Stone Soup (Stories to Go)

Beautiful Feet curriculum takes a multi-level, living book approach to teaching history, geography and world cultures, using easy to use Guides for the teacher and engaging, well-written literature for the student. The Guides provide book lists, chapter readings, discussion and research questions, background information, website links, answer keys, and more. See our website for lists of literature resources to accompany each guide. Most guides provide content for one year of study, with the exception of Geography through Literature and Western Expansion. The latter two are recommended to be completed together for one year of study. Numbers of lessons vary, and are scheduled 1 to 4 days per week. Recommended Timelines, Maps , or a Composition Book maybe available. See individual courses for more details. Timelines are cardstock and include the figures referenced in the study. Students will need to color, cut and assemble the timeline and figures. History and geography come alive with these well done literature guides. See our website for required books for each guide. Some guides and resources contain Christian content while others do not; contact us for additional information.

Memoria Press now offers complete Curriculum Manuals and grade-level curriculum packages for PK-10 using the classical methodology. Recitation is used in every level for memorization of basic facts, systematic phonics and good books are used for reading education, copywork is used for teaching Bible truths, and music and art are included for enrichment in the early (K-3) levels. Each Curriculum Manual contains complete lesson plans for a one-year course of study.

The Curriculum Manuals are well-formatted and easy to use. In the front of each book you will find a checklist of the materials needed at that level, an explanation of this curriculum, instructions for lesson implementation, a recommended schedule and blank schedule for your own planning purposes, and 33 weeks of detailed lesson plans. Lessons include assignments from the books used at each grade level, as well as activity suggestions. The appendices include a variety of material for that grade level, and may include: prayers, letter activities, recitation, memory verses, read-aloud book list, poetry list and selections, and a paintings/music list for kindergarten and first grade. These pages are reproducible for family or classroom use.

Although most of the guides have been available for several years, the curriculum was restructured in 2015, with many of the programs originally included in 3rd grade now with a slower pacing to span 3rd and 4th grade. Guides for grades 3 and up have been modified to reflect this change, while the lower-level guides have only had minor changes. If you are already midway into the program with the original guides, you can still continue in that track with the older guides, now titled Acclerated Classical Core Curriculum Manual. You can find these along with the complete list of curriculum resources used with them on our website.

We have complete grade-level resource packages, consumable packages for “refill,” new user packages for levels that reuse resources from a previous level, read-aloud packages for each level and science and enrichment packages for the early levels. Curriculum resources are also listed individually (see website for specific contents of consumables and read-aloud packages). Please note that several of the programs include First Form Latin and Classical Composition, which should be completed in order, regardless of what is in the grade level package.If you have a student entering the program after fourth grade, you will need to start them in Classical Composition: Fable Stage and/or First Form Latin instead of what might be in the package.

This series is for the parent who wants a good classical curriculum which is outlined and ready to use. Simply open the book and follow the instructions. You will be well on your way to a quality education for your young ones. ~ Donna

There will be families who are very thankful for the appearance of this curriculum; for years it's seemed as though classical education and special needs might be incompatible. Then comes Cheryl Swope who just...does it. Not only did she start walking down the classical path with her special-needs twins, but she quickly realized that it was the very best possible educational path for them. The combination of systematic repetition, language skills emphasis, gracious implementation and quality content has reaped amazing results, transforming their challenging lives into those with meaningful expressions of beauty and service.

Simply Classical Curriculum, written by Mrs. Swope, begins with essentially a set of lesson plans coupled with a choice reading list and moves gradually into the Memoria Press Classical Core resources. If you take a quick look at these lesson plans you may conclude that this approach is simply a typical classical program slooooowed way down. You're not exactly wrong, but you're not exactly right either. It's rather that the possibility of slowing way down is built into the lessons. The daily collection of lessons - rich in quality literature - progress slowly and surely through the process of laying a very solid foundation in classical learning. The plans/program offers 10 key features:

• The rich, beautiful content of a classical Christian education
• A slower pace with ample review
• An emphasis on books with elegant illustrations to cultivate a taste for excellence
• A multi-sensory presentation of material
• Oral language components
• Skills checklists
• Integration across subjects
• Themed levels
• Socratic questioning

