Proper placement in Memoria Press Online Academy

[Wilson]

My 12 year old daughter was removed from public school during second semester due to being bullied and the school not following her iep. She is in sixth grade with a reading level at 3.8 and a math level at 3.8. She is currently using Abeka accredited program but it takes her long time because Abeka goes by age and grade she was in at public school. I am trying to figure out what grade level would be best for next fall. I was considering some at fifth/sixth grade level. Any suggestions?

[VAmom]

Hi Wilson,

Welcome to the forum! I am sorry to hear about your daughter’s experience in the public schools, but hope you and her are slowly adjusting to your new schooling arrangement. I will take a stab at answering some of your questions.

To answer your question about placement, a general rule of thumb is to teach where your child/student is. If she is testing at grade 3.8, then you would want to near that level. I wouldn’t recommend attempting something one to two grade levels about where your child is, because she would likely become frustrated or overwhelmed. Additionally, MP tends to be a challenging curriculum for those who aren’t accustomed to the work load. Many folks begin a grade level below where their child is. Since you I mentioned having an IEP for her, have you looked at Simply Classical? This is MP’s program for special needs and is wonderful! This link gives a brief overview of the program and offers a placement test at the end of the page. https://www.memoriapress.com/curricu...l-needs-about/. There are also Simply Classical MPOA classes for your consideration.

I hope this helps as you begin to figure out how to best teach your daughter.

[enbateau]

We have a Simply Classical forum for parents of students with learning difficulties, which include IEPs and 504s. The parents over there who have waded into online classes might have better feedback for you. I do know MP offers online classes in Latin and literature specifically geared toward children with special needs.

Having taught the 5th accelerated/6th moderated classes and read through 6A/7M texts to help a friend, I would caution against taking a child at a 3.8 reading level into most of those classes. It might be best to back up to a level like 4th for new users and see whether MPOA has any policies relating to age (I haven't seen one). Any one of the 4NU classes: Greek Myths, Literature with Poetry, US States & Caps, Astronomy, etc would be a wonderful, challenging option. The guides are in-depth and require deep reading of the text for content, vocabulary, key terms, people and places on a map. Part of the beauty of leaving the public schools is not having to pretend to pass along our students when the gaps have not been shored and the content left unmastered.

There are also Vita Beata discussion groups for literature, Greek Myths and many books within the Famous Men series (history). These are not accredited classes, but for students who want to augment their home instruction with class participation and guided discussion, it is an excellent tool.

Some of the self-guided classes MPOA offers might be an option. MP also offers streaming instructional videos and/or DVDs to accompany many classes from K-12.

I saw that the MP phone lines were down today. You can always send an email to onlineacademy @ memoria press . com (no spaces) and get a quick response.

[tanya]

Hello, and welcome!

We would be glad to talk with you about your daughter's curriculum, but initially I would also recommend fourth grade for new users. I feel like it will be quite challenging enough and probably a large step up in work load compared to what she is used to. Part of what you need to do now is build her confidence in herself, so I always like to start students at a level where they can easily excel and then accelerate from there.

We have struggled with our phones all day, but we would be glad to talk with you further once we are stable! Our csrs can walk you through each subject, but in the meantime, why don't you look at our 4NU set on the website and see what you think!

Tanya

[Wilson]

Thank you all for your input. We have Rod and Staff 4th grade Math books and her dad feels it might be too easy since she is doing well in long division. As far as reading she has read Where The Red Ferns Grows and The Sign of The Beaver. She has also read Charlotte's Web. So I was looking at the fifth grade literature. Fifth grade Rod and Staff Math. Astronomy. D'Aulaires Greek Myths. Latina Christiana. For online classes. States and Capitals this summer. Memoria Press book New American Cursive 2. Since she is doing New American Cursive 1. I have no issues starting her at a fourth grade level my concern is age of graduation. She will be 13 this June. She has epilepsy which is constant memorization. She speaks very articulately but is emotionally immature about 2 to 3 years. She is polite. I have read Cheryl Swope's book. Her cursive is that of a first grader but she loves it. Any recommendations??

[cherylswope]

Thank you all for your input. We have Rod and Staff 4th grade Math books and her dad feels it might be too easy since she is doing well in long division. As far as reading she has read Where The Red Ferns Grows and The Sign of The Beaver. She has also read Charlotte's Web. So I was looking at the fifth grade literature. Fifth grade Rod and Staff Math. Astronomy. D'Aulaires Greek Myths. Latina Christiana. For online classes. States and Capitals this summer. Memoria Press book New American Cursive 2. Since she is doing New American Cursive 1. I have no issues starting her at a fourth grade level my concern is age of graduation. She will be 13 this June. She has epilepsy which is constant memorization. She speaks very articulately but is emotionally immature about 2 to 3 years. She is polite. I have read Cheryl Swope's book. Her cursive is that of a first grader but she loves it. Any recommendations??

Hello! Feel free to email me directly. I am confident that we can customize a strong program for your daughter based on all of the helpful information you have provided: [email protected].

[Wilson]

Cheryl Swope I sent you a email.

[Wilson]

What is the maximum age she can do the memoria press online academy diploma program because she might be 19 to 20 years of age when she graduates?

[tanya]

Hello.

We don't have a maximum age to complete the diploma program. The biggest barrier to completing the program is having the time to meet all the requirements for a diploma. Many times, we find that 11th-12th graders can't qualify because they don't have the time left to complete all the credits they need. But if your daughter begins the program at the beginning of high school, she will have plenty of time to complete the requirements and graduate with a diploma.

If you have further questions, feel free to email [email protected], and Jessica will be able to help you. She knows all things MPOA!

Tanya

[Wilson]

Is the Rod and Staff English grade 4 set equivalent to the Fable online class?

[DiannaKennedy]

Is the Rod and Staff English grade 4 set equivalent to the Fable online class?

No, that class uses the Fable level book from Classical Composition. On the class page, there should be a link to the required texts.