11-year old asked for lit guides

[EliseMcKenna]

She saw the literature study guides in the MP catalog and claims she’d like to try some. Are the ones from MP your favorites? Or are there others that are more engaging for this age?

[Lori D.]

While I'm not a big fan of lit. guides personally prior to 7th/8th grade (and even at the older ages, I'm not a fan of heavy use of lit. guides -- we did use bits of some guides to help springboard discussion), if your DD liked the looks of the MP lit. guides, and she's a "workbook learner" (likes workbooks and learns from them) and is requesting a workbook -- then go for it and try out a MP lit. guide!

The FREE Glencoe Literature Library guides are geared for the middle school ages -- background info on the author/times; some fill-in answers to discussion questions; and some graphic organizers for thinking about/making connections with the literature.

For other lit. guide ideas: in middle school, we did use and like Lightning Lit & Comp grade 7 and grade 8, which have work pages to practice the literary elements presented in each unit, and to practice beginning literary analysis (esp. in the grade 8 program). Nothing heavy, and very helpful guided, beginning literary analysis / formal lit. study.

We also liked some of the Garlic Press Discovering Literature guides. We used some of the Challenger level guides (gr. 9-12) in late middle school/early high school. Very meaty! Some of the middle school guides (gr. 5-8) might work for you right now with an 11yo.

ETA -- PS
And, as Emba56 mentions below, you want to be careful to not suck the joy out of reading and love of good books. I wouldn't dig deep with a guide with more than 2-3 books in a school year in grades 5-6, and I wouldn't feel I *had* to use every bit of the guide, if it was making the child dislike the book or dislike reading in general.

Edited April 10, 2019 by Lori D.

[Emba]

I have no favorite lit guides, so may not be very helpful. I did use a Memoria press lit guide for Paddington with DD several years ago. It was the thing that pretty much convinced me that lit guides are not for us. For us, it sucked all the fun out of a very cute book. Since then, I’ve used one lit guide I got free online, but with less written answers and more skipping of questions. I’ve also done my own skeletal lit guides, focusing more on vocabulary, which is a weak point for DD and with a few discussion questions done verbally.

[Emba]

I think it was a Glencoe guide i used the second time, for across Five Aprils. We skipped quite a bit of it, but it was helpful. I felt that the Paddington guide was not as helpful. That may have been a result of the book just not needing so much background information and being overall simpler and done at an earlier age. It really seems like busy work that bogged down a good book, in retrospect, but it was my first year homeschooling and mistakes are how you learn.

And when I DIY some of my questions might be blatantly plagiarized from various online lists of discussion questions for books. Just saying.

[EliseMcKenna]

Thank you both for confirming what I was thinking! I was surprised when she specifically mentioned the guides . . . they're certainly not my cup of tea. *Maybe* we'll try just one instead of the whole set. They look eye-wateringly boring to me, but she seems to think she wants to do more than just read. 

[teachermom2834]

We use MP for everything so yes we also use the guides. We actually did all of the 5th and 6th grade lit guides this year because we just can’t drag out the books as long as the MP lesson guides call for and she wanted to keep going. We are in the last half of the last book now so we have done a lot of lit guides this year. 

I don’t think of the lit guides as workbooks really. They don’t have matching and crossword puzzles and that sort of thing. It is primarily comprehension and deeper discussion questions. We have just been doing them orally lately. The last two books have been Robin Hood and King Arthur and they are a little difficult. The questions quickly confirm to me that she is understanding the reading and the discussion questions dig deeper and really lead dd to make connections. 

It has not squashed enjoyment of reading but my sample size is one and she absolutely loves reading and vocabulary. 

There are enrichment activities for each chapter and I never want to fuss with them but my dd goes back and does them in her free time and sometimes she suggests we take a day to go back and do some of them. So she actually really enjoys them.

While I don’t think lit guides are necessary in our case it has truly enhanced her experiences of the books. 

[EliseMcKenna]

Thanks for sharing your experience @teachermom2834. I hope my daughter likes them as well as yours. Do you order an entire MP core then?

[teachermom2834]

7 hours ago, EliseMcKenna said:

Thanks for sharing your experience @teachermom2834. I hope my daughter likes them as well as yours. Do you order an entire MP core then?

Yes. My 10 yo dd is finishing up the 5th grade MP Core and she has been in the MP program since K so it is all she has ever known. We both really like the whole curriculum and do it without substitution. So it is what dd is used to. 

We really like it and I am amazed how much she has learned. But, a couple of things to note : we use the whole MP Core and the subjects really fit together and emphasize common themes so not sure how any one piece works on its own, and also I am very hands on with my dd. She is the baby of my family and my boys are grown so she gets my full attention. I don’t hand any of it to her to just go do. I think that makes a big difference and would be hard if I had more students to juggle. 

