchase the consumable Student Guides for each child.

There are certain things I've purchased two of to make my life a little easier.

While we've used MP Latin for years and years, we are only in our 2nd year of using full cores. The amount of information my children retain compared to previous curricula is nothing short of astounding to me. Their ability to write well has grown by leaps and bounds, and I mainly attribute this to lots of hand-holding in teaching how to write the answers to Student Guide questions.

I would encourage you to look at the 3rd-6th grade packages just so you can see what those years entail. It will help you make an informed decision as to whether MP is where you want to be for the long haul.

With a lot of children myself, I certainly understand wanting to be wise with the budget! I curriculum hopped a lot because I had a couple of differently-wired kiddos and couldn't find the right fit for them. I spent a LOT of money pre-7th grade trying to figure it out. While the price tag for MP is a little hard to swallow initially, I can honestly say we would have saved hundreds through the years if I had known about MP and gone with them in the beginning.

- Lauren

[Mom2mthj]

If something is listed as a student workbook or student guide it is not reusable at that level. Some high school lit guides are non-consumable. All the read aloud books for enrichment are reusable. Sometimes if you are willing to buy used you can find read aloud selections cheaper elsewhere. I never bought science selections because we have a good library (when it isn’t shut down), and I already had many of the read aloud selections before we started with MP. Generally, you can see what it would cost for a later student by checking out the consumable only price on the core packages.

[Beorn]

To follow up on MamaHill's post, the Junior Kindergarten is the same. There is the curriculum manual, read alouds, texts, etc. that are all reusable with each child. You would only need to purchase the consumables set for the next child which for Jr. K is $45 (two day per week Jr. K). One thing to note, it is helpful to buy your curriculum directly from Memoria Press if you have multiple students. Should they ever change up the curriculum or make a new edition, you can simply call or contact MP and they will send you the new or updated item(s) if you have purchased through them. Welcome to MP, it has been a great blessing to my family and well worth the investment.

[jen1134]

We switched to MP four years ago with five school-ages children, and three year old and a one year old. Beginning this past year, my younger kids began using the subjects my older kids had when we started. I emailed MP with my order because so many things for the coming year were already sitting on my shelf.

[Colomama]

Absolutely check out thrift books for the enrichment books. I always try to buy very good or good, never buy a lower quality. Free shipping with $10 purchase, so you could easily break up your purchases over time. I would never have been able to afford the enrichment sets had I bought them new. The enrichment sets are an awesome addition and I can't imagine MP without them.

Agree with another post above, buy all of your MP published items from MP. Other retailers may not have the newest edition. Additionally, if MP updates their curriculum they will replace the guide for free. I learned this lesson the hard way with buying used curriculum manuals. One was an older edition and one was later updated before the next child was ready to use it....I ended up buying new guides from MP...definitely didn't save the money I thought I had.

[MBentley]

I second Colomama on buying the actual MP books straight from MP as I also learned the hard way about updates. It's painful to learn this lesson financially. What's a bigger deal, and this really can't be stated enough is that when you purchase straight from MP, you get downloads for the classes that make printing tests and quizzes and other "stuff" so much easier because you aren't scanning and printing. My download files are getting long on my page just because I started ordering from them last year. They don't limit the number of downloads either. There are additional flashcards for download there too.

Thriftbooks is your friend. I actually don't get the good or very good quality - usually opting for the lower quality. Honestly, it's not much different than a library book quality - just don't have to return it. At this point, I've purchased K, 1st, and 2nd (all the read aloud, enrichment, and supplemental books) and I didn't break the bank because I purchased 99% of them used. It makes sense to break it up by half or by 3rds. Order for the first 11-15 weeks. They are loved books. Right now, I can't find the books I need because my boys keep stealing them off of the shelves overnight. Gail Gibbons is their favorite science author.

[enbateau]

I agree! We have all of the science, history and supplemental readers and read alouds for Jr. K through 6th grade (and I only have MP cores up through 4th). My eldest is a voracious reader, so she rereads many for the pleasure of it. Anytime we have a question about a subject we encounter in nature or in current events, we scour our own bookshelves first before we hit up the internet or the library, even though mine is within walking distance (albeit closed indefinitely now). Just Like Me! (formerly Celebrations) has been great for cultural studies, and the Let's Read and Find Out Series has been great for animals, science and general knowledge. Best of all, I'm so glad I budgeted for buying the books because now my family has safe, accessible books to read during this global quarantine.