CMM CCC-K
Family Life,  Homeschool

Memoria Press Kindergarten {Review – Part VI – My Conclusion and Final Thoughts}

 

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Hello friends! As of January 2019, I have an affiliate account with Memoria Press. If you’re here, you know how passionate I am about Memoria Press. Please bless my family by using our links.

In final thoughts, I can tell you as a whole I love what Memoria Press is doing with their curriculum and lesson plans. Almost as it is written it is perfect for my oldest student and I’m becoming eager to watch my next child start to get into the plans as well.

I miss the Devotional and Prayer time in the Lesson Plans like we experienced with Junior Kindergarten. Yes there is a weekly Bible story during the Copybook and Memory time, but it is not daily. Nor is there a devotional like we had last year. If it were possible for Memoria Press to include something like a scheduled devotional in the future I would love that.

Memoria Press Kindergarten Review
Memoria Press Kindergarten Review Conclusion
First-Start-Reading-Classical-Phonics
Memoria Press First Start Reading and Classical Phonics

Memoria Press Kindergarten Lesson Plans is all you need for one year and evens so we have a few outside resources we add in. Going back to echo what I said before, more often than not I forget to add in OPGTR because it is not scheduled in my calendar, and I live by the Lesson Plans from Memoria Press Kindergarten. But when we do it, it does a pretty good reinforcement for what we’re learning in FSR. I also seem to forget to add in the Bob Books, but the problem with that is trying to figure out where to add them in (whereas the MP Lesson Plans include Primary Phonics readers). The Animal Alphabet Coloring Book is not overly exciting, but it is a start, and definitely shows that we need to invest in some more coloring books. 🙂 We will definitely continue all of these Phonics/Reading choices until the MP Kinder year reaches completion. After this so-far portion I am really excited about our future with MP Lesson Plans and curriculum.

Our 2013-2014 Plan

I love the MP Copybook I and it it working out really well. I haven’t found much opportunity to use the Comp & Sketchbook, but perhaps that will come. The only thing that I might be interested in changing in the future is adding in more copywork. Right now it is one phrase (scripture) per week, and I do not think that is nearly enough, but perhaps it is just a slow introduction.

Math has probably been the most surprising success this year! (Well of course, other than learning how to read!) I have Math Mammoth 1A printed, but I need to take it to be bound, however I’m not remotely interested in going until after the Christmas holidays. (As I’m writing, Christmas is next week.) and we hardly use it but for reinforcement. The MP Numbers Book adds in some fun, and I wish I had more pages like it. I have forgotten to keep up with getting new things from Education.com, but I have added in some fun seasonal freebies from the Moffatt Girls that we all really enjoy. That reminds me that I also bought two of her themed Kindergarten packs, and they’re perfect for us! (These include Literary and Math activities.)

Rod & Staff Arithmetic 1 is fabulous! Honestly when I was planning to go in to having the MP Kinder program, the math was one thing that I was planning to substitute, but through the blessing of being able to review for Memoria Press and reviews I read I decided to give it a try. I’m beyond delighted that I did. I absolutely love the combination of Bible stories with learning numbers, what great pegs to learn features on and grow with! The way they introduce to learn how to write numbers has also been fun. We also have Counting With Numbers that we didn’t quite finish last year, and we add that in from time to time as it comes too. Without a doubt I plan to continue to use R&S as long as we can.

Arithmetic 1 is continued into first grade, so no changes really expected here. Just keeping on keeping on. Santa did bring a copy of Life of Fred: Apples, so we’ll experiment with that for fun and see if we like it. I would not use LoF alone, even though I know it is possible, its just too different for me. We do not use felt as suggested in the R&S Math, we use Base Ten Blocks instead, but it works out great, especially being in a homeschool and not classroom setting. Oooh!! And Santa has brought a set of Inchimals, so this will be a fun addition! Hopefully in the next year I can add in more “games” to reinforce math concepts we’re learning.

Memoria Press Kindergarten Enrichment Books

Social Studies/History/Geography: Memoria Press Kindergarten Lesson Plans for themes with added in research reading has been an interesting topic to study. The MP Lesson Plans are mostly phonics and math to our experience and only about one day per week is there a social studies suggestion. Often it goes with the typical calendar or seasonal year portion you’re at if you started in the September range. For example Columbus, Thanksgiving traditions and Advent. I have to confess that this is one place where I wish I had more to go on. When I know where to look we do have nifty things to add in from an Encyclopedia, but often I’m clueless where to start the research to add more into it, but then that’s not the focus of this year. So this is definitely something that I would like to be more meaty in the next year.

