Review of Memoria Press' Book of Trees

We have so much Memoria Press curriculum in our house that a visitor might be tempted to suspect that I work for them (#goals). In fact, I just love their curriculum. I have been mightily blessed to receive their curriculum many times for review (no less than seven times, not including this one! Just search my blog if you're interested in seeing the others!), but I have also bought plenty of it myself. In fact, in order to facilitate our review of The Book of Trees, I went on their website to order an extra student book for my other twin. While I was there, I picked up some English curriculum for Nicholas (14 in one month!) for high school in the fall. I just can't help myself!

This review, however, focuses on a really cool science product centered all around trees! Every so often I realize that my kids have missed out on a few things. One thing I remember very clearly from elementary school science is labeling plant parts. I don't know why that stands out or why I consider it important, but it does and I do. I was very excited, then, when I saw this product available for review. The kids get to label. They get to label many things! Designed for grades 6-8, we received these three great products.

• The Book of Trees Student Book
• The Book of Trees Teacher Guide
• The Book of Trees Reader

If you buy the complete set online, you will also receive the other two (reference) books pictured above. Because I had to make a Memoria Press order anyway, I went ahead and purchased the Peterson First Guide to Trees. Not only did I think it would be nice to have it for the review, but we take many road trips, and we often look at trees that flourish outside of the South and wonder what they are. I thought it would be great to have a compact reference to keep in the car for research purposes (yes, we could use our phones, but what's the fun in that?).

As with every Memoria Press product, this one was very easy to use. By using the Student Book, it is easy to see where a lesson begins and ends (although I initially used the Reader as my guide, but the chapters got long very quickly, and the twins (12) pointed out to me that we were running over designated lessons in their workbooks). We have done this science curriculum as both a read aloud and as a "work alone" subject. In other words, we have done it where I read the lesson out loud to the twins as they complete the lesson in their workbooks, and where they read the chapter to themselves and fill in the workbook either as they go or afterward. Mary-Catherine prefers the former method, while Michael prefers the latter. It completely depends on the kind of child you have - both methods work equally well with this and most Memoria Press products.

Also, as with all of Memoria Press's products, your student will learn a lot without it feeling onerous. The reading is clear and easy and the workbook follows the reading perfectly. Of course, if you or your student is workbook-averse, this is probably not the curriculum for you. If you're like us, though, and you enjoy this style of learning, my hunch is that this one will be right up your alley! I am always a bit -- empty after reading a good science lesson to my kids when there is no writing follow-up, since both my own experience and research have shown that kids retain things so much better when they write it for themselves. Memoria Press's student books are excellent for that kind of retention!

This time around, Memoria Press offered the Crew *eight* different products (!), including another awesome middle grades science choice, Nature's Beautiful Order, so be sure to click the banner below to read all of the reviews!