Latina Christiana Complete Set from Memoria Press Review

{Disclaimer:  I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.  This post contains affiliate links.}


I am a huge Memoria Press fan so I was excited to receive their Latina Christiana Complete Set to review.  You may remember our review of First Form Latin from Memoria Press last year.  This set is designed as a beginner course for students of all ages with a more specific target for grades 3-6th.  It is recommended to move from Latina Christiana into First Form Latin.  I thought this program would be great for my younger kiddos!

Our Latina Christiana Complete Set

Our set came with a Teacher Manual, Student Book, Instructional DVDs, a Pronunciation CD and Flashcards.  Fear not if you know nothing about Latin!  This course was specifically made for you, the teacher with no Latin background (that's me!).

 Our Instructional DVDs

 A closer look

I love having the Instructional DVDs component of this course.  Our program includes 3 discs with a total of ~ 5.5 hours of instruction.  The lessons have a self-instructive format and the average lesson time is ~ 15 minutes.

 

Jessica Watson is the Latin Instructor (the same instructor used in our First Form Latin) and she does a great job laying out the material and teaching comprehensively for each new grammar lesson.  I think the vocabulary practice and explanations of the derivatives is especially great.  The DVDs include helpful on-screen notes, illustrations, diagrams, and recitations.

D watching the Introduction.

Pronunciation CD

The Pronunciation CD is a valuable resource to have as it contains all verbal pronunciations for every lesson.  Fear not if you are not sure how to pronounce a word!  This trusty CD comes in handy.

Our Teacher Manual

The Teacher Manual is chock-full of everything you need!  It even includes the Student Text as in inset with overlaid answers.  With detailed weekly lesson plans, comprehensive teaching instructions, grammar overview, a recitation schedule, tests/quizzes and answer keys along with background information of Latin sayings and Roman history.  Memoria Press has done all the legwork for you!

 Above you can see what I mean about having the student workbook as an inset.

 Another peek inside

Our Student Workbook

All of the material in this program is reusable and can be used with multiple students with the exception of the student workbook.  You will need a separate student workbook for each student in this program.  Each lesson in the student workbook is broken into Latin sayings, vocabulary, and grammar forms.  There are a total of 25 lessons (plus 5 review lessons).  Every lesson has corresponding exercises to be completed.  The exercises give consistent practice and review of the lesson information.  There is a lovely Appendices at the back of the student workbook chock-full of great resources.

 A peek at Lesson 1

 D completing Lesson 1

 A close-up view of her completed page.

 A peek at the first review lesson (reviews lessons 1-5)

 Our flashcards

 Above are the flashcards for lesson 1 vocabulary.

These flashcards work for both the Latina Christiana and Prima Latina programs.  The flashcards come pre-cut (less prep work!) and are 3.5 x 2.5 inches.  The cards contain the vocabulary with derivatives, Latin sayings and the conjugations and declensions.  I really appreciate that they include the lesson number that they correspond with on the cards as it makes it easy to organize and use them!  Above you will see that our amo flashcard contains 1 (PL 4) in the upper left hand corner, the 1 corresponds to lesson 1 in Latina Christiana while the PL 4 corresponds to lesson 4 in Prima Latina.

I have started using this program with D, who is finishing the 5th grade and has no previous Latin instruction.  I think it's a great fit for her.  We started at a very slow pace because we are planning on taking a break over the summer and jumping back into it in the Fall.  I really like that this program introduces Latin at a gentle pace and gives the students all the tools they need.  And speaking of tools:  we have the CD if we can't remember the pronunciation of a word, we have the instructional DVDs so I don't have to be intimidated with teaching the lessons, and I have the all important teacher key if I'm unsure of the correct answer.  Memoria Press's Latin sets really are complete!  If you are looking for a beginner Latin program for your student, I would definitely check out Latina Christiana.

I also want to mention that there is an optional history component to this program from Memoria Press, Famous Men of Rome Set.  A great motivating factor for students studying the Latin language is learning the history and culture of Rome and Memoria Press has made this easy with this extra option.

Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read even more reviews of Memoria Press including some of their other Latin Complete sets.

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Second Grade Literature Guide Set by Memoria Press Review

E will be in 2nd grade this upcoming school year.  I was super excited when we received the opportunity to review the Second Grade Literature Guide Set from Memoria Press.  You guys might remember I'm a huge fan of Memoria Press as we have used their First Form Latin and Simply Classical Spelling Books.  Their products are amazing.

We received all of the Second Grade Literature Guides without the novels.  This was super generous of Memoria Press as we only had time to review one of the guides in this set.  This Second Grade Literature Guide Set includes both student study guides and teacher guides for all five novels - Prairie School, The Courage of Sarah Noble, Little House in the Big Woods, Tales from Beatrix Potter and Animal Folk Tales of America.  Thankfully, we already owned all of these novels except Animal Folk Tales of America so I am ordering it as we speak.

