Memoria Press Latin Forms Series

The Latin Forms Series is Memoria Press's sequence of First, Second, Third, and Fourth Form Latin. The publisher calls it a "grammar-first" series and says First Form and its sister Latin products have been used by more than 100,000 students. This review covers all four Forms.

Last updated: 2026-10-08 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Classical and subject-specialist (Every Homeschool classification); the publisher says the series teaches grammar systematically rather than topically, with syntax and translation introduced at a slow, gentle pace
Worldview	Christian; Memoria Press describes its products as developed from the perspective of a Christian worldview and its curriculum as classical Christian. Every Homeschool classifies it as Christian · Ecumenical, a term the publisher does not use
Grades	The product pages list First Form for Grades 5+ (4+ if completed Latina Christiana), Second Form for 6+, Third Form for 7+, and Fourth Form for 8+. Memoria Academy's Latin courses page labels the series grades 5-8
Formats	Print Student Text, Student Workbook, Teacher Manual, Quizzes & Tests, and Teacher Key; streaming pronunciation audio in the Basic Set; digital flashcards and streaming instructional videos added in the Complete Set. Physical flashcards are a paid add-on; DVDs and a pronunciation CD are paid add-ons for First, Second, and Fourth Form, and the Third Form page says its videos are available only by streaming. Memoria Academy teaches live classes
Cost tier	Standard (Every Homeschool classification); First Form is $77.11 as a Basic Set and $136.89 as a Complete Set, retrieved October 2026
Parent intensity	3 (Every Homeschool rating)
ESA-common	Not verified
Accredited	Not applicable: a curriculum product, not a school. Memoria Academy, which teaches live Latin classes, states that it is accredited by the Classical Latin School Association
Established	Not stated for the series; the First Form Student Text, Second Edition shows a 2021 copyright date.
Website	memoriapress.com

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	5	In our assessment, detailed grammar coverage across four levels, including passive, subjunctive, participles, gerunds, and gerundives
Ease of teaching	4	The publisher's First Form page says First Form works for any student, even without any Latin background, and sells streaming videos with the Complete Set
Content quality	5	In our assessment, a consistent structure across the Forms: a student text, a workbook, quizzes and tests, and a teacher key
Flexibility	3	A beginner can start at First Form, but each Form builds on the one before it, per the publisher's placement article, and the Fourth Form page says a Henle I text is required for some translation practice
Value for money	4	Basic Set $77.11 and Complete Set $136.89 for First through Third Form, per the publisher's Latin catalog, retrieved October 2026
Worldview scope	3	The publisher's FAQ describes its whole curriculum as Christian, explicit in some materials and implicit in others
Visual/design	3	In our assessment, a plain workbook-style layout; the publisher describes the First Form Student Text as small and concise with uncluttered facing pages
Support resources	5	In our assessment, a wide range of support: streaming instructional videos, pronunciation audio, digital flashcards, and Memoria Academy live classes

Who the publisher is

Memoria Press's About page describes it as a publishing company that produces classical Christian education materials for home and private schools, and states that it was founded by Cheryl Lowe. The page says the company has developed a K-12 classical curriculum at Highlands Latin School in Louisville, Kentucky, where it says its programs are written and field-tested, and it lists Highlands Latin School among the institutions it calls the Memoria Press Family. The page names Cheryl Lowe as the author of the Latin Forms Series, Latina Christiana, and Lingua Angelica, among other programs. The First Form Latin page says the series is based on twenty years of teaching experience.

The product pages list Cheryl Lowe as the author of First, Second, and Third Form, and the Fourth Form Complete Set page lists Cheryl Lowe and Michael Simpson. The streaming videos are taught by different people: Highlands Latin School teacher Jessica Watson for First Form, former Highlands Latin School teacher Sean Brooks for Third Form, and Cheryl Lowe for Fourth Form.

