Review: The Ultimate Homeschool Planner System

For years I’ve struggled with planning and scheduling, using numerous planners, both purchased and self-created, with mixed results. Some challenges in finding something that works is that our homeschool is quite an eclectic mix and our needs change often. For example, some of my kids’ courses are very scheduled, especially outside classes; others are quite relaxed. We have classes that are done daily, weekly, and monthly, with some lasting all year, others a semester, and some for six weeks. In addition, my children approach their school day very differently. One needs a very specific assignment list and schedule, and the other would rather have assignment due dates but not held accountable to an exact schedule each day. As for me, I hate being stuck to a rigid schedule but find that I absolutely need to have some sort of overall planner or I won’t be able to keep it all together.

The Ultimate Homeschool Planner, designed by Debra Bell, is a planning system. In addition, the parent planner is meant to work *with* the two student planners, The Ultimate Weekly Planner for Teens and The Ultimate Daily Planner for Students. Our family had the opportunity to review all three planners, each designed for a particular need, yet they all worked together. I think this is key, at least for our family.


Let’s start with the planner meant for the homeschooling parent, The Ultimate Homeschool Planner. First of all, I simply like the feel of this planner. It has a large spiral and it easily lies flat and open. The cover is plastic and has some substance, yet is flexible. The planner is significant in size so it won’t get lost, but it isn’t bulky. The covers also have pocket folders, perfect for those I’m-not-sure-where-to-put-this-but-it-is-important-to-have-nearby items.
The content is a nice balance of instruction and inspiration with useful recording and planning pages. The beginning pages teach the parent how to purposefully plan, starting with a big picture of goals and time commitments, and bringing it down to how that looks at a daily level. The parent is walked through a Yearly Planning Retreat, Monthly Planning Sessions, Weekly Planning Breaks, right down to Monday Morning Tutorials and Friday Afternoon Reviews with all the appropriate forms. Being a highly visual person, I love, love, love the pages showing how completed planning pages might actually look, including the student planners.

The bulk of the planner consists of monthly and weekly planning pages for one calendar year. Each month is a two-page spread, with the dates blank so you can begin to use the planner at any time of the year and be able to fully utilize it. The weekly pages consist of two full page spreads. The first is a grid of six blocks across and six down. There is also a section in the margins for notes, supply lists, and appointments. The next weekly page spread is more for purpose and reflection. They include sections for recording Bible study and focus, prayers, outreach, memorable moments and “evidences of grace” each week. The best feature of the weekly page is flexibility; the rows and columns are not labeled. It took me a couple of tries to figure out what worked for me, but I eventually came up with a personalized system. I need very detailed plans or I will forget some important tasks. Therefore, allotting a block for a day’s work or a subject’s assignments was simply not working. Instead, I drew a line down the middle, giving each child three rows and six columns. I wrote the days across the top and used three blocks for each day’s work, keeping the order of subjects consistent. This way I could include appointments and activities as well. It wasn’t pretty, but the important part is it worked. Having a detailed week’s plan for both children on a two-page spread was just what I needed. I’m still tweaking my system. Since my youngest usually doesn’t need as much space, I’m thinking of adding a row in the middle for my activities and appointments as well.
The remaining pages contain forms to record grades, reading lists, year-end review notes along with several teaching tips articles.

Check out the available copy of the Table of Contents and a Planner Sample for a better idea of the structure and layout.

My kids used two different planners. My daughter used The Ultimate Weekly Planner for Teens. After a couple of year overview type pages and then twelve monthly pages, each week is provided a two-page grid plan with the days across the top and blank column boxes. Each box also has two segmented circles representing an hour each, allowing the student to keep track of on task time in 15 minute increments. The student planners are about half the size of the parent planner, which was preferable to my daughter. However, she found she didn’t quite have enough room to write all her assignments fully. There are only five rows with which to work, requiring some grid boxes to contain more than one subject. My daughter relied on abbreviations and I kept more detailed information in my own planner. The last 35 pages are devoted to grade records, an activities log, credit tracker, general study information, college application planning and notes.

My daughter’s past success rate with planners has been similar to mine. She simply hasn’t been able to find one she’ll consistently use. I also have a difficult time balancing giving her freedom and micro-managing when it comes to her schedule. Most of my daughter’s work is either outside classes or independent study. If I give too much freedom, I become very out of touch of what assignments and projects she has coming up. This means I can easily overschedule her with other activities and she can also get in too deep too quickly if I am not overseeing. On the flip side, she resents me structuring her exact daily activities. With The Ultimate Planners, we’ve been having a weekly meeting were we decide together her goals and daily activities for the week. This keeps me in the loop and ensures we are on the same page, in addition to allowing me to guide unrealistic time expectations or help prioritize. I then have a reference in my own planner in order to check in with her throughout the week.

It looks a mess, but this planner really does keep her organized.  Items are starred upon completion.  The circled items are those still needing completed that may have gotten bumped in the schedule.

Take a peek yourself by checking out the 14-page sample of the teen planner.

My son used The Ultimate Daily Planner for Students. Even though he is a teen and the planner was designed for elementary and middle school kids, this planner has been a great fit for him. In fact, he has seen become very reliant. It has surprisingly created a focus and consistency in his work he didn’t have previously. The format of the weekly planning pages is more a checklist style. Each day has eight lines for assignments with “done” and “approved” columns. My very linear thinker loved the straightforward schedule in addition to being able to see a week at a time. I keep the order of subjects very consistent and he has developed a routine for completing his work. I used to give him a daily check list, but having the whole week written out in daily increments has been much more effective for him. It gives him the big picture he needs without overwhelming him. I am quite impressed with how focused he has been in completing his tasks for the day. In fact, if I neglect to have the day’s assignments written in, he badgers me in the morning until I complete his planner. I can see how he will easily transition to the teen planner and begin creating his own schedule after using this one for a while. The remaining pages are similar to the teen planner, minus the college preparation pages. (Note: The spiral binding on this planner glows in the dark!). This planner is a huge success story for my son! If you have older kids who need something different than the teen planner, I would not hesitate to give this one a look.

My kids' different personalities are quite obvious by looking at how they use their planners.  This is my linear, "just give me a list to complete" child.

A sample of the student planner is available for a closer look.

These planners are each different, yet work together as a system.

While I’m not utilizing this planning system fully yet, I am consistently using it with success.  It is not intimidating and is fairly flexible.  Furthermore, it has plenty of tools, should you decide to use them, but the function of the planners is not dependent upon them.  The fact that the planners all work together yet serve different needs it the greatest benefit.

