Taking Literature Further with LitWits Kits {Product Review}

I love teaching literature and I especially love teaching it in a unit study style. The challenge is finding a program that does all the "hard work" for providing hands-on projects as well as literature comprehension work. This is especially true for me when I took on the new role of teaching a literature class at my co-op to ages 12-16. It was a small group and I wanted to offer them more than the typical read and discuss literature experience. I had eyeballed several programs in the past, including a lesser-known resource called LitWits. Imagine my joy when I had to chance to review the LitWit Kits! I finally decided on My Side of the Mountain, The Phantom Tollbooth, Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, and Around the World in Eighty Days. I really hoped it would be just what I was looking for to take our literature studies further and make them more meaningful and enjoyable for all!

About the Product

LitWits Kits are a product from LitWits. These are online literature kits that help you bring beloved classics and modern books to life. These kits help teach literature into kids "in hands-on, fun, and meaningful ways." A LitWits Kit is a web paged devoted to bringing a book to life with unique ideas and downloadable activities, as well

Exploring Classic Children's Literature with Memoria Press {Curriculum Review}

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!
We have been blessed to be able to review products from Memoria Press twice this year, and today I'm thrilled to be sharing our third review from this award-winning company. For the last several weeks, we've been using the Third Grade Literature Guide Set which includes the Farmer Boy Literature Guide that we worked through. Today I'd like to share our thoughts on this product and whether or not it worked with my youngest son. While we aren't usually fans of a classical method of curriculum, I'm going to tell you why we still love Memoria Press products.

About the Product

Memoria Press is an award-winning company featuring products for every grade and subject. One of the areas that they excel in is offering literature packages for all grade levels. These literature

Exploring 8th Grade Lightning Lit & Comp from Hewitt Homeschooling {Curriculum Review}

As I look ahead to our 8th-grade year for my oldest son, I really wanted a strong literature curriculum for him. I needed it to be fairly independent as we start preparing him for High School work. I also wanted to incorporate some literature analysis but in such a way as to not make it a chore to do. Additionally, I wanted to find something which had composition incorporated in it—but a style where my son (a reluctant writer) wasn’t going to balk at every lesson. I have looked all around and about gotten dizzy exploring the different curriculum available. But one stood out above the others that I wanted to explore more—the Grade 8 Lightning Lit Set from Hewitt Homeschooling Resources. Needless to say, I was overjoyed when I was given the chance to review the very course I was looking at. Join me to today as I share our review of this course and find out if we will be continuing it for our 2019-2020 year or not…

About the Product

Hewitt Homeschooling is an award-winning homeschool curriculum for language arts. Based in Washougal, WA (my old hometown!), they provide a wide range of literature and composition

Exploring the Exciting Life of President Ronald Reagan with YWAM Publishing {A Unit Study Curriculum Review}

We have settled into the fact that our family definitely has a literature-based learning style. We love to read read read! History is one of the areas where literature based products are the most useful to get away from boring textbooks. YWAM Publishing has a GREAT line of historical biographies on men and women throughout history who have contributed to the Christian cause or were key parts of world history in general. We previously have worked through Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Orville Wright (you can read the previous reviews of YWAM Publishing on my blog). I was surprised when my boys decided to have us review Heroes of History- Ronald Reagan from the Heroes of History series this time. Join me as I share our unit study of the 40th President of the USA!

About YWAM Publishing

YWAM Publishing is a company determined to produce quality biographies and unit studies on men and women who are considered heroes—either to the Christian Faith or to history itself. With that in mind, they have created two series, Christian Heroes: Then and Now and Heroes of History, offering an extensive collection of biographies of men and women throughout the ages, who need to be recognized for their accomplishments.

