When I saw the Famous Men of Rome set come up for review, I thought it would be perfect for “The Artist”, so I had him take a look with me. After he agreed it might be interesting, I applied for it.
This set is from the company Memoria Press.
Memoria Press is well known for Classical Education Curriculum, and since we do not follow that method of homeschooling, I have up until recently, never had any experience with this company. When we received our set, though, “The Artist” was pleased with what came out of the package! First, there was the text, a large, glossy cover, soft bound book. This is “Famous Men of Rome” by John H. Haaren & A. B. Polland. This is a beautiful text, just chock full of stories about many of the most famous men of Roman history, not to mention all of the absolutely BEAUTIFUL color paintings throughout the book to go with the stories! THis book was barely out of the package, and “The Artist” was already sitting on the floor reading it, which bode well for having asked for this review, wouldn’t you think? 🙂
We also received the “Famous Men of Rome” Student Guide by Cheryl Lowe & Leigh Lowe, along with the Teacher Guide, also written by Cheryl Lowe & Leigh Lowe. The main difference between the two is that the teacher guide has all of the answers printed in it, along with the tests. Since we don’t use tests, we did not utilize that section.
In the main text book, their are 30 stories, plus a glossary of people and places, along with maps of Italy, Rome, and the Roman Empire. This set can be used as a year long study, which is nice, because you can really take your time with it, and delve into learning about the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. This is something that bears learning, as any civilization can go the same way. As I said above, I think “The Artist” would have been thrilled to just receive the text book, given that he is very much enjoying reading from it, but we did also receive the student materials, so . . .
Now here is where things change somewhat . . . we really are not much of a “work book” type homeschooling family, though we have been known to use them at times. Because of that, I must be honest and tell you that for the most part, we did the book work stuff orally, through discussion. There is a definite order to the lessons, and how they correspond to the stories in the text book.
For each lesson, the student is told which pages in the text book to read. After that, they are given “facts to know”, which highlights the most important things they need to remember from the text book. This is a good section to use for memory work and for copy work, if you utilize that with your children.
Next, we have vocabulary, during which the student may learn new words by seeing them in context, as opposed to simply looking up a dictionary definition, they can become easier to understand, and your student may better remember the words and what they mean.
One of my favorites is comprehension questions. We use this a lot, especially when working through material orally, with a discussion method. It is much easier for me to know for sure whether they are understanding the material when I am given comprehension questions to use.
There is an activities section, where you and your child will find interesting enrichment activities. Just opening the student book to a page at random, I am seeing things like: identifying specific things on your map, answering a question that they may need to research, or a question about something specific in government.
In the back of the student book is an appendix, containing a worksheet, timeline, maps, a modern geography reference, and more.
WE have been enjoying our travel through Roman history, and I expect that this “text book” will remain a permanent part of our library, with the stories being read over and over as each child becomes interested!
To see what my fellow Review Crew members think of Famous Men of Rome, along with other Memoria Press products, please click the link below!
Disclaimer:
I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.
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