The Ultimate Homeschool Planner is available for $28. The Ultimate Weekly Planner for Teens and The Ultimate Daily Planner for Students are both available for $19 each.  All three planners can be purchased through Apologia.

Planning with Simplicity

They say your blog should reflect you and be real.

A friend often tells me I have an “all or nothing” personality. If that is the case, my blog definitely has been a reflection of the nothing part. It has been seriously neglected lately.  In fact, it has been bordering abandoned.  

For a variety of reasons, I decided to get back on track.  If you have an “all or nothing” personality, you know that a challenge in making changes is creating obtainable, yet satisfying, goals.  I need to be careful to not go all grand plan and try in an effort to make myself an overnight sensation of the homeschooling Blogsphere.

Baby steps.  I must do this in baby steps.  I also need to keep in mind, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail,” which is a really old saying that is still around, so there must be something to it.

When Mosaic Reviews asked that its team of reviewers check out a list of blog planners and select one for review, I sort of cringed - and possibly even twitched a little. While I know I need to plan, I quickly became overwhelmed with some of the really awesome and elaborate planners out there. They just didn't fit with my writing-when-inspired approach to blogging (a.k.a. flying by the seat of your pants and hope it works out).

A simple blog planner is what I need.  

I found it.

Check out this planner offered for FREE by Girl in The Woods.

A whole month of planning is on *one* page.  It gives you space to think about daily topics (weekends off!) with a side column to note tags, categories, and links.  Up at the top is a short and simple reminder list for each post.  Following this checklist would have saved me some past headaches!

I’m not sure if I will be able come up with enough topics and inspiration for a daily blog post. I think I’ll commit to posting two or three times a week for starters. Perhaps I can use the other days spaces to plan for blog hopping, posting on my blog’s FB page, or some other non-posting activity.

Also, if I think of a topic, but don’t have time for it at the moment, I can just jot it down for a future week, rather than trying to recall that great blog post I had thought of when I didn’t have time to write, but was sure I would remember. Some weeks I have tons of ideas and little time.  Other weeks when I actually have time to write, I've got nothin'!  This simple planner will help me organize my random thoughts and time into something that just may work.

The simplicity of this planner, available as a free download, doesn't make me overwhelmed and feel like I have to fill in every blank or I'm a blogging failure.

Thank you, Girl in The Woods, for the inspiration to get back on track. 

Review: Make It Real Learning

We all remember those story problems about two trains traveling certain speeds at a given distance in opposite directions or asking the percentage of blue-eyed boys in a given classroom, as if this would be must-know information later in life. Problems like these didn’t exactly make you jump up and down with enthusiasm to learn the math concepts, did they? The relevance of learning how to solve such problems is lost on most students and instead leaves them asking, “When am I ever going to use this?”

Students want to know *why* they are learning certain material and how it might be relevant to them either in the present or near future. When my son first started learning fractions, I usually used two units in my explanations to bring it home better: snack food and money. However, as important as cookies and dollars are for a ten-year-old boy, they can only take you so far. Now that he’s headed toward high school, he really needs to see how what he’s learning today applies to his future. I often wish the story problems in the textbooks did a better job making the story problems relevant - that they would make them real.

Make It Real Learning (MIRL) has tackled the “Why do we need to know this?” chant from math students and developed a workbook series of activities showing how math is needed in our every day lives.



I was sent the digital format of Activity Library Volume II, targeted to grade level 3 through college, to review. There are eleven workbooks in Volume II with the following topics/titles:

• Arithmetic II
• Fractions, Percents, Decimals III
• Fractions, Percents, Decimals IV
• Geometry I
• Geometry II
• Graphing & Other Algebra Skills I
• Graphing & Other Algebra Skills II
• Linear Functions III
• Periodic & Piecewise II
• Quadratic II
• Sets, Probability, Statistics II

Each workbook includes ten activities, which are mapped to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Each activity is about two pages long and comprised of multiple questions based on a real-life scenario. The activities are ideal for 1-2 class periods of a traditional classroom.  They can be done in groups or completed by as single student and are well suited for homeschooled students.

All of the activity topics are high interest and should appeal to a broad range of students.  The topics range from candy purchases to college tuition and beyond.  Students will learn how math relates to music downloads, interest and savings, construction planning, travel expenses, sports, cooking, healthcare costs, gas prices, take home pay and even current events and concerns such as elections and autism awareness.

The scenarios presented in the activities are drawn from real situations, real data, and even include links to actual websites and studies.  For example, an activity about purchasing candy and calculating shipping costs from an online website includes a link to the website, the actual costs of the candy, and a copy of the shipping fee table.

Make It Real Learning’s Activity Volume II does not contain actual lessons, detailed explanations, nor is it a complete curriculum. However, each activity is immediately followed by an answer key showing the steps in the solution, making it easy for the supervising parent or teacher. I appreciated not having to open a different file for the solutions and having the solutions readily available.

To get a feel for the format and structure of the activities, there are 20 free sample real-world math activities available from Volume I and II.

While there are some activities suitable for late elementary, I felt the majority of the activities were better suited for late middle school through high school grade levels. With an 8th grader and a 10th grader in my household, the level of the activities is about perfect for our family to use now and have plenty of material available for later.

I always try to make math real for our kids as we live life, while we do home projects, bake and shop, or pay bills. However, I can’t always seamlessly align our experiences with what my kids happen to be learning in their math curriculum. With these activities targeting specific concepts, I think we’ll get plenty of use of this quick resource the next time my kids sigh and whine, “Why do I need to know this?” I’m looking forward to continuing to use this resource.

Activity Library Volume II is available at the Make It Real Learning’s website as a digital download for $39.99 or as a Volume I and II bundle at a discounted price of $69.99 for the pair. If you prefer a hard copy, a print version is available at Lulu for $54.99.

As a special to my readers, receive 40% off by clicking the link below!

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I received a free copy of product from Make It Real Learning in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. This review contains affiliate links. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

Review: Heritage History

Ever since purchasing a Kindle, I’ve been looking for ways to utilize it in our homeschool.  Of course, as many e-reader owners have discovered, there are plenty of free resources out there.  Websites such as Project Gutenberg keep e-reader users happily loading up their device with free reading material.
I now have many classical histories on my Kindle that could easily be integrated into our history studies.  The problem is, I don’t always know the best way to go about that.  Heritage History, a history curriculum using classical titles, has taken much of the legwork out of utilizing these great resources in your homeschool.