Memoria Press says its products are developed from the perspective of a Christian worldview and calls itself a Christian company on its home page. Its FAQ answers yes to whether the entire curriculum is Christian, says some materials contain explicit references to the faith and to Scripture and others are implicit, and says the publisher has released a separate line of products for educators in public settings. The pages we read state no denominational affiliation. The First Form Student Text page lists appendices with English grammar, prayers, and a vocabulary index, and says the text presents a grammar form, basic usage of that form, a Latin saying, and no more than ten vocabulary words.

The core pedagogy

The publisher's First Form Latin page says the series' approach focuses on grammar forms and vocabulary, which it calls the skills suited to the grammar stage, and says syntax and translation are logic and rhetoric stage skills that quickly overwhelm a student unless they are introduced at a slow, gentle pace. It names two features as the series' uniqueness: teaching grammar systematically rather than topically, and extensive workbook exercises. The publisher's placement article says First, Second, Third, and Fourth Form build on one another, with the grammar and vocabulary of each previous level reviewed in the next, and that translation gets gradually more difficult.

The publisher lists the following outcomes on the product pages linked below:

• First Form (Basic Set page): the six indicative active tenses of the first two verb conjugations, five noun declensions, first and second declension adjectives, and 185 vocabulary words.
• Second Form (product page): the six indicative active and three indicative passive tenses of all four conjugations, five noun declensions including -er/-ir and i-stem nouns, adjectives in three declensions, personal pronouns, prepositions, and 365 vocabulary words.
• Third Form (product page): the perfect system passive indicative of all four conjugations, active and passive subjunctive, the imperative mood and vocative case, comparison, several pronoun groups, and syntax such as apposition and purpose clauses.
• Fourth Form (product page): relative, interrogative, and indefinite pronouns, defective, deponent, and irregular verbs, participles, infinitives, gerunds and gerundives, purpose clauses, and sequence of tenses.

The First Form Complete Set page describes its components: a Student Text with 34 two-page lessons, a Teacher Manual that includes the inset Student Text with answers, "Chalk Talk" scripted lessons, a recitation schedule, and teaching notes, a Student Workbook with 4-6 pages of exercises per lesson, a Quizzes & Tests booklet with reproducible weekly quizzes and unit tests, a Teacher Key, streaming pronunciation audio, digital flashcards, and streaming instructional videos.

On pronunciation, the publisher's classical pronunciation page says its Latin programs are geared toward ecclesiastical pronunciation, which it calls its preference, and calls its standard pronunciation CDs ecclesiastical. That page lists classical pronunciation audio for Latina Christiana and First, Second, and Third Form, and the publisher's FAQ says a family may use any pronunciation.

A day in the life

The publisher does not state a daily time, a number of days per week, or a weekly quiz schedule for home use of the Forms, so this review does not estimate them. The publisher's materials describe the following:

• Memoria Academy's First Form Latin class page says students need to devote 30-45 minutes per day to the class and that the grade rests on participation, weekly quizzes, a mid-term, and a final. Its Fourth Form Latin page says 60 minutes per day.
• The First Form Complete Set page says the Quizzes & Tests booklet has reproducible weekly quizzes and unit tests, and the Student Workbook has 4-6 pages of exercises per lesson.
• The streaming videos for First Form feature Highlands Latin School teacher Jessica Watson and include on-screen notes, illustrations, diagrams, and recitations. The First Form DVDs are listed as 5 discs and 9 hours at 15-20 minutes per lesson.

What they do exceptionally well

Detailed, stated grammar coverage. The publisher lists what each Form covers on its product pages (for example First Form and Fourth Form), and the lists run from the first two conjugations in First Form to participles, gerunds, and gerundives in Fourth Form. In our assessment, a family can use these lists to see what each level contains before buying.

Video support for parents without Latin. The publisher's First Form page says First Form gives step-by-step lessons and teaching guidelines so that any student can master Latin grammar even without any Latin background, and it sells streaming instructional videos with the Complete Set. In our assessment, this is one of the program's strengths for a family teaching a language the parent has not studied.

A consistent structure across the series. The publisher's placement article says each Form reviews the previous one before adding new content, and its pages (for example First Form and Fourth Form) describe the same components at each level: a Student Text, Student Workbook, Teacher Manual, Quizzes & Tests, and Teacher Key. In our assessment, this consistency makes the sequence easy to continue from one level to the next.

