Review: Under Drake's Flag

A handful of weeks ago, we were given the opportunity to review Under Drake's Flag, produced by Heirloom Audio Productions.  This 2 CD set with an abridged study guide sells for $29.95, and is most suitable for ages 6 through adult.  
 

We really enjoy listening to audio books here at Larson Boys Academy, especially when we're all in the van together.  Now that the boys are older, it seems that we're running in different directions quite often so we don't get to listen to as many as we used to.  However, this CD set arrived just before we left on a road trip to visit family so the timing was perfect for all 7 of us to listen to the story.

 

This is a 2 hour long audio theater production of G.A. Henty's story about Sir Francis Drake.  Since it is an audio theater production, it's more than just a narrator reading the story.  There is a full cast of talented actors performing the story, along with sound effects and a musical score that make the story come alive.  

 

Sir Francis Drake lived from 1540-1596.  He circumnavigated the globe for England, helped defeat the Spanish Armada when they invaded trying to capture England, and was made a knight by Queen Elizabeth.  More importantly, he was a strong Christian and his Christian values guided what he did. 

This story tells about Sir Francis Drake and his adventures through the experiences of Ned Hawkshaw.  During Ned's travels, he experiences battles, a shipwreck, and even a shark attack, and then he witnesses the Spanish Inquisition.

 

Included with the CDs is an abridged study guide.  This abridged guide is divided into 19 sections, and each section has three parts:  "Listening Well" (comprehension questions), "Thinking Further" (questions that require your child to use critical thought to think more deeply about the story), and "Defining Words" (words that your child might need to look up in order to understand a bit more about the story).  There are also 3 short Bible studies in the back of the guide.

There is also a full study guide available as a PDF download.  This full study guide has the same sections as the abridged version, but there are a more questions and words listed.  For example, in the first section, the abridged guide has 3 "Listening Well" questions, 3 "Thinking Further" questions, and 2 words under "Defining Words".  The full study guide has 8 "Listening Well" questions, 9 "Thinking Further" questions, and 6 words under "Defining Words".

 

This audio drama is very well done.  It was enjoyed by all 7 of us on our road trip.  The cast did a superb job, and the musical score and sound effects transported us into the story so we felt as if we were on the high seas ourselves, even though we were actually travelling through the midwest. 

 

Since we enjoyed Under Drake's Flag so much, I was excited to hear that Heirloom Audio Productions is currently working on a second title:  In Freedom's Cause.  This GA Henty book is about William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, and the projected release date is November. 

       

Review: Lightning Literature & Composition Grade 7

The opportunity to review Lightning Literature and Composition from Hewitt Homeschooling could not have come at a better time.  I was in the midst of figuring out what I would do for literature for Jacob's 7th grade year.  Needless to say, I was quite excited when I received the following items:

• Lightning Literature and Composition: Grade 7 Student's Guide ($20)
• Lightning Literature and Composition: Grade 7 Student's Workbook ($20)
• Lightning Literature and Composition: Grade 7 Teacher's Guide ($20)

 

In this course, your student will read the following books (not excerpts): 

• Stories & Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children of All Ages (selections)
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
• The Story of My Life
• All Creatures Great and Small

The Student's Guide contains the lessons written to the student.  There is an introduction, and this tells the student some history about what they'll be reading, and what they should be on the lookout for while they read.  After they read the introduction in the Student's Guide, the student then reads the book (or short story or poetry selection(s) ).  There is a list of vocabulary words the student might need for each chapter in the book they're reading, as well as 1-2 comprehension questions for every chapter. Once the student finishes the book, they read the rest of the lesson in the Student's Guide.  There is a different literary lesson for each of the eight chapters: 

• "Plot Line"
• "Plot Line in a Novel"
• "Introduction to Poetry & Rhyme"
• "Creativity"
• "Dialogue"
• "Autobiography"
• "Sound in Poetry"
• "The Character Sketch"

Also included in each chapter in the student book is a mini lesson, and these mini-lessons focus on composition: 

• "Another Opening"
• "Outlines"
• "Limerick and Haiku"
• "Nonce Words"
• "Saying it with Style"
• "Brainstorming"
• "Cinquain and List Poem"
• "Choosing a Topic"

Each chapter wraps up with several different writing assignments.  They vary in difficulty, and the student is instructed to choose 1 or 2.  Of course, you have the freedom to assign more than 1 or 2 if you'd like.

