Ladybug and I have been reviewing 2 products from
Memoria Press. One of the first things I noticed about these books from
Memoria Press is how beautiful they are. It is obvious that a lot of time and thought went into these products. First up is
Classical Phonics: A Child's Guide to Word Mastery by Cheryl Lowe.
This cute little reader has ten units that are divided into two parts as well as suggestions for use. It is based on the 1913 book Word Mastery by Florence Akin. Design and graphics have been added to make the original pages more attractive. The content has also been reorganized. There are fewer words per page, words have been reorganized to make them more phonetically accurate. A page of sight words has also been added.
Below are two
sample pages, one from the
beginning of the book and one from near the
end.
Classical Phonics is a
great little reader to have around to help beginning readers review what they have learned. It retails for
$14.95. Ladybug and I have really enjoyed using this book to review what she already knows. She loves to see how quickly she can read a list of words! I love how the graphics add to the text but don't "give away" what the words are.
Next up is
First Start Reading: Phonics, Reading & Printing also by Cheryl Lowe. This is a set of three workbooks and a Teacher Guide (
$29.95 for the workbooks and teacher guide or
$21.00 for just the student workbooks).
From their website: First Start Reading covers consonants, short vowels, 45 common words, and manuscript printing, accompanied by artist-drawn coloring pictures and drawing pages for every letter. Your child will begin reading in the very first lesson as he progresses through three student books and twentyfive phonetic stories, such as "Hogs and Pigs" and "Jog to the Jet." A Teacher Manual guides you through the program and provides helpful assessments and teaching tips.
Even though
Ladybug could have started with book B we started with book A. This was a nice review and allowed her some immediate success (especially as she did 3-5 lessons per day)! What surprised me about these workbooks is the emphasis on holding a pencil correctly. In the past I taught Kindergarten in the Public Schools and one of the things that really bothered me was that I wasn't allowed to teach my students how to hold a pencil properly. I feel this is important because when the pencil is held the correct way, not only is it easier to form letters, but hand cramps and other pains are virtually eliminated. We are using a different type of penmanship so as not to confuse Ladybug, we did not use the writing portion of the workbooks. You could also eliminate or postpone the writing portion if you have a student who is ready to read but not quite ready to write.
Classical Phonics In a Nutshell:
~$14.95
~Paperback
~Ages 4+
~126 pages
~Reuseable
First Start Reading In a Nutshell:
~ $29.95 (with Teacher Guide) $21.00 (Student Workbooks only)
~Paperback
~Ages 4-7 (or older for remediation)
~Teacher Guide 256 pages
~Book A 70 pages; Book B 78 pages; Book C 108 pages
~Workbooks are consumable
~Includes Phonics, Reading and Printing
~Teacher Guide includes teaching guidelines, tips, pencil grip and more
Other Products:
~Latin
~Classical Studies
~Christian Studies
~Logic & Rhetoric
~and more!!!
