Transitioning from Classical Conversations to Memoria Press

[tiffmcc]

I am currently in my 8th year of homeschooling with Classical Conversations, and I just found out today that my oldest two children will not have a class next year. I'm considering options, and I like what I see with Memoria Press.

My oldest is currently a 7th grader and in Challenge A. She has done very well in it. Does anyone have a recommendations on what might be a good fit for her with MP in 8th grade next year?

My second is currently a 6th grader, so he was due to start the Challenge program next year. He has dysgraphia and struggles with writing. What would you recommend for him?

My third is in third grade, and he is supposed to start his first year of Essentials next year. I'm undecided whether I'll continue with CC for him for next year. If I switch to MP, what would you recommend?

My youngest is a very young second grader who has had 4 years of the CC Foundations program. She's been slower to get the hang of math and reading and is behind grade level. What would you recommend for her for MP next year?

[Enigma]

You might call the office for help. They love helping with placement.

[VAmom]

Welcome! I am sorry to hear that your plans for Challenge A and B have fallen through. It’s hard when we are having to make adjustments.

Like Enigma suggested, calling the MP reps is always a good idea. MP’s customer service is the best around. I’m sure they will be able to help you. Here are some questions and suggestions that might help you think about things.

Since your eldest is completing Challenge A, will she finish Henle 1? If so, the more experienced Latin folks could recommend whether continuing with Henle would make more sense versus switching to the Form series or other MP offerings.

Also, how was your experience with Henle? It might influence your Latin choices with your current 6th grader. What have you been using for literature and math? What accommodations does your 6th grader currently need? Are you considering piecing things together or taking advantage of the core curriculum? FWIW, I love the core curriculum. Having everything planned out well is immensely helpful with teaching four kids.

Your 3rd grader could easily fit into MP’s 4th grade for new users. 3rd and 4th grade are transition years so you wouldn’t have to do many, if any, changes there. With several years of Foundations work under his belt, he will be able to use his memory work to help with Latina Christiana, English Grammar Recitation and Timeline.

For your young 2nd grader, what phonics skills does she know well? Or what books can she read independently? Does she have her addition and subtraction facts mastered?

You’re welcome to post back here and the wonderful forum folks will keep chiming in with suggestions and ideas for you to consider. ☺️

[smithamykat]

Have you looked through the curriculum packages for the kids' grades for next year? Latin, math, and grammar might need to be adjusted for your rising 7th and 8th graders, depending on what they've studied already. Classical composition is cumulative, so you'll want them to begin with the first or second stage and proceed at an accelerated pace if they're handling it well. For a 7th grader struggling with writing, you may want to modify how you use the student guides for literature and classical studies. You can answer many questions orally and only require a few to be written. You might check out the Simply Classical forum for suggestions and strategies for teaching a student with dysgraphia.

Fourth grade is a great time for a student to jump into Memoria Press! Check out the Fourth for New Users package.

For your very young 2nd grader who is behind grade level, I would suggest using MP 2nd grade in the coming year. There is still a lot of explicit phonics instruction in 2nd grade, between Traditional Spelling II and the phonics work included in the literature teacher guides. Do you think she would be able to read Prairie School and The Courage of Sarah Noble at the beginning of the school year? If not, consider working through the StoryTime Treasures and More StoryTime Treasures literature (scheduled in 1st grade, but the stories are classics and enjoyable for older kids too), with study guides, using all of the phonics activities from the teacher guide.

[tiffmcc]

Welcome! I am sorry to hear that your plans for Challenge A and B have fallen through. It’s hard when we are having to make adjustments.

Like Enigma suggested, calling the MP reps is always a good idea. MP’s customer service is the best around. I’m sure they will be able to help you. Here are some questions and suggestions that might help you think about things.

Since your eldest is completing Challenge A, will she finish Henle 1? If so, the more experienced Latin folks could recommend whether continuing with Henle would make more sense versus switching to the Form series or other MP offerings.

Also, how was your experience with Henle? It might influence your Latin choices with your current 6th grader. What have you been using for literature and math? What accommodations does your 6th grader currently need? Are you considering piecing things together or taking advantage of the core curriculum? FWIW, I love the core curriculum. Having everything planned out well is immensely helpful with teaching four kids.

Your 3rd grader could easily fit into MP’s 4th grade for new users. 3rd and 4th grade are transition years so you wouldn’t have to do many, if any, changes there. With several years of Foundations work under his belt, he will be able to use his memory work to help with Latina Christiana, English Grammar Recitation and Timeline.

For your young 2nd grader, what phonics skills does she know well? Or what books can she read independently? Does she have her addition and subtraction facts mastered?

You’re welcome to post back here and the wonderful forum folks will keep chiming in with suggestions and ideas for you to consider. ☺️

Thanks for your response!

While I'd love to do the core curriculum, I'm leaning toward piecing things together because in looking through the scope, I don't think I can pick a level that would fit across all subject areas for each of them.

