Cottage Press

Cottage Press is a classical language-arts publisher whose composition courses follow the progymnasmata, the ancient sequence of graduated writing exercises, and combine that approach with Charlotte Mason practices. Its sequence runs from the Primers for elementary students through Fable & Song, Bards & Poets, and Poetics & Progym.

Last updated: 2026-10-03 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Classical (progymnasmata-based) with Charlotte Mason practices; language arts and composition
Worldview	Christian-ecumenical
Grades	Primers for 2nd-5th grade, Fable & Song for 4th-6th, Bards & Poets for 6th and up, and Poetics & Progym for 8th and up
Formats	Print books, with free PDF samples, flashcards, and source-text downloads
Cost tier	Standard (prices were not verified; see the cost section)
Parent intensity	4
ESA-common	Varies by state; confirm with your program
Accredited	No
Website	cottagepresspublishing.net

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	5	Structured progymnasmata sequence through Homer, Virgil, Shakespeare, and Dante at the upper levels
Ease of teaching	3	Teaching Helps give instructions and tips, but the parent acts as writing mentor
Content quality	5	Literature selections range from Aesop and Robert Louis Stevenson to the epics
Flexibility	3	Each level builds on the one before; timing within a level is flexible
Value for money	4	Free sample lessons, flashcards, and the Aesop text; book prices were not verified
Worldview scope	4	Includes four parables of Jesus among the Fable & Song selections; see the worldview note below
Visual/design	3	Print books; the publisher's site is plain and text-driven
Support resources	3	Resources page, community, and paid mentoring and tutoring services

Who the publisher is

Cottage Press Publishing was founded by Katherine Weitz. The About page lists her credentials as an M.A. in Christian and Classical Studies from Knox Seminary and a Certificate in Classical Education from the University of Dallas, and states that she serves as Dean of Academics at Loudoun Classical School and as an adjunct professor of Rhetoric at Patrick Henry College. The publisher lists a mailing address in Round Hill, Virginia. The About page also describes mentoring services offered over Zoom.

The publisher's homepage states its aim as combining a classical approach with the best practices of Charlotte Mason. Its article on the progymnasmata, The Progym at Cottage Press, describes the exercises as a graduated series first outlined in the first century by Aelius Theon, and says Cottage Press has adopted the particular exercises of Aphthonius. The same article credits the classical education recovery of the late twentieth century with bringing the method back.

The current catalog on the homepage includes the Primers, Fable & Song, Bards & Poets, Poetics & Progym, Poetry Readers, the Book of Centuries, and Sentence Sense, a diagramming and parsing handbook.

On worldview, the publisher's courses include four parables of Jesus among the Fable & Song selections, and the Poetics & Progym course draws on works such as Homer, Virgil, Shakespeare, and Dante.

The core pedagogy

Cottage Press organizes its sequence into levels, each tied to a grade band.

The Primers are language lessons for elementary students, following a weekly pattern of copybook, narration, grammar, and spelling lessons with nature study and picture study. Copywork and oral narration are the primary composition exercises, and the publisher cites Charlotte Mason on oral narration. The publisher notes that the Primer series is designed to reinforce, not replace, a systematic phonics and spelling program.

Fable & Song, for upper elementary students (4th-6th grade), bases its composition lessons on the fable exercise of the progymnasmata and on imitation of a literary or poetry selection: twelve fables from Aesop, twelve poems mostly from Robert Louis Stevenson, and four parables of Jesus. Grammar lessons are drawn from those selections and introduce basic sentence diagramming and beginning studies in poetry, literary terms, and figures of speech. Teaching Helps provide instructions for the copybook, grammar, composition, and literary and poetry analysis lessons, with teacher tips and answer keys.

Bards & Poets is a two-level grammar and composition course for upper elementary through junior high students, or as an introductory composition course in high school. Composition lessons are based on the narrative exercise and imitation of a classic narrative or poetry selection, and grammar lessons are applied to sentences from the narrative, including sentence diagramming. Bards & Poets I is suitable for 6th grade and up, and Bards & Poets II for 7th grade and up.

Poetics & Progym is a three-level literature-based course for junior high and high school. Level I reviews the fable and narrative exercises and introduces the anecdote and proverb exercises, with Homer's Odyssey as the primary literature. Level II teaches confirmation and refutation, the common-place exercise, and encomium, invective, and comparison, with Virgil's Aeneid, Shakespeare's Macbeth, and selections from Plutarch's Lives. Level III completes the progymnasmata with description, speech-in-character, thesis, and law, with Dante's Divine Comedy. The page notes that updated 2024 versions are available.

