Memoria Press Classical Core Curriculum

Memoria Press's Classical Core Curriculum is the at-home edition of what Highlands Latin School teaches in Louisville, grade-level packages from Pre-K through twelfth grade that bundle the publisher's Latin, literature, history, Christian studies, composition, logic, and arithmetic lines into structured annual sets. It is among the two or three most serious classical homeschool curricula on the market, and serious is both its strength and its limitation.

Last updated: 2026-04-24 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Classical / trivium / Latin-centered
Worldview	Christian-ecumenical (broadly Protestant-Catholic; explicitly non-denominational)
Grades	Pre-K through 12
Formats	Print books, customizable packages, optional video instruction through Memoria Press Online Academy
Cost tier	Premium
Parent intensity	4
ESA-common	Yes
Accredited	No (the curriculum itself); Memoria Press Online Academy is separately accredited
Established	1994 (Memoria Press founded by Cheryl Lowe)
Website	memoriapress.com

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	5	One of the most rigorous classical homeschool programs available; Latin, logic, and literature are genuinely college-prep
Ease of teaching	3	Lesson plans are clear, but the curriculum assumes a parent willing to learn alongside the student
Content quality	5	In-house materials are tightly edited, classically consistent, and designed to form rather than to entertain
Flexibility	3	Customizable at the package level; mixing with non-classical publishers works but defeats part of the point
Value for money	3	Premium-priced, and the full program is expensive; individual components are fair value
Worldview scope	3	Christian-ecumenical by design; Catholic and Protestant families both use it without modification
Visual/design	4	Clean, classical typography; less flashy than modern publishers but intentionally so
Support resources	4	Detailed lesson plans, online support community, Memoria Press Online Academy as optional video overlay

Who the publisher is

Memoria Press was founded in 1994 by Cheryl Lowe, a former public-school teacher who began translating Latin in her own kitchen and, finding no acceptable Latin curriculum for her sons, wrote what became Latina Christiana. The publisher grew in parallel with Highlands Latin School, the classical Christian school Lowe and her husband Brian opened in Louisville, Kentucky, and the two institutions have remained structurally linked since. The Classical Core Curriculum is, as the publisher describes it, the at-home edition of what Highlands Latin teaches in its classrooms, which is to say, a classical curriculum that has been tested against actual students for three decades rather than designed in the abstract.

Memoria Press occupies a specific and well-defined position in the classical Christian homeschool market. It is not the oldest classical publisher (Classical Conversations predates its current form; Veritas Press has deeper history in some subjects), but it is the publisher most explicitly organized around the Latin-first classical trivium, grammar stage, logic stage, rhetoric stage, with Latin as the central language study rather than an elective. The company is also unusually committed to in-house authorship; most of the curriculum's literature guides, history texts, Christian studies materials, arithmetic, and Latin programs are written by Memoria Press staff or Highlands Latin teachers rather than licensed from outside.

Theologically, Memoria Press is explicit about being Christian-ecumenical. Cheryl Lowe herself was Presbyterian; Highlands Latin School enrolls Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox students; the Christian Studies line covers the Old Testament, the New Testament, and a Christian studies sequence that emphasizes what C.S. Lewis called "mere Christianity", doctrine held in common across major Christian traditions rather than confessional particulars. Catholic families using Memoria Press substitute a Catholic catechism where they wish; Protestant families use the Christian Studies line as-is. The approach is deliberate and the publisher stands behind it.

The core pedagogy

Memoria Press is a full implementation of the classical trivium as interpreted in the American classical Christian school tradition. Grammar stage (roughly K-5) emphasizes memorization, recitation, factual mastery, and the building blocks of language and knowledge. Latin grammar, English grammar, arithmetic facts, literature passages committed to memory, and basic history. Logic stage (roughly 6-8) introduces formal logic, more complex literature analysis, algebra, and the Form Series Latin program (First Form, Second Form, Third Form, Fourth Form Latin). Rhetoric stage (9-12) emphasizes composition, advanced Latin reading (Caesar, Virgil, Cicero), formal logic and rhetoric, advanced literature, and the transition toward college-level work.

Latin is the central thread that distinguishes Memoria Press from most other classical publishers. The Latin sequence runs Prima Latina (grade 3), Latina Christiana (grade 4), First Form Latin (grade 5-6), Second Form (grade 7), Third Form (grade 8), Fourth Form (grade 9), and then Henle Latin or the original Latin readers of Caesar and Cicero in upper grades. Students who complete this sequence have roughly the equivalent of a college intermediate Latin preparation by twelfth grade, which is substantially beyond what most American high schools offer regardless of public, private, or homeschool.