A stated path to Henle. The publisher's placement article says Fourth Form uses the Henle Year One text for a good amount of its exercises, so that a student who has completed Fourth Form can go straight into Henle Year Two. Memoria Academy's Fourth Form page says students will be prepared to read Latin authors in the original language by the end of the class.

What they do poorly

Translation is introduced slowly by design. The publisher's First Form page says translation is a rhetoric-stage skill and calls its approach grammar-first. In our assessment, families who want early translation or a conversational approach should look at other programs.

Fourth Form needs a Henle I text. The Fourth Form sets without Henle say they do not include Henle I, which is required for some translation practice. The set that includes Henle I First Year costs more: the Basic Set is $110.92 and the Complete Set is $171.24, compared with $77.11 and $136.89 for the sets without it.

Editions must match. The First Form Basic Set page says the Second Edition Student Workbook is not compatible with the First Edition Teacher Key, and that Second Edition Quizzes & Tests need the Second Edition Teacher Key. Families buying used materials should check the edition of each item.

Ecclesiastical pronunciation is the default. The publisher's classical pronunciation page calls its standard pronunciation CDs ecclesiastical. A family that wants classical pronunciation can buy the classical pronunciation audio the publisher sells separately for First through Third Form, but that page does not list Fourth Form.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick the Latin Forms Series if: you want a Latin sequence with a student text, workbook, teacher materials, and optional video; your student is in the grades the publisher lists for the Form you are buying; you are comfortable with a publisher that describes its whole curriculum as Christian; you want a path that the publisher says leads into Henle Latin.

• Skip the Latin Forms Series if: you want a conversational or immersion approach, since the publisher describes a grammar-first series; you want a Latin program with no religious content; you need a sequence that gets students translating early.

Cost honest assessment

All prices below are the publisher's, retrieved October 2026.

• First Form: the Basic Set is $77.11 (list price $82.30) and includes the Student Text, Teacher Manual, Student Workbook, Quizzes & Tests, Teacher Key, and streaming pronunciation audio. The Complete Set is $136.89 (list price $152.60) and adds digital flashcards and streaming instructional videos.
• Second Form and Third Form Basic and Complete Sets are listed at the same $77.11 and $136.89 on the publisher's Latin catalog.
• Fourth Form without Henle I is $77.11 (Basic) and $136.89 (Complete). Fourth Form with Henle I First Year is $110.92 (Basic, list price $129.27) and $171.24 (Complete, list price $199.57).
• The streaming instructional videos list at $55.00 as a lifetime membership. DVDs are $55.00 or $10.00 as an add-on to a set, and Third Form videos are streaming only.
• Memoria Academy's 2026-27 class list gives $645 for First Form Latin (Grade 4+), $665 for Second Form (Grade 5+), $705 for Third Form (Grade 6+), and $715 for Fourth Form (Grade 7+).

Using these prices, the four Forms with Fourth Form including Henle I come to $342.25 in Basic Sets and $581.91 in Complete Sets (our arithmetic). Component prices differ from page to page because each set page shows its own discounts.

ESA eligibility notes

Whether any state ESA marketplace lists Memoria Press products or Memoria Academy tuition was not confirmed for this review. The publisher's pages that we read do not state which ESA programs accept its products. Families should confirm with their program administrator that the specific items they plan to buy, including streaming videos and any live-class tuition, are eligible and whether the program applies restrictions to religious curriculum.

Alternatives

• Lingua Latina per se Illustrata, a family would compare it if they want a different publisher's Latin sequence; the publisher states its own method and prices on its site.
• Visual Latin (Compass Classroom), a family would compare it if they want a different publisher's Latin program; the publisher states its own scope and prices on its site.
• Latin Alive! (Classical Academic Press), a family would compare it if they want a different publisher's Latin series, which the publisher offers as Books 1 through 3 with student and teacher editions; the publisher states its own scope and prices on its site.