Here is a sampling of the titles included in each series:

Charlotte's Web and Spiders: Exploring a Unit Study from Homeschool Complete {Curriculum Review}

We are a family with experience in Unit Studies. I’ve learned over the years that we enjoy the freedom they give to explore topics over a wide range of subjects. Over the last several weeks, we have been reviewing the Spider study in the Unit Studies collection from Homeschool Complete. I picked this topic because it was about something my youngest son (age 8) loved to learn about, and looked forward to a whole unit study revolving around it. Did the unit study live up to our expectations? Was this another company that we would continue to use for further unit studies? Today, I’m going to be sharing my review with you to answer these very questions!

About Homeschool Complete

Homeschool Complete offers a wide variety of curriculum options from complete online curriculum for grades K-4 to a collection of unit studies for grades K-6. The online program is all inclusive, literature based, and a year long.  Each lesson plan is created around thematic units with a biblical worldview. Even though the

Exploring Paddington with Branch Out World {Product Review}

Do you love the stories of Paddington as much as I do? There is just something about that darling bear which warms my heart. We were recently asked to review a unit study of Paddington Bear from Branch Out World, a British company.

About Branch Out World

Branch Out World is a British company producing educational resources like the Picture Book Explorers series. These are a collection of literature based unit studies created around beautifully illustrated picture books with links to the British Isles. These are all downloadable units that incorporate reading aloud with a variety of coordinating fun and educational activities.

Exploring a Storybook Life with Laura Ingalls Wilder and YWAM Publishing {Curriculum Review}

We have settled into the fact that our family is a literature based learning school style. We love to read read read! History is one of the areas where literature based products are the most useful to get away from boring textbooks. YWAM Publishing has a GREAT line of historical biographies on men and women throughout history who have contributed to the Christian cause, or were key parts of world history in general. We previously have worked through Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone, and Orville Wright (you can read the previous reviews of YWAM Publishing on my blog), but this time, we picked the Heroes of History- Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Storybook Life to review! My son was curious to see whether or not all those Little House on the Prairie stories were really true or not...

About YWAM Publishing

YWAM Publishing is a company determined to produce quality biographies and unit studies on men and women who are considered heroes—either to the Christian Faith, or to history itself. With that in mind, they have created two series Christian Heroes: Then and Now and Heroes of History offering an extensive collection of biographies of men and women throughout the ages, who need to be recognized for their accomplishments.

Here is a sampling of the titles included in each series:

Let it Snow: Our Favorite Books and Activities to Help Bring Winter Inside

I won't lie. I actually do enjoy SOME of what winter brings. Especially living out here in Kentucky. Once fall hits, the scenery becomes rather dreary, bleak, and...well...Brown. There just aren't enough evergreens to keep it green. Therefore, one of the highlights of winter out here is SNOW! It seems to be hit and miss most winters. We maybe get 16" or we might barely get a dusting. But oh how lovely it looks outside when it is all fresh white and clean! When the winter arrives, so does my desire for all things winter themed: hot cocoa, hot cider, winter themed books, and fun winter themed activities. Today I want to share some of my favorite winter themed books and activities for school.

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links.  Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

Favorite Winter Themed Books

One of my most favorite ways to enjoy winter, is with our favorite winter themed books. This is the time of year when I hit up the library hard to find our family favorites to read again. By saving them for once a year, it keeps them special!

Exploring The Bears On Hemlock Mountain with Progeny Press {Curriculum Review}

We incorporate a lot of literature into our schooling, and I love it when I can introduce the boys to classic literature. I also appreciate it when I can find an online resource that helps me take our reading further with a literature guide. One of the best selling publishers for literature curriculum, is Progeny Press. I have already had the blessing to review two of their E-Guides (Miss Rumphius and Mr. Popper's Penguins) with my boys, and was happy to review the The Bears on Hemlock Mountain E-Guide with my youngest son.

About Progeny Press

Progeny Press is known for their high quality literature study guides throughout the homeschool world. Their mission statement makes it clear why--they want to help children think clearly, to understand literature, to turn to the scriptures for truth and values...and to enjoy doing it!

