Literature Study Guides

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

Our family loves reading. Literature is the foundation of our education, so we always appreciate reviewing products that are based around books. There's something very special about opening a story and getting lost in its pages together as a family.

When we want to take our learning deeper than just simply reading the book, we utilize the help of study guides. These aids enrich the experience and help the reader fully grasp the themes within the pages. One of our favorite companies to use for this purpose is Progeny Press. We've used their products multiple times in the past and were excited to work with them again. This time, we were able to use two of their downloadable resources: A New Coat for Anna Study Guide for elementary and My Side of the Mountain Study Guide for middle school.

Progeny Press is a Christian company owned by Michael and Rebecca Gilleland. It is their mission to "teach our children to think clearly, to understand literature, and to rely on the scripture for truth and values, and enjoy themselves while they do it!" They offer more than 100 study guides for classic, popular, and award-winning books. The guides are designed to help students better understand and enjoy literature by getting them to think through the themes and ideas written in the stories. The study guides are available in three formats: a physical book, a CD with a PDF ebook, and a downloadable PDF file.

The A New Coat for Anna Study Guide is designed for grades K-3. The guide accompanies the book by Harriet Ziefert. A New Coat for Anna is a picture book that is based on a true story. In it, young Anna had outgrown her winter coat. Because of WWII, stores were empty and money was scarce. Anna's mother used her resourcefulness to meet her daughter's needs. Anna learned the art of bartering and the value of hard work as she watched her mother trade her possessions for goods. She learned about sheering sheep, spinning wool to get yarn, using berries to make dye, weaving yarn into cloth, and sewing the bolts into a coat. It is a story of patience, sacrifice, thankfulness, and planning ahead.

The study guide has 30 pages of learning activities. It starts with a synopsis of the book and background information about WWII.  There are a handful of Before-You-Read activities including map work, questions to ask relatives who lived during the war, watching a movie, taking a field trip, and more. The next sections are the As-You-Read activities, Vocabulary, and Looking at the Story exercises. Each portion reviews the story through various means such as short answer, matching, defining, and chart work.

There are Bible verses that complement the lessons in the story in the Dig Deeper sections. The verses are written out in the guide itself, but we chose to pull out our KJV and read directly from the Bible. There are also questions that accompany the verses and reinforce the themes.

The study continues even after the story is finished through the After-You-Read activities. This is our favorite section as it is filled with hands-on learning! There is a recipe for a silver cake (reminds me of my favorite childhood recipe!), a craft idea and template, a writing and art project, and fill-in-the-blank questions which correspond with a word search. The guide ends with suggestions for further reading of other books by the author and those of related interest for the age range. A full answer key is available as a separate download.

My younger boys (ages 5 and 8) completed this study together. We enjoyed reading the story and expounding on the hardships of the war. We took advantage of the editable PDF and filled in the answers together on the computer. The boys learned some new things like how to take clothing measurements, the meaning of various words like garnet and bolt, how to paraphrase, and what the Bible teaches us about patience.

Because we like to learn as a family as much as possible, I chose a second study guide. The My Side of the Mountain Study Guide is for the 5th-8th grade group and has 63 pages. My kids range from preschool-9th grade, but everyone can benefit from spending time together enjoying a good story and hearing rich vocabulary used in context. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George brings to life the dream of many people--running away from the hustle and bustle of city life and responsibility and living secluded off the land. It follows the story of young Sam as he learns to care for himself by finding what he needs to survive on the mountain. Though the story is fictional in nature, it mentions many factual survival skills such as how to find food in the river and on land, using all parts of an animal for various uses, finding necessary nutrients in foraged food, storing and planning ahead for difficult weather, building a fire, finding shelter, and more.  The story will resonate with anyone who loves the wilderness and adventure.

The guide begins with the same type of sections as the other (synopsis, author and background information, and pre-reading activities), but then suggests reading the entire book before delving into the meat of the study. This format worked well for us as the kids got to simply enjoy the story without stopping to work. There were a few times when we had to go back to review parts of the story where they didn't remember exactly, but that's all part of the process.

