Kencam Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 I have used BJU reading for both my dds up through 6th grade. I really like the variety of genres, the discussion of literary elements and all that BJU encompasses in their program. My dd12 has needed help improving her reading comprehension and critical thinking. However, BJU changes the format of their classes starting in 7th grade and I’m not sure about continuing. We would like to use the online option for our BJU classes, but from the sample, the teacher looks rather boring. Has anyone else used it? I’m looking for an alternative and wondered if anyone has thoughts on Progeny Press’s literature guides? It would be quite a bit different from what we are used to, but maybe it’s time to change things up a bit? I love the idea of studying a few novels next year, but I also wonder if that becomes overkill and then the child doesn’t just enjoy reading anymore? Anybody use either of these programs and have some advice for me? I would appreciate it! Thanks! Carrie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Lake Mom Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 I don't have an answer for you, but I am currently questioning the same thing. I have BJU 7 Lit, but I've been considering the PP guides or simply just reading lit that goes along with history (Notgrass). I look forward to reading other responses. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bensonduck Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 I just bought BJU Lit 7 but haven’t begun. We’re going to do it at home. The teacher’s guide looks great. There are a lot of discussion helps and explanations. I needed something with some hand holding because I really do not enjoy teaching literature but I want my kids to understand and feel confident about what they are reading and doing. I haven’t looked at the CD yet, but it looks like it includes planning assistance for the students for each writing assignment as well. I’ll let you know how it is going in a few weeks,i guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kencam Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 Thank you for this! I’ve really liked BJU’s curriculum from k-6. Hope 7th grade is as good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitterpatter Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 I have three PP lit guides on CD. I had planned to use two last year (...Bowditch and Amos Fortune...) in 7th grade and one (The Hobbit) this year in 8th, but I just can't wrap my head around my DD actually doing them. They don't offer what I want, which is CLE Reading with real books. I want something to teach literary devices/techniques/some analysis/etc. using real books. PP is primarily a bunch of short-answer questions, which would bore my DD to tears. And, I wouldn't blame her. What I've decided to try this year are some Rigorous Reading guides by Teacher Created Resources. There aren't a lot to choose from, but they are the closest to what I want for DD. One caveat, the answer keys aren't great...the answers are too short and there are a lot of "answers will vary" cop-outs. https://www.teachercreated.com/products/search-results.php?q=rigorous+reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kencam Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 6 minutes ago, pitterpatter said: I have three PP lit guides on CD. I had planned to use two last year (...Bowditch and Amos Fortune...) in 7th grade and one (The Hobbit) this year in 8th, but I just can't wrap my head around my DD actually doing them. They don't offer what I want, which is CLE Reading with real books. I want something to teach literary devices/techniques/some analysis/etc. using real books. PP is primarily a bunch of short-answer questions, which would bore my DD to tears. And, I wouldn't blame her. What I've decided to try this year are some Rigorous Reading guides by Teacher Created Resources. There aren't a lot to choose from, but they are the closest to what I want for DD. One caveat, the answer keys aren't great...the answers are too short and there are a lot of "answers will vary" cop-outs. https://www.teachercreated.com/products/search-results.php?q=rigorous+reading Yes! This type of lit (the analysis/elements/etc) using real books is just what I want! Thank you for the heads up on PP. I will check out Rigorous Reading. Thanks! Carrie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, pitterpatter said: ... What I've decided to try this year are some Rigorous Reading guides by Teacher Created Resources. There aren't a lot to choose from, but they are the closest to what I want for DD. One caveat, the answer keys aren't great...the answers are too short and there are a lot of "answers will vary" cop-outs... Some more options for individual lit. guides with more "meat" to them -- most are available through Rainbow Resource if you want to purchase there instead, or at least want to see table of contents and sample pages. - Glencoe Literature Library guides (free) (secular) -- background info on the author/times; some discussion questions; short paragraphs here and there of teaching info on literary elements/literature topics; graphic organizers for thinking deeper - Garlic Press Discovering Literature guides, esp. the challenger level (secular; for a fee) -- meaty; discussion (vs. comprehension) questions for every chapter; background info on the author/times; usually a dozen 1-2 page teaching info sections on literary elements/literature topics; - Portals to Literature (secular; for a fee) -- while written for a classroom, so you need to adapt; background info; discussion questions AND comprehension questions; class activities; short paragraphs here and there of teaching info on literary elements/literature topics Also: you might consider going through Figuratively Speaking (covers 40 literary elements for helping you analyze and discuss literature), along with some poems & short stories that match up with each literary element, listed in this past thread: "Figuratively Speaking paired with short stories". That could make a good unit on poetry and short stories. P.S. I just went to the link for the Rigorous Reading, and skimmed the guide for the book, The Giver -- in comparison, the Garlic Press challenger-level guide for The Giver is more meaty, with more teaching info, more discussion questions, and easily done 1-on-1. The Rigorous Reading guide is based on keeping a "reading log"; has some comprehension questions and some thinking questions for keeping a log, and has classroom-based activities. One idea that I often did was to get more than 1 lit. guide for a book, and just pull excerpts from each, as was useful for us, for learning about the work, and ideas for springboarding us into discussion and analysis. Edited July 14, 2020 by Lori D. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kencam Posted July 15, 2020 Author Share Posted July 15, 2020 15 hours ago, Lori D. said: Some more options for individual lit. guides with more "meat" to them -- most are available through Rainbow Resource if you want to purchase there instead, or at least want to see table of contents and sample pages. - Glencoe Literature Library guides (free) (secular) -- background info on the author/times; some discussion questions; short paragraphs here and there of teaching info on literary elements/literature topics; graphic organizers for thinking deeper - Garlic Press Discovering Literature guides, esp. the challenger level (secular; for a fee) -- meaty; discussion (vs. comprehension) questions for every chapter; background info on the author/times; usually a dozen 1-2 page teaching info sections on literary elements/literature topics; - Portals to Literature (secular; for a fee) -- while written for a classroom, so you need to adapt; background info; discussion questions AND comprehension questions; class activities; short paragraphs here and there of teaching info on literary elements/literature topics Also: you might consider going through Figuratively Speaking (covers 40 literary elements for helping you analyze and discuss literature), along with some poems & short stories that match up with each literary element, listed in this past thread: "Figuratively Speaking paired with short stories". That could make a good unit on poetry and short stories. P.S. I just went to the link for the Rigorous Reading, and skimmed the guide for the book, The Giver -- in comparison, the Garlic Press challenger-level guide for The Giver is more meaty, with more teaching info, more discussion questions, and easily done 1-on-1. The Rigorous Reading guide is based on keeping a "reading log"; has some comprehension questions and some thinking questions for keeping a log, and has classroom-based activities. One idea that I often did was to get more than 1 lit. guide for a book, and just pull excerpts from each, as was useful for us, for learning about the work, and ideas for springboarding us into discussion and analysis. Thank you for this! The comparison of Rigorous Reading and Garlic Press was really helpful! I love the idea of using parts of different guides-get the “best of both worlds.” I think that’s what we will do going forward! Thanks! Carrie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 4 hours ago, Kencam said: Thank you for this! The comparison of Rigorous Reading and Garlic Press was really helpful! I love the idea of using parts of different guides-get the “best of both worlds.” I think that’s what we will do going forward! Thanks! Carrie Yea! And the Glencoe Literature Library guides that I linked are FREE, so that's esp. easy/inexpensive to use with another guide. 😄 Have a super year and some great literature adventures next year! Warmest regards, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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