Progeny Press Literature Study Guides {Review}

Progeny Press

Reading. It is a big deal in my house. Oftentimes I read aloud to my children and then have to answer a thousand questions about the story. Thanks to Progeny Press I can do both like I did recently, in my latest review, while using the Shadow Spinner Study Guide and the Little House on the Prairie Study Guide.

Shadow Spinner Study Guide

A wonderful story! I have not ever read Arabian Nights or any other story related to this weaver of tales retelling, so Joseph and I were completely taken it and loved the story.

I do not want to tell you the tale so you will need to pick up this book as well as this study guide because it will delight and enlighten you. Such a fantastically good book!

I will share that the characters truly come to life in this story and we rooted for Marjan, Sharazad, Dunyazad, and many more. We learned deep lessons and aquired knowledge about a culture that is so different than ours.

In this study guide you will learn the following:

• vocabulary
• story discussion
• dig deeper – Bible passages with discussion questions
• dictionary work
• learning writing styles
• synonyms and antonyms
• word search
• character development / understanding characters

This guide helped us to dig much deeper into the meaning behind the story as well as helped us with new words that we came upon. Which for a story set back in histroy, there were a few that even I did not know. We learned much about Muslim culture with this story and thanks to this study guide it was easier to break down explanations to Joseph.

These items will help with using this study guide:

• dictionary
• thesaurus
• Bible (any version)
• topical Bible 
• intenet access (supervised of course)
• encyclopedias

This study guide is 86 pages with an extra page which is full of additional resources; extra books to read by the same author as well as stories that relate to Shadow Spinner.

Little House on the Prairie

I’m guessing you at least know the basics about Laura Ingalls and her family. This story is the most widely known of the Laura Ingalls Wilder stories, The Little House on the Prairie. There are numerous books about the Ingalls family as they adventure to and then in the west so long ago. It was wonderful to read this story again and then use this study guide along with it.

I still fall in love with Laura and her adventures and yearn for simplier days. She pulls me into her tales with vivid descriptions and weaves delightful trails of wonder and enjoyment. The kids were thrilled to have me read this story one. more. time. And yet again, it was excellent and the highlight of our day.

In this study guide you will be able to learn and work on the following:

• vocabulary
• story discussion
• geography
• dictionary work
• baking – recipes
• dig deeper – Bible passages with discussion questions
• creative writing – letters
• learn writing styles
• keepsake journal
• compare and contrast
• word search
• crossword
• cultral discussion
• activites like matching
• essay writing
• charcater development / understanding

This guide lead us down different paths as we have ventured into the praire with Laura lots of times. We enjoyed digging deeper into the why’s and how’s this time because we were using this study guide.

We enjoyed making the cornbread and molasses milk as treats. What a totally different world Laura grew up in. A world so similiar yet so unlike our own.

You will need some of the following in using this guide:

• good dictionary
• encyclopedias
• Bible
• topical Bible
• thesaurus
• internet access (supervised of course)

This study guide is 56 pages and has a whooping 4 extra pages of resources for you to use for research and more.

How This Worked for Us

We have read Little House on the Prairie numerous times so this was a neat way to go back over the story again, without having to just read it. I especially enjoyed all of the extras that come in this study guide. Instead of just answering questions I was able to get some dictionary skills practiced and some Bible research too. That was my favorite part.

As I used this with the kids, I would do a bunch of reading aloud then we would work through the questions together. As I used this with both Ana and Joseph, this was the easiest approach for us. When it came time to do the dictionary work, I would have them each take a turn using the study guide. I would have them switch once they had completed the word they were looking up and so forth. If it was the multiple choice, I would have one child work on one section then have the other child work on the next section.

The children were impressed at how much more they learned about the book because of this study guide. It was interesting to see them “get” something this time around versus me answering a thousand questions when I am trying to read aloud.

Joseph and I worked our way through Shadow Spinner together much the same way that the three of us worked through Little House on the Prairie.

Since this was a story that neither of us had heard or read before we were hyper aware of new words and the researching their meanings was more adventure than true work. It was deemed “fun” instead of just “school work” and was much more enjoyable for both of us than we originally thought it would be.

I am so pleased that Progeny Press offers more guides like this, as I was thrilled to be able ot review thiese two. And the fact that for each usage of these study guides garners a 1/4 credit for high school literature? I am all over that! But, the beauty of these guides from Progeny Press is that they have guides for ALL levels of school; elementary, middle, and high school. 

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Read My Fellow Crew Reviews

Final Thoughts 

Again, I was so pleased to be able to review these study guides from Progeny Press. They fill such a need in our homeschool. I love the fact that Progeny Press takes ALL the work out of the way for me and we can simply read and work through the story together. So easy for me! I hope that you enjoyed this review and learned more about the company and that you visit again soon to see what else the kids and I have to share with you!

In His Grace,

Callie