This guide for middle school includes vocabulary skills and comprehension questions, but they are more difficult than the elementary level. This guide also has an editable PDF so a student can type the answers directly without having to print it out. Because of that option, a separate file with the answer key is given, so a student does not have access to the answers himself. One way that this level is different is that the Bible verses are not written out, encouraging the learner to grab his Bible to look them up himself. There are a lot of "what do you think," "what does this mean,'' "why or why not" questions. The guide is also broken into sections that correspond with chapters of the book.

Other activities include discussing safety protocols and choosing a family safe word; measuring rooms in your house and calculating square footage; determining flashbacks and foreshadowing in stories; creating a shelter in your home using blankets and furniture; creating a journal and learning to record daily entries; making a wooden slide whistle; learning about skunk spray through videos and articles; following recipes for candied nuts, mock frog soup, and more; making snow dough with common household supplies, and more. There are multiple ideas for research topics, field trips, art ideas, and writing assignments. The study could easily take 8-10 weeks to complete by incorporating many of the learning exercises.

As always, my kids enjoyed these studies from Progeny Press. We had many thoughtful conversations about life of the past and how blessed we are now, about utilizing the resources that God has given us, and being content with what we have. The books were a good reminder that we could live a simpler lifestyle with many fewer possessions and that we take too much for granted. We make family read aloud part of our regular schooling, but it's good to take our learning deeper. I appreciate that these guides incorporate Bible lessons to help kids see a deeper meaning behind the stories.Whenever you can apply a lesson, rather than just hear about it, it's much more likely to make a lasting difference.

We reviewed an elementary guide and a middle school guide, but Progeny Press offers many different study guides ranging from kindergarten all the way through 12th grade and cover many popular books. There truly is something for everyone. If you have older students, make sure to check out the upper level guides, as well. Their resources are greatly enjoyed in our home.

You can connect with Progeny Press on the following social media sites:

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

YouTube

You can read more reviews of these study guides along with additional choices reviewed by my Crewmates on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.

Progeny Press Study Guides

Our family loves reading. Literature is the foundation of our education, so we always appreciate reviewing products that are based around books. There's something very special about opening a story and getting lost in its pages together as a family.

When we want to take our learning deeper than just simply reading the book, we utilize the help of study guides. These aids enrich the experience and help the reader fully grasp the themes within the pages. One of our favorite companies to use for this purpose is Progeny Press. We've used their products multiple times in the past and were excited to work with them again. This time, we were able to use two of their downloadable resources: The Long Way to a New Land Study Guide and the Little House on the Prairie Study Guide.

Progeny Press is a Christian company owned by Michael and Rebecca Gilleland. It is their mission to "teach our children to think clearly, to understand literature, and to rely on the scripture for truth and values, and enjoy themselves while they do it!" They offer more than 100 study guides for classic, popular, and award-winning books. The guides are designed to help students better understand and enjoy literature by getting them to think through the themes and ideas written in the stories. The study guides are available in three formats: a physical book, a CD with a PDF ebook, and a downloadable PDF file.

The Long Way to a New Land Study Guide is designed for grades K-3. The guide accompanies the book by Joan Sandin. The Long Way to a New Land is a short chapter book for young readers and has roughly 65 pages with pictures on each page or spread and a large font. The story takes place in 1868 as Carl Erik and his family faced starvation during the "hunger years" in Sweden. When all the grass and crops dried up and the cows could no longer give milk, the family realized it was hopeless to stay in their homeland. They packed needed belongings and sold what they could in order to purchase boat tickets for America. The story follows their journey as they dealt with crowded spaces, smelly living quarters, sickness, and the unknown--all for the hope that this new land offered.

The study guide has 50 pages of learning activities. It starts with a synopsis of the book, background information, and details about the author. There are a handful of Before-You-Read activities including vocabulary words, a family tree, map work, the history of steamships, and more. The guide is then broken into sections that correspond with the chapters of the book. Each chapter highlights vocabulary using matching, fill-in-the-blank, short answer, synonyms, and more. There are also things to teach cause and effect, early grammar skills, emotions, inventions, and questions to make the reader think, along with some fun pages like a crossword puzzle and word search.

The chapters also have Bible verses that complement the lessons in the story in the Dig Deeper sections. The verses are written out in the guide itself, but we chose to pull out our KJV and read directly from the Bible. There are also questions that accompany the verses and reinforce the themes.

The study continues even after the story is finished by learning from the illustrations, looking at the story, and After-You-Read activities. The guide ends with suggestions for further reading of other books by the author and those of related interest for the age range. A full answer key is at the end.

