A Stable Beginning: Memoria Press: D'Aulaires' Greek Myths ~ a TOS review

Friday, May 20, 2016

Memoria Press: D'Aulaires' Greek Myths ~ a TOS review

As a Classical homeschooling family we are quite familiar with Memoria Press and the whole array of products they offer. I was pleased as punch when the D’Aulaires’ Greek Myths set was offered for review to members of the Crew. Okay, I admit was so excited I did one of my happy dances, you know the ones where the girls and my son look at me like I am a bit off my rocker over curriculum. Yea, it was a happy day when the materials arrived!

Over the last year we have strayed away from the Classical model of education to a more eclectic, fly by the seat of our pants approach. Well, I am here to tell you that it did not work for our family and we are in the process of doing a complete overhaul of our plan of study and going back to the model that I know works and meets the end goal the LCDR and I have for our children’s education with the help of Memoria Press.

Logic, Greek Myths and Astronomy Memoria Press Review

Memoria Press was founded in 1994 by Cheryl Lowe. It is a family-run publishing company that strives to provide easy to use classical curriculum for private and homeschool families. Currently, Memoria Press has products for children from Preschool through Twelfth grade in subjects ranging from, Classical Core Curriculum, Latin, Classical Studies, Christian Studies, Logic & Rhetoric, Phonics & Early Reading, Penmanship, Literature & Poetry, American & Modern Studies, Writing & English Grammar, Science & Math, Greek, Modern Languages, Educational Resources, eBooks, Special-Needs, and Art & Music. All of the products Memoria Press produces are used within the walls of the Highland Latin School in Kentucky and have been refined for use within homeschools. Written from a Christian worldview the company helps to provide three things: simplicity, quality and affordability.

I’ve had my eye on this program for a few months to use with Montana, my rising fourth grader and I was ecstatic when we were selected to review it. Especially since we are transitioning back to a fully Classical model of education. I knew that getting a jump start on the materials now will hopefully make the transition a little easier come August when our new school year starts.

We received the full D’Aulaires’ Greek Myths Set which includes the:

~ D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths {$19.95}

~ D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths Student Guide {$17.95}

~ D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths Teacher Guide {$17.95}

~ D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths Flashcards {12.95}

This full set retails for $57.00 plus shipping. Individuals components are available to purchase separately too at the prices listed. Each student should have their own Student Guide as it is intended for single student usage.

D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths is an over-sized paperback book that is rich in colorful drawings and was written by Ingri & Edgar Parin d’Aulaire. It is divided into bite sized chapters and covers everything one could possibly want to know about Greek gods and Goddesses and myths. It is a very thorough book and covers the beginning, to Zeus and his family, Minor gods, and the descendants of Zeus.

The Student Guide is divided into four sections for each of the twenty-five lessons included. There are also a number of review lessons sprinkled in, about every 5 lessons and include vocabulary, matching facts and people, and map work. There are four main parts of the guide:

Facts to Know: This is the most important part of the course. The words in this section are the foundation of the memory work and are expected to be drilled daily throughout the year. The flashcards (included in the full set) have the same information to drill these important names and places.

Vocabulary: The D’Aulaires’ text is a rich text with some advanced vocabulary. The writers of the guide have identified words that might be new or challenging to students so they can be discussed before reading. The writers of this guide believe it is better for a student to learn new vocabulary from the teacher, rather, than just looking it up in the dictionary and copying.

Comprehension Questions: Each lessons have between 5-10 comprehension questions that are meant to help students identify virtues and follies of the heroes they read about. It is best for the answers to be written in complete sentences with proper punctuation and capitalization. As a suggestion for those students who still have large handwriting, it is okay to have them write the answers to the questions in a separate notebook.

Activities: Several different options are given in this section and always are referenced to the illustrations included from the reading assignment. Sometimes the student is directed to identify specific details, while other times they may be asked to label, in pencil or orally, in the book.

The Teacher’s Guide includes all of the items covered above in the Student Guide and more! All of the answers are included in great detail for every lesson. At the back of the book there are review sections for the final review test, including a study guide of what you should know prior to taking the test. A section of 110 drill questions, a Greek Myths lists, Maps, a detailed pronunciation guide {which I found extremely helpful}, and Tests with Answer Keys.

The flashcards are a set of 107 perforated white cards that contain the necessary vocabulary to drill on. One side has the definition while the other has the vocabulary word. Montana is a very hands-on learner so I decided to have her illustrate her own flashcards to help her learn the facts.

Memoria Press also offers digital lesson plans if you so choose to use them to help you schedule the material out over the course of the year. They are completely optional, but are available for $8.00 for a PDF download. I choose to purchase them and they helped me see the big picture of how to breakdown each week of our study. The plans also include a set of drill cards. I printed them on colored coordinated paper to align to the way the units are broken down in the plans.

I had the Greek Myths material scheduled to be used twice a week, Wednesdays and Fridays. We began each lesson drilling the facts to know and vocabulary either with her homemade flashcards or the ones included with the plan set. Each week I would highlight what I wanted to get done on either Wednesday or Friday in both the Student Guide and the Teacher’s Guide. However, Montana, 9.5 years old, usually used Saturday to finish up her homemade flashcards.

Since we have two copies of the text I chose to have Montana read the story aloud to me while I followed along giving her the necessary corrections if she mispronounced a word. This worked ideally for us as it gave her extra reading practice at a level just above her reading level.

Overall, I love this set and we give it two thumbs up! It has really stretched Montana and her learning the last six weeks in a good way. Greek Myths are the second important stories in history, next to the Bible. Montana and I are both learning more about the Greeks who created their gods in the image of man, all the while we are putting focus on the God who created man in his image. I definitely think you should check out this set if you want a through homeschool curriculum about Greek Myths. We will be continuing to use this set until completion. I hope to make it through lesson 10 before we stop for summer break and then pick up again in the fall with a review and then finish up the book. The curriculum is geared towards 3rd and 4th graders and can be scheduled for completion in one or two years, depending how you break up the learning.

Be sure to check out what my CrewMates thought of this curriculum or the other two curriculum sets being offered, Book of Astronomy Set and Traditional Logic I Complete Set by clicking the banner below.