New to MP and need suggestions

[Jill88]

Hi! This will be our second year homeschooling, but first year using MP. What brought me to MP was the States and Capitals set. I bookmarked it last year but we never got around to it. When planning out our curriculum for next year I've been looking at all MP has to offer and I really think it will be a great fit for us. However, I have no idea which Latin to purchase. Or really which of anything to purchase. So, some guidance and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I have two children that I homeschool:

My son is 9 (will be 10 in August) and will be in the 5th grade. He has ADHD, but we are not medicating. He has trouble focusing, especially with grammar/LA. He has the knowledge and ability for his grade level, but his lack of focus makes things very difficult/challenging to finish. For the few months that we tried medication, he was able to comprehend his lessons and finish his work in a timely manner. We were using Saxon Grammar at this time. The main reason I'm considering switching from Saxon Grammar to MP is the inclusion of Latin.

My daughter just turned 8 and will be in 3rd grade. She is a struggling reader, but has come a long way in just the past few months. She does well in all her classes and doesn't seem to have any issues with focus or comprehension.

I plan on continuing with Saxon for math for both. I plan on us doing the States and Capitals set and Greek Myths as a family. I'm thinking of doing the Mammals set for my 3rd grader, and the Insect set for my 5th grader. Other than that, I'm not sure which level to pick for any other subject, especially which Latin, grammar, and writing curriculum. I don't know what "extra" things to add (literature readers, Read-Alouds, Supplemental Reading) Also, our state requires reading, writing, math, science, and social studies at this grade level (so I don't need literature and composition to be compliant, though I'm not opposed to them).

My main concern is that I don't want to choose something too easy for my 5th grader, but considering we are completely new to MP I don't want things to be so difficult that he loses his desire to learn.

[howiecram]

I think 4th grade for new users might be a great spot for your 5th grader. (My son is going to be 10 in September, but we consider him a 4th grader, not 5th grade. In our state, if you are born in August, you are the younger grade). Memoria Press is a little different than other curriculum providers and you do really need to start "at the beginning" with some of the "content" subjects. It's also very nice to be able to use one whole guide. Since you plan to stick with your math (which is perfectly fine), you can just eliminate that directly on the website (click customize and "no math" on the drop down menu). I would consider Simply Classical Level 4 for your rising 3rd grader. It has the Mammals scheduled in it and will provide additional phonics lessons to help her improve in her reading. She could "sit in" on the Greek Myths, but I wouldn't have her formally write out the answers, etc.

Here is the link for Simply Classical Level 4 https://www.memoriapress.com/curricu...culum-level-4/

[enbateau]

Welcome to the Memoria Press community! So many of us started here with a goal of using one component, saw the logic, cohesiveness and thorough mastery approach of it all and fell in love...and fell into a core!

With the way you described your learners, I would probably use Latina Christiana, English Grammar Recitation I, Greek Myths, and State and Capitals as my core for both kids. Differentiate the math, science and MP literature levels for both of them, and that sounds like an excellent first year with MP. You didn't mention Christian Studies, but it doubles as an incredible history component (and it is the basis of the copybook/memory work/penmanship components). Speaking of literature, look at a preview of the literature selections for third grade: Farmer Boy, Charlotte's Web, Paddington, and Mr. Popper's Penguins. Google, Amazon and Rainbow Resource usually have a couple of preview pages available to see how you think she'll do with decoding. It is perfectly fine to go down a grade to hand-pick a selection of literature guides to slowly make your way through. And if your child needs extra work in phonics for reading and writing, Traditional Spelling II would be a great substitute for SWO (Spelling Workout) D that comes with the 3rd grade package. You could call to customize your order and get the package price on anything you swap in and out!

You could run both kids through New American Cursive 1 to both teach cursive and help make writing quick and efficient.

You can figure out if you want timeline, poetry and spelling. They're all really affordable in the package price, but they're easy to leave out as well. Everything else is icing on the cake.

If your daughter is still picking up steam in reading, it's fine to treat the American History supplemental readers as read-alouds (you or someone reads them to her). In our house, my eldest would read these to my youngest. It was MP's history readers that began my eldest's passion for history and biographies. I actually prefer them to even some of the novels selected for grade. Skip purchasing the read-aloud picture books. We got most from the library, and none were life-changing. The third-grade read-aloud novels were ones we chose to own. Some are hard to find (A Day on Skates, The Saturdays, Norse Myths) near me, and most were entirely enjoyable books we pick up over and over. We try to knock these out over the summer, as once the year starts, it gets rather busy. Some would be nice to have as audiobooks if your voice grows thin from reading.

There's some incredible teacher training and practical ways to implement MP at home in our Sodalitas Conference coming up. Details for registration are on the home page.