My younger boys (ages 9, 7, 4) and I completed this study together. They especially enjoyed the story because their great-grandfather emigrated from Sweden, just like Carl Erik and his family. This account helped them to understand the difficulties their ancestors experienced and appreciate their sacrifices. The book explains the hardships in a way that perfect for this age group. The boys and I would read a chapter and then complete a page or two each day from the guide. We printed out some pages for them to complete, but we answered the majority of the questions together aloud.

 
Because we like to learn as a family as much as possible, I chose a second study guide. The Little House on the Prairie Study Guide is for the 4th-6th grade group and has 62 pages. My kids range from preschool-9th grade, but everyone can benefit from spending time together getting lost in the pages of a book. Many people are familiar with the beloved Little House on the Prairie books. This one, the third in the series, follows the Ingalls family as they leave their little house in the big woods and travel from Wisconsin to the prairie of Kansas. The account greatly details how they built their life--from cutting the trees to carrying river rocks to pegging doors and making a rocking chair with only sticks. Everything they had was found in the land around them. The story is one of hard work and determination, but also one of hope, brotherly love, and acceptance. 

The guide begins with the same type of sections as the other (synopsis, author and background information, and pre-reading activities), but then suggests reading the entire book before delving into the meat of the study. This format worked well for us as the kids got to simply enjoy the story without stopping to work. There were a few times when we had to go back to review parts of the story where they didn't remember exactly, but that's all part of the process.

This guide for the upper elementary includes vocabulary skills and comprehension questions, but they are more difficult than the lower level. Also, this guide has an editable PDF so a student can type the answers directly without having to print it out. Because of that option, a separate file with the answer key is given, so a student does not have access to the answers himself. Another way that this level is different is that the Bible verses are not written out, encouraging the learner to grab his Bible to look them up himself. There are a lot of "what do you think," "what does this mean,'' "why or why not" questions.

Other activities include making cornbread (which my 11-year-old daughter made by herself) and molasses milk, watching some Little House episodes (now a new favorite show for the kids!), learning about fire drills, visiting a farmer's market, creating an inside-out Christmas list (a great tradition to start), cutting out paper dolls, and listening to fiddle music. The study covers art, music, writing, science, dramatic story-telling, history, games, fun, and more. This unit study type of approach assures that there's something for each kind of learner.

As always, my kids enjoyed these studies from Progeny Press. We had many thoughtful conversations about life of the past and how blessed we are now. The books were a good reminder that we could live a simpler lifestyle with many fewer possessions and that we take too much for granted. We make family read aloud part of of regular schooling, but it's good to take our learning deeper. I appreciate that these guides incorporate Bible lessons to help kids see a deeper meaning behind the stories.Whenever you can apply a lesson, rather than just hear about it, it's much more likely to make a lasting difference.

Even though we reviewed elementary guides, Progeny Press offers many study guides ranging from kindergarten all the way through 12th grade and cover many popular books. There truly is something for everyone. If you have older students, make sure to check out the upper level guides, as well. Their resources are greatly enjoyed in our home.

You can connect with Progeny Press on the following social media sites:

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Be sure to head to the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read more reviews of these study guides and more offered by Progeny Press.

The Josefina Story Quilt

Our family loves reading. Literature is the foundation of our education, so we always appreciate reviewing products that are based around books. There's something very special about opening a story and getting lost in its pages together as a family.

When we want to take our learning deeper than just simply reading the book, we utilize the help of study guides. These aids enrich the experience and help the reader fully grasp the themes within the pages. One of our favorite companies to use for this purpose is Progeny Press. We've used their products multiple times in the past and were excited to work with them again using the The Josefina Story Quilt - eGuide.  

Progeny Press is a Christian company owned by Michael and Rebecca Gilleland. It is their mission to "teach our children to think clearly, to understand literature, and to rely on the scripture for truth and values, and enjoy themselves while they do it!" They offer more than 100 study guides for classic, popular, and award-winning books. The guides are designed to help students better understand and enjoy literature by getting them to think through the themes and ideas written in the stories. The study guides are available in three formats: a physical book, a CD with a PDF ebook, and a downloadable PDF file. 

