Memoria Press Giveaway!!!

Last school year (2012-2013) I was looking for a literature rich curriculum for my Kindergarten age son. I wanted something "like" Five in a Row but something that was more laid out for me and not quite so open ended. After looking at every literature based Kindergarten program and not being satisfied with any of them, I found just what I was looking for in an unlikely place.

I had always thought of Memoria Press as a schoolish classical curriculum that certainly didn't line up with my Charlotte Mason tendencies. But they had just come out with a new Kindergarten program and it had a very intriguing Enrichment portion written into the Teacher's Guide. It scheduled tons of beautiful, engaging picture books like Five in a Row.

They used their main book for the week as their theme to teach History, Science, Art, Literature, Poetry and Music. Sometimes their were additional books scheduled or I could add my own since the schedule was so doable.

At that time, in order to get the Enrichment schedule, you had to purchase their Teacher's Guide which included all their subjects including Math, Memory Work, Reading Lessons, etc... It was a great deal at only $30. I purchased it and rewrote it in my lesson planner, only copying the parts I wanted to teach and adding in anything additional I wanted. Here is what their planner looks like:

It worked out beautifully for the first year. I had Art Prints made by finding their images online and printing them as photographs at Walgreens. Each week I would introduce the new print to my son and he would keep them in a photo album. He loved to look over all the ones he had already learned and recite each one by name and artist. I was amazed how he learned them all.

I was excited to start the new school year using Memoria Press' again, but them MP went and upped their game coming out with new Enrichment Guides that take all that wonderful information and expand it with even more wonderful information.

Now each weeks lessons include:

• Read-Aloud Book overview which gives you a heads up what the story will be about. 
• Information about the Author & Illustrator
• Discussion ideas before you read. 
• Vocabulary to use as you see fit.
• Picture Reviews and Comprehension questions. 
• After you read questions. 

Just like Five in a Row, you'll read your story book each day so you can spread these activities out over the week. Here are scan's of this Part 1 of the guide using the book Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. 

On the next two page spread, you have Social Study & Science Readings and hands on activity suggestions. Sometimes their are additional book selections. I often like to get additional books for these categories. I have no trouble finding them by looking on Amazon.com for suggestions and then requesting them from my library. 

You'll also find the art section here and it has been greatly expanded. Each week has always had an Art Print to study, but now they also include detailed information about the artist and discussion notes about the print. On top of that, they also sell beautiful, high quality Art Cards now for $9.95! I like to hang mine up on a string for display. I still get the photo cards from Walgreens for my son's photo album. 

Next up is music. Each week has a wonderful selection of classical or patriotic music for the children to listen to. What I have been doing since last year, is looking on YouTube for the weeks selection. I am often able to find wonderful videos that showcase an actual orchestra playing the piece in which I am able to also discuss with my son the different instruments and parts of the orchestra. Here is an example:

Here is a little tip I learned recently. If you want to protect your children's eyes from the additional videos that pop up before and after the video your trying to watch, just put the word "quiet" in front of youtube.com. So the address for this video would be: http://www.quietyoutube.com/watch?v=gElTKhbnQxU Check it out to see what I mean. 

Finally, their is poetry. The guide schedules poems from Eric Carle's Animals, Animals:

or A Child's Book of Poem's by Gyo Fujikawa

This is a precious time and the Teacher's Guide includes discussion questions to ponder. Here is what Part 2 looks like of Week 1 that uses the book Mrs. Spider's Tea Party.

So today I am so excited to say that I am teaming up with Memoria Press to giveaway a brand new copy of their 1st Grade Enrichment Guide! I hope you are excited to give the wonderful program a whirl. As of right now, Memoria has published these guides for grades K & 1st but I wouldn't be surprised if more were in the works. This giveaway ends on February 12th, my birthday! Enter today and please share this with all your homeschool friends!

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