Signature mechanics: (1) Grade-level packages, each grade (Pre-K through 12) is sold as a complete package or as two half-packages (language arts and mathematics), with the parent able to customize by swapping components; (2) Latin as a core, not an elective. Latin instruction begins in third grade and runs continuously through twelfth; (3) Famous Men and Book of the Ancient series, the history spine is literature-driven rather than textbook-driven, with biographical and source readings anchoring each period; (4) In-house literature guides. Memoria Press publishes its own literature guides for the assigned readings rather than using generic study guides; (5) Traditional Logic and Material Logic, formal logic instruction at the middle school and early high school level, built on the classical logical tradition; (6) Optional video overlay, Memoria Press Online Academy offers live and recorded video instruction as a paid add-on for families who want a teacher rather than the parent as the primary instructor.

A day in the life

A third-grader using the Memoria Press Classical Core Curriculum begins the morning at 8:30 with handwriting and phonics (classical phonics drill using the Memoria Press phonics flashcards and A Child's Book of Poems, roughly 30 minutes). Prima Latina follows at 9:00 (the child's first formal Latin year, roughly 20 minutes, vocabulary drill, a new grammar concept from the workbook, and oral practice of the Latin prayer of the week). Arithmetic using the publisher's in-house arithmetic program (30 minutes, number facts, workbook page, corrections). Christian studies (15-20 minutes, a chapter from the Old Testament study, memory verse). After a break, read-aloud time with literature from the grade-level book list (30-45 minutes, currently working through My Father's Dragon with the corresponding literature guide). Recitation and poetry memorization (10 minutes). History, using Famous Men of Rome or similar (two or three times a week, 30 minutes). The morning ends around noon; afternoons are open for nature study, music, art, and family activities.

A ninth-grader runs a denser schedule. Latin (Fourth Form or Henle Latin, 45 minutes, daily), Euclidean Geometry (45 minutes, daily, using a traditional geometry text), Composition (using the publisher's composition series, 30 minutes), Literature (one of the great books assigned for the year, the Iliad, the Odyssey, Greek tragedies, with the in-house literature guide, 45 minutes), History (Ancient Rome or equivalent, 30 minutes), Logic (Traditional Logic I or II, 30 minutes), Science (using an outside publisher, typically Apologia or a mainstream secular text by parent choice, 45 minutes), and Christian Studies (20 minutes). Total instructional time runs roughly four to five hours, with additional reading and writing expected in the evening. Ninth grade is the point at which many Memoria Press families add Memoria Press Online Academy video instruction for one or two subjects, typically Latin or literature, so the parent can step back from the direct teaching role.

What they do exceptionally well

Latin. Memoria Press's Latin sequence is the strongest in American classical homeschool publishing and is competitive with university-preparatory Latin programs at any private school. A student who completes Prima Latina through Fourth Form Latin has genuinely learned the language, vocabulary, grammar, and facility with original texts, rather than learned about the language. The sequence is internally consistent, the pedagogy is classical in the best sense, and the materials have been refined against Highlands Latin students for three decades.

Integrated literature instruction. The Memoria Press literature guides, for Homer, Virgil, Caesar, Shakespeare, and the great books generally, are written for classical students rather than adapted from general high school materials. A student using them is doing real literary analysis, not answering comprehension questions. For families who want their children to read seriously, this is a distinctive contribution.

Ecumenical restraint. The curriculum manages a genuinely unusual feat: it is an openly Christian classical program that Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox families all use without modification. The Christian Studies line stays on historic, creedal Christianity rather than denominational specifics; the Latin prayers are the traditional Latin prayers of the Church; the composition and literature programs assume Christian formation but do not require a specific denominational answer. Families outside Christianity generally do not use Memoria Press, but families across the Christian traditions use it side by side.

What they do poorly

Cost at the full-program level. A complete Memoria Press grade-level package runs substantially more than most homeschool curricula. The First Grade New User Set at Rainbow Resource lists at $157.95 for a starter kit, but the full First Grade Classical Core Curriculum Package with all literature selections, enrichment, and teacher's manuals runs closer to $500-$600 at retail as of April 2026 per the publisher's pricing page. Upper-grade packages, particularly high school with the Form Series Latin and the complete literature and logic sequences, can exceed $1,000 annually per student. Families with multiple students run into real money quickly.

