Ever wondered how to weave the threads of classical education into your homeschool tapestry? Join us for a captivating discussion with homeschooling pro, Kara, who has mastered the art of integrating Memoria Press into her children's learning regimen. She brings a treasure trove of experience to the table, discussing how she enriches her kids' education with poetry, art, music, and literature. Discover the transformative power of read-alouds and how they deepen the educational experience, contrasting sharply with independent reading. Kara doesn't shy away from the tough stuff, either. She opens up about the tightrope walk of blending Charlotte Mason concepts with the need for discipline, giving us a candid look at the peaks and valleys of homeschooling.
Are your daily homeschooling adventures feeling a bit scattered? Get ready to map out your journey with precision and creativity. We tackle the logistics of laying out a homeschool week that's as structured as it is flexible, focusing on how to fold core subjects seamlessly into a four-day schedule. From aligning seasonal festivities with educational content to overcoming the obstacle course of resource acquisition, this episode is a goldmine of practical advice. Hear firsthand how one family turned their home into a personal library, cleverly leveraging scholarship opportunities and the local library system to ensure their children are surrounded by rich learning materials. Whether you're a veteran homeschooler or just dipping your toes in the educational waters at home, this episode is your guide to crafting a harmonious and stimulating curriculum that will spark a lifelong love of learning in your children.
Ever wondered how to weave the threads of classical education into your homeschool tapestry? Join us for a captivating discussion with homeschooling pro, Kara, who has mastered the art of integrating Memoria Press into her children's learning regimen. She brings a treasure trove of experience to the table, discussing how she enriches her kids' education with poetry, art, music, and literature. Discover the transformative power of read-alouds and how they deepen the educational experience, contrasting sharply with independent reading. Kara doesn't shy away from the tough stuff, either. She opens up about the tightrope walk of blending Charlotte Mason concepts with the need for discipline, giving us a candid look at the peaks and valleys of homeschooling.
Are your daily homeschooling adventures feeling a bit scattered? Get ready to map out your journey with precision and creativity. We tackle the logistics of laying out a homeschool week that's as structured as it is flexible, focusing on how to fold core subjects seamlessly into a four-day schedule. From aligning seasonal festivities with educational content to overcoming the obstacle course of resource acquisition, this episode is a goldmine of practical advice. Hear firsthand how one family turned their home into a personal library, cleverly leveraging scholarship opportunities and the local library system to ensure their children are surrounded by rich learning materials. Whether you're a veteran homeschooler or just dipping your toes in the educational waters at home, this episode is your guide to crafting a harmonious and stimulating curriculum that will spark a lifelong love of learning in your children.
Welcome to the Homeschool How-To Find my Curriculum, a series where we talk all about curriculum. I've been interviewing homeschooling families for over a year now on my main podcast, the Homeschool How-To, but I really wanted to zero in on curriculum. There's so much out there. How do I know what would work best for me and my child? How do I know what works for one child would work for the other? I might like the curriculum I'm using now, but how do I know there's not a better one out there, especially if I don't know all the curriculums? And what about supplemental curriculum? Should I be using that too?
Speaker 1:
This series is to help you decide just that. I'm going to interview parents who are using all the curriculums so that you can decide the absolute best way to unfold your homeschooling journey. The absolute best way to unfold your homeschooling journey. Welcome With us. Today we have Kara, and she's going to talk to us about Memoria Press. So thank you for being here, kara, thanks for having me. All right, tell me about Memoria Press before, because I know you've got kids in the background. I've got kids in the background, so we'll have to run through this one, yeah.
Speaker 2:
Okay.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, okay, yeah, but what is Memoria Press? You have already talked to me about Story of the World, so if you haven't checked out that episode, go ahead and listen to that. That's history. What's Memoria Press? So?
Speaker 2:
Memoria Press. You can get, you can do all of your core subjects enrichment, history, science. They have everything. I personally only use the enrichment part of it. So we do the poetry, art, music and literature through them. I have so many questions. Yeah, they, their main thing is like a classical education. Yeah, you know they do Latin and you know all the poetry and art and music and they really focus on that stuff.
