Memoria Press

Memoria Press is the most academically rigorous classical homeschool publisher in the United States, and it is the standard reference for families who want a real classical education rather than a classical-themed one. It is also one of the more demanding programs to run at home, deliberately so.

Last updated: 2026-04-20 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Classical / Christian classical (trivium-based, Latin-central)
Worldview	Christian (primarily Reformed and Catholic users; curriculum itself is broadly orthodox Christian)
Grades	PreK-12
Formats	Print books, online Memoria Press Online Academy, and co-op-friendly sets
Cost tier	Standard to Premium
Parent intensity	4
ESA-common	Yes, on most marketplaces
Accredited	Online Academy is accredited
Established	1994
Website	memoriapress.com

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	5	Among the most academically demanding Christian homeschool programs available
Ease of teaching	2	Requires real parent engagement; Latin alone demands it
Content quality	5	Excellent curricular writing; coherent across grades
Flexibility	3	The classical integration wants the whole program; partial use is awkward
Value for money	4	Expensive but substantive; books are reusable
Worldview scope	2	Christian-orthodox, not denominationally narrow, but explicitly not secular
Visual/design	3	Clean and professional; not visually distinctive
Support resources	4	Online Academy, co-op materials, strong community, Circe Institute partnership

Who the publisher is

Memoria Press was founded in 1994 by Cheryl Lowe and her husband Brian Lowe to support Highlands Latin School, a classical Christian school they had founded in Louisville, Kentucky. The curriculum began as Cheryl Lowe's in-house materials for Highlands Latin and was published externally as demand grew from other classical Christian schools and homeschool families. Today, Memoria Press is the curricular backbone of Highlands Latin and a sister network of classical schools, and it is one of the most respected curriculum publishers in the classical Christian education movement.

The Lowe family remains actively involved. Cheryl Lowe passed away in 2013, but the company continues to operate under family leadership with a deep continuity of editorial voice. The philosophical lineage traces through the classical Christian education revival of the 1980s and 1990s. Douglas Wilson's Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning, the Association of Classical Christian Schools, and the broader Circe Institute-aligned classical movement. Memoria Press remains one of the most recommended curricula within ACCS-member schools.

Scale is moderate rather than large. Memoria Press is not a top-five homeschool publisher by user count, but it is the top-name publisher among families who identify as "classical." Among classical Christian homeschool families, Memoria Press's reputation is preeminent.

The core pedagogy

Memoria Press's pedagogy is classical in the historic trivium sense, grammar, logic, rhetoric, applied across all subjects from kindergarten through twelfth grade. In practice this means: (1) Latin is central and begins formally in third or fourth grade; (2) memorization of substantial bodies of knowledge is expected and unapologetic; (3) literature is read chronologically and discussed Socratically; (4) logic is formally taught starting in middle school; (5) rhetoric is formally taught at the high school level.

Scope and sequence is integrated. First Form Latin in fourth grade pairs with the grammar and literature studies of the same year. The history cycle runs chronologically through ancient, medieval, early modern, and modern periods, with literature selections corresponding to each period. The result is a genuinely-integrated curriculum, different subjects on a given day share historical period, vocabulary, and recurring themes.

Signature mechanics: (1) Latin from third or fourth grade onward, the defining feature. Latin through First Form, Second Form, Third Form, and Fourth Form Latin takes a student from introductory morphology to reading Caesar, Virgil, and Cicero by high school. No other major homeschool publisher offers Latin instruction of this depth. (2) Memoria Press Classical Core Curriculum, the complete K-12 curriculum package, sold as grade-level sets. (3) Memoria Press Online Academy, live online classes for students who need instruction (particularly Latin, Greek, and logic) that a parent cannot provide. This is a real accredited program, not just a video library. (4) Classical literature centrality, students read the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid, Beowulf, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dante, and so on at appropriate levels. The reading list is adult-serious and long.

A day in the life

A third-grader using Memoria Press Classical Core Curriculum starts the morning with Bible or Christian studies (20 minutes, memory verse, story discussion), then Latina Christiana (introductory Latin, 30-35 minutes, vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar drill), then Traditional Spelling (20 minutes), Grammar (20 minutes), Composition (short piece), Math (Rod and Staff or Saxon, 45 minutes), Reading (chapter book aligned with history period), and History/Geography (20 minutes). Total parent-involved time is about 2-2.5 hours; total student day is 4-5 hours. The day is longer and denser than TGTB or Masterbooks; the parent role is substantive.