Confession time...with three younger students, I haven't kept up with my Challenge A daughter's work the way I would have liked. She has been completing the Latin as assigned. I know she has been mastering vocabulary, but I'm not 100% certain beyond that. She would tell me she is understanding it. My understanding of Challenge B is that they would have spent a semester going back over what they learned in Challenge A before moving on, so she will not finish Henle Latin I. Where does Henle Latin I start in MP? I don't know whether to start her there or back her up for a better foundation.

My 6th grader mastered the Essentials of the English language portion of Essentials. IEW is another story and is where his struggles are. He can identify the various stylistic techniques and on a very basic level is starting to be able to create key word outlines on his own. Getting ideas from the key word outline out of his head and onto paper is almost non-existent. We haven't done much with literature beyond read alouds as a family because literature was supposed to really pick up with Challenge A. For math we have done Math Mammoth, and he is successful with that.

I'll take another look at the 4th grade full curriculum. When I looked at it, I thought I saw a couple of areas where I wanted to back him up, but maybe that's just me thinking he'd be missing something that might be reviewed.

If you're familiar with All About Reading, my second grader just started level 2. I love All About Reading and will likely continue it. She definitely does not have her math facts mastered. She's also working through Math Mammoth and is almost a full year behind in math. With both reading and math, when we started I just knew she wasn't ready yet. Now that she is ready, she's moving along at a decent pace moreso in reading than math.

[tiffmcc]

Have you looked through the curriculum packages for the kids' grades for next year? Latin, math, and grammar might need to be adjusted for your rising 7th and 8th graders, depending on what they've studied already. Classical composition is cumulative, so you'll want them to begin with the first or second stage and proceed at an accelerated pace if they're handling it well. For a 7th grader struggling with writing, you may want to modify how you use the student guides for literature and classical studies. You can answer many questions orally and only require a few to be written. You might check out the Simply Classical forum for suggestions and strategies for teaching a student with dysgraphia.

Fourth grade is a great time for a student to jump into Memoria Press! Check out the Fourth for New Users package.

For your very young 2nd grader who is behind grade level, I would suggest using MP 2nd grade in the coming year. There is still a lot of explicit phonics instruction in 2nd grade, between Traditional Spelling II and the phonics work included in the literature teacher guides. Do you think she would be able to read Prairie School and The Courage of Sarah Noble at the beginning of the school year? If not, consider working through the StoryTime Treasures and More StoryTime Treasures literature (scheduled in 1st grade, but the stories are classics and enjoyable for older kids too), with study guides, using all of the phonics activities from the teacher guide.

Thank you for your response!

Yes, I've been looking at the curriculum packages and trying to figure out how to adjust Latin in particular and to a lesser degree grammar. I do think my oldest two would both benefit from starting from the beginning with composition.

I'll definitely take another look at the 4th grade new user's package.

For my rising 3rd grader, I'm planning to continue working through our current math, reading, and spelling programs because they are working for us. I'll take a look at the StoryTime Treasures and More StoryTime Treasures.

[sunflower21]

Welcome to the forum! I have benefited greatly from the experience and wisdom shared here.

I will try and speak to your 2nd grader... I'm so glad to hear that AAR is working so well. I will page howiecram and Mom2mthj for their experience with AAR and MP. I am not sure how AAR and TS line up.

With regard to math, have you considered R&S Math 1, moving through quickly until you hit a spot where she'd benefit from slowing down? R&S Math 1 builds such a strong foundation with math facts. The first workbook of R&S Math 2 reviews what was learned in R&S Math 1, and then, in the succeeding workbooks, moves on to new material. If you go with R&S Math 1, I would consider adding Memoria Math Challenge Level A for drill (while she's in Student Book Part 1). When you get to Student Workbook Part 2, switch to the Level B book.

All the best with your research and decision making 🌻

[VAmom]

My replies are in italics below. 😊

While I'd love to do the core curriculum, I'm leaning toward piecing things together because in looking through the scope, I don't think I can pick a level that would fit across all subject areas for each of them.

Even if you have to make substitutions or omit a few subjects, be sure to call MP when you place your order. Depending on how much from the core you buy, they often will still give you the core curriculum discount.


Confession time...with three younger students, I haven't kept up with my Challenge A daughter's work the way I would have liked. She has been completing the Latin as assigned. I know she has been mastering vocabulary, but I'm not 100% certain beyond that. She would tell me she is understanding it. My understanding of Challenge B is that they would have spent a semester going back over what they learned in Challenge A before moving on, so she will not finish Henle Latin I. Where does Henle Latin I start in MP? I don't know whether to start her there or back her up for a better foundation.

No need to confess, we’ve all been there. So much to juggle and inevitably things get dropped. MP schedules Henle 1 with Forth Form Latin in 8th grade. We’re only through Second Form so I can’t make a solid recommendation there. Hopefully some others will chime in. I do know mastery of vocabulary and grammar is essential in Latin. It definitely builds upon itself.

My 6th grader mastered the Essentials of the English language portion of Essentials. IEW is another story and is where his struggles are. He can identify the various stylistic techniques and on a very basic level is starting to be able to create key word outlines on his own. Getting ideas from the key word outline out of his head and onto paper is almost non-existent. We haven't done much with literature beyond read alouds as a family because literature was supposed to really pick up with Challenge A. For math we have done Math Mammoth, and he is successful with that.