Speaker 1:
Okay, all of which I don't remember doing in school at all.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
So okay. So for, like the homeschool parent, that is like I don't even know where to begin. As you were telling me before about story of the world and the history, I'm like, wow, I really haven't thought too much about history Like my son's in kindergarten, so we haven't gotten there yet. I am an affiliate for the Tuttle Twins and I know they have some volumes of history. Oh yeah, and I'm like, well, those would be cool, because I know they would be like, nope, that's a conspiracy theory, that's a conspiracy theory.
Speaker 1:
So I'm like I would probably get along with that one pretty well. So to think of adding history, and then, on top of that, to think of these enrichment ones that are so like worthwhile I'm sure, and needed, like how does a parent even know to add this stuff?
Speaker 2:
Oh man, I just spent lots and lots of time on YouTube watching homeschool stuff and got into like Charlotte Mason and I love like the idea of that, and I bought a few curriculums that were Charlotte Mason inspired and tried doing them at like putting it into action just failed for me. Every time I was like I don't know why. Yeah, I love the philosophy behind it, but like I need, I need something that's like telling me what to. I need a schedule that's like do this on this day and say this to the child and you know and I don't use that verbatim, but I like that it's there, yeah, if I need it.
Speaker 1:
So I think a lot of parents are like that and I haven't used any Charlotte Mason stuff, but I know it's more getting into the story. So was it kind of like the unschooling?
Speaker 2:
No, it's quite the opposite actually, for if you were to use like all of Memorial Press stuff, they're kind of they're openly like they don't think that school has to be fun and they're not about that. They're like get this work done. You have eight hours a day, like you need to do all this, and so I'm not like 100% like that, but I like the subjects that they do. I just liked their literature, their list of literature, their books, that they do that they use in their curriculum.
Speaker 1:
What differentiates literature from just doing like reading?
Speaker 2:
So I have my son read on his own and he can pick whatever level books for him. But this is stuff that I read to them read alouds, okay, so, and we'll talk about it. So that's kind of like the Charlotte Mason in that way, where they still want you to discuss the story because there's so many things to be learned in the story and they handpick all these stories. A lot of them are like caldecott honor books and so yeah, so these are like read-alouds that I read to them. He can read some of them on his own. It's for me to like sit down and read with them, so that's what I want to do. But there's like I bought like the third grade for next year. They have like American history, so like those are books he's going to read on his own. You know they have that kind of stuff too.
Speaker 1:
So you said, this was this. Enrichment encompasses poetry, literature music.
Speaker 2:
So I'll let you know what it looks like. So we just do so. They have a read aloud book for the week, and then they have music and there's actually like a little music book with a biography on the artist. Sometimes we read that, sometimes we don't, so uh, but we always listen to the song and they just listen to it, you know, just so. It's familiar and they love classical music. Actually I love that. So, uh, and then there's an, an art card for the week. So I bought their little set of art cards and we just look at it and talk about it, and then there's a poem for the week, and usually all these things go together. So they usually relate in some way, and then I think that's it. It's those four things, yeah. And then they also have like a book of crafts. So you could add in crafts, if you want. They have that too. That also goes with all of those things. So they'll allow a little bit of fun.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, in the younger years.
Speaker 1:
Oh, that's so funny. So how long does it take for you to go through all of this? Or do you do it every day a week, or, you know, five days a week?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, in their schedule they have like one thing a day, like you'd read aloud the or do the read aloud. On monday, do the music and art. On tuesday, do the poetry. On thursday, do the science on. But we just, we just do four days of school a week and this doesn't take long, so we just do it all in one day oh, okay or sometimes we'll just break it up. It's just whatever comes to mind where I'm like, oh, now it'd be good time to turn this music on, or you know says the woman that said I needed a curriculum that told me literally what to say to the child.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, well, there's nothing to say for the music, really, I just turn it on and the art. But but they actually do have like a guide for me if I want, where it's like discussion questions about the art and the reading and stuff like that. So it is there if I want to use it.
Speaker 1:
Yeah that's the stuff I need for like art. I wouldn't know what to what colors, do you see?
Speaker 2:
Okay, me too. All right yeah.
Speaker 1:
Give me an overview of what your week even beyond Wait. Why can I not? Remember the name of it.
Speaker 2:
Memoria Press.
Speaker 1:
So give me an overview, from like Monday to Friday, of what your homeschool curriculum days look like. Like, just chop it up, because you talked a little bit before when we talked about Story of the World. How do they all fit in, and are you doing anything more than Story of the World and Memoria Press?