The Golden Children’s Bible. I really like it as an added feature and think that MP has a great choice in this one, but it’s just one story per week (that then has the one Copybook entry) and I wish there were more. I feel like even though we touch it a bit everyday, it’s not enough and she forgets to think about the Bible through the week. I would like to add daily Bible. We have tried reading from the Family Reading Bible and it works, but it’s not very exciting for her age range to just hear the stories.

Science: Memoria Press Kindergarten Lesson Plans for themes with added in research reading, various books from the Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library, Let’s Read and Find Out Science, Gail Gibbons*, Jim Arnosky, Water Dance by Thomas Locker, Handbook of Nature Study by Anne Botsford Comstock, World of Animals from Master Books. We’re also watching the Magic School Bus Complete Series on DVD, by request or theme. Again like social studies, this is a once a week thing. I do enjoy the books we read, *we haven’t been able to purchase all the Gail Gibbons on our lists yet. I like this approach, but I also want more.

Art & Music: Memoria Press Kindergarten Art Cards, Looking at Pictures by Joy Richardson, and Art Lessons with a local artist. Music is from a Memoria Press list that we listen to on a Spotify list I put together. Art has been fun. We’re also spending a lot of time in the Child’s Book of Art and Child’s Book of Prayer in Art and AppleBlossom loves them. Maybe I have an artist yet? We really enjoy the selection of music from the MP Kinder list. I wish I had an easier way to listen to it than from my computer, but without paying to purchase all the songs, it works pretty well to listen to it on Spotify.

In conclusion to my review series of Memoria Press Classical Core Curriculum for Kindergarten Lesson Plans for One Year I can say I have loved Junior Kindergarten and Kinder was just as fabulous. Coming into homeschooling and knowing a love for Classical Christian Education and a happy hear toward Charlotte Mason theory the Memoria Press Classical Core Curriculum has been exactly what I need and want. It is the right amount of guidance to help me to seamlessly teach my daughter and I have just enough leverage to use these plans with the way my girl learns best.

It is systematic and daily, but things can be shifted easily. This is an outstanding beginning to any student’s education. Experiencing using this program and with average to accelerated learner I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it or use it again with my next students. I will in part with my next daughter, but we will tweak a little as I plan to use Simply Classical Level C with her first, but that is a review for another day…

I received a portion of this product free for the purpose of reviewing it. I received no other compensation for this review. The opinions expressed in this review are my personal, honest opinions. Your experience may vary. Please read my full disclosure policy for more details. 

Make sure to check out the parts of my Kindergarten review in posts!

CMM CCC-KCMM FSR

Memoria Press Kindergarten Review Lesson PlansMemoria Press Kindergarten Recitation ReviewMemoria Press Kindergarten Math Review
Memoria Press Kindergarten Copybook ReviewMemoria Press Kindergarten Enrichment ReviewMemoria Press Kindergarten Review all

Part I – Lesson Plans

Part II – Recitation & Phonics

Part III – Math

Part IV – Copybook & Memory

Part V – Enrichment

Part VI – Conclusion

You might also be interested in Junior Kindergarten.

CMM-JrKindergarten-Review-Button-FINAl

Memoria Press JrK Lesson Plans Review Memoria Press JrK Phonics Review Memoria Press JrK Math Review
Memoria Press JrK Poetry Memoria Press JrK Religion Memoria Press JrK Crafts Review

Part I – Lesson Plans

Part II – Phonics 

Part III – Math

Part IV – Poetry

Part V – Prayer & Devotion

Part VI – Crafts

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The Creative Madness Mama also known as Margaret is a Christian Stay-at-home Mama, married to the Enginerd, quilter, cross stitcher, avid reader and book-a-holic. As book blogger for various publicists, she loves to share the latest and greatest about books coming out as well as her needle art and other crafty projects with some pictures of her fourteen-year-old AppleBlossom, twelve-year-old OrangeBlossom (the Princess), nine-year-old Almond Blossom (the Rascal boy!), six-year-old (red) Mermaid Warrior, the four-and-a-half-year-old Viking Dragon, and Huckleberry (due in June 2024!) in between. Homeschooling, cloth diapering, breastfeeding, babywearing, bone broth brewing, tea drinking, list making mama full of a little creative and a lot of madness.

13 Comments

  • Nicole Staniger

    I am grateful for your reviews of the Memoria Press core curriculum! I am trying to switch to something more Classical and organized in one place. My concern with this curriculum is that I have a Kindergartner, 1st & 2nd grader (and a baby, but she doesn’t need curriculum ; ). With how detailed and comprehensive this program is, do you think it has enough overlap/flex that I could possibly do grade-specific Math and Phonics but then do the rest of the curriculum at one level (say, 1st grade) for all three kids? Any wisdom in this area? Thanks!

