MP Literature Guides

[Elizabeth86]

If you use MP Literature Guides (for 3rd grade specifically) how do YOU do them?  My 7 year old (turning 8 at the very end of September) just started his 3rd grade year.  We read and did our first chapter for Farmer Boy today.  We took turns reading pages.  We enjoyed reading together, the reading was easy for him, the answers in the literature guide for him was easy for him to answer and enjoyable, but the writing was exhausting. I  wish I had timed him, he worked diligently, but it was a slow process for him.  He never complained, but I could tell he was worn out when he was done.  It took up quite a bit of our afternoon.  I originally intended to do them orally, but thought I would see if he was able to do them.  I just wonder if I should do 3rd grade ALL orally or have him write some of the answers.  I just wonder if I "let him off the hook" for 3rd if he will be able to do the work when he is older.  Should I slowly increase his amount of writing this year.  For example have him do Farmer Boy orally, the 2nd book 1/4 of the writing, 3rd book 1/2 of the writing or something like that to build it up.  I seriously struggle to know what to expect out of my oldest.  I know he is not ready to do all of it, but I'm just not sure how to modify it and have him still benefit and grow and learn.  

[teachermom2834]

I can’t remember exactly what I did with the MP guides in 3rd grade but I think we answered the questions orally and then I had my dd copy one answer out of the teacher guide. It was practice writing out a good answer in a complete sentence so she would learn how to answer the questions.  Over the years we have done different combinations of answering questions orally and dd copying well written sentences from the teacher guide or that I wrote down while she narrated them to me. A few times we just had teacher guides so we did those entirely orally.

Use them however you wish. However, I am pretty sure the MP folks would tell you that even in their schools students don’t write the answers to all the questions in 3rd grade. So there definitely is no standard that your ds should be able to write answers to every question in the guide in 3rd grade. My dd is a strong student and she is doing the 7th grade guides this year. If she ends up writing all the answers out independently it will be the first time that has happened. 

[Mommyof1]

How does he feel about it? Does he feel it's too much?

Does he have more writing to do in other subjects?

I plan on using the 1st grade literature guides and have my dd do the writing. (I've seen the sample of the lessons). If I need to break it up overtime then I will. 

Writing is frustrating for her but on days she will do the Lit. Guide she will have no other writing that day.

Maybe breaking up the writing so it's not all at once might help him.