Speaker 2:
So, yeah, we do math, writing, grammar, handwriting and we do all about reading also. So all of those things plus the history. And then we also do science, which again I just do that one day a week. All these extras I just do one day. Our core stuff is every day yeah, memoria Press I count as like an extra thing. So ideally I do like history one day, science one day, memory press one day, and I think that's all of our extra stuff.
Speaker 1:
So yeah, so mondays you might be doing you're all about reading your math and history writing, right?
Speaker 2:
grammar and history, yeah, okay, and then the next day we do all those things, but instead of history we do science.
Speaker 1:
Okay, and then and then you do, but you only do it four days a week. So Right, and you said it takes about four hours a day for you.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, between for me between the two kids. Yeah, okay, my second grader, it's about two hours to do all of it, Like if we sat down and just did it all without breaking. It would be about two hours.
Speaker 1:
Okay, which, when you think of a? Kid in school, you know, for like seven hours. Yeah, that is it's two hours sounds like a lot when you're juggling kids and you know multiple.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, it is. It's really all day for me, but.
Speaker 1:
All right. How many lessons does it have that like? Will this cover you for the full year or does it maybe caught up? It was easy to catch up just reading all these read alouds and doing the art and music because it doesn't take long.
Speaker 2:
So we were just doing it like every day to catch up. Because what I love about this is they have holiday books. So I wanted to read the holiday books during the holidays. So I was like I got to catch up to Christmas here or Thanksgiving and read those around that time. So we caught up quickly and then and now, like they have a book on St Valentine, then I think they have some for St Patrick's Day, and then they have Easter ones, and I just love that they put the holiday books in there.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, for readalones. How do you get the books? Do you have to get them from the library, or do you them?
Speaker 2:
So I bought them. It is pricey. If you bought so the curriculum, like the manual that has like when to read all the books which you don't even need that Like if you just want to read these books and you know figure it out yourself, that'd be easy to do. But I wanted this to like guide me, like reading, you know, doing the art and music all at the same time when they have it scheduled. But it's expensive. It's like two to four hundred dollars because there's like 36 books or something picture books, and they're all like hardback, so they're so you could try to check them out at the library or get them used on a secondhand. You know bookstore here in florida they have a scholarship for homeschoolers, so I use that to get it. Otherwise I wouldn't have because I'm like I'm not gonna spend. Between the two kids it could be like a thousand dollars for all these books. I was like not gonna spend that much on it, but our library just isn't very good here.
Speaker 1:
So um, now, do you, does your library, have like a network where and mine in upstate new york it's called like the Upper Hudson Library System and I can go on an app and request a book by its title and they will order it from one of the other local libraries and ship it to my library so that I can go pick it up. Do they have anything like that where you are?
Speaker 2:
I haven't been able to figure that out. Actually, we've lived in other states where they had that and I've gone on their website and haven't been able to see that they do that. So, yeah, the Florida library system's lacking. It's a frustration of mine. So I was like I just have to make my own library here. But you know, with the scholarship funds I'm like I'll get it. Yeah, just have it on hand, because I'm going to use it for all three kids.
Speaker 1:
So it's worth it to me all right. Well, at least people if they're hearing it, they know that that's.
Speaker 2:
That could be an option too yeah, and you know I've I've done that. I've bought used books on eBay before. With other curriculums that are really book heavy, like Sunlight and Bookshark, I've saved a lot of money going on eBay buying those, so that's an option.
Speaker 1:
And how do your kids like doing this curriculum? Are they looking forward to Wednesday when it's Enrichment Day?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, to be honest, they don't really care about the art pictures To me. I'm like it's just exposing them to it. That's important to me. Um, so they look at it. Obviously my second grader's a little more interested than my coon gardener. He's kind of like I don't know, it's funny. They looked at a picture of, I think, louis the 14th and they were like why is that guy dressed like a girl? So it was really funny. I I'm like, okay, if that's what you get out of it, that's fine.
Speaker 1:
I mean, you can go to Walmart and see that.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, it was really funny. He's in heels and tights and so, but they love classical music and so they love that part of it and you know the real louds. Of course they love those. There's definitely a couple that have been a little boring, but most of them, like, they laugh out loud, they love the stories.
Speaker 1:
Awesome. All right, so you'll be using this again and you can do it with more than one child. It sounds like at a time.