Mr. Popper's Penguins E-Guide: A Literature Unit from Progeny Press {Curriculum Review}

I am always on the lookout for literature curriculum, and I especially enjoy literature units designed around a single book. One of the hottest companies for this type of curriculum right now is Progeny Press. We were recently given the Mr. Popper's Penguins E-Guide to review, and I was very curious to see how this literature guide compared to others I have used.

Product Information

Progeny Press is a family owned and operated company determined to provide biblical based literature units for grades lower elementary through high school. Progeny Press offers a large collection of study guides for classic literature to some study guides of popular YA fiction.  The study guide will provide vocabulary, comprehension questions, critical thinking questions, scripture copywork, bible study topics, creative writing, and more. The study guide is available as an E-guide for instant download ($17.99), a printed workbook ($18.99), or a CD ($17.99). The E-guides aren't your traditional printable file. When opened in Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0+, they become interactive, thus allowing the students to enter their answers into the computer and save their work. The e-guides can also still be printed and used in the traditional manner. Titles available as E-guides include: *The Big Wave
*The Bridge *Charlotte's Web *The Cricket in Times Square *The Door in the Wall *Farmer Boy *Mr. Popper's Penguins *Sarah Plain and Tall *A New Coat for Anna *The Drinking Gourd *Miss Rumphius *Anne of Green Gables *The Adventures of Tom Sawyer *The Giver *Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe *Beowulf *Frankenstein *The Hobbit *Hunger Games *And many more!
We were given the Mr. Popper's Penguins E-Guide to review with Little Britches (age 10).

How Did We Use It?

The study guide was easy to download to my computer (using Chrome) and open as I have Adobe Acrobat. It came in two parts: answer key and study guide. As I opened up the study guide, I was curious to see what the interactive portions looked like. It ended up being simply drop down answer choices, and places where they can type their answers. But I digress. At the beginning there is a note to the parent that explains how to use the study guide and notes that the student will also need a dictionary, thesaurus, Bible and access to a topical bible or encyclopedia to complete the work. This was good to know before beginning. The note also suggests that the book be read in its entirety the first week, as the student completes a pre-reading activity, and then work on one page of the study guide per day working through the chapters. The study guide also contains a final overview which could be used for a final "exam" if needed. The parent is also encouraged to let the child reference the book as they work through the assignments.  I found this a good guide to see how it could be done, even if it isn't how I was going to decide to complete it.  The study was set up with a basic design: synopsis, pre-reading activities, chapter review questions, optional section of additional questions, overview, post reading activities, and additional resources. I noticed that the chapters of the book were grouped 4-5 per section, so I printed out a section at a time.  Why did I print instead of using the interactive version? Because it was my preference. I knew most of our answering was going to be open discussion, and I wanted to be able to include Baby Britches (age 5) into our discussion. Using a printed copy would work best for this.  Once I had the pre-reading and first section printed, we began. I snagged the book from our library on our next trip. I decided that we were NOT going to read the whole book in advance. I knew my boys would do much better on the questions and activities if we read it aloud and then completed the work for each chapter when it was done. 

I introduced Mr. Popper's Penguins with the pre-reading discussion and reading the background information about the Poles. I found a world map that could be colored and labelled on a different resource site, so we did that as was suggested in the pre-reading activities. We found the north and south pole in our atlas and talked about the kind of things that live there. As you might have guessed, we used our read aloud book, with me reading 1-3 chapters each day. The boys were taken with the story right away. We followed a pattern of doing 1-3 chapters a day and then doing the questions which matched what we read. Once we did that, we then spent another day finishing up the questions or activities in that section before moving on. We typically did 1 section per week, although we didn't always

Glad to get to use our new atlas!

complete it within a week (since we are on a modified summer schedule).  We have finished the book and chapter questions. I decided to do the optional sections as they were on very important things (relating to money and debt), and this week we will conclude by making a diorama of sorts of the arctic regions and hopefully watching the latest version of the Mr. Popper's Penguins movie. And eat homemade ice cream! 