I was sent the Ancient Rome Classical Curriculum on CD for this review.  Adaptable for most ages, this history curriculum includes 45 completely illustrated books, over 60 maps, timelines, battle dictionaries, reading recommendations, geography terms, short biographies, historical era summaries, and study guide resources.


All of the books are available in their entirety for viewing and reading on the Heritage History website, though there is a small fee to individually purchase titles as a download. While all of the titles included are public domain and available for free elsewhere as well, the value in this curriculum is in both the Study Aids and the convenience and organization of the titles, which are provided on the CD in two downloadable formats.

The titles in the library are easily organized by reading level.  Included are 8 introductory, 16 intermediate, and 21 advanced level titles.  Titles can also be organized by genre, summaries, and series to help users locate appropriate titles to read. For example, the genre categories include: Comprehensive History, Episodic History, Biography, Christian Antiquity, Legends and Literature, Historical Fiction.

Once I found the title I wanted, getting the e-book on my Kindle was very easy. Directions for transferring the available MOBI or EPUB files (both are included on the CD) to various devices are provided. If you don’t own a reader, titles can be read on the computer or printed.


Worth mentioning is the easy navigation of all the resources on the CD. While you do not need an internet connection to use the CD, web browser tools are utilized to organize all of the information in a familiar website presentation.  One of the things that frustrates me about digital products is I always feel like I’m scrolling through pages trying to find information.  I really appreciated having a sidebar menu with categories and use of familiar browsing tools.

The curriculum does not provide an assignment schedule of readings nor learning activities, but rather groups related readings, characters, and events and provides age specific core reading recommendations. This falls in line with the interest-driven history study approach of the curriculum.  The Curriculum User Guide provides detailed information on Heritage History’s particular living books approach, their philosophy and structure of the curriculum, and recommendations for history study. Below you will also find samples of each of the Study Aids provided to users.

• Age specific core reading recommendations.
  
• Dozens of historical maps.
  
• Outline maps and geography terms.
  
• Summary of each historical era.
  
• Battle dictionary listing all wars, battles, and conflicts.
  
• Short biographies of famous characters.
  
• Timelines describing major events of each era.
  
• Hundreds of high quality images.
  
• Accountability records

While the curriculum as designed to serve the needs of a wide age range, the focus is on intermediate and general-interest readers.  There only a few titles below the 4th grade level and no analytical texts at the college level. However, younger children could be read the titles aloud, and overall the program is designed to be quite flexible to work for many ages and approaches.

The recommended weekly time to go through the program is 3 hours per week.  There are worksheets,  busywork projects, or concrete assignments. The guideline is to have each student read the core selections, at least three supplemental books for depth, and three or so substantial free-choice books over the course of the year.

Developed with a focus on providing a strong library of resources rather than another core curriculum, Heritage History encourages use of their program as a resource for other traditional history programs. Some of those specifically mentioned that would work well with Heritage History include Ambleside, OId Fashioned Education, Living Books, Tapestry of Grace, Story of the World, and Veritas/Omnibus.

The Study Aids on the CD are also available separately in both printed and downloadable versions as a Study Guide.  The PDF version of the Study Guide is identical to the resources on the CD, so there is no need to purchase a separate Study Guide if you own the curriculum CD.  Its availability is for those families who would prefer to read the recommended books directly from the Heritage History webpage or purchase individual books.

Overall, I feel Heritage History is a well-organized, easy-to-use, and value-priced history curriculum. I love that everything comes on a CD, rather than being required to download to my hard drive. My son enjoyed taking my Kindle off to a cozy corner for his history studies, so there were no complaints on the student end either!

Heritage Classical Curriculum CDs are available for $24.99. The Study Guides are available in color print for $24.99 or as a download for $12.99. Also available are Heritage Classical Libraries, which are collections of related titles, for $19.99.

Disclaimer: This review was provided as a result of my participation in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew. I was provided the product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I have received no other compensation. I strive to give a balanced overview of each product, detailing my opinion of both pros and cons and how the product worked for my family. What works for one family may not work for another. I encourage you to read reviews of other Crew members and research sufficiently to determine if any product will be a benefit to your homeschool. You may read more reviews on this product by visiting here.

Review and Giveaway: As One Devil to Another

As One Devil to Another is an astonishing debut work that C. S. Lewis’s biographer and foremost Lewis authority Walter Hooper calls “a stunning achievement, the finest example of the genre of diabolical correspondence to appear since this genre was popularized by C. S. Lewis.” Enter into this chilling and diabolical tale, one that reveals the very tricks and strategies of Hell. 

Through a series of letters between devils created by Platt, senior devil Slashreap trains his young protégé, Scardagger, to win an individual soul away from Heaven and into their clutches. As the devils plot their way to triumph, they reveal the spiritual dangers and risks we face in today’s society. Their frighteningly accurate perspective on issues such as contemporary technology and sexual mores is interwoven with timeless matters such as the power of prayer, the purpose of suffering, and the promises held out by Heaven . . . and Hell.(publisher's book description)

Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis has been on my to-read list for many years.  In fact, the very book has been sitting in my nightstand drawer for about a year.  So, when I had the opportunity to review Richard Platt's As One Devil to Another, written in the style of C.S. Lewis, my interest was piqued.

I actually started reading Screwtape Letters in anticipation of the arrival of Platt's book.  I wanted to have an idea of the comparison of the two.  Part of my concern is that Platt's book would seem unoriginal and too much copy of Lewis' unique style in Screwtape Letters to the point of annoyance.  I needn't have worried.

I found the tale woven among the letters between senior devil Slashread and student Scardagger thought-provoking and interesting.  I enjoyed the little nods to C.S. Lewis or the original Screwtape Letters.  For example, Slashread is Screwtape's brother.  Slashread warns Scardagger that the "client's" aunt has titles by "a pestilential writer named Lewis" and later references a lion and children (from the popular Naria Series, for those unfamiliar).

The "fiendish correspondence" gives the read a glimpse into all the tricks and strategies of Hell in order to turn one away from the "Adversary" (Slashread's address of God) all with a modern twist of issues of today.  Political correctness, homosexuality, reality TV, the sexual revolution, and the Internet are all topics addressed.  Also addressed are those issues and questions with which humanity has always struggled: competition, sufferance, pride, humility, good works, and more.

While there was at least once I questioned some theology as presented, overall I found it was good read.  At just under 200 pages, it won't bog you down, but it also has enough meat to it to make you think. I'll likely require my high school student to read this title, after reading Screwtape Letters first, especially since the "client" is a young woman at the university pursuing an English degree, an area of interest for my daughter.

