Happily Homeschooling

Free TOS Holiday Supplement

Hi there. It's been too long, I know. I am posting about a quick note to tell everyone about a free holiday gift that The Old Schoolhouse is offering. It really is FREE. It is the 2009 Digital Holiday Supplement eBook.

It offers 175 pages of recipes, activities & crafts, stories, Christmas carols, Holiday decorating ideas, personalized card ideas, and so much more.

Just follow this link and you will find instructions for downloading and enjoy!!

Coming Attractions

Hello to all of my readers. It has been some time since I’ve posted a review but I want you to know I will be posting reviews soon. Yeah!! My voyage with the TOS Crew has ended for now (maybe again next year), but I do have 3 products I’m currently reviewing for other companies.

Our family is winding down the school year, which has been pretty time consuming. Our testing is done and now we’re finishing up schoolwork.  

We will be attending the NYS LEAH Convention this year. This is the first year I’ve been able to attend since moving to NY in 2002. I’ve always had to work. I’m sooo excited. I am praying that if it is His will, I will be able to speak with companies about reviewing their products.

I am also working on a new idea for my blog. It will be a theme, of sorts, that I will add to on a specific schedule. I haven’t decided what it will be yet. But I have several ideas. If anyone has a need or something they would like to see, let me know. You can add a comment or contact me here. 

Thanks to all of you for reading my blog. I do appreciate it. I look forward to posting more soon.

Take care and may The Lord be with you all. 

Mona Lisa

Memoria Press

Memoria Press – Classical Education 

For my last and final review for the TOS Crew, I had the opportunity to review Memoria Press, a classical Christian education company. I was graciously given 3 different products: Latina Christiana, Traditional Logic I, and Famous Men of Rome. As I have in previous reviews, I will give an overview of the company and then will discuss the products.

Memoria Press offers products to homeschool families that are characterized by “simplicity, quality, and affordability.” Although the programs are of the “highest academic standards”, they are not difficult to follow and can be used by everyone. Parents do not need to be familiar with the subjects in order to teach. This is a wonderful aspect of their programs. Latin and logic are not necessarily easy subjects, but they can be learned smoothly with Memoria Press. 

You can read more about Memoria Press in their About Us section. 

Now on to the products:

Latina Christiana I is an introduction to Christian Latin. It is designed for beginners from 3rd grade up and is generally covered over the course of one year. This is the first course written by Cheryl Lowe. It is designed for students and parents with no Latin background (which is me!). The course has been modified and is now available in the 3rd edition. What we received was the teacher and student workbooks, the pronunciation CD, and the DVD’s. Leigh Lowe is the instructor on the DVD’s and does a remarkable job. Leigh’s voice is calm and easy to listen to, which is important, I think, when watching an instructional video. She follows the workbooks well, too, which makes everything flow right along. Leigh is the author of Prima Latina and teaches at Highlands Latin School. The DVD’s cover all 25 lessons from the workbook. Each lesson is approximately 25 minutes long. Leigh offers tips during each lesson as well as assistance with difficult exercises. It is nice to be able to listen to the pronunciations of each word and know that you are doing it right (or wrong). The curriculum covers vocabulary, grammar, prayers, songs, history lessons, and more. It really is quite amazing how much information is incorporated into this curriculum. The teacher’s manual is a keyed copy of the student workbook. It provides guidelines for teaching, lesson plans, tests & keys, and extra information on Latin and Roman sayings. 

We enjoyed reviewing this program. Because we recently received this, we have not completed many of the lessons, but we have already learned some Latin already. I have always wanted to learn Latin because it is the basis of many of the languages used today. Learning even just the vowels helps explain some of the rules of English (or how vowels break the rules, lol).

Traditional Logic I is an introduction to formal logic. This curriculum can be for all ages but is designed typically for 7th grade and up. It can be covered in one semester or over one school year. Traditional Logic is an “in-depth study of the classical syllogism”. Mr. Cothran explains logic in an easy to understand and comprehensive manner. Traditional Logic I teaches Christian theory of knowledge, 4 kinds of logical statements, 4 ways propositions can be opposed and 3 ways they can be equivalent, and the 7 rules of validity of syllogisms. Like I said, this course is comprehensive and thorough! We received the workbooks (teacher and student) and the DVD set. The DVD set is taught by Martin Cothran, the author and like Latina Christiana, follows the workbook well and also reviews difficult exercises.

Again, we enjoyed reviewing this program. We chose logic because we are involved in NCFCA for Speech and Debate and believe it will all coincide. I first looked at Classical Rhetoric, but after discussing with Tanya from Memoria Press, decided to start with the Traditional Logic program. What we have been able to cover in the short time we’ve had the program has been interesting. The DVD’s are a little dry, but Mr. Cothran does an excellent job explaining logic, which is not an easy task. I do plan to finish this and ultimately move on to Classical Rhetoric.