What Are Our Thoughts on This Product?

I think both boys enjoyed the story very much. They had fun with our initial map activity and learning more about the poles. They weren't in love with the "work" but because I didn't require them to write anything--we didn't have any issues with completing it. I did make Little Britches do the vocab work and exercises which he completed easily.

matching vocabulary to definitions, then using them in a word search

My favorite answer from the open ended questions...LOL

I think it's a very good guide and gives you the basics for completing a literature unit. The comprehension questions are very well done, and the open ended discussion questions encourage critical thinking. I loved the vocabulary sections and how it could be done with multiple choice--but mostly how it was presented differently in each section.  A surprise benefit was how MUCH scripture and biblical teaching was incorporated in the lessons. We were constantly going to the old and new testament and reading scripture relating to our section. I think it added a nice depth to the unit that some literature units neglect. I especially loved how it pointed out in our story, what the Bible says about being a good steward, and debt and such--and comparing it to our Mr. Popper's Penguins story. It allowed for some really great discussion on money management. Which in turn was the perfect spin off for the optional section of questions included with this study guide--they were all related to that very topic.

Reading verses

lessons on being a good steward

What I would have liked to have seen is a bit more hands-on. For instance, it would be nice if there was a section where the student was encouraged to draw out a scene from the chapter, or keep a log of the characters with illustrations, or something like that. There are similar things included in the post-reading portion, but it would have been nice to have optional activities like that as part of the study guide. This program is very very very easy to build on with other activities for taking the basic guide and turning it into a unit study. This is what we pretty much ended up doing with it, so I greatly appreciated having the e-guide as a starting point! Will I continue to use this product? As I said above, we have a few extra activities to use with it and then we will watch the movie Mr. Popper's Penguins as our finale. I definitely plan on keeping this e-guide to pull out for Baby Britches when he gets older and is ready to do the activities himself.

Would I Recommend This Product?

I would recommend this product if you prefer the more traditional method of working through a book and then completing comprehension questions with a bit of discussion. There isn't a lot of hands on scheduled into this product, however there are ideas for it at the back of the E-guide. If your child prefers a lot of hands-on activities, with minimal writing, this might not be the best idea for you. It is good for those who have multi-ages, for you could work together as a group to complete the assignments.  Because these study guides are presented with a Christian worldview, there is a lot of scripture and theology woven into it, so if you need a secular curriculum, this wouldn't be a first choice I don't think. 

Want to Know More?

Over the last few weeks, we have been reviewing the lower-elementary unit Mr. Popper's Penguins E-Guide from Progeny Press. You have seen how we used it and our thoughts on it, but what did the rest of the review crew think? Make sure you head on over to see some of the other guides that were used for other grade levels!

You can find Progeny Press on Facebook and Twitter if you want to stay up to date on their sales and new releases!

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While I definitely liked the detail of the literature guide and the regular connections with biblical studies, I don't think it's quite the right fit for us. I just needed to add MUCH more to it to make it work for our family pulling from other products to give us a full unit that worked for us. If I used it again, it would be as a base product for me to build on. Progeny Press offers excellent materials and I will probably remember them to try again when we are in a higher grade level, and might not need so much hands on aspects.

Heroes of History~ David Crockett: Ever Westward {Curriculum Review}

Our household loves history. Last year we were able to review a great biography unit study from YWAM Publishing and it really fed Little Britches history passion. Needless to say, when we had a chance to review Heroes of History~ David Crockett from YWAM Publishing, he was very pleased and was eager to begin the story.

Product Information

YWAM Publishing is known for their fabulous biographies on famous men and women throughout history. Two of their most popular series are Christian Heroes: Then and Now and Heroes of History. 
The Christian Heroes series focuses on men and women who were instrumental for spreading the word of God throughout the world--people like Amy Carmichael, C.S. Lewis, D.L. Moody, Jim Eliot, William Carey and more! Heroes of History focuses on the famous men and women who shaped our world no matter what time period they lived in--people like Daniel Boone, Harriet Tubman, Clara Barton, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Carson and many more.