Every Bards & Poets and Poetics & Progym lesson includes five features: Prose & Poetry (literary analysis), Language Logic (grammar and word usage), Eloquent Expression (style development), Classical Composition (imitation of a literary model), and a Commonplace Book (collecting and copying worthy selections).

Signature mechanics: (1) Progymnasmata-based progression. The exercises build from fable and narrative through anecdote, proverb, confirmation, refutation, and on to thesis and law. (2) Imitation of literary models. Composition assignments are built on imitating a worthy selection. (3) Copywork and narration at early stages. The Primers use copybook and oral narration. (4) Grammar from the texts. Bards & Poets grammar lessons are applied to sentences from the narrative and coordinated with Harvey's Revised Grammar, and Sentence Sense is a companion handbook.

How lessons are scheduled

The publisher's pages describe scheduling directly. In Bards & Poets and Poetics & Progym, the twenty-eight lessons in each level are subdivided into five sessions, and a level could be completed in as little as twenty-eight weeks or stretched to twice that or more depending on the student, classroom, or co-op. Primer One Autumn is described as twelve weeks of language lessons with a seasonal focus, with a weekly routine that includes copybook, narration, grammar, and spelling lessons, nature study, and picture study.

What they do exceptionally well

A structured classical writing progression. The publisher's pages lay out a sequence from the Primers through the three levels of Poetics & Progym, with the exercises named at each level, so a family can see where each course sits in the progymnasmata.

Source texts. The courses draw on Aesop, Robert Louis Stevenson, the parables of Jesus, Homer, Virgil, Shakespeare, Plutarch, and Dante, per the pages above, so students encounter established literary works as models.

Flexible timing. The publisher states that lesson timing is flexible to suit a variety of student and classroom needs.

Free materials. The publisher offers sample lessons, a PDF of flashcards, and a free download of The Aesop for Children used in Primer One.

What they do poorly

Parent as writing mentor. The publisher's page on composition and the progym states that teaching composition is intimidating and that Cottage Press aims to equip parents and teachers to mentor students. The Teaching Helps give detailed instructions and answer keys, but a family wanting a program that grades itself will need a different product.

Print and downloads, not video. The pages we reviewed describe books and downloadable PDFs and do not describe video lessons. Families who lean on video instruction to support parent teaching will need to look elsewhere.

Each level builds on the last. Poetics & Progym I reviews and expands on the exercises taught in Bards & Poets, and the Primer pages note that Autumn, Winter, and Spring are generally sequential in skills. A student entering at a later level may need to review earlier skills.

Purchase path and pricing. The Primer One Autumn and Sentence Sense pages link to Amazon for purchase, and the program pages we reviewed do not list prices, so families should confirm current prices before buying.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick Cottage Press if: you want a classical, progymnasmata-based writing sequence that uses literary models; you are willing to act as your child's writing mentor; you want to combine classical composition with Charlotte Mason practices such as copywork and narration; you are comfortable with Christian content in the selections.

• Skip Cottage Press if: you want a video-delivered writing curriculum; you cannot commit parent time to reading and giving feedback on writing; you want an a la carte workbook rather than a sequence; you prefer entirely secular materials.

Cost honest assessment

The publisher's pages we reviewed in October 2026 do not list prices. The Primer and Sentence Sense pages link to Amazon for purchase, so a family should check the current retail price for each level. Free downloads include sample lessons and flashcards, the Aesop for Children text, and a resources page of nature-study links and recommended supplies. The publisher's Teaching Helps are a separate item from the student books for the Primers.

ESA eligibility notes

Eligibility depends on the state program and its approved-vendor list. This review has not verified Cottage Press listings on any state marketplace. Because the publisher's pages link to a retailer rather than a publisher storefront, ask the program administrator whether a retailer receipt is accepted before ordering.

Alternatives

• Classical Academic Press Writing & Rhetoric, a family would choose Writing & Rhetoric over Cottage Press for a progymnasmata-based sequence the publisher describes as covering grades 2-12 in eleven books.
• Memoria Press Classical Composition, a family would choose Memoria Press's Classical Composition over Cottage Press for a nine-stage progymnasmata sequence for 4th through 12th grade that, per the publisher, includes Student Guides, Teacher Guides, and instructional videos.
• Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW), a family would choose IEW over Cottage Press for a program the publisher describes as giving clear, step-by-step instructions to teachers and students, aimed at parents who feel unqualified to teach writing.

How we verified this

Our editorial team reviewed the Cottage Press homepage, About, Connect, Resources, Primers, Fable & Song, Bards & Poets, Poetics & Progym, Sentence Sense, and progym article pages in October 2026, and the homepages of the three alternatives.