    • CherryBlossomMJ2

      Hi Nicole, I’m sorry I’m so late getting back to you. Busy busy around here with the 5K season starting up! Absolutely, it is possible. I’m currently working with a 3rd, 1st and sometimes involved preK. This fall I will continue trekking with 4th, probably 1st until January/then 2nd, and JrK. Right now, we have a morning teaching session from about 9-11:30. This is when I grade and teach the next sessions of wherever we are at. I use Adventures in Phonics and both girls are on their own levels, but there isn’t much lesson in that. Rod & Staff Arithmetic, again both girls are on their own levels, at this stage it rarely has more than a short lesson, because they currently “get it” but we are fast approaching where their skills will need more than just interaction teaching for math… Both girls are in their own level for manuscript and cursive workbooks. My middle daughter orally gets what my oldest is learning in Latina Christiana. I do not make her write it out or have her own workbook, yet. They do get to start mornings (while I’m attempting a few more minutes of sleep in bed with the nursling ten month old) with reviewing Song School Latin, Prima Latina, Latina Christiana, or Latin for Children DVDs. Again with the “Enrichment type” subjects, my middle daughter gets it orally with Christian Studies, Greek Myths, American Studies, Mammals, States & Capitals, while my oldest has the workbooks. I alternate between doing the First Grade Recitation or the Third Grade Recitation and have them participate together. I do Traditional Spelling with only my First Grader. Right now we also are slowly doing Apologia Who is God? (both in Junior Notebooks Journals as to when we started) and Apologia Anatomy (one in the regular notebook, and the younger in the Junior Notebooking Journal – we copy the coloring pages on random occasion for my elder). They do these together 2-3x per week. Then in spare random moments (they ask!) I have my oldest get out the First Grade Enrichment Guide and go through things with her siblings (they are 8,6,3, and 10 months). They usually do this all in one sitting. After lunch, my oldest goes to do the work, the meat, which we’ve discussed orally, but she has to do her thinking and writing. She uses audiobooks while working on Literature (currently Charlotte’s Web), Christian Studies (today, tomorrow is Greek Myths), Latina Christina and anything else she just didn’t finish during the morning. She is a bookworm and prefers to read the American Studies (M), and do States & Capitals (Th) on her own. (Mammals is W/F). We discuss them sporatically, but she often comes to me with details to tell me and reads other related books from our home library.

      All in all, I wouldn’t go to the middle level, unless your 2nd Grader is comfortable there. I wouldn’t hold them back to be with them. But as we do the oldest core and then bring it to meet my younger. My oldest likes to be “teacher” and in out of school time or when mama’s not available time she will be the one “teaching Junior Kindergarten” next year. With that said, my third grader is almost on third grade math, but not quite. She is on 160 of 170 Second Grade math lessons. My first grader is on 121 of 170 (or is it 140?) math lessons. One will not be finished with “grade” at the end of this year, but the other will be quite early in finishing. I just grab the next book and say a lesson a week day. They only have to do work on the weekends if they’ve fallen behind. Same deal with cursive. My third grader is still in New American Cursive 2, but we do random copywork assignments and she had misplaced her book for months. Again, a lesson a day and move on.

      First Grade is on Phonics, Spelling, Arithmetic, Cursive and Enrichment.
      Second Grade is Reading, Spelling, Arithmetic, Cursive and Enrichment in more detail (History, Science).
      Third Grade is where the meat of the Classical Christian Education begins. Yes, there is Literature, Spelling (we do not recommend Spelling Workout, but I have several other recommendations), Arithmetic, Cursive, and then the Enrichment involves Latin, Grammar, Composition, American Studies, Christian Studies, Greek Myths, States & Capitals and Mammals as well as a read aloud recommendation.

      It is all very possible to combine them. Youngers do oral or lesson (think make a copywork assignment rather than fill in the blank or discussion reply). Olders write more, discuss more with less prompt, and help teach the youngers. The fact that they can teach it gives them confidence and keeps them ahead rather than just another one of the students.

      Of course all this is from my perspective with my kids. One started full blast at 18 months and kept going until she hit a willingness wall at 7. One had no interest what-so-ever until age 6 and started then (only by osmosis did she get anything before that). Now, the one boy at age three is on some days and off others. We just include him in discussion. He is getting bits by hearing their recitations and chants. I’m not concerned if they’re not willing until age nine. Some days are awesome. Some days are nada. We’ve taken two years for third grade because willingness and attitude jumped in (as well as two miscarriages and a baby plus toddler) but as long as she’s willing and we are able to promote a love of learning we are keeping on.

      I’ve tried other things. Memoria Press is always where I come back and find the most comfort. We add a bit, but we love it the best.

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