Speaker 2:
Oh yeah, I mean I have separate. I have the kindergarten and the second grade sets, but you could totally do it, for you know multiple grades for sure kind of like mesh them all in, like k through, yeah, like you could get the. The kindergartner could definitely, you know, enjoy the read aloud. I mean, I do, I actually do both of them. They both sit with me to do the kindergarten and the um second grade books and music and stuff and then is this um secular or religious?
Speaker 2:
yeah, I think it's hard to say. I think both they also. I think memoria press is christian for sure. If you were just using this for the read aloud and stuff, I would say I mean, they have christmas books. I guess it is. It is. I'd say it's christian. Yeah based?
Speaker 1:
okay, awesome. So is there anything else that you wanted to discuss about Memoria Press that we didn't touch?
Speaker 2:
on? I don't think so. So they okay, I do. They have reading where you, so these are like read aloud picture books, but then they also have read alouds that are novels. I just love their book options, so you don't even have to use their curriculum, but they're just a really good resource for books to read to your kids at those ages.
Speaker 1:
Okay, so do they have a book list that you could just get?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you can go on there and just look at their. You know, you go on there to the listing where it's for sale, and it has a whole list of what the books are and you could just, you know, pick what you want to pick, read what you want to read, and I think it's a great resource for that.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I love book lists.
Speaker 2:
I love their. I love them. I just have no idea.
Speaker 1:
We, you know you go to the library. You're like I don't know what is quality.
Speaker 2:
And yeah.
Speaker 1:
I wasn't like read to as a child. I don't know even how to decipher.
Speaker 2:
I know it's really hard to know what. There's so much junk at the library too that I'm like, yeah, there really is so so yeah, I really like memoria press for that like I trust their, their choice of books here. So, and you?
Speaker 2:
want it, um, you want it to be like good literature, but you want them to also enjoy reading it, because you don't want to kill their spirit of loving to read or story, you know yeah, exactly yeah, and they like handpick these stories of like a lot of them are classics, so like winnie the pooh and mary poppins this is the third grade book I'm reading from or, uh, yeah, oh. And then they have like james harriot's treasury for children. I don't know if you've heard that book, but I already had it on hand. It's just a veterinarian from like the early 1900s or maybe mid 1900s in the UK and it's just stories that he has about animals, but he wrote them for children and it's beautiful artwork and I just love it. And then, yeah, they also do like Norse myths and Greek myths, and so I just love it. This is my thing. I'm like all these topics are just things I love, so sharing it with my kids is great.
Speaker 1:
And it's really nice for, like, I never had any of that. All this stuff is forward to me, but like I want to know it. So I think homeschooling is really just my way of learning all the things I never learned the first time. And my son just has to sit through it, sorry.
Speaker 2:
No, I totally agree with that. It's like learning this stuff again, like especially science. I mean, my mom homeschooled us up until seventh grade. Oh wow, I mean we're all kind of different, there's six of us, so we all were like homeschooled, different grades but, um, but she only did reading, writing and arithmetic because she read a book. That, um, where they were like this is all you need, this is the important stuff, the extra is just extra. So we didn't do any science. Um, so like I'm doing science with my kids and I'm like this is all new to me, I have no idea like any of this.
Speaker 1:
So, yeah, so I definitely have to have you back on the main podcast to talk about that experience like being homeschooled, and then obviously you went to traditional school if you were only homeschooled to seventh grade.
Speaker 1:
So hearing that experience and then kind of what led you to homeschool your kids, I would love to know all of that in a separate episode. And you said your husband wants to wanted at one time to do a podcast, so I would love to have him on with you to talk about being the homeschooling dad and maybe ignite his little desire to podcast again.
Speaker 2:
He'd love that Because he got the headphones and the microphone. You can't let that go to waste. I know I was like I'm all set up for this, Like I need to do this, so we'll get that on the book.
Speaker 1:
So everybody keep an eye out for Kara and her husband. We'll be talking about that, and you guys are in Florida, right? Yep, nice, all right. Well, thank you so much, kara. I hope you'll come back on and chat with us more. Thank you for being here today.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I hope so, thank you.
Speaker 1:
I hope you enjoyed this episode. Thank you so much for listening. Please consider sharing this podcast or my main podcast, the Homeschool how To with friends, family, on Instagram or in your favorite homeschool group Facebook page. The more this podcast is shared, the longer we can keep it going and the more hope we have for the future. Thank you for your love of the next generation.