 

The Student's Workbook has worksheets for each chapter, and they are to be completed after the student reads the literature and the lesson in the Student's Guide.  The student uses what they learn through reading to complete the worksheets.  These worksheets are not easy, but cause the student to really apply what they're learning, often times by using excerpts from other good literature.  They practice different skills like writing couplets (and other poetry forms), they are asked to correctly punctuate and capitalize a short story that uses a lot of dialogue, they have to identify fact and opinions in writing, they analyze writing to find the topic sentences and supporting sentences, and more.  There is one crossword puzzle and one word search for each chapter. 

The Teacher's Guide contains a planning guide, and this guide breaks the program down into 36 weeks.  The plans aren't broken down into daily assignments, but this allows for a lot of flexibility for your student.  There are answers for all of the comprehension questions in the student book, as well as teaching helps for each of the lessons and writing assignments.  Also included are discussion questions and answers for the student workbook. 

 

We are loving Lightning Literature & Composition.  We are following the planning guide that is included, and moving at a pace that is comfortable for Jacob.  He's a strong reader, and we finished the first chapter, and he's well into reading Tom Sawyer.  I love that the program is based on reading real, good, unabridged books.

This program is not easy for Jacob, but he feels that he is learning and he likes it.  He likes that the Student Guide is written directly to him, and he feels that it is doing a good job teaching him.  He also likes that the worksheets make him think, and he was happy that he was able to pick a writing assignment that interested him.

I like that the Teacher's Guide takes the time to explain what I need to look for in an answer, and also points out that Jacob might find certain aspects of assignments difficult, and that it's okay if he does.  I feel like instead of being just an answer key, it's helps to develop me as a teacher.

Looking forward to future lessons, I'm excited about finishing this program with Jacob this year.  I'd recommend that you check out the other offerings from Hewitt Homeschooling.  Lightning Literature and Composition Grade  is perfect for grades 7-8.  Other levels of their Lightning Literature & Composition were reviewed by other bloggers on the Crew; click on the banner below to read their opinions!

 



 

Review: Peter Rabbit from Kinder Cottage Publishing

Kinder Cottage Publishing recently sent two books, How Peter Rabbit Went to Sea and When Peter Rabbit Went to School for review.

Kinder Cottage Publishing is a company that was founded by Howard and Ann Closs.  Their goal is to produce quality products to help their children, as well as other families, learn to love western civilization.

They began with a series of 10 Peter Rabbit books:

1. Tale of Peter Rabbit
2. Peter Rabbit at the Farm
3. Peter Rabbit's Christmas
4. How Peter Rabbit Went to Sea
5. Peter Rabbit Goes A-Visiting
6. Peter Rabbit's Easter
7. Peter Rabbit's Birthday
8. When Peter Rabbit Went to School
9. Peter Rabbit and the Little Boy
10. Peter Rabbit and Jack the Jumper

 

 

These books are best suited for children ages 3-9, and are $4 each.  They are adaptations of books originally published by the Henry Altemus company between the years of 1917 and 1922. These reprints contain the original artwork, but the text has been updated a bit (for example, the original text used the word "velocipede" for bicycle.

 



 

 

When Peter Rabbit Went to school is 56 pages long.  Peter is sent to school (along with Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail) in order to keep him out of trouble. He disobeys at recess and goes into the woods, where he becomes lost.  While lost he has some adventures, both pleasant and not-so-pleasant.  He's safely returned to school, where it's decided his adventures were enough for Peter and he's not punished.

 

 

How Peter Rabbit Went to Sea is 64 pages long.  In this volume, Peter once again disobeys.  His mother told him not to play in the brook, yet he decided to be a pirate.  He sees lots of creatures in the sea, and ends up being picked up by a sea gull.  He's able to scare the bird into letting him go, and once he gets home he asks to be put straight to bed.