The Curriculum Manual for each level provides parents all the tools they need for success including the program overview, readiness assessment, list of required curricula and read-aloud/enrichment books or supplements, supply list, teacher notes, suggested schedule, lesson plans, and the week-by-week chart for recitation and memory work. The detailed readiness assessment for each level covers language, cognitive ability, emotional development, fine-motor skills, and gross motor skills and is followed by a set of skills in each area to develop during this level of the program. Other than making sure you have the required resources and supplies for the day prep is practically nil. Organized in a two-page spread, grid format, the weekly lesson plans provide assignments and brief teacher notes to support the lesson. Beginning with Level 5 & 6, combined levels are available in either a One Year Accelerated Pace or Two-Year Standard Pace. Simply Classical provides children with significant special needs or other learning struggles the opportunity to excel with a classical education. Parents of struggling learners will appreciate the slower pacing, review and predominately oral lessons that help children succeed.

Curriculum manuals and curriculum/read-aloud books are available separately. Where available, we offer different packages to simplify ordering. The Core Curriculum Packages include the Curriculum Manual plus the books/workbooks used throughout the year. The Read Aloud Packages include all the books used as read alouds for the year. New User Add-On Packages are available for levels that reuse resources from a previous level. The Supply Packages are a collection of school supplies that are needed to complete the program. ~ Janice/Deanne

In the classical education model, a grammar student should be able to show reading comprehension on a literal and inferential level, demonstrate an increasing vocabulary, and identify various styles of literature as well as basic biblical values. These literature guides from Veritas Press are carefully constructed to train students in those skills. Encouraging oral reading and requiring questions to be answered in complete sentences, these worktexts are attractively illustrated (black & white) and easy to use with complete answer keys included (worksheets are reproducible for family use only). There are some basic similarities among the various titles. For instance, all have who/what/where/why/when questions for the student to answer. However, there’s considerable variety as well. Alice in Wonderland, a third grade guide, includes recipes, several cut and paste projects, memory work, and some writing assignments (adding silly stanzas to a song). The fourth grade guide for The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow includes (among others) vocabulary exercises, drawing assignments, a relationship web, a cause & effect worksheet, and several writing assignments (paragraphs, cinquain, and limerick). Author information and a short story writing assignment are included in Where the Red Fern Grows, a fifth grade guide.

As is typical with classical education material, the assigned grade levels often seem challenging. Don’t let that discourage you from using an otherwise excellent resource – simply adjust the grade level to suit your student (guides are unlabeled). ~ Janice

The Student Guides at this level are a bit different than those at the higher grades. They feature a horizontal orientation for ease of writing and provide the student with vocabulary and comprehension worksheets. There's writing involved (7/16" lines with dotted midline) but the top binding makes it easy for either right-handed students or lefties. The teacher needs to take a quick peek at two pages at the beginning that give the plan for the Word Study, Read, Comprehension, and Language (introductory grammar) segments of each lesson. The Just For Fun section is self-explanatory. StoryTime covers four classic children's books in 14 lessons, while More StoryTime provides another 15 lessons and seven children's books.

There is a separate Teacher Guide for each volume. These contain a model lesson plan, a teacher overview, daily assignments for each lesson (which highlight phonics and vocabulary activities) and also include answers to the student pages. Packages are available for StoryTime Treasures and More StoryTime Treasures which include both student and teacher guides as well as the literature resources. Packages of literature resources only are also available. Separate Lesson Plan books are still available and cover phonics and spelling.

Introduce children to the fascinating and diverse world in which we live through delightful children’s books. Modeled after the Charlotte Mason philosophy of notebooking, this study focuses on the 4 R’s: reading, reasoning, relating and recording. Skills are age appropriate and gentle to engage and inspire children in the learning process. Geography, cultures, animals, folk tales and fables, music and art, are all covered, as are nature studies, poetry and recipes. Literature rich, the authors also provide additional literature and video resources to go deeper. Volumes are flexible for one semester (4 lessons/week) or one year (2 lessons/week). Beautifully illustrated with vibrant photographs and gorgeous art reproductions for the art studies. Black and white nature drawings are included and reproducible for individual families. Quality art supplies are recommended. Please note that a Japanese notebook, Tsubame, is recommended and sold by Beautiful Feet, but we currently do not offer it. ~ Deanne