A ninth-grader using Memoria Press reads Latin (Henle Latin I or First Form Latin at the review level), Logic (Traditional Logic I), Greek (if the family has chosen), Literature (Iliad, Odyssey, or similar at the grade-appropriate level), Composition, History (ancient at this level), Math (typically Algebra I from an outside publisher), and Science (typically outside publisher). The ninth-grade day is 6-7 hours of serious academic work.

What they do exceptionally well

Latin. Memoria Press is the best Latin publisher in homeschool. Full stop. Prima Latina, Latina Christiana, First Form Latin, Second Form Latin, Third Form Latin, and Fourth Form Latin, the sequence is well-constructed, the pacing is honest, and a student who completes it can actually read Latin. Families who only want Latin from Memoria Press and use other publishers for everything else still get substantial value.

Classical integration across subjects. Because Memoria Press publishes an integrated curriculum, history, literature, Latin, and grammar on a shared chronological spine, the experience of using the program is different from stitching together single-subject publishers. A fourth-grader studying ancient Rome in history is also learning Latin, reading a children's version of the Aeneid, and memorizing a Latin hymn. This integration is hard to replicate piecemeal.

Online Academy. For families whose parents cannot credibly teach Latin or Greek, which is most families, the Memoria Press Online Academy provides live instruction from classically-trained teachers. This is not a video library; it is a real class with a real teacher, and it is accredited. The cost is meaningful, but for families serious about classical education, the Online Academy removes the biggest structural obstacle.

What they do poorly

Steep ramp for families new to classical education. Memoria Press does not hide its intensity. A parent who did not receive a classical education themselves will spend real time learning the pedagogy, the Latin, and the literature canon to use the curriculum well. Families looking for open-and-go will not find it here.

Math and science are not Memoria Press's strengths. The publisher recommends and distributes Rod and Staff Math and Saxon Math, and offers science selections from outside publishers. This is honest. Memoria Press does not try to be everything, but it means a family using Memoria Press is running a mixed curriculum by design.

Price compounds at the high school level. A family using Memoria Press's full classical core plus Online Academy classes for Latin, logic, and high school literature is spending private-school-level money. The quality is there; the cost is real.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick Memoria Press if: you are committed to classical Christian education; you want your child to actually learn Latin; you value academic rigor over gentleness; you are willing to teach or use Online Academy; you have a child who thrives on memorization and close reading; you want a Great Books reading list.

• Skip Memoria Press if: you want a gentle, low-prep curriculum; you are secular or unsure of the Christian worldview fit; you need a single open-and-go publisher without supplements; your child struggles with memorization or doesn't like formal academics; you can't afford the Online Academy for subjects you can't teach directly.

Cost honest assessment

A full Memoria Press Classical Core Curriculum for third grade runs approximately $500-$700 for all components. A ninth-grade set runs $600-$900 for core Latin, logic, literature, and grammar; add math and science from outside publishers at $150-$400. Adding one Memoria Press Online Academy class (Latin, Greek, or logic, for example) adds approximately $500-$800 per class per year; two classes, $1,000-$1,500.

Compared to Sonlight ($1,000-$1,500 elementary, $1,500-$2,000 high school) and Abeka ($700-$850 elementary print, $1,600-$2,000 with video), Memoria Press is similar in price for comparable completeness. The Memoria Press value proposition is substance rather than savings.

For a classical-committed family, an all-in Memoria Press year with one Online Academy class runs $1,500-$2,500 per student. Without Online Academy, $600-$900.

ESA eligibility notes

Memoria Press is approved on most state ESA marketplaces including Arizona ClassWallet, Florida Step Up For Students, Iowa Student First, Utah Fits All, and Arkansas LEARNS. Memoria Press Online Academy, as an accredited online program, is frequently approved as tuition rather than as curriculum materials, which matters for ESAs that distinguish between the two funding categories. Families on ESAs should coordinate directly with the publisher and their state marketplace. Memoria Press has dedicated ESA support and can often structure orders to maximize reimbursable spend.

Alternatives

• Veritas Press, a family would choose Veritas over Memoria Press because Veritas has a more developed online self-paced platform and Veritas's Omnibus Great Books sequence is distinct and intense.
• Classical Conversations, a family would choose CC over Memoria Press because CC provides a weekly co-op community; Memoria Press is primarily a home-based program.
• Well-Trained Mind Press / Story of the World, a family would choose WTM Press over Memoria Press because WTM is less expensive and its elementary levels are more approachable for parents new to classical education.

How we verified this

Our editorial team reviewed Memoria Press's catalog at memoriapress.com, sample pages from Latina Christiana, First Form Latin, and the third-grade Classical Core Curriculum set. We reviewed Memoria Press Online Academy course listings and cross-referenced against Cathy Duffy's review, HSLDA's publisher profile, and ACCS-community discussions of classical publisher choice.