Giveaway! (Closed)

Congrats to commenter #5, Julieanne!

I have one certificate for a copy of As One Devil to Another to giveaway to one lucky U.S. reader. See below for how you can enter.  Please make sure to leave your contact info in each comment.

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Disclaimer/Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the book mentioned above for free from Tyndale Publishers in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. All opinions are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Review: Balance Math (Critical Thinking Co)

In case you are short on time today, let me give you the short version of this review.  I LOVE products by Critical Thinking Co. They are very nicely done, easy to use, and just fabulous. Head on over to their website and check out the vast amounts of resources for your homeschool.  Right now.  Go on.  Try not to buy one of everything! (Psst!  They have bundles if you’d like to try!)

Now, for those of you who require more detail and specifics, I was sent two products for review, both covering math topics targeting grades 4-12. 
 
Balance Math Teaches Algebra by Robert Femiano presents algebra with a visual approach using balance scales. There is a 2-page sample at the website to print and try out a few of the 52 activities provided. The activities are presented from simple to complex, building upon the previous pages.

My son,who is currently in pre-algebra, has a pretty mathematical mind. However, during his math work, I noticed that he doesn’t always get balancing equations. He understands how to do the calculations, how to combine like terms, and use other skills needed to balance equations. However, he doesn’t always recognize that the equals sign in an equation means if you did something on one side of the equation, you must do the same on the other to maintain balance. This isn’t too surprising, since he is still working through some directional challenges related to his struggles with dyslexia. It is frustrating, however, and we've been working on recognition of the equals sign as creating two sides of the equation.

When I gave my son his first sheet of Balance Math to complete, he immediately knew how to work the problems. In fact, he was working the problems in his head faster than I was. Usually when new material is presented to him, he needs to go through examples and do a few problems. Balance Math was completely intuitive for my visual learner. It instantly clicked.

Balance Math &More Level 2 by Robert Femiano, includes some of the same activities as Balance Math along with two additional activities called Tic Tac Math and Inside-Out Math.  There is a 3-page sample at the website that will provide examples of the differing puzzles offered in the 38 activities.  There are three levels of this series, with Level 2 focusing on multiplication and division of whole numbers, with a few problems using fractions.

We focused on just the Tic Tac Math and the Inside-Out Math since we were already doing the Balance Math sets from the other book.  One thing I noticed with these types of problems was it wasn’t the math my son struggled with, but the sequencing and accuracy needed. My son is too quick to get frustrated with multi-step problems where the answer to one part is needed for another.  Part of this is because he is very much a big picture person and breaking things down into parts presents more of a challenge.  When adding that to a tendency to rush work and make silly errors, the outcome is one frustrated boy.  I noticed that both of these exercises forced him to practice both his sequencing and accuracy skills in a rather non-threatening and visual manner.  While he didn't enjoy the other activities in this book as much as the Balance Math, I appreciated that they provided some much needed practice in some weak areas.  I always mourn an incorrect answer because of silly calculation errors!

Both of these titles are reproducible for home or classroom use, which makes them a great value as the copyright legally allows use for multiple children. The pages are perforated to make copying convenient.

As expected, these are two titles that I can definitely recommend to those looking for some supplemental math materials. Balance Math Teaches Algebra is available for $14.99 and Balance Math and More Level 2 is available for $9.99. Explore many of the other products available from Critical Thinking Co. with the printable samples and software demos available. 

Disclaimer: This review was provided as a result of my participation in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew. I was provided the product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I have received no other compensation. I strive to give a balanced overview of each product, detailing my opinion of both pros and cons and how the product worked for my family. What works for one family may not work for another. I encourage you to read reviews of other Crew members and research sufficiently to determine if any product will be a benefit to your homeschool. You may read more reviews on this product by visiting here.

Review: Prufrock Press

When I am exploring something new, I tend to be a researcher. I check out a stack of books, scour the interest, and talk to those with knowledge in the area.  It was no different when I started homeschooling and I discovered there is no shortage to materials on homeschooling, whether about the reasons, the methods, or a source of encouragement.  What I did find, however, is that there is a shortage of information on homeschooling gifted children.  Aside from a few titles scattered here and there, gifted education materials are often geared toward traditional teachers.  During my hunt for information, I discovered Prufrock Press, a leading publisher for gifted education resources. In addition to materials that can be applicable to any homeschool or classroom, Prufrock Press now has some homeschooling-specific resources as well.

I received a sampling of titles that may be of interest to homeschoolers for review, which included Homeschooling Gifted and Advanced Learners by Cindy West, Free Resources for Elementary Teachers by Colleen Kessler, Math Dictionary for Kids By Theresa Fitzgerald, and an issue of Creative Kids Magazine.

When my stack of books arrived, the first title I picked up was Homeschooling Gifted and Advanced Learners ($24.95). This is a brand new, and much needed, release for homeschoolers of gifted children.  Written by a 14-year veteran of homeschooling, this title covers many of the same topics that any other homeschooling title would, such as the benefits of homeschooling, choosing curriculum, record keeping, and college.  However, these topics are covered specifically with the gifted student in mind, which often changes the needed information and suggestions.  In addition, topics specific to gifted kids, such as early college considerations, are covered.  “Real-life examples” are included throughout for a more personal feel.  When I reached the author’s bio at the end of the book, I realized that I had “seen her around” online homeschooling circles and read her blog, http://ourjourneywestward.com  in the past, which added to the personal feel of sitting down with a fellow homeschoolers for some needed advice.

Don’t let the title Free Resources for Elementary Teachers ($12.95) fool you.  Homeschoolers will love this book!  Furthermore, I discovered that the author, Colleen Kessler, is a former school teacher turned homeschooler! Utilizing Internet resources, chapters are broken down by subject.  The name, URL, and a brief description is given for each resource listed. Chapter 10 even includes a list of homeschool bloggers who share great ideas and downloadable resources for the home or classroom. This looks to be a very handy reference tool for teachers and parents and is currently 20% off with the code FRES20.

Math Dictionary for Kids ($12.95) by Theresa Fitzgerald, is a guide that helps students quickly find definitions, illustrations and examples to help them solve math problems.  Intended for kids grades 4-9, this title includes terms and strategies in algebra, geometry, statistics, fractions and measurement.  This is a great tool to have on the shelf for reference during math work.