 



 

Micah & Nicholas both read these books and enjoyed them.  They liked the adventures (trouble) that Peter got into, and I know they liked that he always made it safely home.  However, as a parent, I couldn't help but note that Peter never suffers consequences.  It's usually decided that the trouble he got into was consequence enough, but I would've liked to have Peter be given a consequence for disobeying in the first place.  This does provide a great discussion point with your children, though, about how Peter could've avoided the trouble to begin with.

Also, just as a side note,  I feel like I should mention a line in How Peter Rabbit Went to Sea that rubbed me the wrong way.  On the first page, it's said that "Flopsy and Mopsy and Cotton-tail were good little girl rabbits, but Peter was a bad little boy rabbit and was always up to mischief."  Probably because I have all boys, but I don't like the insinuation that Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail are good because they are girls, and that Peter is bad because he is a boy.

With all that said, if you have a young child, these books would make a wonderful addition to your home library.  These books are lovely reprints.  The artwork is wonderful, and I loved that the original artwork was included.   At about 5 x 7 inches, they are a great size for little hands to hold and read.  You can even save a bit of money buy purchasing the entire set of 10 for $30.

 

 

 

     

Family Read Alouds

Back in 2007, we started consistently reading out loud every night before bed.  There's nothing like sharing stories together, and we all enjoy this time together.  Now that the boys are older and we might not read every night, we sure do try.  Because, as I once infamously said (and the boys won't let me forget) "If you don't read, you don't finish books."

This is a running list of what we've read.  Unfortunately, I haven't kept track of audio books we've listened to on trips, and it doesn't include any of the read alouds we've done during school hours.

1. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh
2. The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog #1
3. The Further Adventures of Hank the Cowdog #2
4. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
5. The BFG
6. It's a Dog's Life (Hank the Cowdog #3)
7. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
8. Murder in the Middle Pasture (Hank the Cowdog #4)
9. Don Quixote
10. The Very First Easter
11. The Castle in the Attic
12. Faded Love (Hank the Cowdog #5)
13. Mr. Popper's Penguins
14. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie (Hank the Cowdog #6)
15. Johnny Tremain
16. The Wounded Buzzard on Christmas Eve (Hank the Cowdog #13)
17. A Christmas Carol
18. From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
19. The Curse of the Incredible Priceless Corncob (Hank the Cowdog #7)
20. Charlotte's Web
21. The Twenty-One Balloons
22. Stuart Little
23. The Trumpet of the Swan
24. Jotham's Journey
25. The Enormous Egg
26. The Sign of the Beaver
27. The Phantom Tollbooth
28. Fantastic Mr. Fox
29. The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet
30. Detectives in Togas
31. Frindle
32. Bartholomew's Passage
33. Nick of Time
34. The World of Winnie-the-Pooh
35. Five Children and It
36. Lost in the Dark Enchanted Forest (Hank the Cowdog #11)
37. Tabitha's Travels
38. The Mysterious Benedict Society
39. The Case of the Fiddle Playing Fox (Hank the Cowdog #12)
40. Freddy the Pig (Freddy Goes to Florida)
41. Ben & Me
42. The Demon in the Teahouse
43. Ginger Pye
44. The Wind in the Willows
45. Si-cology 1

Review: Tunnel of Gold

Goldtown Adventures is a new historical fiction series, written by Susan Marlow. They can be purchased at Susan Marlow and Kregal Publications for $7.99 each.  We received the second book in the series, Tunnel of Gold.

The Goldtown Adventures series is set in the 1864, which is near the end of the Gold Rush in Goldtown, California.  In Tunnel of Gold, Jem is caught in a miners' riot when the mine runs out of gold.  The miners want to reclaim an airshaft to try and get the mine running again, but the Chinese miners have been lawfully working this area.  Tough decisions have to be made when his father, the sheriff,  is told that he needs to kick the Chinese miners out of their mine or lose his job.  

