Progeny Press Study Guides REVIEW

I always love when the timing of reviews comes at just the right time.  Having the chance to review The Long Way to a New Land Study Guide and Hound of the Baskervilles Study Guide by Progeny Press was perfect timing.  We needed a new literature option and these study guides met that need.  I received instructions on how to download the digital copies of these two literature study guides.  The PDF files were easy to download and print.  I chose to bind mine for ease of use but the Hound of the Baskervilles was a fillable form copy that allows you to type your answers in right into the document on your computer (I really liked this but it didn't work well for my struggling learner high schooler).

Fillable form in PDF format

Progeny Press is family owned and they currently have over 110 literature study guides available.  They have study guides for lower elementary, upper elementary, middle school, and high school students.  Their guides are available as printed workbooks, on CD, and as downloadable e-guides.  You also have the option to purchase the book the guide was created for.  I just love their mission statement!

I am also very pleased with the comprehensiveness of the guides.  Most upper level guides are designed to be completed in 8-10 weeks.  The guides begin with a note to the instructor on how to use the guides.  Next is a synopsis of the book.  Following the synopsis is background information (generally about the time or what was going on during the time of the story) and also information about the author.  Answer keys are included (as a separate download for upper grades so your student doesn't have the answers).  The guides include so much for your children to really dig into the story and learn more about literature.  Areas covered include (not all are covered at all levels):

• Prereading Activities
• Vocabulary
• Cause and Effect
• Elements of Logical Thinking
• Chapter Questions
• Chapter Analysis
•  Dig Deeper (more in depth questions that include scripture references and how they relate to the story--I LOVE this!!)
• Optional Activities
• Research Paper
• Art Project
• Science
• History
• Class Discussion

Little Bug and I covered The Long Way to a New Land which was written for K-3 grades.  At her current level she was not able to completely fill out the guide so I chose to cover it with her verbally.  That gave me more hands on with her.  There were 5 chapters to her book so we covered a chapter per week.  There were generally 3-5 activities to complete per week.  We first completed some of the "Before-you-read Activites" that included discussing some vocabulary words, learning about the history of the steamship, and discussing the difference between the words emigrate and immigrate.  Then we read the entire book before starting any study guide questions.

Chapter 1 in the Study Guide started with matching vocabulary words with the correct definitions.  The next day we covered Cause and Effect which explained that cause is an action to make something happen and effect is what happens as a result of that cause.  She did really well on this section.  The next day we answered some questions relating to the story and then we ended that week completing a Dig Deeper section.

Vocabulary sample

Dig Deeper sample

I really like the Dig Deeper section because it incorporates scripture and gets your student thinking about how God's word relates to our lives.  For example, we read a bible verse and then answered how one of the characters in the story obeyed what the scripture said.  I really liked this study guide and it helped Little Bug to get better comprehension of the story and learn a lot of new vocabulary.

Language Arts sample

The end of the study guide covered Using Illustrations and Looking at the Story.  They caused us to look deeper at the literature and the how and why a story is created.  The After-you-read Activites included a recipe of the bread they might have made.  We have not made it yet but she is anxious to make it!  The Resources section at the end included other books by the author, books of related interest, and other sources.
 

Reviewing Hound of the Baskervilles Study Guide (highschool level) with my high schooler proved more challenging.  I thought he would enjoy the story but he did not.  I was so excited that I had found the movie on one of our streaming subscriptions and I also found the book on Kindle with audio!  Score!!  The format is much the same as the lower grade study guide with of course more challenging sections.  There are 15 chapters of the book broken into 6 sections.  We are still working through the guide since we are going at a slightly slower pace than normal.

Separate download included in upper grades

I really appreciate the optional activities in each section and the  Optional Essays and Projects at the end of this study guide.  The optional activities help the guide to be more comprehensive for language arts and also covers history, bible study, writing, journaling, discussion, etc.  The fillable form format is awesome even though my highschooler did not take advantage of this.  I really like that he is learning to evaluate and dissect a book with a Christian perspective.  The incorporation of scripture is so appreciated by me.  It helps to bring scripture to life when he has to think about how it realates to the characters and life in general.  I LOVE this!!

I wholeheartedly recommend The Long Way to a New Land Study Guide and Hound of the Baskervilles Study Guide.  We will be using more in the future.

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Please be sure to also click on the graphic link below to see what my fellow Crew members have to say about these and other study guides available from Progeny Press.