The biographies are geared towards the 10+ age group and there are Unit Study Curriculum Guides available for many of them--turning these biographies into homeschool curriculum.
The paperback biographies are available for $7.50, while the Unit Study Curriculum Guides cost $5.49 (downloadable) or $7.49 (physical CD). Beware though that they are phasing out the physical CD and moving to exclusively offering the downloadable--so you won't find the physical CD option for more than just a couple of them.
We were given a large selection of their biographies to choose from, and Little Britches decided he wanted to review David Crockett: Ever Westward, from the Heroes of History series. We were also given a Digital Download of the Unit Study Curriculum Guide to review.

How Did We Use It?

Because we were able to review this company last year, I was prepared for the format. The book arrived and then we just waited to receive our access to the digital download. I accessed it easily on my Windows 8 through a Chrome browser. It came as a zip file which I saved on my hard drive--I will move it to a flash drive soon. 
Here is what you see when you open the zip drive:

Clicking on the pdf opens up everything you need to get started! You can access everything individually from this menu--clicking on any of the opens with the browser icon will take you to an overview page:

It is possible to access everything you need for the unit study from here if you prefer to see it in this style. The unit study can be accessed by clicking "unit study"--this will open up links to begin the pdf's for the curriculum guide. Or, you can skip all this by clicking "pdf" back on the first menu.

The overview provides assistance in figuring out ideas on how to use the Unit Study information in the different educational settings. It's not necessary to read these, but it might be helpful especially if you are thinking about doing it in a co-op setting. I simply went straight to the Unit Study 1 pdf. This gives you a 70+ page unit study guide for helping you use the book in learning over many subjects. I have found that printing this really is beneficial, so I print out the pages I wanted so I didn't have to keep opening up the pdf on my computer.
The unit study guide provides a plethora of information for you to use including: chapter questions, student explorations, community links, and social studies. Each of these sections is designed to use the book to explore rabbit trails relating to your topic--in our case, David Crockett.

There are six chapter questions for each chapter--the first is a vocabulary word question. The second is a factual questions taken from the text. Questions three and four are for gauging student comprehension of what they read. Questions 5 and 6 are open ended allowing for your student to process what they read and use it to provide their own interpretation for the answers. Although there are 6 questions, we are only answering four. I keep track of the questions in a composition book, because I can write out several chapters in advance, and I can keep record of his answers. 

The sentence for the vocabulary question cracked me up. He definitely knows it's meaning!

The second aspect of the curriculum that we did, was pick parts from the student explorations and social studies to be completed. I like the hands-on projects that are part of the student exploration--and that they give you many different ideas to choose from. Here are two  of the ones we will be working on...

He LOVES researching anything on antique guns--so I know he'll enjoy this

Working on his illustrated pictures for his David Crockett picture book

The social studies provides many ways to use the locations and places discussed in the book. The unit study includes a timeline, and at least two maps (found in Unit Study Part 2 on the file). The Social Studies portion offers up ideas on how you can use the maps to trace journeys, mark key locations, record city name changes, and much more. 

We always do a timeline numbering the events to plot them

We will be using the guide to mark at least one of the four journey's discussed in the book. We will also pull down our large classroom map to finalize the journeys. 

Another activity that is ongoing is our biography fact sheet on David Crockett that is included in the worksheets. Anytime we learn a new family member (sibling, spouse or offspring) or important date we add it to the list. 

In regards to the book, the chapters are long, so although the reading level is on par with where Little Britches is at, we share the reading load. He reads the first 4 pages of the chapter and I read the rest. This works very well for us.

We have been working on this product for 2-4 days a week depending on what we have going on. As of right now we are on chapter six after having done roughly one chapter a week with the reading, chapter questions, and activities.

What Are Our Thoughts on the Product?