We generally like to do these studies as a family, but since I chose a book from the 1st-3rd grade list, I figured my 8th grader probably wouldn't be interested. My daughter is over the recommended age too, however, since she's a bibliophile I wasn't surprised when she was eager to join it the study with her younger brothers.

The Josefina Story Quilt, written by Eleanor Coerr, is a short chapter book. Only 60+ pages long and large type make the book a quick read. The story takes place in 1850 as it follows Faith, her hen, and her family as they pioneered to California. The story relates their struggles and surprises. It's a story of perseverance, love, and true friendship.

The study eGuide is 33 pages long and contains various activities that are designed to help students understand the story at a deeper level. The beginning includes a synopsis of the story, a short background of the author, and historical facts about wagon trains in the 1800s. The Before-you-read Activities get the student busy with map and encyclopedia skills, a recording of a classic, and discussion questions. There are also many vocabulary words pulled from the story and exercises that teach their definitions.

The story is broken into two sections in the guide. Both parts include questions about the book along with some questions to make the reader think. Within these sections are also Bible verses that complement the lessons in the story. The verses are written out in the guide itself, but we chose to pull out our KJV and read directly from the Bible. There are also questions that accompany the verses and reinforce the themes.

There are some hands-on activities that are included, as well. There is a crossword puzzle, a recipe for golden white bread (which my 10-year-old made completely by herself), and art projects such as creating a wagon wheel poster and sewing quilt squares. The guide ends with suggestions for further reading of other books by the author and those of related interest for the age range.

My kids (10, 8, 6 yr) enjoyed the story. They felt sad for Faith at the end, but were happy that she had put so much care and effort into her quilt. They enjoyed working through the discussion questions with me and completing some of the other activities. I, personally, appreciate that the guide incorporates the Bible and helps the kids see a deeper meaning behind a cute story. Whenever you can apply a lesson, rather than just hear about it, it's much more likely to make a lasting difference.

The Josefina Story Quilt was a quick study for my little ones, but if you're looking for more involved learning, Progeny Press offers study guides from kindergarten all the way through 12th grade. Their resources are greatly enjoyed in our home. 




You can connect with Progeny Press on the following social media sites:

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You can read more reviews of this eGuide along with the others reviewed by fellow homeschoolers on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.

In the Riegn of Terror

Our family appreciates the privilege of reviewing products as a member of the Homeschool Review Crew. Over the years, we've been introduced to some amazing vendors and have fallen in love with their products. Heirloom Audio Productions is one of our favorites. They have produced some of the best audio dramas we have ever heard and always make our family happy to learn history.

Our schooling is very literature-based. Our family loves read-alouds and will often sit together to read various novels for hours on end. I love reading my kids quality literature and sharing that time with them. Not only does it teach them life lessons, it also introduces them to new vocabulary. Along with that time spent together, we love to incorporate audio books and dramas into our days. Whether we're folding clothes, driving in the van, or just needing some downtime, audio books are perfect. In the Reign of Terror is no exception.

Heirloom Audio Productions has converted multiple historical adventure novels by G.A. Henty into theater-quality audio dramas. Our main curriculum lists many Henty books in the reading list, because they are known for their deep history, rich literature, and exciting plots. So far, my kiddos aren't drawn to the novels themselves, but they are truly captivated by these adaptations. If you close your eyes, you feel as if you're there in the story. Think of it as watching a movie, but with no picture. In fact, each time we turned on the CD, my two-year-old would point to the television, "Turn on, Mama? I watch movie?" The music, the actors, the sound effects--they all make the story come to life. You hear a horse walking on cobblestone streets, the birds chirping, an angry mob shouting, swords clinking, crickets humming, and the glass from a window shattering, and you feel as if you are there in France as one of the characters of the story. It is that realistic. The narrator, Brian Blessed, has a rich, powerful voice that makes the drama exciting to listen to. We were immediately pulled into the story.

The story takes place in the late 1700s during one of the darkest times in history--The French Revolution. It follows the life of Harry Sandwith, a 16-year-old English boy who leaves his homeland to tutor the sons of the Marquis de St. Caux in France. Harry is befriended by the family and becomes like one of their own. Throughout the story, he protected the marquis' daughters from a rabid dog, stabbed a "demon" wolf to death, and escaped an angry mob. He experienced firsthand the terrors and injustices of the times as he watched the people he grew to love imprisoned and put to death, simply because of their heritage. He risked his own life as he tried to reason with the commoners and show them their unlawfulness. In all of this, he trusted in God to guide him. Along with the non-stop action and exciting adventures, there are plenty of morals and Biblical truths taught along the way.