Do you have a creative writer in your home? Creative Kids Magazine, $19.95 for a 1-year subscription, is for kids, by kids.  Kids age 8-16 have the opportunity to have their artwork, stories, poems, and games published in this magazine written entirely by kids.  My daughter has been a subscriber of this magazine for a couple of years and has really enjoyed reading the work of other creative kids.

Head over to Prufrock press and check out their selection of resources for gifted education. In addition to educational resources, Prufrock has a whole selection of Parenting Resources to assist parents in meeting the needs of their gifted children.

Review: Christian Kids Explore Chemistry

The Christian Kids Explore series, published by Bright Ideas Press, is a series of four science textbooks for grades 3-8.  Available subjects are: Biology, Earth and Science, Chemistry, Physics.  The Biology and Earth and Science texts are recommended for grades 3-6, and the Chemistry and Physics texts are recommended for grades 4-8.  I received a PDF version of the Chemistry text for this review. (Note: Currently only print versions are available for purchase.)



The Christian Kids Explore Chemistry text is broken down into five units with a total of 30 lessons.

• Unit 1 : The Basics of Chemistry 
• Unit 2: Atoms and Molecules 
• Unit 3: The Nature of Chemistry 
• Unit 4: States of Matter 
• Unit 5: Organic Chemistry

A Table of Contents with the topics of each lesson is available on the Bright Ideas Press website. Each unit begins with a list of objectives, vocabulary words, and a materials list.  Lessons within each unit are broken down into the following sections:

• Teaching Time – Presents the lesson material and concepts
• Review It – Consists of five fill-in-the-blank review questions
• Hands-on Time – Related activity to reinforce material and allow exploration
• Think About It – Two to four questions to get students to think more about what they learned from the activity

Each unit has a Unit Wrap-Up, which includes twenty questions on the unit material, and an optional coloring page.

The recommended schedule is to cover one lesson a week over two days, 60-90 minutes each day. This particular text targets grades 4-8, and it is suggested that the teacher read the lesson in advance and present the material to younger students, where older students should be able to read and comprehend independently.

You may view sample pages from Lesson One to get a better idea of the structure for each lesson.  A materials list for the complete text is also available. You will notice that most of the items are likely already in your home or are otherwise very accessible.

Also included with the text is a Resource CD.  Categories of Lesson Plans, Reproducibles, Supply Lists, Literature, Catalog, and Contact are included.  I found the most useful of these resources to be the Lesson Plans, which also listed supplemental readings from the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia.

When I first looked over the text, I felt that the material may be on the light side for my 7th grader.  The lesson material is very short, often only a couple of pages. The review questions are exact quotes and unambiguous answers directly from the text.  Many of the hands-on activities don’t really compare actual lab experiments.

However, when I asked my son what he liked about the text, the first thing he mentioned was that the questions were straight-forward and not numerous.  This is an area where he’s been struggling with his current science curriculum, which tends to be very conversational with questions that aren’t always direct.  Even though my son knows the material very well, his black-and-white personality sometimes gets frustrated with the extra and unnecessary details.

Even though the lesson content is on the skim side, my son does better with shorter segments and having a just a few pages of new material per lesson gives him a sense of accomplishment.  The reading can easily be completed in one sitting, rather than needing to break it up over several days. There is something to be said for confidence. While I still feel that it is on the light side overall for a 7th or 8th grader and much more suited for a 5th or 6th grader as it, some of the later lessons do present more complicated material.  For older children, adding in some additional resources (e.g. the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia recommended in the Lesson Plans) would help build on the foundation provided in the text.  There are also additional resources listed in the Appendix, though may of those appear to be geared toward younger students.  If I were to use this with an older student, I would also consider additional resources for added experiments.

For the late elementary grades, the Christian Kids Explore series appears to be a very easy-to-use and thorough curriculum of introductory science topics from an unabashedly Christian perspective. Even though supplementation may be needed, depending on ability of the student, for mid-to-late middle schoolers, your older student may appreciate the clear language and shorter segments as an introduction and foundation to the topic.

Christian Kids Explore Chemistry is available at the Bright Ideas Press website for $39.95.

Disclaimer: This review was provided as a result of my participation in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew. I was provided the product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I have received no other compensation. I strive to give a balanced overview of each product, detailing my opinion of both pros and cons and how the product worked for my family. What works for one family may not work for another. I encourage you to read reviews of other Crew members and research sufficiently to determine if any product will be a benefit to your homeschool. You may read more reviews on this product by visiting here.

Review: Looking at Lines (AIMS Education Foundation)

Until this past fall when I was assigned a review of AIMS Earth Book, I had never heard of AIMS. AIMS, which stands for Activities Integrating Mathematics and Science, is a non-profit organization.  It has been publishing hands-on instructional materials that build conceptual understanding in mathematics and science since its beginning in 1981 with a grant from the National Science Foundation.

You'd think after being around for 30+ years and providing materials specifically geared toward hands-on learning, that AIMS would have been more familiar to this veteran homeschooling mom of a kinesthetic learner. However, while they do have one product that specifically mentions homeschoolers as the target audience, AIMS has been more popular among traditional teachers and underutilized among homeschoolers.  A friend of mine recent wrote an article about The Great Divide among resources targeted toward either traditional schools or homeschools. In the article she writes:

Another surprise that I observed is that non-homeschoolers tend to know and use resources marketed to schools, while homeschoolers tend to know and use resources marketed to homeschoolers, and often, neither side knows what little gems the other has to offer.

AIMS is definitely one of those "little gems" that homeschoolers should be exploring.

This time, I received the print version of Looking at Lines for review. Looking at Lines, covering algebraic concepts, is geared toward grades 6-9.

Introduce algebraic concepts in their natural setting with activities drawn from real-world phenomena. Covers three sub-groups of linear functions: proportional relationships, non-proportional relationships with positive slopes, and non-proportional relationships with negative slopes.

Thirty-two activities are provided within three sub-groups and 232 pages. All of the student pages in the book are also provided on a CD in PDF form for easy printing. A 31-page sample, including a complete Table of Contents, is available for viewing.



While users can pick and choose activities and the order of exposure, it is recommended that students start with those activities in Part One in order to build a foundation. My son is currently in Pre-Algebra and the earlier activities seemed best suited to his current level.  Interestingly enough, the very first activity was about Celsius and Fahrenheit conversions, which happens to be the very concept that is being covered in his current math program. The activity guides students through the process of determining the proper equation to figuring out one measurement when given another by having students graph and analyze temperatures using a standard thermometer. Similar activities in Part One involve analyzing measurements and conversions of jumbo versus standard paperclips and inches versus centimeters.  Of course, students can simply be given conversion factors for their math work, but these activities help them understand them by doing, given them a better foundation.

