A Stable Beginning: High School Literature Guides: Animal Farm Study Guide and Little Women Study Guide from Progeny Press ~ a TOS review

Thursday, July 9, 2020

High School Literature Guides: Animal Farm Study Guide and Little Women Study Guide from Progeny Press ~ a TOS review

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations.

Are you gearing up for the new school year? Or have you just decided that you will be homeschooling due to the COVID pandemic and are searching for literature curriculum that is Christian based? Our family has always enjoyed the literature guides we have used from Progeny Press and today I am excited to tell you about the two newest guides, Animal Farm Study Guide and Little Women Study Guide, that we have used over the last six weeks for our summer learning activities.

If you have been a long term reader you already know that our family has a fond affection towards good books. I try to fill our bookshelves full of good books as well as check them out from the library. We have found that literature guides make reading even more enjoyable!

At Progeny Press we are committed to teaching good cultural literature, examined from a Christian perspective. We believe in the equation "Biblical Truth + Cultural Relevancy = Effective Christians." Take away biblical truth and Christians become no more than a religious subculture-- salt without saltiness. Take away cultural relevancy and Christians become isolationists with no impact on the world-- lights hidden under bushels. We believe in looking at the world clearly and openly with the Bible firmly in hand.

~ from the website

Progeny Press has been a family owned and operated company since 1992. They produce high quality literature guides from a Christian worldview ranging from lower elementary years through high school. They literally have 100+ Literature guides and add 3-6 new titles each year ranging from lower elementary, upper elementary, middle school, and high school. So you are sure to find one or several that fit your needs.

We received the downloadable interactive eGuides of the study guides for the novels Animal Farm and Little Women. Mikayla, my rising 12th grader, is working her way through Animal Farm which tells the classic story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer to form a society where animals are considered equal and free. While Montana, my rising 8th grader, is reading Little Woman, the timeless classic that tells the story of the March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy— as they grow from childhood to womanhood.

Both of the guides that we received are suitable for High School credit. For reference, completing four literature guides is considered a full literature credit. The suggested length of time for finishing a study guide is 8-10 weeks, however you can adjust this based on your child’s reading speed. The first week is used to read the book and then each study guide takes the reader through two chapters of the novel at a time and focuses on several different literary concepts. Vocabulary is addressed in many ways to make sure the reader has a full grasp. First students are required to define several words, determine word meaning from its context and then double check their guesses in a dictionary. Vocabulary words and definitions are also presented to be matched and there is a vocabulary activity in multiple choice format. Using a thesaurus to study definitions is also taught.

Also included are several comprehension questions which ask the student to recall events from the book and analyze them. Literary devices such as similes, synonyms, foreshadowing, hyperboles, juxtaposition, metaphor, personification, and idioms are reviewed and how they are presented and used in the text are studied. Character studies include studying personalities, reactions to events, and events in general in light of Scripture passages relevant to the storyline. I love that each guide takes care to draw the student back to the Bible.

As you can see each guide includes a variety of elements, depending on the level of the study. To make navigation on the website easier, literature guides are categorized by both genre and grade-level. The guides are extremely user-friendly and are currently available as a print version, CD in PDF format, and email as a PDF attachment.

We enjoyed our literature guides tremendously! I love that the girls have read quality literature over the summer to keep their minds active and fresh. The new interactive eGuide format allows the student to type in the answers directly on their computer screen which is awesome and saves paper! If you like to print, there is no limit on copying pages for use within your homeschool. Progeny Press Guides are economically priced from $10.99 to $27.99, Little Women and Animal Farm both sell for $21.99. Be sure to browse the online catalog for individual pricing on all the available guides.

Our family finds that literature guides make reading even more enjoyable! We give these two guide 2 thumbs up and I look forward to adding more literature guides over the course of the school year.
Be sure to check out what my CrewMates thought of this guide and the many other guides being reviewed A New Coat for Anna Study Guide , In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson Study Guide , and My Side of the Mountain Study Guide.