Author Susan Marlow (a twenty year homeschooling veteran) has spent time travelling in California, visiting old gold camps and learning how miners lived.  She puts this knowledge to use in her Goldtown Adventures series.  The books are written for ages 8-12, and Tunnel of Gold is 144 pages long.  The book is broken down into 18 chapters, which keeps the chapters short enough that reluctant or new readers aren't intimidated, and also makes them a great length for reading the book aloud.

You can read a sample chapter of Tunnel of Gold here.  A free 25 page enrichment study guide is available here, which allows you to dig a bit deeper into the book.

Tunnel of Gold is a very fun read.  I was concerned that we might not fully understand the plot, since it is the second book in the series, but that wasn't an issue at all.  The plot is engaging, and it was hard to stop at the end of a single chapter.  I like that it's a wholesome story, with good values taught.

Whether you're studying the Gold Rush time period, or just looking for a fun adventure series, check out the Goldtown Adventure series from Susan Marlow.

For more reviews of Susan Marlow's Goldtown Adventures books , visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

 

Review: Moving Beyond the Page

Moving Beyond the Page is a literature based curriculum that encourages critical & creative thinking.  There are units for Science, Social Studies, and Literature, for ages 5-13.  For this review, I received the literature unit Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, along with the coordinating science unit  Work, Tools, and Simple Machines.  Both of these units are geared towards 8-10 year olds, and I used them with Jacob, my 10 year old.

The guides are available in either hardcopy or online version.  I received a hardcopy guide for Work, Tools, and Simple Machines (along with the Science in a Nutshell: Work: Plane and Simple kit)  , while the guide for Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH was the online version (and I received a hardcopy of the book).  You can see a sample of the online guide for Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH here.  After the purchase of an online guide, you can activate it whenever you'd like (they don't ever expire).  Once you activate it, you have 3 months to use it, though you may contact Moving Beyond the Page if you need to extend the use.  Prices vary from unit to unit, but for reference the cost for the Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH package is $19.92, while the Work, Tools, and Simple Machines package is $61.99.  You also have the option of purchasing complete packages instead of individual units.  While the units I received are meant to complement each other, you can mix and match the different units to suit the interests of your child.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH  is made up of 13 lessons, plus a final project.  Each lesson is expected to take a day, though the final project is at least a two day project.

The online guide is very simple to use.  It contains all of the activity and question pages that are needed, and they are easy to access and print out.  Each lessons follows a general pattern.  The lesson begins with a "Getting Started" section which provides the general point of the lesson to the teacher through "Questions to Explore", "Facts and Definitions", "Skills", and "Needed Materials".  Then an introductory question or thought is provided to help get your child thinking about the book in a critical way.  Following this question are comprehension and critical thinking questions based on that day's reading.  These can either be answered orally, you can type the answers into the online guide and print, or the worksheets can be printed and your child can write the answers down.  It's actually suggested that you do a combination of oral and written answers; we chose to answer all the questions orally.  

There are activities following the questions.  The student keeps a plot flowchart for each chapter of the book, and I found this to be a very useful activity for picking out the important parts of each chapter.  Some of the additional activities are worksheets that reinforce language arts skills (such as homonyms and  irregular plurals), while other worksheets require creative and/or critical thinking (such as designing a maze or coming up with acronyms for sets of letters).  Still other activities are hands on.  One such example involves running a skien of yarn throughout your house, and then blindfolding the child and have them find their way by holding on to the yarn; another involves giving your child a specific set of items and having them invent something. There are usually 2-3 activities per lesson, and some activities present an easier and harder option, allowing you some flexibility depending on your child's skill level.

After the activities, the lesson wraps up with discussion based on the story, as well as the skills practiced that day.  The final two day project presents two options:  writing a final chapter for the book or designing a book float, so two very different options are presented.