Having now reviewed both science and math activity books for AIMS, I've found the math activity book is much easier to adapt classroom activities to one for a single student.  The materials are not as involved, and the activities can easily be done by one student with a teacher to guide.  Each activity gives very detailed information for the teacher on the goals of the activity and how to best provide direction for the student. I am now taking a much closer look at the AIMS math resources and Activity Books for supplemental math resources.

Looking at Lines is available for $24.95 in either a PDF version or print version with CD at the AIMS website.

Disclaimer: This review was provided as a result of my participation in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew. I was provided the product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I have received no other compensation. I strive to give a balanced overview of each product, detailing my opinion of both pros and cons and how the product worked for my family. What works for one family may not work for another. I encourage you to read reviews of other Crew members and research sufficiently to determine if any product will be a benefit to your homeschool. You may read more reviews on this product by visiting here.

Review: Write with WORLD

I imagine many of you may be familiar with the Christian news magazines for Pre-K through adults from God's WORLD Publications.  These magazines present relevant, current events from a Christian worldview.

Now, imagine this same approach with a writing curriculum.  The result is the soon-to-be released Write with WORLD.





Write with WORLD is a two-year middle school writing curriculum from the publishers of God's WORLD News and WORLD Magazine. I received the pilot Year One materials, consisting of the Parent/Teacher book and the Student book, which is scheduled to be available in its final form this summer.  The final version will also include online content and a website for updated examples, writing prompts, teacher forum, and published student work.

Rather than a single author, Write with WORLD was developed by education and media professionals who recognized the need for a solid, middle school writing curriculum focused on producing strong writers who were also discerning, critical thinkers. Read more about the authors and their professional backgrounds here.

Write with WORLD does not focus on mechanics and remediation of writing.  Instead, it is a combination of learning writing skills, honing critical thinking, and analyzing worldview wrapped up into one curriculum. Grammar, mechanics, and vocabulary are interwoven into the lessons.

The first year's curriculum is divided into four units, each containing four lessons.  The topics for each lesson are listed below.

Unit 1- Reading Images and Advertisements, Comparative Reading: Sentences, Comparative and Critical Reading: Paragraphs, Developing Critical Readers: Essays

Unit 2 - The Paragraph, Composing and Linking Sentences, Creating Focus and Arrangement, Linking Paragraphs: Transitions and Logic

Unit 3 - (Writing Autobiography) Reporting Facts, Creating Character, Developing Ideas, Composition

Unit 4 - (Crafting Narratives) Developing a Point of View, Showing Versus Telling, Narrative with a Purpose, Writing a Fictional Narrative

Each lesson is broken down into five "capsules".  In order to complete the lessons, the students will need a good dictionary, a thesaurus, a "Writer's Journal", and various household items (e.g. note cards, glue stick, photos, colored pencils).  The Writer's Journal can be a simple notebook used to record thoughts and written work from the lessons.

A sample lesson is available for viewing on the website.

I found Write with WORLD well structured and visually appealing.  With the Capsule breakdown, there is no question of where to begin and end an assignment or lesson. Consistency among the lessons with reoccurring features, such as The Professor's Office, The Right Word, World Wisdom, and Style Time give structure to the varying topics.  I appreciate the use of writing examples, thoughtful discussion, and the focus on critical thinking throughout the text. The tone is conversational and directed at the student, but not at all dumbed down or juvenile.

The Teacher/Parent book is a copy of the Student book, with notes and guidance in the margins. Low-stakes grading is encouraged in order to keep the focus on the process of writing.  While the lessons in the book are directed toward the student, a key part of the program is regular conversation with a guiding parent. Although the instructional tips in the Teacher/Parent book were very relevant and helpful, sufficient knowledge in the area of writing is needed in order to best utilize the suggestions.  Many of the exercises focus on the process and thinking skills. However, a parent who struggles with writing may have some trouble recognizing weak areas in the mechanics of a struggling student's writing since that is not a focus of the program.

While it is not live yet, I really like the idea of a website (launching in September) for students and teachers.  A website provides the opportunity for students to publish their work and will also offer support for teachers. I think such a site will add much to the program by keeping it current and giving students an outlet and purpose for their writing.

I have two very different students with very different needs when it comes to writing instruction. One uses writing as a method to connect, explore, and share thoughts. The process of writing is natural and enjoyable.  The other views writing as a necessary evil and painful alternative to doing and speaking. Write with WORLD is definitely more suited to my natural writer, now in high school, because it encourages students to go far beyond the mechanics of writing. The program hones critical thinking skills as much as it does writing skills; therefore, students that are fairly comfortable with the writing process will get the most out of the program. I think my natural writer would have enjoyed this program in middle school.

My reluctant middle-school writer is not yet to the point where he can focus on the process of writing and critical thinking skills at the same time.  He is still working on structure and how the pieces go together. I liken it to learning how to build versus learning how to design.  He does not yet have the mechanics needed to use the style techniques and keep up with the pace of Write with WORLD.  I do, however, think this may be a suitable program for him in a couple of years, perhaps as an early high school writing curriculum.


Write with WORLD will be available for shipment this summer, but can be ordered now at the Learn with World website for $95 per year when ordering the Year One and Year Two curriculum individually, or for $165 when purchasing both years together.  In addition to the Teacher/Parent and Student books, online access is included with your purchase.

Disclaimer: This review was provided as a result of my participation in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew. I was provided the product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I have received no other compensation. I strive to give a balanced overview of each product, detailing my opinion of both pros and cons and how the product worked for my family. What works for one family may not work for another. I encourage you to read reviews of other Crew members and research sufficiently to determine if any product will be a benefit to your homeschool. You may read more reviews on this product by visiting here.

Review: TruthQuest History

When I first started homeschooling, I selected a popular history program that utilizes living books.  I loved the books that came with the program, but I had trouble keeping up with the schedule.  To be honest, it wasn’t the program at all.  I’m sort of an all or nothing personality, and that schedule simply fell into the nothing category.  Those books, though, still hold a spot on our shelves and have for many years.  I often send my son to that particular bookshelf for his reading selection and mark “history” off the list of material covered for the day.