 Our Literature Guide Set

 Our Books

The student study guides are consumable and expected to be used by one student; whereas, the teacher guides can be reused.  E and I chose to start with Prairie School + Memoria Press Literature Guide.

Our Prairie School Set

E reading

Memoria Press' literature study guides help train students to become engaged, active readers and challenges them to think.  These guides focus on comprehension, vocabulary, spelling and composition skills.  Every lesson has a word study to help enrich students vocabulary.  I really appreciate the comprehension questions that challenge students to think about what they have read and learn to identify the main points and messages.

E's student study guide pages for Chapter 1

And the pages for Chapter 2

Prairie School contains eight chapters and is 48 pages so this guide had eight lessons.  You can have your student read the book to you or have them read independently.  I had E read the first two chapters aloud to me.  She did such an amazing job that I had her read the remainder of the book on her own.  The teacher guide contains a model lesson plan that includes pre-reading, reading, and post-reading instructions.  There are four main sections on the pages of the student study guide:  pronounce and spell, vocabulary, comprehension questions, and discussion.  I really like the Enrichment section that includes activities like copywork, dictation, composition, research, mapping, drawing, poetry work, etc.  I have been so impressed with E's comprehension and discussion ability.  It has been so fun.  E reads the comprehension questions aloud to me and tells me what she remembers.  The vocabulary portion has been so rewarding as E's vocabulary is steadily increasing.  She knew some words, had great deduction for others and learned several new definitions throughout this book like hearth, buggy and primer.  E is very advanced in her reading and this book was one of the shorter ones so our pace was a bit faster than expected.  However, we didn't speed through it because there was such value in our rich discussions!

We have already begun our next journey into Tales from Beatrix Potter.  I am pumped that I will be able to use the rest of these guides throughout E's 2nd grade school year.

Tales from Beatrix Potter Set

Tales from Beatrix Potter focuses on the tales of Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny, Tom Kitten and Johnny Town-Mouse.  It has the same model plan and includes a life lesson section for each book.

Animal Folk Tales of America Set

Animal Folk Tales of America is on its way to me but it looks like it is 14 chapters long.  There is the same model plan and it includes rhyming, writing a poem and has a few chapter assessments.  

Little House in the Big Woods Set

Little House in the Big Woods has 13 chapters and is 238 pages long.  The chapters are longer in Little House in the Big Woods so many of the chapters are broken into two lessons with a part 1 and part 2 in the student study guide, not all though.  There is the same model lesson plan as the other guides.  There are 4 honors activities as well as multiple assessments as well.

Example of an honors activity

I'm really looking forward to researching Wisconsin with E as we have family there and we have visited many times!

The Courage of Sarah Noble Set

The Courage of Sarah Noble has 11 chapters.  It has the same model plan with 3 honors activities and 3 chapter assessments.

I'm excited about this illustrating a scene activity.

I love that you can see samples of both the student study guides and teacher guides for all five novels on Memoria Press' website.

Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read more reviews of Memoria Press and check out some of their other products including Third Grade Literature Guide Set, Fourth Grade Literature Guide Set, Fifth Grade Literature Guide Set, Sixth Grade Literature Guide Set, Seventh Grade Literature Guide Set, Eighth Grade Literature Guide Set, Ninth Grade Literature Guide Set, and Tenth Grade Literature Guide Set not to mention the StoryTime Treasures Set and More StoryTime Treasures Set.

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Memoria Press Simply Classical Spelling Book One: Step-by-Step Words and Simply Classical Spelling Book Two: Step-by-Step Words Review

I love the classical approach of teaching and learning!  I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review Simply Classical Spelling Book One: Step-by-Step Words and Simply Classical Spelling Book Two: Step-by-Step Words from Memoria Press.  I reviewed their First Form Latin back in March.  This series is specifically designed to give struggling writers (and those with Special Needs) an incremental, multi-sensory approach with an oral/aural emphasis.  Each week has targeted Word Study exercises to promote linguistic awareness, cognitive flexibility, and improved spelling skills.  Both books have 34 weeks of lessons with the last week in Book One and last two weeks in Book Two focusing on assessment.

Our Books

These books are geared for a skill level ~ 1st-3rd grade so I initially planned to use them with E (7 years old).  However, it turns out that E has a gift in spelling and is pretty advanced in language arts at the moment.  I had her take the Dictation Pre-Test for Book Two and she scored 100%.  The book recommends that students with 90-100% accuracy in spelling, sentence construction, and punctuation, proceed to a more challenging spelling program.  

E with our books

The blank Dictation Pre-Test and E taking the test.

E with her completed test.

As another bench mark, I asked E to spell all 90 common words and sight words used in Book Two and she could correctly spell them all.

I made flashcards for all the Words to Know in Book Two as recommended.

Here you can see the flashcards for lesson 1.

