Tag Archives: Christian

Progeny Press Review

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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.

Progeny Press makes earning High School Literature credits easy with high school level study guides such as My Side of the Mountain Study Guide and Animal Farm  Study Guide.  The guide suggests that one study guide is worth 1/4 of high school credit.  So if your high schooler does two different books you can use the guide for a half-semester credit.

I was excited to see Progeny Press has a study guide for My Side fo the Mountain.  When I was a boy, My side of the Mountain was one of my favorite books.  I was initially going to read the book out loud to my boys but after reviewing the My Side of the Mountain Study Guide I decided to assign reading it to my older boys for school.  The guides I reviewed in my opinion seemed to be High school level of work.  Even though the guides are for older kids there are still activities in the guides that you can use with younger children if you are reading the book out loud.  For example, there are Prereading activities you can do with younger kids like suggested field trips related to the book.  Like in the My Side of the Mountain Reading Guide one of the activities mentioned was to go on a fishing field trip which is always a hit with my boys.

The reading guides are in pdf format so I can use it over again.  The pdf actually allows you to type answers in right in the pdf.  You can have your student work on the computer and save it or you can just print it out and have them write out the answers. Each pdf has a Synopsis of the book and information about the author.  The guides also have a section for additional resources for you.  Each section of the book is covered in the reading guide with a vocabulary section and a set of questions about the chapters. Of course, the answers are provided in a separate pdf.

If you are looking for a study guide for your high schoolers literature then I would recommend you look at what Progeny Press has to offer.

 

 

Other study guides available at the high school level include The Red Badge of Courage, The Yearling, Heart of Darkness, Jane Eyre, Hamlet, Out of the Silent Planet, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Day No Pigs Would Die, The Great Gatsby, and A Tale of Two Cities. Visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read more reviews of Progeny Press.

Study Guides for Literature - A New Coat for Anna, In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, My Side of the Mountain, Animal Farm & Little Women {Progeny Press Reviews}

BJU focus on Five review

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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.

If you are looking for a Christian Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum, I suggest checking out BJU Press Focus on Fives kit from BJU Press Homeschool. We had the opportunity to try out the BJU Press Focus on Fives and here is our review.

What is BJU Press Focus on Fives

BJU Press Focus on Five is a full Kindergarten curriculum for your five-year-old. It covers Reading, Science, Bible, and writing/composition. When I say full curriculum I do mean FULL. It includes everything you need for your kindergartner. The program includes 180 lessons. There are several teachers manuals. Several workbooks. Several flashcard sets. Several visual aids. Several Series of reading books.

BJU Press Focus on Five workbooks

The two-color workbooks in the picture above are used during the lesson. The black and white workbook is for extra practice.  The worksheets in the workbooks can be torn out or kept in the workbook.

The kit includes Alphabet cards to put on the wall, Phonics review flashcards and cards with High-frequency words.  I really like the visual flip chart in the picture below.  It has a spiral metal binding and a hard cardboard back.  It can stand up on its own. It would have been nice if they had the phonics review cards also included in the flip chart instead of separate cards but that’s just my opinion.

The BJU Press Focus on Five also includes little paper reading books for the lessons.  The books include the sight word being learned in the lesson and other words they are learning.  One of the workbooks also has little paper books the student makes to go along with the lessons.

There are six detailed teacher manuals that include all the lesson plans. The teacher manuals are very sturdy hardback spiral-bound books. The lesson plans in the teacher manuals are laid out in a lot of detail. There is a list of all the visuals and materials needed.  The lesson plans also have all the instructions needed for the lesson.  I would recommend reading over the lesson plan before the lesson so you have an overall idea of what is covered in the lesson.

I was impressed by how advanced reading concepts are taught in this Kindergarten curriculum.  When I was in Kindergarten we only started to read basic books at the very end.

Here is a broad outline of the reading lessons being taught throughout the curriculum.

  • Lessons 1 – 80: Letter sounds and simple short vowel words
  • Lesson 81: Constant blends are introduced.
  • Lesson 111: Long vowels like silent e
  • Lesson 121: Vowels working together
  • Lesson 136: Bossy r words are introduced

There are many practice worksheets to go with each phonics lessons.

While there are 180 lessons the last 20 lessons are actually for special occasions like Thanksgiving and Christmas. These are in the 6th teacher manual so it might not be apparent that these lessons are available.

What did we think of it

I initially thought my son who is almost 5 would try the curriculum since he is always wanting to do school. While most of the activities were his level, he is not very good at holding a pencil. Since there are a lot of worksheets it is difficult for him to do the writing activities.  So I had my next older son try the curriculum.

My next son liked the program but the beginning lessons were too easy for him which makes it hard to jump in someplace in the middle.  I really liked the phonics lessons and how they were laid out.  He did not know some of the High-frequency words in the reading books since he did not start at the beginning.  I really liked the extra activities and crafts at the end of each lesson.  I also liked all the visuals and using the characters Mr and Mrs short and Uncle short and Miss Long to help with the phonics concepts.  Some of the activities I didn’t really think were necessary for homeschoolers like the classroom routine and the reading centers since I do not have a classroom full of kids.

Overall the curriculum is very comprehensive and detailed.  For people who are by the book and like things to be very structured it will work well but maybe not so much or people who are laid back in their approach to homeschooling.  I think the online version of the curriculum would work better for our family since we tend to be more laid back.  You can see more about the online video version here.  I think the BJU Press Focus on Five program would work well for someone starting out who wants everything laid out for them in detail.

Other families used BJU Press Focus on Five too so be sure to check out their reviews by clicking on the banner below.

BJU Press Focus on Fives {BJU Press Homeschool Reviews}