Memoria Press ~ A Review

The Iliad & Odyssey Complete Set from Memoria Press will help introduce your student to two of the greatest works of the ancient world. This set is a part of the Classical Studies and is geared for grades 7-12.

The Iliad & Odyssey Set includes:

• The Iliad
• The Odyssey
• The Iliad DVD's
• The Odyssey DVD's
• The Iliad Student Workbook
• The Iliad Teacher Guide
• The Odyssey Student Workbook
• The Odyssey Teacher Guide

For many students studying Homer's Iliad & Odyssey can be overwhelming and difficult to read and comprehend. Having a good curriculum is very helpful and Memoria Press does an amazing job at presenting both of these works in a way that accomplish that goal. My 8th grader, who is an avid reader, is fascinated with ancient Greek and Roman Mythology and was very excited to work through this set.

My 8th grade daughter has been working through The Iliad over the past weeks. Reading the book by itself can be challenging. Both The Iliad & The Odyssey are not your normal sit down and read kind of books. Memoria Press has done a great job at helping students understand Homer's classic.

Student Guide
The student workbook is broken down into the 24 books that correlate to The Iliad. Each book lesson consists of the following:

• Identify Places and Characters (pronunciations and definitions of key places and characters)
• Comprehension Questions
• Quotations (quotations of great importance)
• Discussion Questions

The Appendix at the end of the student guide is extremely helpful. It contains:

• Genealogies
• Alternative Names in Homer's Iliad
• The Friends and Foes of Homer's Iliad
• Definitions
• Character References

My daughter really liked the student guide set-up. Being able to review the important places and characters before reading a book as well as referencing while reading was helpful. She found the comprehension questions to be fairly easy and straightforward.  

Teacher Guide
I was so very grateful for the extra helps provided in the teacher guide. For each book in The Iliad the teacher's guide gives a summary of that book, important highlights to make sure the student has grasped and well as a guided tutorial for each section. The guide notates important items that you student should highlight in their guides that will be on TESTS. The teachers guide contains the tests as well as a test key.

Some of the enrichment activities suggested throughout The Iliad are:

• Drawing reference maps of the Ancient World
• Memorization
• Writing Essays
• Debates

I found the teacher's guide to be extremely helpful. It has been YEARS since I read or studied Homer's works. 

DVD's
These DVD's are the perfect complement to studying The Iliad & The Odyssey! The DVD lectures give the student a great overview of what is happening in Homer's writings. My daughter was definitely resistant to watching the DVD's, that was until she started reading The Iliad. After reading a couple of pages she looked at me and said, "What in the heck is going on. I don't get this at all." After she listened to the first lecture all of the sudden everything began making sense and she was able to understand what was going on in the book. My daughter didn't particularly like how long the lectures were but she realized that in order to really have a global understanding it "really" did take time. The lectures give background, explanations, and crucial points to getting the most out of Homer's writings.

Book
I really like that Memoria Press offers a compete set. I liked the font type and size. This may seem crazy but sometimes my kiddos are put off by books that have small fonts. They look at the pages and see so much black! The book coordinates with all other components in the complete set. The pages are nice and thick so that if your student chooses to highlight or write something in the margin it will not bleed through. These book editions feature the translations of Samuel Butler. 

At the end of the Iliad study it says:"Congratulations! You have made it to the end of one of literature's greatest epics. You are now prepared for the Odyssey!"

The Odyssey set has the same set-up as The Iliad. My daughter cannot wait to start in on Homer's next adventure. 

I have used a significant amount of curriculum from Memoria Press with my kiddos over the years. I have NEVER been disappointed with the results. I would highly recommend this curriculum set to other educators or homeschoolers. 

To read more reviews click here.

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