If your son has been successful with Math Mammoth, then it might be easier to stick with it. Many folks select their own math curriculum. Is Essentials of English the grammar portion of Essentials? It might be helpful to know MP primarily teaches grammar through Latin with English Grammar Recitation (EGR) providing additional practice. EGR only takes about 15 minutes a day. Where you planning to start your son with Latin next year? First Form Latin might be a good starting place for him.

Regarding his disgraphia, MP is a heavy writing curriculum. As Amy suggested, you might want to think through how to best modify it for him. What are the areas you want to have him write vs complete orally or dictate to you? Simply Classical will provide options as well. Cheryl Swope could help you figure out how to best place him, especially since he isn’t familiar with literature guides. There is also some readiness assessments about halfway down the page. https://www.memoriapress.com/curricu...l-needs-about/


I'll take another look at the 4th grade full curriculum. When I looked at it, I thought I saw a couple of areas where I wanted to back him up, but maybe that's just me thinking he'd be missing something that might be reviewed.

Here’s the link for 4th grade for new users. It covers Latina Christiana, Christian Studies I and Greek Myths in one year. It’s really a great place for a 4th grade to begin. What were you thinking of reviewing? https://www.memoriapress.com/curricu...a-press-users/

If you're familiar with All About Reading, my second grader just started level 2. I love All About Reading and will likely continue it. She definitely does not have her math facts mastered. She's also working through Math Mammoth and is almost a full year behind in math. With both reading and math, when we started I just knew she wasn't ready yet. Now that she is ready, she's moving along at a decent pace moreso in reading than math.


I’m not familiar with AAR or AAS. This forum post talks about it a little bit. https://forum.memoriapress.com/forum...about-spelling I know there is better info out there about moving from AAR to MP but my searches are turning up nothing. I think you want to be through Level 3 before beginning MP2.

For math, again you can stick with Math Mammoth, if it’s working. You could consider adding in Memoria Math Challenge for math facts practice. This is for the 2nd grade book. https://www.memoriapress.com/curricu...dent-workbook/

In helping think through your transition from CC to MP, this current post and the linked previous post may help you as well. https://forum.memoriapress.com/forum...5424-need-help

I hope this helps! Keep coming back with questions as you figure things out.

[VAmom]

My post needs approval. Hopefully it will get out of jail soon. 😜 If not, I will try to repost it.

[tiffmcc]

My post needs approval. Hopefully it will get out of jail soon. 😜 If not, I will try to repost it.

It looks like it made it. Thank you! Lots to think about and continue to research.

[Bonnie]

I know she has been mastering vocabulary, but I'm not 100% certain beyond that. She would tell me she is understanding it. My understanding of Challenge B is that they would have spent a semester going back over what they learned in Challenge A before moving on, so she will not finish Henle Latin I. Where does Henle Latin I start in MP?

An 8th grader is old enough to study Henle I, especially as she has already learned some Latin vocabulary and perhaps some forms in Challenge A. She can start at the beginning of the Henle I textbook; there is an MP study guide for help. She can move at a faster pace, if she has mastered the early parts of Henle I. And you can always get Latin help on the Forum.

Bonnie

[jen1134]

Paging Kristi B ! She's formerly from CC, has children of similar age to your oldest ones, has one with writing struggles, and switched to MP at a similar spot in their schooling.

[Emily L]

I'm new to MP too. I have always used math Mammoth and love it. However, my kids have definitely struggled with automaticity, and it has simply never come naturally as they get older. Unfortunately it just has to be reviewed and drilled. I would suggest Xtra Math if the conceptual stuff is going well in MM. But if you find she is behind in MM, you might be better served to start with R&S and its emphasis on mastery and come back to MM in a later grade - such as 3rd or 4th. There's no sense continuing to work on conceptual math when the basics are a struggle.

In general for placement, it's better to be honest with yourself and not let the grade level number bother you. If you choose a few items at their level and it goes well, you can assess from there.

[tiffmcc]

Paging Kristi B ! She's formerly from CC, has children of similar age to your oldest ones, has one with writing struggles, and switched to MP at a similar spot in their schooling.

Thank you. I hope she chimes in!

[tiffmcc]

I'm new to MP too. I have always used math Mammoth and love it. However, my kids have definitely struggled with automaticity, and it has simply never come naturally as they get older. Unfortunately it just has to be reviewed and drilled. I would suggest Xtra Math if the conceptual stuff is going well in MM. But if you find she is behind in MM, you might be better served to start with R&S and its emphasis on mastery and come back to MM in a later grade - such as 3rd or 4th. There's no sense continuing to work on conceptual math when the basics are a struggle.

In general for placement, it's better to be honest with yourself and not let the grade level number bother you. If you choose a few items at their level and it goes well, you can assess from there.

Thank you for these insights. I’m certainly not bothered by the grade level number. I’m just hoping to find a good fit on the first try.