Parent content load. The curriculum assumes a parent willing to learn Latin alongside the student, to read the literature, and to engage with classical logic. Parents without classical backgrounds can do this, many families have, but the curriculum does not pretend otherwise. A parent looking for a curriculum that will teach itself will not find Memoria Press a good fit unless they also purchase the Online Academy video overlay, which adds to the cost.

Rigidity around its pedagogical commitments. Memoria Press is the publisher most confident that its way is the right way. Families wanting to mix in non-classical math (like Singapore Math), alternative science approaches, or modern literature will find that it works mechanically but departs from the curriculum's design intent. The publisher's own curriculum articles are fairly direct that the Classical Core is designed to be used as an integrated whole.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick Memoria Press Classical Core if: you are a Christian family (Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox) who wants a genuine classical education with Latin as a central subject; you value literature, history, and language over contemporary or interdisciplinary approaches; you are willing to invest parent time in learning alongside your children or to supplement with the Online Academy for video instruction; you want a curriculum designed as an integrated whole across K-12; you prioritize intellectual depth over ease of teaching.

• Skip Memoria Press Classical Core if: you are secular, Jewish, Latter-day Saint, or Muslim and want a curriculum whose religious content is neutral or easy to substitute; you want the cheapest path to a homeschool education and cannot absorb $500-$1,000 per student per year on curriculum; you want a hands-off, self-teaching curriculum where the parent role is primarily administrative; you are philosophically opposed to classical education or to Latin instruction; you want a modern, technology-heavy learning experience.

Cost honest assessment

Memoria Press publishes grade-level packages at prices that run from roughly $400 for early elementary to well over $1,000 for upper high school. The First Grade New User Set at Rainbow Resource is $157.95 as a starter kit, intended for families new to Memoria Press who want to ease in rather than buy a full set on day one. The full First Grade Customizable Complete Curriculum Package from the publisher runs approximately $500-$600 depending on included components, and a complete Ninth Grade package with the Form Latin series, literature, logic, composition, and history runs in the $1,000-$1,400 range per the publisher's pricing page as of April 2026.

Compared to The Good and the Beautiful (under $200 for a core grade), Memoria Press is three to six times as expensive. Compared to Veritas Press at a similar tier of classical Christian publishing, the two are roughly comparable in total spend. Compared to Sonlight ($800-$1,100 per grade core package, literature-heavy but not Latin-focused), Memoria Press is moderately more expensive but includes classical language instruction Sonlight does not.

A realistic all-in family budget for one Memoria Press student, grade 5, running the full Classical Core including Latin, runs $550-$750 annually. A family with three students across grades at different levels typically spends $1,500-$2,500 annually on Memoria Press materials alone, before considering Online Academy tuition if that is chosen.

ESA eligibility notes

Memoria Press is widely approved on state ESA marketplaces. Arizona's ClassWallet, Florida's Step Up For Students and MyScholarShop, West Virginia's Hope Scholarship, Iowa's Student First Scholarship, and Utah's Utah Fits All have historically listed Memoria Press materials among approved purchases, sometimes through direct vendor relationships and sometimes via Rainbow Resource or similar distributors. The Classical Core Curriculum's ecumenical Christian positioning, not narrowly sectarian, typically clears religious-materials restrictions where they exist, though some states restrict Christian Studies components specifically while approving Latin, literature, and mathematics. Families should verify with their state administrator whether the Christian Studies line is included or excluded; the rest of the curriculum is generally approved broadly.

Alternatives

• Veritas Press, a family would choose Veritas over Memoria Press for a classical Christian curriculum with a Reformed Protestant theological specificity rather than an ecumenical stance, and for its distinctive Omnibus humanities program in the upper grades.
• Classical Academic Press, a family would choose Classical Academic Press over Memoria Press for its Song School Latin and Latin for Children series, which ease into Latin more gradually and more colorfully at the elementary level.
• The Well-Trained Mind, a family would choose The Well-Trained Mind framework over Memoria Press for a classical approach that is explicitly non-religious and allows more publisher mixing across subjects.

How we verified this

Our editorial team reviewed Memoria Press's Classical Core Curriculum overview, the First Grade curriculum page, the About Memoria Press page, and the Memoria Press curriculum article. We cross-referenced with Highlands Latin School's academic pages and Rainbow Resource's Memoria Press listings. Pricing and program details verified April 2026.