We love Progeny Press (we used it last year), so we were happy to get to use the Indian in the Cupboard E-Guide with my son this time. As you know, the Indian in the Cupboard is a classic read that many of us enjoyed as children. Using the e-guide made it easy to turn the reading experience into a learning experience that was easy for me and enriching for my son.

First, of all, you should know that this is an e-guide. So while you could print it out and use it as paper resource, it's best used as the download that it is on your computer.  Many of the questions that are asked require you to use the drop down, multiple-choice answer selection that can only be fully utilized in the document on the computer. There is also room to type out answers, something that may be easier for kids to use than writing their answers out. My son appreciated being able to type his answers, save them for me, and then come back to work on it later. (Just be sure to save the student version as a different file name!)

What kind of things are reviewed by the guide? 

I loved that they included "pre-reading" activities. Kid can be assigned one of two exercises to prepare them for understanding certain thematic elements of the book, like the French and Indian War. While these are optional, and the guide questions don't necessarily require them to do well, I think it adds more dimension to the study and gives kids a reason to go outside of the scope of just the book to give them a broader learning experience.

Comprehension activities and questions are grouped by chapter, but some may be combined. The first section covers Chapters 1 & 2, for example. My son was asked to go over vocabulary words, literary concepts and devices (like characterization), understanding questions of the events of the story, and -- finally -- "dig deeper" questions that tie the book to Biblical knowledge. (Note that you don't have to have a young Bible scholar in your home to get much out of these... they cover big-picture topics such as how we treat others!)

As a parent, and a book fanatic, I really liked the "Additional Resources" guide in the back of the product. There was a list of books with similar topics, as well as a list of books by the same author. My kids often go in search of more books by writers they like, so this is perfect for my kids!

Indian in the Cupboard E-Guide is for middle-schoolers, but Progeny Press also has guides for Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary, and Middle School so be sure to to read the other reviews to learn the differences between these levels. (And see the review we did last year for To Kill a Mockingbird E-Guide.)

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