The hardcopy guide for Work, Tools, and Simple Machines is also easy to use.  Instead of printable worksheets, there are non-reproducible worksheets in the guide.  There are 7 lessons and a final project in this unit, though all but one of the lessons require 2 days to complete.  The lessons are:

• Work
• The Six Simple Machines
• The Inclined Plane
• The Screw and the Wedge
• Lever, Pulley, and Wheel and Axle
• Tools and Machines Make Work Easier
• Tools and Machines Over Time

The lessons are laid out in a similar fashion to those in the literature unit.  Lessons are introduced to the teacher with "Big Ideas", "Facts and Definitions", "Skills", "Materials", and an "Introduction" to present the ideas of the lesson to your child.

Following the introduction are the activities.  There are worksheets (often there are 2 options for differing skill levels), along with a lot of hands on activities.  The worksheet activities has the student drawing machines, identifying simple machines in the home, and cutting out and sorting many different things into what kind of simple machine they are.  Many of the needed supplies for the hands on activities are included in the Science in a Nutshell kit, but some need to be gathered (magazines, tape, cardboard, clay, beans, and  more).  There is a materials list provided at the beginning of the guide, and I would suggest gathering the supplies before you start.  The final project is a presentation that will have your student tie all that they've learned together through the creation of a poster and demonstration of the various types of simple machines, including how they work and how they've changed over time.

Jacob really enjoyed reading Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, and the activities and questions did cause him to think more critically about the book.  He also really enjoyed learning all about the simple machines.  It was fun to approach the book and science topic together, and I liked the way they complimented each other. The literature unit took us 30-45 minutes a day, while the science unit usually took longer, about 45-75 minutes.  There is a lot of discussion involved, so it was pretty teacher intensive.  Both types of guides were easy to use, though I probably slightly preferred the hardcopy version (I tend to get distracted on the computer).  However, I liked being able to print out the activity sheets from the online guide to give them to Jacob, instead of having him work on the sheets in the guide I was using.  Really, you can't go wrong with either option.

If you're looking for a challenging and fun option for your homeschool, check out Moving Beyond the Page.  In addition to being a great full year program, the individual units are also a great option to keep your child learning and engaged throughout the summer months.

For more reviews of Moving Beyond the Page, visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

Pages of History, Secrets of the Ancients

I recently received a PDF copy of Veritas Press's Pages of History, Volume One: Secrets of the Ancients.  This is a brand new book by Bruce Etter and Lexi Detweiler, and is the first of two volumes.  It's a 448 page hardcover book, and it's priced at $19.95.

Pages of History covers 96 major historical events from Creation through the Reformation.  It is written from a strong Christian worldview.  It fits well with a classical approach to education, but I wouldn't shy away from the book if you're not a classical educator.

The book opens with James and his friend Lance, who are on a field trip to a library.  We quickly find out that James is a Christian and Lance is not, and that there has been an event known as "The Cleansing".  "The Cleansing" wiped out God from all documents, books, records...everything.  There is no written record of God anywhere, but James's parents were part of the resistance to "The Cleansing" and have taught James about God and who He is.

While in the library, James and Lance stumble upon a secret room.  This room contains Bibles, books by C.S. Lewis, Augustine, etc--basically all of the Christian literature ever written.  They also find a notebook in a safe, and in the notebook, the words "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free".  Once they read these words, the ground began to shake, two books fall on their heads, and they pass out. They wake up in the Garden of Eden, and so begins their adventure.

This is a fabulous story, and perfect for logic/middle grade students to read for themselves.  By taking historical events and presenting them through the adventures of James and Lance, the events come alive and will stick with your child.  I'm going to have Jacob (5th grade) start reading this book immediately to supplement his history (he's currently using Veritas Press's Self-Paced Old Testament/Ancient Egypt course).

Veritas Press has hit a home run with Pages of History, and I look forward to the next volume in the series.

Disclaimer: I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

Hewitt Homeschooling: Lightning Lit & Comp 8

Over the years, I'd heard about Lighting Lit & Comp by Hewitt Homeschooling, but had never seen it in person.  I was very excited to have the opportunity to review the 8th grade level.  I received the Student Guide ($25), the Student Workbook ($25), and the Teacher's Guide ($20).