Little Britches: I really like all the reading and the activities, but I don't like the chapter questions when I have to write them down. I wish I could answer them all orally, but mommy won't let me. I think David Crockett is cool and the book tells all kinds of stories about him when he was a little boy. I like that.
Me: I think this is a very comprehensive history/literature curriculum. It would be easy to use these books and coordinating Unit Study as a full curriculum for any grade--if you purchased several of them for your school year. Our book has 17 chapters, and working through 1-2 chapters a week has provided me with a lot of great work, thanks to the extras provided in the study guide. The program is very full and allows for you to add as much as you want--and to spread the learning throughout other subjects. There is so much information and ideas in the unit study--more than you would ever use with any one child. It is NOT open-and-go which might deter some, but I am use to unit studies and know that they are giving you far more information than you would ever use, so you can pick what will work best.
I appreciate the "lesser known" stories that are told in these books--especially the time devoted to the men/women as children. That really helps relate their life work more, when the students get to see that they had issues with things in life as children, just as they do. Little Britches thought it was funny that David Crockett didn't like school in the beginning and just wanted to be outside--exactly what Little Britches thinks! He also found it interesting that David Crockett was not called Davy and that it was more of an entertainment nickname. 
There are several activities that I plan on having us do when we are finished with the reading of the book--including looking back over the photos that I have from the two times that I have been to the Alamo in San Antonio. Since that is where Crockett's story ends, it will be a great conclusion for our study as well. I look forward to trying to find a copy of the Walt Disney movie on David Crockett so we can do the compare and contrast activity. I might also find the movie The Alamo and screen pieces of it with David Crockett so that Little Britches and can see how he's portrayed in the movie.
Will we continue to use this product? Absolutely. I plan on seeing it through to the end--which should be right about when we are done with school for our 2015-2016 year in June. It's a great program and one that I will add to my other YWAM study Daniel Boone on our shelf.

Would I Recommend This Product?

Yes, I would recommend this product. I would especially recommend it if someone is looking to combine history and literature AND teach multi-age levels. I believe that this product allows you to do that very well. If you follow all the areas of the unit study, you will have social studies, arts and crafts, science and more! It is easily adaptable for different ages making it a cost effective option. I don't recommend this book for younger than about 10 years old because the story is presented with more vivid scenes--like the indian encounters. Something for an older elementary student. I would put the book at a 5th grade+ reading level.

Want to Know More?

We reviewed the unit study Heroes of History~ David Crockett by YWAM Publishing. You know how it worked for us, but what about the other unit studies our team reviewed? Make sure you go check them out! Want to stay up to date on the latest information from YWAM Publishing? You can follow them on these social media sites and stay in the know!
Facebook:  http://on.fb.me/o9VOMN
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/YWAMpublishing  @YWAMpublishing
Pinterest:  http://www.pinterest.com/YWAMpublishing
The YWAM Publishing Blog:  www.ywampublishingblog.com
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I am so glad that we now have two of these great unit studies to keep in our library for future use! They are high quality and definitely something those who enjoy unit studies should check out! I plan on snagging the different biographies as they go on sale through the upcoming years because they will be a great addition to our school library!

Fourth Grade Literature Guide Set from Memoria Press {Curriculum Review}

One of the areas of curriculum I feel is very important, is studying literature. There are many companies that offer Literature Units and I have used many of them. One that I have had my eye on for quite awhile is from Memoria Press. When we had the chance to review the Fourth Grade Literature Guide Set, I jumped at the chance and hoped it would work well in our school.

Product Information

Memoria Press is an award winning company known for producing some of the top Classical curriculum available for homeschooling. Some of their more popular curriculum are their grade level literature sets. Carrying a full range of literature units from pre-school through high school, it is possible to find a level perfect for your child.
Each literature unit includes the teacher guide and student guide for each of the books included in the unit. It is also possible to purchase the literature units with copies of the novels for an additional fee.

