I love having a homeschool curriculum that focuses on great literature. Usually, our online classes cover many of the books I want my kids to read. There are always those gems, however, that I end up adding on in addition to our regular work, and finding a good study guide to go with them can be a challenge. That's why I was curious to review Progeny Press and their Digital Study Guides available at http://www.ProgenyPress.com. While there were many to choose from, I settled on reviewing the one for To Kill a Mockingbird, specifically.
How did we use this guide? It was used as an extra resource for my high school daughter as a literary project. She already reads quite a few books for her main literature course, so we added in this read during a lull in her studies, and she read it over the course of a few weeks, using the guide as a way to test knowledge and discuss topics further. This was available as an "interactive" digital copy, meaning my daughter had it downloaded to her computer, and she was able to open it up and type the answers to questions, as well as notes, directly into the PDF of the guide. I then used the answer key to check her work and give feedback as needed.
What did I like about the guide? As with most guides, there were plenty of comprehension questions used to test if students understood what they read. But this guide also came with some additional perks, such as pre-reading activities, which were based on the politics and culture of the time the book was set in and helped give context to the book before it was even began.
I also really liked that there was vocabulary study for each section (usually 2-3 chapters), which helps students to grow in their reading, writing, and speaking skills. The "Dig Deeper" question went beyond just testing their understanding of the book, but also engaged critical thinking skills -- something I look for in any study guide I purchase.
Note that you will not get the actual book with the guide; we had to purchase our own copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, for example, or borrow one from the library. Even purchasing your own book, the guides are reasonably priced and offer a thorough study of a number of great pieces of literature in addition to the one we reviewed. Other titles that have guides available include:
How did we use this guide? It was used as an extra resource for my high school daughter as a literary project. She already reads quite a few books for her main literature course, so we added in this read during a lull in her studies, and she read it over the course of a few weeks, using the guide as a way to test knowledge and discuss topics further. This was available as an "interactive" digital copy, meaning my daughter had it downloaded to her computer, and she was able to open it up and type the answers to questions, as well as notes, directly into the PDF of the guide. I then used the answer key to check her work and give feedback as needed.
What did I like about the guide? As with most guides, there were plenty of comprehension questions used to test if students understood what they read. But this guide also came with some additional perks, such as pre-reading activities, which were based on the politics and culture of the time the book was set in and helped give context to the book before it was even began.
I also really liked that there was vocabulary study for each section (usually 2-3 chapters), which helps students to grow in their reading, writing, and speaking skills. The "Dig Deeper" question went beyond just testing their understanding of the book, but also engaged critical thinking skills -- something I look for in any study guide I purchase.
Note that you will not get the actual book with the guide; we had to purchase our own copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, for example, or borrow one from the library. Even purchasing your own book, the guides are reasonably priced and offer a thorough study of a number of great pieces of literature in addition to the one we reviewed. Other titles that have guides available include:
- Tuck Everlasting
- Sarah, Plain and Tall
- Introduction to Poetry: Forms and Elements Study Guide
- many more!
All guides are written from a Christian perspective, but I found them to be challenging enough with regard to the questions asked and topics tackled; they did not shy away from tricky topics such as race relations or sin. This is exactly what I would want for a high school study guide.
Priced at $21.99 this is a good investment in classical education. I would recommend Progeny Press for help with studying any classical literature you would like a thorough experience from. (See what other parents had to say via the link to reviews below!)
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