In this course, the student will read and write about several novels, along with short story selections and poems.  The novels studied are Treasure Island, A Day of Pleasure, A Christmas Carol, The Hobbit, My Family and Other Animals, and To Kill a Mockingbird.  Short stories and poems by Chesterton, Hawthorne, Whittman, Emerson, Keats, and others are also included.

The literary lessons (and additional mini lessons) covered in the 8th grade level are:

• Author's Purpose/Taking Notes
• Setting/Rewriting in Your Own Words
• Vivid Imagery in Poetry/Free Verse and Ballad
• Sharing Your Culture/Rewriting Your Own Words
• Details in Writing/Citing Sources in a Paper
• Character Development/The Narrator
• Figurative Language in Poetry/Fun Poesm
• Conflict/Genre Fiction
• Symbolism/Sentence Structure
• Humor/Bibliography
• Meter/The Sonnet
• Writing a Literary Analysis/Writing A Conclusion

There is a basic rhythm throughout the program, though the length of time spent on a particular work depends on its length:

• Read the introductory material
• Read the assigned book/story/poem
• Read the corresponding lesson and mini-lesson 
• Complete the corresponding workbook pages
• Complete one or two writing assignments
• Review and revise the compositions

Luke & Ezekiel worked through a portion of this program.  They are entering 8th and 7th grades this year.  Since we only had 6 weeks with this program before I needed to write this review, we began with Chesterton's short story, A Crazy Tale.  This chapter teaches about the author's purpose, and includes a mini lesson on taking notes.  According to the provided schedule in the Teacher's Guide, this unit should take about 3 weeks, and I think that is a reasonable amount of time to complete the chapter.  It took us a little bit longer because we were unable to work on it every day.  I had intended to also complete one of the poetry chapters, but the Waldo Canyon fire caused a disruption to our homeschool.

I broke the lessons down so the boys only had to a little bit each day.  They were able to complete much of the chapter by themselves.  There are several worksheets provided, and these worksheets focus on different skills.  For this chapter, the 8 worksheets focused on discerning the author's purpose (was it to inform, explain/instruct, persuade, describe, or explore), a short writing assignment (writing about the same topic with two different purposes in mind), capitalization and apostrophes, discerning fact and opinion, and taking notes.  At the end of the chapter, there are four different writing assignments to choose from, with different levels of difficulty--the easiest option is writing a paragraph or two describing everyday things as if you're seeing them for the first time, the most difficult is writing a research paper.

I asked Luke and Ezekiel what they thought about the program.  They both enjoyed the story, the Student Guide (sample), and the worksheets (sample), but they didn't like the writing assignments.  I've got to agree with them, though for different reasons.  Not liking writing assignments is their default position, but my issue with the writing assignments is that there isn't enough hand holding for me as the teacher in the Teacher's Guide.  The Teacher's Guide (sample) provides short explanations and some tips about what the student is learning as well as answers for the worksheets.  Even though I wish the Teacher's Guide contained more detailed information and explanations, I still think this is a very well done program that deserves a look.  It takes important literary concepts and explains them well and thoroughly, using a fabulous variety of novels, short stories, and poetry instead of excerpts.  It's not overwhelming in the way it presents the information.  In addition to the 8th grade program, Hewitt also has Lightning Lit available for 7th grade, and several different programs available for 9th-12th grade.  They're also working on elementary levels, beginning with 1st grade.

For more reviews of Hewitt Homeschooling products, go here.

Disclaimer:  As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are mine.

Heritage History: Young Readers

For Christmas, each of the boys received a Kindle Fire.  Since then, I've been looking for ways to incorporate them into our school days.  There are many free books available, including many classics, but these are often riddled with formatting errors.  I was thrilled when I found out I had the chance to review the Young Readers Classical Curriculum from Heritage History.

The Young Readers Classical Curriculum is one of the CDs from Heritage History's Classical Curriculum product line.  They also sell a CD for Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, British Middle Ages, and British Empire.  Each CD is $24.99, and each CD contains both pdf and e-Reader versions (e-pub and MOBI), so every book can be printed or put on any e-reader device.  The Curriculum CDs can be used alone as a history program, or Heritage History offers suggestions for incorporating the books into other popular history programs.