[EliseMcKenna]

1 hour ago, teachermom2834 said:

Yes. My 10 yo dd is finishing up the 5th grade MP Core and she has been in the MP program since K so it is all she has ever known. We both really like the whole curriculum and do it without substitution. So it is what dd is used to. 

We really like it and I am amazed how much she has learned. But, a couple of things to note : we use the whole MP Core and the subjects really fit together and emphasize common themes so not sure how any one piece works on its own, and also I am very hands on with my dd. She is the baby of my family and my boys are grown so she gets my full attention. I don’t hand any of it to her to just go do. I think that makes a big difference and would be hard if I had more students to juggle. 

 

Juggling everything, and everyone, has always been one of my main concerns with a program like MP. *sigh* What did you use with your older kids, and how do you think it compares with MP?

[teachermom2834]

1 hour ago, EliseMcKenna said:

 

Juggling everything, and everyone, has always been one of my main concerns with a program like MP. *sigh* What did you use with your older kids, and how do you think it compares with MP?

My boys are now junior in college, freshman in college, 10th grade, and my dd is in 5th.

Everyone was always homeschooled but it looked different for everyone. I always pulled everything together myself using WTM recommendations and using available classes at the local co-op. When my dd was in K the boys were in 5th, 8th, and 10th. At that point I just wanted a box for my dd so I could stop trying to do it all myself and because I was very focused on the big kids. My oldest two did a couple online classes, co-op, dual enrollment, and traditional mom led classes at home. My current 10th grader is my most driven teen and he has wanted mostly online classes from MPOA and WTMA. He is moving on to de next year. 

I will admit I think my dd is getting the best education of all my kids but that is not just because of MP. We think MP is great but she also has the benefit of one on one that the older kids never had to that degree. I am also a better teacher and mom than I was a decade ago. I am wiser and more relaxed and not trying to keep three little boys on task with a baby/toddler in the mix. We also moved and lost co-op and much extracurricular access which means we stay home more and are more focused on our daily school without school time interruptions. My dd isn't into video games (which we always limited but the boys did play some), has no tablet or device, and reads and listens to audio books constantly. She just consumes books in a way my other kids (though they liked to read) never did. She is an eager learner, much more so than my older dc at her age.  All that to say that we like MP alot but I really can't compare quality and outcome vs. what I did for my other kids. There are too many other variables. I have one compliant nerdy little girl getting all my attention vs. 3 rambunctious boys each settling for 1/4 of me. KWIM? It just isn't an apples to apples comparison.

All that to say- my boys were all over the place but they turned out just fine. The oldest is doing very well in college and in preparation for a career and thinks homeschooling was great for him. My second ds was a difficult student and honestly did not do nearly what I would have hoped and planned for him in high school and what he did get done was pulling teeth. But he is doing well too! He is a freshman in college out of state (actually a sophomore from de credits) and is doing well for himself. He has to work hard for good grades because he didn't learn all he should have in high school. (For example, his business classes are difficult for him because he is having to learn math he should have gotten in high school but he didn't apply himself). He wishes he had made more effort in high school but he is making up for it now. My third ds who is still in high school is doing great and very independent. So, there is no one way this thing needs to be done and there is quite a margin for error to still turn out competent kids. I felt organized at the time but looking back I feel like I was all over the place and just trying to keep my head above water. But we kept at it. Day after day, week after week, year after year. Some good. Some not so good. But it all worked out just fine!

[EliseMcKenna]

@teachermom2834

Thank you, again. Everything you said makes perfect sense. Starting in the fall, we have the opportunity for the oldest to attend a forest school program one day a week with middle-school kids, separate from her sisters. I'm hoping that the day the younger two are at their forest school experience, dd11 and I can get some of that quality one-on-one time that you mentioned. 💛

[Meadowlark]

Just wanted to add that we're using MP lit guides too. I've only ever held 2nd and 3rd grade in my hands, but wow-they are pretty great. i only had my other children read and they did fine, so I definitely don't think they're necessary. However-it's like being fine with vanilla ice cream until one day you taste a sundae and you realize how much more you just like ice cream! The guides we've done (currently on Beatrice Potter) are just 1) helping with vocabulary and 2) just enriching the book. I truly think my kids will look back on the books we've studied and remember them fondly. It hasn't squashed any desire to read either. They know that they do the guides with the book we're currently working on, then they read whatever they want in their free time. Looking at the book list-if my kids read every single one of the books chosen-just wow, they will have had some stellar book studies!

[Luypie]

I recently came across Mosdos for my 3rd grader. I looked at the sample and liked the look of it. It's a big investment, esp if you want to get everything. I am debating whether I should get it or not. It was recommended on Timberdoodle. You may want to take a look at it and see if you like it.