Classical Composition

Homeschool Review Crew

One area I’ve felt that my older children were lacking in was in composition.  They love to read but writing and all the rules of grammar applied seemed to be hard for them.  I was thrilled to be able to review a set of books to help them learn classical composition in a practical way.  From Memoria Press we received Classical Composition I: Fable Set and Classical Composition II: Narrative Set.  

What We Received

We received both the full Fable and the full Narrative set plus a lesson plan book with an accelerated schedule.  Each set contains a set of instructional DVDs by Brett Vaden.  This really is what teaches your student.  In each set you also receive a student book and a teachers book.  Each set retails currently for $85 which individual pieces available for purchase separately.  I feel the student book to use with another student is popular.

Dr Brett Vaden is the instructor on the DVDs but he’s also an editor of the program so he knows what he’s talking about!  We really have appreciated how he’s very consistent with how he words things to reduce confusion.  The DVD sessions are informative and easy to understand.  It’s a great way to learn and I’m very glad for them as I don’t have to prepare to teach before hand but rather let them do the work.  This really helps to simplify this course for me.  

The amount of dissection and work within each lesson amazes me.  I really had never thought of having my daughter do all of these steps before.  Some of the things that are done include picking out “recognition” and “reversal”, finding synonyms and antonyms to help change how we describe and say things, doing an outline, narrating from the outline or from memory, rewriting the story in your own words, paraphrasing, and writing a final draft.  

This program does have a lot of work to it.  It’s not just a grab it and be done in five minutes type program.  I definitely think by the time we are done with the narrative set that my daughter will have a better grasp of writing and composition.  Which will then help her as she goes through her high school coursework.

About the Products

The two classical composition sets we received are made to be used one right after the other.  The Fable Set is for grades 4-12 while the Narrative Set is for grades 5-12.  

You begin the classical composition series by using the Fable Set with your child who is at least in the fourth grade. This level will teach them using the classical model of education which is the same model that was used to teach some of the literary greats.  It’s going to focus on writing a narrative using different words to mean the same thing as well as different sentence structures.  They will also work on making sure their facts are in the correct order and making sense.  A major component is also going to be learning how to engage the audience with their writing.

The next level of classical composition is the narrative set.  This set is going to build on what they have already learned in series one as well as teach a few new concepts.  Here they add in varying perspectives and using figures of description throughout their writing.  

How We’re Using

I am using this series with my daughter.  She has finished the sixth grade so well within the age range. I plan get the student books to use with my son.  However, he did not wish to start it this year.  Technically he’s two years younger than my daughter using the program so I thought this might be one class I separate them for.  

My daughter is 13 and working on completing 7th grade over the summer.  She’s really wanting to apply herself this summer and put distance between herself and her 11 year old brother.  He has basically always been working on the same level as her.  This is a great subject to do so with.  I really don’t believe his maturity level is at a point he would sit and actually apply himself fully to this course.  She is following the accelerated I lesson plan book which combines Fable and Narrative into one year or 34 weeks of lessons.  We are currently on week six.  I can see her as she becomes more confident possibly doing more than one lesson a week.

Because she has always been an avid reader she has no trouble with the reading and identifying the main points or changing out words with synonyms/antonyms.  Outlining was new for her but once we discussed it and did it a few times it has become easier and something she has been able to master.

When we first started the program we both thought that a lot more time was spent on each lesson than would necessarily have to be.  But as we’ve gone through more and see how they are building it’s definitely making more sense why they start out this way.  

Some Thoughts

Since we have always followed more of a Charlotte Mason/unschool approach this is radically different than what we’ve ever done.  I was worried it wouldn’t go well but since we have reviewed other products from Memoria Press I feel that gave us an easier transition.  We loved that fables that have been used(and since I’ve browsed over the rest of the Fable set I can say the rest are just as good).  A part that I was pleasantly surprised by was that they include Bible stories and passages in almost every lesson.  Each lesson also points out great learning points and character issues as well.  

Not only did we get a classical composition series for my daughter to use but it’s a great Bible lesson too! 

One issue we have had with the program is that my daughter writes rather large still and has needed more room for writing.  I purchased a notebook for her to write her overflow in.  A pretty easy solution.  I’m also using this to help her with her handwriting.  Hopefully by the time we’re done she’ll have better penmanship as well as smaller/neater handwriting.  

Learn More

Make sure you check out the main blog post over on the Homeschool Review Crew blog where all of the reviews will be linked up.  There were several products to choose from Memoria Press so you won’t just find reviews of the classical composition series.  Other products included Logic(more than one level) and several different levels of their New American Cursive series.  You can also find Memoria Press on facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, google +, and youtube.