Though he’s being fed lots of great historical literature, I often feel it isn't enough and he’s still missing some framework that a more structured program would provide. I recently was given the opportunity to review a history program that is very flexible, but provides a framework to build understanding -  TruthQuest History. There are total of ten TruthQuest History guides for grades 1-12. The guide I received was Age of Revolution II (American/Europe, 1800-1865), for grades 5-12.

The guide is broken down into 50 sections of various topics within the time period. You can find a Table of Contents for each available guide at the website.  Each section begins with a commentary, written by author Michelle Miller, intended to set the stage for the topic and time. TruthQuest History approaches history not as the story of mankind, but rather “the story of God’s initiation and our response”. The commentaries explain key influences, both historical events and spiritual conditions, of the time. This information is presented in a very casual and conversational manner and is anywhere from a few sentences to a couple of pages in length. Scripture from a variety of translations is often included.

Following the commentary is a selection of titles covering the topic of that section.  Michelle Miller weaves her commentary around interesting people and many of the sections are biographical. For example, in the section about the California Gold Rush, a sub-section with several titles on Levi Strauss, who started out selling pants to miner, is included. One of my children really needs unusual and interesting stories of people to pull together the big picture of history, so seemingly insignificant sections like this are very useful.

Even though the guide I received is for grades 5-12, recommendations for as early as K-3 are provided among the more advanced titles. A handful of sections even include audio and video recommendations, as well as titles with hands-on activities.It is not the expectation that all titles are read nor even all sections are covered.  In fact, even the author has not read all of the titles.  Notations are provided on whether or not the book was in print at the time of the writing of the guide, the independent reading grade level, as well as particular recommendations or content warnings. 

For those that prefer to follow a “spine” text, several suggestions are made and integrated into the suggested readings.  The spine listing for Age of Revolution II is here.

In addition to the readings, there are eleven ThinkWrite writing exercises. Many of these exercises don’t have “right” answers, but require the student to reflect and think.  An appendix does include suggestions of the points some answers should include.  A couple of example exercises are:

Find a good definition of free enterprise, but then go beyond to give a quick explanation for the basis of that freedom as we’ve discussed.  Can you see how it contributes to scientific and industrial creativity?

You’ll be old enough to vote before you know it!  Any thoughts on how you’ll handle this precious and awesome responsibility?

You can find a sample of the Age of Revolution II guide, which includes some suggestions on how to use the guides.

What I most like about TruthQuest is the flexibility it offers, while still providing framework for the student.  There are no suggested schedules, no daily reading assignments, no questions to answer, and no tests.  It is very much a history resource buffet – take what you want, leave what you don’t, and feel free to sample.

Another point for flexibility is the multiple levels offered in one guide. The guide I received is targeted to grades 5-12, an already wide span.  However, books for younger grades are included in every section.  Even though younger siblings may not benefit as much from the commentary, the guide provides title suggestions helps coordinate the younger kids with what the older kids are studying.

There are a few disadvantages. Advance planning will be needed to acquire the titles.  Since the guide is not dependent on any one particular title, availability of certain titles isn't detrimental.  In fact, it is suggested that after reading the commentary any title of the topic is just fine.  Regardless, the interloan service through your library will definitely be utilized.  In the case of the Levi Strauss section mentioned earlier, five of the six titles listed were available through our library system, but none were at my particular library.  I would suggest planning several weeks ahead in order to make sure all your titles arrive in time.  Also, some kids (or parents) may not appreciate the conversational tone and loose structure, especially if they are used to textbooks and comprehension questions.

Overall, I really like the approach of TruthQuest and the flexibility it provides. In addition, a very active Yahoogroup, HIStoryQuesters, is available as support and a source of ideas for using TruthQuest in your home. The guides are available for $19.95 - 34.95, depending on the guide and format, at www.truthquesthistory.com.

Disclaimer: This review was provided as a result of my participation in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew. I was provided the product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I have received no other compensation. I strive to give a balanced overview of each product, detailing my opinion of both pros and cons and how the product worked for my family. What works for one family may not work for another. I encourage you to read reviews of other Crew members and research sufficiently to determine if any product will be a benefit to your homeschool. You may read more reviews on this product by visiting here.

Review: Action Alert

About this time last year, we purchased my daughter (15) her own laptop. She does most of her school work using the computer, taking several online classes. It was also getting to the point that she sometimes needed to get out of our main school room and into the quiet, solitude of her own room for study. That also meant that she would need to take her computer, unsupervised, with her.

While I completely trust my daughter to not visit inappropriate sites, I do worry that she may unexpectedly come upon something. I also am concerned about the distractions of the Internet. After all, browsing YouTube or chatting with friends is much more appealing than writing that paper that is due. I’ve been looking for monitoring software that provides accountability without being so controlling that it is more hassle than it is helpful. When I was given the opportunity to review Action Alert, I was cautiously hopeful.

Action Alert has two versions, a Free Protection version and a Maximum Protection version. I was provided with the Maximum Protection version ($29.99), which has the following features.


  
I opted to try this program on an extra computer used primarily by my son. The software loaded easily. Not everything went as smoothly after that.

The software reset my home page to the Action Alert Safe Search, which is simply Google Safe Search. The idea is to direct and encourage use of a safe search engine and the resetting of the home page was exactly how the program is supposed to function.  However, when I went to my settings, since I preferred a different home page, I could not override the software nor could I find instructions in the manual.  I did eventually email Action Alert to find out how to override the home page setting and received a prompt reply. I understand that resetting the home page is just the first step of defense, but I did not find it to be very effective since the user can just open another tab and select a different search engine.

The Site Blocking and the Activity Notification Alerts were the next two tools I tried.  I blocked Facebook for a test run, and that did seem to work well.  It didn't matter if I opened a new tab, the site was blocked.  The Activity Notification Alerts are sent via email or text and are generated if inappropriate keystrokes are typed. However, there was sometimes a delay in the reporting. If you are looking for accountability, this should be fine.  If you want notice for immediate action, it might not be as useful of a feature.

I loved the 60 hours of recorded screen shots with the Activity Video Recording feature.  Since I was looking more for accountability than filtering and blocking, this was a very useful tool.  A child cannot exactly dispute their activity with a screen shot.  Unfortunately, I suspect this feature, which saved a screen shot every 5 seconds (as default, users can set a different interval), contributed to a larger problem I had.  My computer seemed to be running some programs very slowly.  Suspecting that Action Alert was the cause of the sluggishness, I decided to remove the software.