We were given the Fourth Grade Literature Guide Set (retail $95) to review. It includes the printed teacher guide and student guide for each of the following books: *Cricket in Times Square *Homer Price *The Blue Fairy Book *Dangerous Journey
It is possible to buy each part of the unit individually if you are working through this with more than one child.

How Did We Use This Product?

This is a four book literature set containing the teachers guide and student activity book for the following novels: Homer Price, Cricket in Times Square, Dangerous Journey, and The Blue Fairy Book. Because we had actually JUST finished Cricket in Times Square, I decided that we would start with Homer Price--a book that I was confident my oldest would enjoy. Our library had Homer Price, but neither of the other two books that I needed (which they ordered specially for me), so the book we were going to start with was rather obvious anyway. 
I took some time to glance through the teachers manual to get a feel for how they expected me to do this unit. I noticed the lesson is separated into three sections: pre-reading, after reading, and enrichment. Pre-reading consists of going over a few terms they might be unfamiliar with (cultural or historical usually), reviewing the vocabulary for the day's reading, and reading the comprehension questions. Once this is completed, the student or teacher reads the passage for the day--about 10 pages or so. After the reading, the student can then complete the vocabulary exercise and comprehension questions, as they are taken straight from the day's reading. The next aspect of the lesson is a quote from the book and open ended discussion questions that can be completed orally with the student. Finally, there is the enrichment section, which takes what was discussed further. With every chapter, one of the lessons (there are 2 lessons per chapter) has a copywork passage straight from the book. The rest of the time the enrichment might be sequencing, matching characters with quotations, illustrating passages, or other types of activities like that. I appreciate that all the answers to the questions and vocabulary are printed clearly in the teacher guide for reference.

I already knew that Little Britches was going to balk at all the writing--he's just not a writing kind of person and prefers to answer everything orally. I knew, however, that he NEEDED to practice writing his thoughts and answers down on paper, thus I was going to require him to at least do a portion of the writing in his activity book. 
I also knew he was going to be upset at having to look up definitions of words for the vocabulary portion. He hates using a dictionary (except I just purchased a new one that he does admit he likes) and would prefer just asking SIRI on my phone. LOL. But we talked about the words--using them in the sentences provided--and he successfully was able to come up with the proper definitions for at least half of them without having to look them up. And yes, I "made" him look up most of the other words.
As we have continued through the book, I have him talk through all the vocabulary and see how many he can figure out without looking them up, and then he looks up the handful he doesn't know. Out of the comprehension questions, I allow him to do 1-2 of them orally--usually the ones that are longer, however, the others must be written down. This works well for us and once I did this, he has no problems completing it.
He has already fussed that we stopped in the middle of the story, and I saw him sneak the book and start reading ahead. I got on him laughingly and he sheepishly grinned and put the book away for the next day.

Page from the teacher guide

page from the student guide

We did the curriculum as it was designed, working through each chapter's work. Every chapter had a 4 page spread geared to two sessions of work--with half the chapter being read in each session. I found that we usually did each chapter over the course of a week--because it typically took two days to do each part, but sometimes we knocked out both pages in one day. At the end of each chapter, is a chapter review usually consisting of short answer questions, sequencing, matching quotes to characters, character identification, and other things like that. 

Answering comprehension questions

One of the fun "extras" we did to go with this was to play with yarn (to go with the chapter about collecting string into balls). I timed him to see how big of a yarn ball he could make in 10 minutes, and then I had him unroll it throughout the house (we have a circular hallway) to see how many rounds he could make before he ran out. He enjoyed it very much!

As of this week, we have finished Homer Price (the reading portion), and are just finishing out the student guide as it reviews the book via crosswords, sequencing, characterization, short answer questions, drawings, and such. I will let him choose the next book--either The Blue Fairy Book or Dangerous Journey.

What Are Our Thoughts on This Product?

