Memoria Press Mammal Set Review

^{Disclaimer: We received this product for review purposes. As always, we are not required to write a positive review. All opinions are honest and my own. This post may contain affiliated links.}

I love using different materials that reinforce what I taught my kids. It helps me gauge what they actually retained during our instructional time and it’s especially helpful when the subject matter is of personal interest to them.

We were sent Memoria Press’ Mammals Unit for third grade and above. Now, even-though, Memoria Press is a Christian resource, the questions, the books used, and the instructional guide were devoid of any religious language, from what I could tell.

Quick Overview:

Details

What’s Included: The package includes the Teacher Manual, one student workbook and three informational books; two published from outside sources and one published by Memoria Press.

Costs: $70

Lessons: There are 30 lessons; 16 topics covered.

Quizzes/Exams: 10 quizzes and 3 exams (also included as a downloadable PDF)

This is a very traditional worktext. The student is meant to read the assigned textbook, answer comprehension questions, and/or draw or label animals. Additionally, there are specific questions for oral discussions. The quizzes and tests are a combination of fill-ins the blanks and standard questions.

How We Use It and What do I find of Value?

We mostly use it as is, except we don’t follow the schedule to the T. The formatting and the resources used are a perfect fit for myself and what I want to accomplish in my home. The subject matter, being Mammals, is something that my daughter loves, so the implementation is made easier. So, what is it that I want to accomplish? It’s making sure that my children can truly understand what they are reading and are able to pull/cite evidence from informational text to answer questions.

How do we do this? We “preview” the assigned text, together. We go over the titles and look at the pictures and discuss. We then run-through the questions, to get a sense of what will be asked. Afterward, we will read the assigned reading, twice. Once, as a preview and the second time as “close-reading”. We read with the intention of citing evidence to answer the questions and for deeper understanding. Does my daughter love reading it twice? Ab-so-lute-ly, not. But its gets done.

It probably takes us 3-4 days to complete a lesson because we do it in chunks. Families with multiple homeschooled kids, you understand.

There’s even a review section, in both the SG and TM, at the end of each lesson, with about 5 main ideas that the student should memorize.

Memoria Press honestly, made things easier for me.