There is a downloadable Study Guide & Discussion Starter that accompanies the story. This complete guide is used to enhance your learning and complement your study. Each section, which correlates to the tracks on the CDs, is  filled with review questions (Listening Well), ideas to get you thinking deeper (Thinking Further), and vocabulary words (Defining Words). There is more information about G.A. Henty, Maximilien Robespierre, and Marie Antoinette; multiple Bible studies that coordinate with the story, many pictures from the times, and much more historical information. There are Expand Your Learning boxes throughout the study that are filled with snippets of information that relate to the period.

There are many more extras that are included as part of the Live the Adventure Club, too. There is the original In the Reign of Terror ebook, the official soundtrack composed by John Campbell, a printable cast poster, an inspirational verse poster, and a downloadable desktop wallpaper. A new thing that I don't remember seeing with other dramas is the inclusion of the official script download. This was extremely helpful during portions of the story that were hard to understand and helped give appropriate information. Also as part of the Live the Adventure Club, you gain access to many more features, such as the community forum, daily motivational quotes and stories, hundred of articles about parenting, collection of rare textbooks from the 1700-1800s, and hundreds of fun activities.  

The 2+ hour audio production is ideal for ages 6-adult, but our entire family enjoyed listening to it. We had a harder time understanding this story than we have with the others. It was a combination of the heavy French accents and the softness of the voices, I think. Normally we can enjoy these while driving, but we realized it took more concentration to follow along because the road noise was a distraction. Even my oldest commented that all the voices sounded similar, so he had a difficult time deciphering which character was speaking.They did, however, enjoy the French words sprinkled throughout the story and laughed at the Frenchman who made funny mistakes when trying to speak English.

We used the study guide questions to review the story and tackle difficult topics. The kids and I especially enjoyed the sections teaching about architecture in Paris in the 18th century, fashions of the day, medical practices, and the guillotine. Of course, the little ones didn't quite understand everything, but it's never too early to introduce quality literature. 

This will be a story that we reference throughout the years. In the Reign of Terror is a wonderful resource to have.

You can connect with Heirloom Audio Productions on the following social media sites:
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You can read more reviews of this productions on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.

 

The Minstrel in the Tower

I know, I say it a lot, but our family loves reading. With the foundation of our schooling being literature, it's no surprise that our favorite reviews often deal with books and reading. Add in Progeny Press, a company that we love, and you know that the study is going to be very much enjoyed. This time, we were able to use the Minstrel in the Tower E-Guide. 

Progeny Press is a Christian company owned by Michael and Rebecca Gilleland. It is their mission to "teach our children to think clearly, to understand literature, and to rely on the scripture for truth and values, and enjoy themselves while they do it!" They offer more than 100 study guides for classic, popular, and award-winning books. The guides are designed to help students better understand and enjoy literature by getting them to think through the themes and ideas written in the stories. The study guides are available in three formats: a physical book, a CD with a PDF ebook, and a downloadable PDF file. 

Since we like to incorporate as much as possible as family studies and my children are 10, 8, 6, and 4 years old, I knew I wanted to look at the lower elementary (K-3rd grade) list. Because the kiddos love anything pertaining to the Middle Ages, I was immediately drawn to The Minstrel in the Tower guide that accompanies the book with the same name. The Minstrel in the Tower is a short chapter book (60+ pages) written by Gloria Skurzynski. It tells the story of a young brother and sister that travel the countryside alone to find their estranged uncle because their mother is sick. The children are caught, held for ransom, and eventually escape from their tower prison. Set during the time of the Crusades, knights, minstrels, lutes, lords and ladies, the tale is one of magic and excitement.


The guide is broken down into sections:

• Before-you-read Activities
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Word Search
• After-you-read Activities

The 45-page guide also includes additional resources, answer key, and a brief bio of the author.

This study guide is filled with different types of activities. There are questions like Why do you think Roger wanted Alice to come along, At the Crossroads, why did Roger and Alice take the road to the left? and Why was it to important to Roger that he climb the oak tree to get the lute?; finding the definitions for vocabulary words like dismay and wimple by studying them in context, fill in the blanks, matching and more.