Famous Men of Rome is an awesome book on great men in Roman history. It covers from Romulus to the end of the Western Empire. It is very well done and easy to read, even for younger students. It includes wonderful full-color illustrations of events during the lives of the men discussed. This book intertwines with Latina Christiana I, as Latin was language for this era. We received the book, as well as the year-long student workbook and teachers manual. The workbook includes famous quotes, a drill of key people and places, vocabulary words, timelines, as well as other great information. Famous Men of Rome alone offers an incredible amount of information. But adding the workbooks allows the student to think far beyond the stories and gain more knowledge and understanding of the Roman Empire, and ultimately, modern political philosophies. Both my children enjoyed reading this book. It is so interesting with all of the historical facts and stories. I plan to purchase the other Famous Men books. You can check them out here. 

The bottom line:

Memoria Press is very reasonably priced. You have the option of purchasing in part or whole most of the curriculum they offer.

Latina Christiana I is available for $39.95, with the DVD’s and flashcards it is $97.60. You can also purchase individual supplements from this page. 

Traditional Logic I is available for $31.90, with the DVD’s it is $68.95. The DVD’s alone are $45.00. Again, you can purchase supplemental material from this page. 

Famous Men of Rome is available right now for $39.95, which includes the teacher and student guides. The book alone is $16.95.

There are many more products available. You can look at all of them from the home page. 

You can also view the other crew member’s reviews here.

Memoria Press is a family-run publishing company that offers classical Christian education materials for home and private schools. Cheryl Lowe founded the company in 1994 “to help promote and transmit the classical heritage of the Christian West…” Currently, a K-12 classical curriculum is being developed and field-tested at Highlands Latin School in Louisville, KY. Memoria Press’ educational philosophy is classical Christian education, which is “the cultivation of wisdom and virtue through meditation on the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.

Tapestry of Grace Unit Study

Tapestry of Grace DE

One of the final reviews I have for the TOS focus group is Tapestry of Grace (TOG). For those of you that have not heard of TOG, it is a Christian, classical education, using a guided unit-study approach with history as the core theme. I’ll begin by telling you about TOG, and then about the curriculum we received.

Who & What is Tapestry of Grace?

TOG has recently adapted their print version to a digital edition (Tapestry DE) which is what we in the group received. This version is exactly the same as the print version, with a few bonuses which include: affordable, printable (you choose what & when to print), instant access (download to your computer instantly), compact (CD’s instead of binders), and never becomes outdated (TOG offers free update downloads). TOG teaches based on stages or levels, and not ages. This method allows parents to “successfully teach humanities subjects to all their children simultaneously because the content has been well organized.” TOG covers history, church history, literature, geography, fine arts, government, philosophy, and writing & composition. It does not cover science, math, spelling, grammar, or a foreign language.

TOG uses visual, auditory, and tactile learning styles and all of the lessons can be modified according to each family’s individual needs.  This is a wonderful aspect of Tapestry of Grace.

TOG is a 4 year curriculum that covers history from Creation to the 21st Century. Each year has 4 units and each unit is then broken down into weeks. It really is quite organized!

On to the curriculum:

We received Year 2 Unit 3, Of Crowns & Colonies. We chose this because we really like Colonial America. We have been to Williamsburg and Yorktown, VA and loved all of the history there. This unit encompassed so much information. It is incredible. One of the crafts we were able to do was to make a model of a ship. This was a lot of fun and both kids enjoyed it. My kids love crafts and would create all day long if I let them. The crafts were great, but that was only part of what we enjoyed. The facts and information given throughout the curriculum is incredible. It is very thorough and complete.

The digital version of TOG comes to you as a .PDF file that is secured by LockLizard. It’s a fairly simple download, and there is fantastic customer service available if there are any problems.  After you have read, at least once, the Start Guide and The Loom, then you will open the curriculum. You will find all of the information well organized (I said that before, lol), which allows you to jump to where you want to be, or print what you want. You will need to have access to a library or you can purchase the reading requirements from BookShelf Central, through Tapestry of Grace (click here to view). There are a lot of reading sources necessary to have in order to complete this study.

Before you start the program, it is crucial to read the Simple Start Guide and view The Loom. Both of these will help you tremendously to understand TOG and how it works. The Loom offers book updates, corrections, tips and helps, and general resources. Another source to read before you start is Setting up Tapestry. This provides 5 simple steps to take before starting. There are also forums that you can link into and be connected with others using the same year. Like I said, TOG is very organized. 

What we thought:

Overall, I will say Tapestry of Grace is an incredibly in depth curriculum that can serve your family many years with moderate changes from year to year. It can be used for children of all levels and together. This works well for families with a range of ages. However, there is so much information it can be easily overwhelming if you are not used to the style, which I was not. Definitely reading the recommended resources first is a must, otherwise, you may not be able to understand and/or navigate through the file. I have to say, as much as I admire unit studies and would like to use them more often, I am not a unit study kind of homeschooling mom. I guess I like separate subjects usually. I do like unit studies when we want to take a break from our normal routine for a few days. There is also a lot of teacher preparation time required, which I do not often have, unfortunately. Those that do, I am sure, will like TOG very much.

What's the bottom line?

The cost is just $45 a unit or $170 for the full DE year. The printed version is $225 for a full year. There are bundles that you can buy, too. Tapestry of Grace also sells MapAids, Writing Aids, Evaluations, and much more. You can see all that they sell here.

You can try Tapestry of Grace out here for a free 3-week trial. This will give you a good idea of what TOG is and you can see just how it will fit for your family. I also invite you to read other Crew member’s reviews here.