I also received Famous Men of Modern Times set by John Haaren, AB Poland, edited with color illustrations by Memoria Press.  Also included were the Famous Men of Modern Times Teacher and Student Guides.

The Famous Men of Modern Times book contains 33 short bios of some of the most influential men in history, including Christopher Columbus, Abraham Lincoln, Sir Issac Newton and Napoleon Bonaparte.  (No, not Napoleon Dynamite!)  There are also bios other men you may not have heard of, but were nonetheless influential.

The workbook that goes along with Famous Men of Modern Times contains 33 lessons which include famous quotes, a drill of key people and places, ten vocabulary words, 5-10 comprehension questions per lesson, and an activities section that includes map work, timelines, discussion questions, and art projects. It also includes supplemental exercises, including maps, a “Who Said That?” worksheet, and drawing pages. 

The Teacher's Guide is simply the Student Guide with the answers filled in.

***I might add that these products are only a very few of the many products that Memoria Press offers, all catering to the classical education teacher and student, though others will find things to like there too.  :)

What are the pros of this product?  Latina Christina is a very simple to use program.  The lessons are easy to teach, even if you don't know much Latin beyond mea culpa.  Every thing is spelled out for you, and the lessons are short and sweet.  You don't have to worry about pronunciation, because the CD takes care of that for you.  Also, having the instructional DVDs it great!  Just pop it in your DVD player and you're good to go! 

The Famous Men of Modern Times is also easy to use.  You simply read the bio, and then do the two workbook pages that go along with it.  Also, now many of the pictures are now illustrated in color and are quite striking!

What's not to like?  There are really no cons to any of the products or to Memoria Press in general that I can see.  If you're interested in teaching your child Latin, or love historical biographies, these are great products. Memoria Press seems to be an excellent company with excellent resources. 

The only possible negative I can see is that in the current catalog there are a few articles that, as someone who is not a classical educator, I tend to disagree with.   Therefore I cannot say that I agree wholeheartedly with the company's educational philosophy.  However, I didn't see anything disagreeable with the products themselves.  They seem to have plenty of products for classical educators that could easily be used by eclectic or crazy folks like me!  :)

Also, even though you could consider the bios comparable to "living books," the workbook is, well, a workbook!  Not that that is necessarily a negative, but if you hate workbooks, you might not care to buy the student's or teacher's guides. That being said, I think you would still enjoy the Famous Men book itself.  However, it might serve you well to buy the teacher's guide and just go over the questions orally. 

The Crazy Mom take:  I have really enjoyed using Latina Christiana with my daughter Princess.  It's my kind of product.  I was able to pick up the book, sit down with Princess and get to work.  I like the way the lessons are set up.  It's just so easy. And if I am feeling really lazy I can just have Princess use the instructional DVDs.  But here's a secret, I don't want to miss any of the lessons! 

I have always loved words, and it's been fun to learn some Latin.  Over the years I have learned a lot on my own about what certain root words mean, just by reading and observing, but I really like learning exactly what English derivatives come from Latin.  I am hooked!  Even if my kids hated this, I'd be tempted to buy it for myself!  However, so far I've only used this program with Princess and she seems to like it as much as I do. I might just use it with my older kids next year, especially since my son Mr. Personality wants to go into law.  Now how much help would knowing Latin be to a law student, eh?   LOL

Now, I have to make a confession.  When we were offered books to review from Memoria Press we were offered the Latina Christiana along with Famous Men of Rome, but were told we could chose any other books instead if we wanted to.  So, I chose Famous Men of Modern Times.  What I didn't realize is that Lantina Christiana actually uses Famous Men of Rome as part of the Latin program.  It doesn't teach Latin, but it does familiarize the student with Roman history.  I have had to skip the history portion of the program.  Just a heads up so that if you buy Latina Christiana, you might consider buying the Famous Men of Rome set, which will most likely end up on my own wish list for next year if I ever get a change to make it!  :) 

That being said, I chose Famous Men of Modern Times because I tend to enjoy more recent history.  Here's the embarrassing thing, and here's where it will become painfully obvious that I was not classically educated, even though I have a college degree.  When I opened this book I only knew who just a few of these "famous" men were.  There were a few more who had familiar names, but I could not tell you a single fact about them.  

So, I have enjoyed reading through this book.  I am thinking of using them for history next year.  I plan to have my kids read the bios independently and then I'll simply discuss them using the teacher's guide.  Actually, like I said above, I will probably order the Famous Men of Rome and go through that first, then on to Famous Men of the Middle Ages before I use this one.  I really think the way to learn history is to learn about the people who made it happen. 

So, there you go.  If what I received from Memoria Press is representative of their other products, I can honestly say that I'd recommend them.  Of course, that is just my humble opinion, you will have to make your own determination.  My suggestion is that you check out the website and the other reviews from the TOS Crew.  You'll find the links below.

What's the bottom line? Latina Christiana 1 books with CD $39.95 / Latina Christian 1 Instructional DVDs $55 / Famous Men of Modern Times Set $39.95

I am going to Memoria Press give out of 4 out 5 smileys!!!*

Check it out! http://www.memoriapress.com

See what my fellow TOS Crew members have to say @

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/674905/

*The Smiley System: 

I can't really recommend this product.

 I doubt this product would be helpful to many people.

 This is a good product, but isn't right for everyone.

 Most homeschool moms will find this useful.

 This is great, and I would recommend it to anyone!!!