Within the section are also Bible verses that complement the lessons in the story. The verses are written out in the guide itself, but because a different version from what we read is used, we opted to pull out a KJV and read directly from the Bible. There are also questions that accompany the Bible verses and reinforce the themes.

The kiddos usually play with Legos, color, do something else to keep their hands busy while I read chapter books. I've found that it helps them pay attention to the story better and keeps their interest. This read-aloud time helps all the children to hear different ideas and gives me the opportunity to ask more questions and to encourage deeper thought.

While the kids do enjoy answering the questions, they prefer the hands-on activities. This study doesn't have as many activities as some of the other studies we've used from Progeny Press, but it offers a few. There's a word search, field trip, clay sculpture, and writing projects, along with a few other ideas. There's the suggestion to draw your own banner or coat of arms. Instead, we found a site online that let us design one digitally by choosing color options, set-up, and whatnot. I appreciate the flexibility of using these types of guides.

The kids and I enjoyed the story, the question and discussion time, and the projects. I love how the guides incorporate the Bible and point the readers back to Christ. This study has taken a  cute story and has given it a deeper meaning. Whenever you can apply a lesson, rather than just hear about it, it's much more likely to make a lasting difference.

This study e-guide costs $11.99, and you can view a sample on their site. If your kids are older than the lower elementary age, don't worry, Progeny Press offers study guides through the high school level, as well. As always, we enjoyed this review and look forward to using another study guide from Progeny Press in the future.

You can connect with Progeny Press on Facebook and Twitter.  

If you'd like to read more reviews of this study or are interested in one of the other guides, please visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.

George Washington: True Patriot

Our family loves to read, so it's no surprise that our favorite reviews often are of books. The kids enjoy reading for a while each day on their own, but they especially love when my husband or I read aloud to them. We read all sorts of books, but the older kids have grown to love biographies. They like reading about the lives of people, knowing that that events actually took place. They're fascinated to study the actions, vocabulary, foods, dress, and thinking of past periods and seeing they ways in which our lives differ.

The books from YWAM Publishing are our favorites for biographies, and I often recommend them to others. I knew my kiddos and I would enjoy reading Heroes of History- George Washington: True Patriot and incorporating the accompanying Digital Unit Study guide.   

The book starts with Washington as a young boy. In a short amount of time, he experienced much heartache and acquired much responsibility. He was obligated to stay home and care for his mother and many siblings, but his heart craved adventure. Through a series of events, he learned surveying and was able to journey through western frontier. The cold, rain, fleas, ticks, and wilderness did not discourage him. He worked hard and earned money to buy land and many fine things.

After the death of his eldest brother, he was able to gain the position of adjunct of the Virginia colony and the red uniform that went with it. This was his first taste of military life. He was tenacious, was given a special assignment, braved great danger, and earned the respect of many people. 

His story continues as he fought for the British, fought against the British, got married, experienced the death of more loved ones, and gained power and importance. He trusted God and strove for a free, unified country. He was well-loved, but understood that today's heroes could quickly become tomorrow's scapegoats. His path to the first president of the United States of America was not of his choice, but rather duty. His life was spent as a sacrifice for his country, often setting aside his will for the best of the people. He was a remarkable man and one to esteem.

Along with the book, we received the digital unit study guide. The guide helps to further your study including geography, social studies, and history, to name a few. It designed to benefit all learning styles, group and individual study, and a wide range of ages.  

The guide includes the following:

• Student Explorations - essay writing, creative writing, hands-on projects, audio/visual projects, arts/crafts 
• Community Links - meaningful field trips, guest speakers, service projects
• Social Studies - reproducible maps, geography, terms/vocabulary, conceptual questions, critical thinking
• Related Themes to Explore - politics & law, math, history, science & medicine, geography
• Culminating Event - project displays, cultural food, music, activities, oral presentations
• Bibliography or Related Resources - books, movies, documentaries, magazine articles, websites

Since the recommended age is 10 and all but one of my kids are younger, a lot of the study guide was a bit advanced for them. We discussed the comprehension questions at the end of each chapter. The first question was always a vocab word (cantering, aversion, armada, formidable, etc.). I'd ask the kids what the word meant. If no one knew, I'd use it in a sentence. They'd tell me the meaning after that. I personally loved that part. It's very important to me to read my children rich literature that incorporates vocabulary that is above their level. I also enjoyed discussing the questions with them. It helped us to review the story and got them understanding it more fully. We also practiced cartography, made a timeline, and wrote newspaper articles. I fully intend to read this book again with them many years from now so we can partake in the other great activities in the guide. We can create an election campaign or host a levee.  We can act out a play about Washington's life, write essay questions, and recreate objects from the era like wax candles, embroider samplers, line cuttings, and more. The study guide is filled with activities, projects, and ideas to greatly further your study.  