After I removed the software through the uninstall option in the program, I opened up my browser to see if things were back to normal.  While the program was removed, Facebook was still blocked.  The tool bar search field was also still set to Action Alert.  I phoned customer service, who helped me work through the problem by advising me to clear my browser's cache. Action Alert seems to utilize browser add-ons,which are readily available for free, to block websites. Regardless, I did quickly get the information needed to get everything back to normal.

While helpful to the problem at hand, I  did have an uncomfortable exchange with customer service.  At the closing of our phone call, my email address was requested.  I declined.  Frankly, I didn't see the need to supply it, especially since I had removed the software. The customer service representative seemed to have an issue with this and wanted to argue my decision with explanation that I had chosen to download the free software (unaware I was supplied the full product for review) and that the information was for their "notation".  After politely declining to provide my personal information several times, I finally had to just thank him for the help on my issue and hang up rather than further engage.  While everyone is allowed a bad day, I felt this exchange worth noting as I did not feel that my desired privacy required an explanation.

Since my computer was back to running normal speed upon removal, I did not reinstall the software and was unable to test out the other features. 

Based on my personal experiences, I cannot recommend Action Alert at this time. It may be worthwhile to check back as they make improvements.  If you would like to give Action Alert a try, a free version is available. The Maximum Protection, which is available for $29.99, comes with a 100% refund within 30 days if you are not fully satisfied.

 Disclaimer: This review was provided as a result of my participation in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew. I was provided the product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I have received no other compensation. I strive to give a balanced overview of each product, detailing my opinion of both pros and cons and how the product worked for my family. What works for one family may not work for another. I encourage you to read reviews of other Crew members and research sufficiently to determine if any product will be a benefit to your homeschool. You may read more reviews on this product by visiting here.

Review: Progeny Press

One of the very first homeschooling resources I was introduced to as a new homeschooler many (many!) years ago was Progeny Press.  I used one of the guides that very first year. Since then I’ve picked up  guides used when I’ve come across them to have on hand.

Progeny Press guides are literature guides from a Christian perspective. They are a mix of vocabulary work, comprehension questions, reflective thinking exercises, and related Bible study material.

Progeny Press study guides are designed to help students better understand and enjoy literature by getting them to notice and understand how authors craft their stories and to show them how to think through the themes and ideas introduced in the stories.

In addition to the book title, students will also need a dictionary, a thesaurus, and a Bible (the guides use the NIV translation).

I was excited at the opportunity to select guides for the middle and high school levels since my exposure to Progeny Press has been mostly at the grade school level.  My son selected The Cay Study Guide, for grades 5-8.  My daughter selected The Screwtape Letters Study Guide. I received the PDF version for both of these guides.

The study guides are intended to take between 8 and 10 weeks to complete. Each guide gives a synopsis of the novel, information about the novel’s author, background information pertaining to the time period and/or circumstances of the novel, and suggestions for pre-reading activities. The remaining sections are broken down into small portions of the book, covering up to several chapters.

Each section starts with vocabulary work, then moves in questions taken directly from the reading.  Next are questions that fall under the category of Analysis (for the high school guides) or Thinking About the Story (for the middle school guides).  These questions are more reflective questions based on a story topic, event, or theme.  For the middle school guide, this section also contained literary terms. The category of Digging Deeper is next, with use of Scripture to answer many of the questions. Suggestions in Optional Activities includes projects, essays, and exercises applicable to the reading.

The studies are concluded with a overview and/or essay suggestions.  Most, though not all of the Overview questions in The Cay Study Guide  have a focus on the elements of the story, story structure. The final project suggestions include 1-2 page papers of various topics, presenting a speech, conducting interviews and writing a mock newspaper article, and even art projects. The Screwtape Letters Study Guide gives suggestions for paper topics varying in length from 2-4 pages to 8-10, in addition to a few creative project suggestions. Answer Keys are included with each guide.  While answer will and should vary for some of the questions, the Answer Key will give general themes and key points in order to best direct your student.

The samples below will give you a very good feel for vocabulary covered and the level and depth of the questions.

Sample of The Cay Study Guide
Sample of The Screwtape Letters Study Guide

A new feature to Progeny Press study guides is the interactive PDF. I’m typically not a fan of PDF products. I like to flip through the pages and hold the book in my hand.  This worked just fine when I was working with younger children and doing most of the work verbally.  However, the interactive PDF version, which allows answers to be typed directly on the PDF, has some advantages to the printed product. Both of my kids prefer typing to writing.  The ability to type answers directly on the file certainly keeps things more organized.  The vocabulary questions are often multiple choice or matching; the interactive PDF allows the student to select the answer with a drop down box. There is no need to print out questions and then file the completed sheets.  Instead, everything can be completed and saved directly on the computer under a different file name. The interactive PDF really does make completing the work easier and is a real plus with students that are able to work independently. 

The recommended pace is to work on one page a day. For high school level work, one guide is equivalent to about 1/4 credit. It is suggested that the student read the novel in its entirety before going through the guide.  This perhaps gives the student a better big picture of the book and allows them to go deeper when going back to study sections of the book.  However, both of my children, and my son in particular, don’t care to go back to think and reflect on chapters after they’ve read the book. The preference is to do the study while actively engaged in reading the book, wondering what will happen next, and more “in” the story.  You may want to consider your student’s preference before starting a guide and adjust accordingly.

Overall, Progeny Press Study Guides are very nicely done and serve as an excellent vocabulary, literature, and Bible study all rolled into one.  Flexibility is offered with optional activities, both creative and more academic. Depending on the selected Optional Activities, a fair amount of writing work could be added to stretch and round out the study.

Both The Cay Study Guide and The Screwtape Letters Study Guide are offered in the interactive PDF version, either on a CD or as an email attachment ($16.99 and $18.99 per title respectively), or as a printed book ($18.99, $21.99).  You can also get a combo package of both the printed guide and PDF ($21.99, $27.99). As a convenience, the novels are also available for purchase. Active military families are extended a 15% discount. My personal preference would be the combo package since I still prefer a printed book, but the interactive PDF provides enough conveniences to have both. Progeny Press sells Study Guides for Lower Elementary through High School, as well as series of Creative Classic Scripts and Additional Resources.

 Disclaimer: This review was provided as a result of my participation in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew. I was provided the product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I have received no other compensation. I strive to give a balanced overview of each product, detailing my opinion of both pros and cons and how the product worked for my family. What works for one family may not work for another. I encourage you to read reviews of other Crew members and research sufficiently to determine if any product will be a benefit to your homeschool. You may read more reviews on this product by visiting here.