kristin0713 Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 Has anyone used this guide? I can't find a preview that includes enough for me to make a decision. I bought the Memoria Press guides and they are ok, but not exactly what I'm looking for. There are some things that I like about it--the vocabulary development, the quotation section where the student fills in the speaker of different quotes, and the poetry section. I would prefer a chapter summary and a *few* discussion questions instead of a lot of comprehension questions. My goal in using a guide is to help my daughter understand the book, vocabulary, and themes a little more independently and I don't want to take away enjoyment of the book by loading on extra work for her. Any feedback on the Discovering Literature Series guide, or any other suggestions, specifically for The Hobbit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted August 5, 2018 Author Share Posted August 5, 2018 I'm also looking at Progeny Press. Any feedback? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted August 5, 2018 Author Share Posted August 5, 2018 I'm also looking at Progeny Press. Any feedback? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 (edited) The Discovering Lit. guides (secular) are meaty, with a summary of each chapter, discussion questions (rather than comprehension questions). Plus there are 17 literature "strategies" scattered throughout the guide -- these are 1-2 pages of teaching info on a specific literary device or literature topic, with connections and examples directly from The Hobbit, and usually include a question or two at the end to help the student put the device or the literature topic info into practice. There are also 5 different writing assignments to choose from (compare/contrast; diary entry; news article; scene from a play; write your own ending; write a poem). There are also 4 quizzes of comprehension questions (each covers about 4 chapters). For each chapter, while vocabulary words are listed with short definitions to aid in reading, there is no working with words. See the table of contents and a few sample pages here at Rainbow Resource. A strong reader/writer could use the guide fairly independently IF you reduced the workload by just circling a few questions to answer and assignments to do -- or better yet, for the 2 of you to discuss together. These are MEATY guides and the expectation is that you would use selected parts of it, NOT every.single.question.and.assignment. WAAAYYYY too much to do it all. Progeny Press guides (Christian) have 1-2 pages of background info on the author/times and "what to look for while reading". The guides DO include working with vocabulary words. There are some comprehension and some discussion questions, and then each section concludes with several thinking questions that involve comparing with Scripture or with Biblical themes or ideas. See here for a sample section of the Progeny Press guide for The Hobbit. The publishers say their guides take 9 weeks; that was not our experience with the high school guides, but then we used excerpts, not the entire guides. For my Lit & Comp co-op class last year, we spent 4 weeks on The Hobbit, and I wouldn't have wanted to drag out the study for much longer than that. Similar to the much more meaty Discovering Lit. guide, if you find that the guide is too much, you can just use selected parts of the PP guide so it matches up with however much time you scheduled to cover The Hobbit. Also similar to the Discovering Lit. guide, I would do a good amount of the guide discussing together, rather than the student slogging along solo, unless that is the student's preferred method of learning and interacting with literature. JMO. You may also enjoy using bits of this short FREE guide from Houghton-Mifflin. Edited August 8, 2018 by Lori D. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted August 8, 2018 Author Share Posted August 8, 2018 Thank you! That was so thorough and just what I needed to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 9 minutes ago, kristin0713 said: Thank you! That was so thorough and just what I needed to know. Yea! Glad that helped. I adore the Discovering Lit. series, esp. the Challenger level guides. It's just that there are only a very small handful of titles that have guides by this publisher. I have also used some of the Progeny Press high school level guides. Some were worthwhile, others were weak. Esp. at the high school level, whether I use secular or Christian guides, I usually try to find online guide materials (articles, guides, etc.) as well, just to provide several different perspectives on the book, or expose us to different themes seen by the different guide authors. But mostly, we just use bits and parts of lit. guides to help springboard us into our own WTM-style discussion and "digging deeper" into the books. Just an extra 2 cents worth, lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanDiegoMom Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 And... I have one that I'm trying to sell, lol. Pm me if you're interested! I've given up trying to sell things on the classifieds board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted August 8, 2018 Author Share Posted August 8, 2018 40 minutes ago, SanDiegoMom in VA said: And... I have one that I'm trying to sell, lol. Pm me if you're interested! I've given up trying to sell things on the classifieds board. Thanks ? I already ordered it from amazon, arriving tomorrow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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