The Young Readers CD is an introduction to Western Civilization for elementary students. This CD contains 86 books, along with a printable Teacher's Guide, timelines, historical images, as well as lists of people encountered in the books.  A complete list of books can be found at the bottom of this page, but some of the titles included are Story of Columbus, Richard of Jamestown, Stories of the Vikings, Aesop for Children, Stories from the Life of Christ, Fifty Famous Stories, Stories from Arabian Nights, and Our Little Roman Cousin.

The CD is easily navigated.  When I placed it in my CD drive, I chose run the .exe file, and a table of contents opened in my browser window.  Along the side there are links for New Users (contains an introduction, a Getting Started link, and recommendations), the Library (which enables you to sort the books by subject, genre, or series, or you can sort by genre with a book summary included), Study Aids (this is where the Teacher's Guide, images, timeline, and list of characters are found), Curriculum (user's guide and FAQ), and e-Texts (general helpful information).  It was also easy to transfer the books onto the Kindle Fire with a USB cord, and the formatting is excellent.

I'm thrilled with this product.  For less than 30 cents a book, I've got an entire library of great historical books for my boys.  I look forward to incorporating more of these books into our history studies in the future, and I recommend you take a look at this company.


For more reviews of Heritage Histories, go here.

 Disclaimer:  As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are mine. 

Progeny Press: Across Five Aprils

Progeny Press produces literature study guides for all ages.  These guides are written from a Christian perspective, and they currently have over 100 guides available.  They are available as printed booklets, pdf documents on CD, or as a pdf document emailed directly to you.  I was emailed the pdf file for the guide for the book Across Five Aprils.

The pdf files for these guides are interactive, so the student can type their answers directly in the pdf.  Alternatively, the files can be printed if you prefer your student to write the answers.  There is a separate answer key included as well.  The guide begins with author information and then provides historical background information for the novel.  Following this information are pre-reading activities.  Progeny Press recommends the student reads the entire book before going back to study with the guide, and suggests that the student complete one or more of the pre-reading activities during this initial reading of the book.  Most guides will take 8 to 10 weeks to complete.

After the student reads the book completely, then the student begins the study guide. The Progeny Press guides are not easy, fill-in-the-blank-without-thinking guides.  The students are asked to go above and beyond simply understanding the story, and are required to really think about the story.  There are questions about the plot, but instead of simply making sure the student read the book, the questions require to think about the book and why things happened.  Students are asked to define words by using context as well as using a dictionary.  Literary terms, such as similie and  idiom are explained, and the student is asked to find examples in excerpts taken from the book.  The student is asked to look up Bible verses and explain how they relate to the book.  Because Across Five Aprils is an historical novel about the Civil War, the student is asked to look up various battles and mark them on a map, in addition to other "Connections with History" questions.  There are also optional writing assignments in the guides.  

The guide ends with an Overview.  In this section, plot, rising action, climax, conflict, and motif are explained and the student is asked to write about each of these elements in Across Five Aprils.  Once again, these questions require more than a simple regurgitation of events in the book.

I'm not a huge fan of literature study guides in general.  We read a lot of books in our homeschool and we typically just discuss them.  However, I'm impressed with the Progeny Press study guides and I am considering ordering one or two for Jacob to complete next year.  Since I now have five in school, I don't always have time to read every book that my boys read, let alone discuss every book.  The questions in the Progeny Press guide are very thorough, and I really think they can fill this gap in our homeschool.

The price for the Across Five Aprils study guide is $18.99 for the booklet, $16.99 for a CD, or $23.99 for a book/CD package.  Shipping is additional for these items, but you can have the pdf emailed to you for $16.99 to save on shipping.  If you're looking for study guides for literature, definitely take a look at the guides from Progeny Press.

For additional reviews of Progeny Press Study Guides, go here.

Disclaimer:  As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are mine.