Both the paper and digital copies of the book can be purchased for $7.50 and the digital unity study can be purchased for $5.49. We enjoyed these materials immensely. In fact, we own multiple books from their heroes series. It's not just Heroes of History books they offer, they have Christian Heroes and Heroes for Young Readers, too. All in all, we own 20+ of their books. Yeah, we love them that much. Not only does a purchase give you quality books at a great cost, it helps support missions around the world.


You can connect with YWAM Publishing on the following social media sites:

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If you'd like to see more biographies and study guide offered by YWAM Publishing, please read the reviews on the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.

Peter and the Wolf Review

We were excited to receive Peter and the Wolf from the Maestro Classics stories in music collection. 

We are a big music-loving family. My husband majored in music in college and lead both the choir and the congregational singing at church for many years. He and I have both been in multiple singing groups and a traveling handbell choir. (Actually, it was that choir and playing our parts next to each other that brought us together!) It is our desire to give our children a love of good music. One great way of doing that is through Stories in Music from Maestro Classics and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. This series, meant for children an families, uses music to tell stories. You can listen to the music from a soundtrack without ever having seen the movie itself and get an idea of the emotions taking place. Music moves you. It reminds me of a day while watching something when my 4-year-old asked, "Why is she mad?" After I explained that she wasn't, he questioned, "Then why does the music sound like that?" Music tells a story.

Bonnie and Stephen Simon understand the importance of music. They want families to be not only entertained by their productions, but also educated. They both have many years of professional experience (to name a few of their numerous accomplishments: Bonnie as the former executive director of the Washington Chamber Symphony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and Stephen as the music director of the same organization for 25 years). Now, they work together to create and compose these symphonic works.    

Peter and the Wolf, written and composed by Sergei Prokofiev, is a well-known story. It's about a boy who has animal friends, doesn't obey his grandfather, and has a run-in with a wolf. Not only is the story beautifully told, but it is described in an easy-to-understand way, as well. The narrator explains that each character is represented by instruments in the symphony orchestra.

Bird = Flute
Duck = Oboe
Cat = Clarinet
Grandfather = Basoon
Wolf = 3 French Horns
Hunters = Woodwinds (marching), Kettle Drums (shooting of guns)
Peter = Strings 

Pointing out the individual instruments helps to recognize them throughout the story and makes it fun to follow along. My kids and I enjoyed listening to just the instrumental portions without the verbal story and discussing which character was being highlighted and what kind of attitude was being portrayed. Music is powerful!

There is a section devoted to the composer. Prokofiev grew up in the Russian countryside, where wolves were a real threat. He was the only child of wealthy parents. His father taught him chess while his mother taught him piano. By 9 years of age, he had composed his own opera. At 13, he was the youngest student to be accepted at St. Petersburg Conservatory. By the time he graduated, he was already a published composer. He traveled while preforming his own music and eventually came to America. The critics here claimed that he was "throwing ink at paper," but people still flocked to his performances. He left the US, got married, had children, and returned to Moscow. It was there he was encouraged to compose a story for children. He wrote the story in just one week and composed it the next. Peter and the Wolf has been loved by people all over the world. Not only is the musical score enchanting, but the story is one to be admired. It's about a boy who has the courage to face danger and the ability to think quickly to find a solution to his problem. He becomes the hero!

The rest of the CD is full of  all sorts of interesting things. There is the entire instrumental story performed in the Russian style, musical terms, descriptions of music as sound effects (rope lowering, wolf's jaw snapping, hunters shooting guns), an explanation from the conductor of the musical theme, more fun Russian music, and other valuable information.

Along with the CD is included a 24-page activity book. It contains biographies, a small portion of sheet music, info about the music, games, and more. This little book is great to teach the kids more about the music, instruments, and people, but I found myself soaking up the information as well. My kids liked the games the best: crack the code, musical question, word search, crossword, matching the instruments, identifying the mouthpieces, and others.