So, I switched gears and now I am using this program with F (5 years old) beginning with Book One.  I am not progressing as quickly through the program with him as I had originally planned with E as he is still young and is taking more time for the lessons, it is a bit advanced for him.  My current plan is to use this more thoroughly with him in the Fall and/or Spring as part of his Kindergarten curriculum as his readiness improves.  He is really enjoying the few lessons we have done so far.

F with his new spelling book

 Reading and spelling the words to me for Lesson 1 in Book One.

Reading the Words in Context sentence

Both of these books do not have a separate Teacher Guide.  The book itself is all you need.  Teacher Notes are located in the front of the books.  They both contain an appendix at the back of the book which includes the Scope & Sequence for the program.  This is a great weekly glance of what phonics/spelling pattern or rule is being covered as well as which common words or sight words are introduced.

Scope & Sequence from Book One

Two of my favorite things about these books are the Words in Context and Word Study Sections for each week.  The Words in Context section places the student's spelling words in the broader context of one or more sentences.  Students can also create their own sentences from spelling words.  The Word Study sections help students to learn and practice word analysis.  They may be asked to find a vowel in a word, make a new word by changing a consonant, find the singular/plural word, find the rhyming word, etc.  I like that this program is simple but also has great student benefit.  I also like the continuity from Book One to Book Two.  I'm super excited about incorporating this into F's curriculum next year and I plan on sequentially working through both books with him.

Memoria Press generously provided Homeschool Review Crew families the opportunity to review a variety of other products including Simply Classical Writing Book One: Step-by-Step Sentences (Bible Edition), Simply Classical Writing Book Two: Step-by-Step Sentences (Bible Edition), The Story of the Thirteen Colonies & The Great Republic Set, 200 Questions about American History Set and The Wars of the Jews Set.  Be sure to click on the banner below to check out all the reviews of these wonderful Memoria Press products.

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Memoria Press First Form Latin Review

I love Memoria Press so I was super excited to receive First Form Latin: Complete Set for review.  This extensive set includes a Teacher Manual, Teacher Key, Student Text, Student Workbook, Quizzes & Tests, Pronunciation CD, Flashcards and DVDs.  This really is everything you need to give your kids a solid Latin foundation.

First Form Latin:  Complete Set

Teacher Manual

The Teacher Manual is fabulous.  It has everything you need.  It even includes the Student Text as in inset, extensive teaching notes and colored answers.  It really is chock-full of great information.

Table of Contents for the Teacher Manual

The suggested lesson plans are really helpful.

Instructional DVDs - this is a 5 disc set.

I truly love having these, they take the pressure off of me!  The kids Latin Instructor (or Magistra), Jessica Watson, does a great job explaining Latin.  I have been watching the lessons with the kids and I appreciate how she lays out the material.  The DVDs include helpful notes, illustrations, diagrams, and recitations.

Watching lesson 1

 Jessica Watson teaching lesson 1

 Showing the First Conjugation - Present Tense

 I loved that she showed the kids derivatives.

Student Text

Looking at the text during the video instruction.

A look inside the text

This set came with a Student Workbook.  I bought extra books since I wanted to use this program with A, B and C.  Each lesson has 4-6 pages of exercises that help teach concepts through practice to help learn mastery.  You need a separate workbook for each student in this program.

B working on her workbook

Here you can see her working on her assignment.

Inside Student Workbook

 Quizzes and Tests booklet with reproducible weekly quizzes and unit tests.  

Teacher Key - has answers to the workbook exercises, quizzes and tests

 First Form Latin Flashcards

 Here are the flashcards for lesson 1.

Backside of the cards for lesson 1.

The flashcards contain the vocabulary, Latin sayings and grammar forms.  I love that they include the lesson number that they correspond with on the cards.  This makes it easy to organize them.

Pronunciation CD 

The Pronunciation CD is a great resource as it contains a pronunciation guide for all vocabulary and grammar forms for every lesson.  This along with the Instructional DVDs are great if you feel lost.

This curriculum (written by Cheryl Lowe) is designed for all beginners, grades 5 and up (or as a follow-up for those that completed Latina Christiana).  A and B have both had some experience with Latin through their Challenge A classes.  C has had no previous Latin instruction.  If you are looking for a Latin program to begin with, this is a great one to use.  It introduces Latin at a gentle pace and gives the students the tools for mastery.  It also has a unique systematic approach to teaching grammar.  Not sure how to pronounce the words - you have the pronunciation CD.  Intimidated by teaching the lessons - you have the instructional DVDs.  Not sure you will know the answers - you have the teacher key.  Memoria Press's First Form Latin: Complete Set really is complete!

Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read more reviews of Memoria Press.


I look forward to seeing how much Latin A, B and C master when they have completed this program.  I'm also really enjoying learning about the Latin language myself.  I'm learning right alongside them.