TOS CREW Review- Progeny Press

Reading Literature books and answering questions pertaining to them are not new things to my kiddos.  It is just one of the easiest ways to check for reading comprehension.  But when I heard that Progeny Press had interactive Literature Guides I jumped at the chance to try them out.  For my 5th grade son we chose The Golden Goblet Study Guide recommended for 5-8th graders, and for my 9th grade daughter, what else, but The Hobbit Study Guide, recommended for 9-12th graders.  Progeny Press also offers titles for younger elementary children.


The guides we choose, as well as over 100 more offered at Progeny Press are available in an easy download to your computer.  Well, easy for the 9th grader who did her own download.  Mom, that would be me, messed up The Golden Goblet download, but luckily a quick email to Nathan at Progeny Press got us started again and we were able to correctly download the Interactive Study Guide as well as the separate Answer Key and suggested pre-reading activities.  Each guide begins with a synopsis of the book and an About the Author section.  Then for each assigned reading you are directed read the corresponding chapters and answer the questions.

 

 

 

Set in Ancient Egypt, The Golden Goblet, written by Eloise Jarvis McGraw is a delightful book about a boy named Ranofer who longs to be a goldsmith like his father.  Unfortunately for him, his mean spirited brother Gebu stands in his way until Ranofer discovers a secret surrounding a golden goblet.  The adventure is a good one and is sure to keep  your child interested in reading the book.   The Golden Goblet Study Guide begins with a vocabulary worksheet and crossword puzzle and then proceeds to questions.  Three to four chapters are covered with each lesson.  There is space for your child to answer directly on your computer underneath each question, as well as a print option.  Even though my son is not a proficient typist (note to self- get the boy a typing program!), he really enjoyed this feature.  Just remember to teach your child to hit the save button BEFORE he closes the guide.  Just saying!

 

Of course, most everyone is familiar with The Hobbit, written by JRR Tolkien.  Bilbo Baggins, some friends and a band of dwarfs join together on a quest to middle earth to recover a treasure that has been stolen. The Hobbit Study Guide is presented in a similar manner as The Golden Goblet, obviously just geared for a slightly older audience.  I like that this guide, as well as The Golden Goblet, varies in how it tests the facts and concepts learned- from vocabulary  and some multiple choice "just the facts" kind of questions, to thought provoking essay questions.  Each section of The Hobbit Study Guide ends with a section called Dig Deeper that has your student use the Bible as a springboard to answer some pretty deep questions.  Even with as much Bible background and knowledge as my daughter has, the Dig Deeper sections stumped her a few times and really made her stretch her thinking.  They are also wonderful conversation starters between parent and child.

 Each of the Progeny Press Literary Guides can take 8-10 weeks to complete, covering 1 section per week.  They do recommend that you have your child read the entire book to begin with, but we chose not to, but instead only read the assigned chapters for that week, for fear of not remembering the smalls details.  One of the glories of homeschooling is finding what works for your child and then go for it.

 

Our thoughts-

I really like these guides!  Admittedly they are very different from what we are use to, yet neither of my kids had any trouble transitioning to a new way.  My son especially prefers this to what we have been doing and we are going to continue on through the summer with another one of his choice.  There are some great Middle School oldies but goodies as well as some we did not recognize to choose from. 

I love the mission statement of Progeny Press-

"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!"

 

I love that owners Michael and Rebecca Gilleland are dedicated to teaching Classic literature from a Godly perspective.  There is a bunch of junk out there and it is nice to know that this company is devoted to helping you as a parent weed that junk out, while still providing books that have cultural relevancy.

 

I would recommend you look through the list of books for your child's age range and chose the four or five that interest your child the most and enjoy a year of strong, comprehensive Literary study!

 

 

Pricing-

The Hobbit-

$21.99 Printed Booklet
$18.99 CD
$18.99 Instant Download

 

The Golden Goblet-

$18.99 Printed Booklet

$16.99 CD

$16.99 Instant Download

*Books are also available at Progeny Press!

Fellow CREW read other titles from Progeny Press.  Click on the banner to read what they had to say! 

 

 

 

 

TOS CREW Review- Knowledge Quest

Many of you may know the company Knowledge Quest by the amazing History books, time lines and maps they sell by the truckloads, but did you know they also have a line of historical fiction books as well?  We got to review one this past month and we could have not been any more pleased!

Sacagawea ebook, an interactive historical novel, is written about the famous woman that helped Lewis and Clark on their expedition west to the Pacific Ocean.  Originally written by Karla Akins in four separate parts, this ebook is now available as a whole, encompassing 112 pages of suspense and excitement. 

    A quick download to my iPad was all it took to get us started!  I used this book as a daily read aloud to my kindergarten and 5th grade sons.  The plan was to read one chapter a day for 16 total chapters, but that got quickly trashed as the boys often begged me to keep reading "just one more chapter!"  The only thing that slowed us down was my voice getting tired...these are hefty chapters!  Since we have spent most of our military life in the mid west, my kids have a real interest in the exploration in that area.  Sacagawea is one of the explorers we have read a lot about, but reading about her in a historical fiction book really helped bring her character to life for us.  To get a glimpse of what she may have felt or thought was a neat addition to the research we had done previously.  While many of those thoughts and feelings are only speculation, Kayla relied on and often quoted diary entries made during the famous expedition.

The story is intense let me tell you!  From raiding Indians to waterfalls and mudslides, there is a lot of action.  I was a little concerned a few times when we started to read about the injuries some obtained on the journey and the dogs they bought to eat, but I guess it should be no surprise that it did not seem to bother the boys at all.  Go figure!

But what makes a book interactive?  All of the links throughout the text.  Wow!  Each time something was mentioned, from a coyote to a river to a specific weapon used,  there was a Internet link to go to for more information.  Some were even you tube videos on a particular subject.  This did trip us up for a while because at first every time the boys saw a highlighted word they wanted to click on it, but we finally agreed that they could look at as many as they wanted AFTER I had finished reading for the day.  That worked out better for us and was less of a distraction than going back and forth.  After we finished reading I left them to click away.  Don't worry, I did not miss much as they were continually running in to show me what they found.  Many of the links take you to Karla's personal blog, The History Scroll, that provides a wealth of information she learned from her research for the book.  Those were definitely our favorite links.

What can you do with this book?
First of all, enjoy!  It can be just a fun read aloud for the whole family!
Secondly, tie it to your history studies!  If you are going to be studying Lewis and Clark I would add this to your must read list.  It really will make a great addition.
Thirdly, use it as a springboard for a research paper.  Or two. The links are amazing!  Obviously a lot of time, thought and effort has been put into each link and I can see book reports flowing from those links alone!

You can purchase of complete ebook  Kindle edition for $4.97.

Happy reading!