My kids and I listened to this work many times: driving, folding laundry, coloring, or whatever. They enjoyed listening along and learning and reading through the activity book, as well. They've even asked if we could get more. Maestro Classics has other titles such as Swan Lake (reviewed by some of y Crewmates), Casey at the Bat, The Tortoise and the Hare, and more. They have fun things on their website like games and coloring pages as part of their Kids Club and offer in-dept curriculum guides that accompany specific titles. If you'd like to give your family the love of music, I suggest heading over to listen to some samples. We've been impressed with the Stories in Music.   


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You can read more reviews of this title or reviews of Swan Lake on the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.

Progeny Press Review

We are a big literature family. Our schooling consists mostly of reading books and hands-on projects. That's why I was so excited to be reviewing the Miss Rumphius downloadable digital study guide from Progeny Press.

Progeny Press is a Christian company owned by Michael and Rebecca Gilleland. It is their mission to "teach our children to think clearly, to understand literature, and to rely on the scripture for truth and values, and enjoy themselves while they do it!" They offer more than 100 study guides for classic, popular, and award-winning books. The guides are designed to help students better understand and enjoy literature by getting them to think through the themes and ideas written in the stories. The study guides are available in three formats: a physical book, a CD with a PDF ebook, and a downloadable PDF file. 

Since we like to incorporate as much as possible as family studies and my children are 9, 7, 5, and 3 years old, I chose Miss Rumphius from the lower elementary (K-3rd grade) list. Miss Rumphius, written by Barbara Cooney, is a book that I had never read before. It's about a girl that admires her grandfather. Like him, she too wants to travel the world and then live by the sea. He tells her that she must also make the world  more beautiful. She grows up and achieves her first two goals. It's not until then that she realizes, quite by accident, how to reach her third goal. She sows lupines everywhere she goes and makes the world more beautiful.   

The guide is broken down into sections:

• Before-You-Read Study 
• Before-You-Read Activities
• Sections 1: The Child Alice Sets Her Goals
• Section 2: Miss Rumphius Travels and Comes Home to Live by the 
• Section 3: The Lupine Lady Makes the World More Beautiful
• After-You-Read Activities

The 45-page guide also includes related resources, answer key, and a brief bio of the author and illustrator.

This study guide is filled with different types of activities. There are questions like When Alice visits her grandfather in the evenings, how does she honor him? and What does Miss Rumphius put in the stony ground near her home by the sea?; unscrambling names of countries like Indonesia and Kenya, finding the definitions for vocabulary words like conservatory and cockatoos by studying them in context, learning plurals of words ending in f and fe like half and leaf, and more. 

Within the section are also Bible verses that compliment the lessons in the story. The verses are written out in the guide itself, but because a different version from what we read is used, we opted to pull out a KJV and read directly from the Bible. There are also questions that accompany the Bible verses and reinforce the themes.

The kiddos and I would cuddle up together on the couch to read the story and answer the questions aloud. I find that this read-aloud time helps all the children to hear different ideas and gives me the opportunity to ask more questions and to encourage deeper thought. While they greatly enjoyed this time, they especially loved the parts that followed: the projects!

Some of them include planting your own lupines, marking Miss Rumphius' travels on a world map, sampling a fresh coconut, painting of picture of the sea and sky using watercolors, searching for various types of seeds, setting personal goals, learning your heritage by listening to grandparents' stories, creating lupines by using q-tips and paints, volunteering for community work, and more. 

Honestly, I have nothing bad to say about this study guide, not even a slight suggestion for improvement. The kids and I enjoyed the story, the question and discussion time, and all the projects. I love how the guides incorporate the Bible and point the readers back to Christ. This study has taken a story and has given it a deeper meaning. Whenever you can apply a lesson, rather than just hear about it, it's much more likely to make a lasting difference.  

This study e-guide costs $11.99, and you can view a sample on their site. If your kids are younger than the lower elementary age, don't worry, Progeny Press offers study guides through the high school level, as well. We enjoyed this review and look forward to using another study guide from Progeny Press in the future.

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If you'd like to read more reviews of this study guide or one of the other many options that my crew mates has the opportunity to review, please head to the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.