Little Britches:  "I really liked the book. It was funny and I think the pictures were interesting. I really don't like writing out the answers to the questions, or looking up the vocabulary words. And I don't like writing down the quotations. I would like it better if we could just read the book and mommy ask me questions out loud. NO writing."
(bwahahahahaahahaha. My auditory learner and his abhorrence to writing)
Me: I really think this is a great literature unit. The books that were picked are a great collection. Each of them is a "classic" in regards great children's fiction. Two of them (Dangerous Journey and The Blue Fairy Book) were unfamiliar to me, which makes them even more enjoyable because I get to enjoy them fresh. 
This is a very classic style of literature unit--everything is read and write. There isn't anything "out of the box" in how it's taught, nor is there any hands-on activities included. There are quizzes and reviews throughout the guide that were pretty low key. I did like the addition of pages where Little Britches could draw his favorite scene from the reading, or do crosswords/word searches. 
One of my favorite parts was in a chapter where two stories, Rip Van Winkle and The Pied Piper of Hamlin, were mentioned. The study guide then had the fairy tales included for the student to read. The next activity was to compare and contrast using those stories--with the chapter in Homer Price. This was great practice for Little Britches AND allowed him to learn two additional stories in the process. 
This not a "complete" language arts program, as it is missing the grammar, spelling, and writing. However, these are easy subjects that could be added to this great literature core.
Even though we didn't use the other Literature units yet in this program, I wanted to briefly mention how they are similar and different from Homer Price:

*Dangerous Journey
This one has a similar set up in that it has pre-reading, vocabulary, and comprehension questions. The enrichment portion is a bit different, as it has multiple choice questions, a drawing page, and information concerning maintaining a map of the story throughout the reading. 
*The Cricket in Times Square The set is similar to Homer Price. The enrichment portion is also almost identical. There does appear to be additional map work and teaching information in the appendix section that goes with the unit. This includes chapter quizzes (1 every 4 chapters) and a final book test.
*The Blue Fairy Book Very similar in format. The appendix includes the quizzes and a final exam, as well as answers to the discussion questions. There is also lined paper that can be used for copywork.
In principle, I would say that each of the guides mirror the others, thus once you get in the routine of using them, you will be able to pick up the next one, knowing what to expect with little variation. Each book is intended to be a 6-7 week study, thus with 4 books in this unit, you are looking at a minimum of 24 weeks of lessons, although the way we separated our Homer Price, we would be pushing more towards 28 or 30. This makes up almost an entire year of literature. 
Another pro--IF you wanted to turn these into more hands-on units, I think there is a lot you could do with them. Because these are all actually well known stories, there are a lot of online crafts and activities to go with them, which might make them a better fit for a more hands-on learner. These are totally adaptable, in that if your child doesn't like writing, you could have them orally answer and dictate, however, they are perfect for the visual learner too.
If you are a lapbook or Charlotte Mason method, these probably won't be for you, as they are very traditional in their layout and application. 
Any cons? Actually, the only con I had, was that I would like to see at least some additional resources that connect with each book--for taking it further, exploring rabbit trails, or finding hands on activities to match. I was able to find a few on my own, but I think it would add to the program if there was a page included in the teacher guide that listed additional resources that could be used.
I think that the program was designed to be adapted for each end of the grade level spectrum, as it does suggest that teacher adjust the assignment to fit what the child is capable of. 
Will we continue to use this program? Absolutely! I think it's very well done and I like having the guides laid out for me. Now that we aren't doing it as a review, I plan on exploring each book a little further and incorporating more of those crafts and activities as they fit the chapters we are learning. 

Would I Recommend This Product?

Yes! This is a great program for the Classical/Traditional/Unit Study method of classroom. I added Unit Study, because it would be very very easy to take these units further and incorporate other subjects to them. They are open and go, and a routine can quickly be set which makes it easy to schedule them into the day. The books can be found at the library (for the most part), and if not, can easily be purchased on the company website. The program encourages critical thinking and analysis of the stories. 
If you want a literature unit that is more hands-on with frequent deviation from the actual reading, this is not going to work for you. If you aren't a big fan of review quizzes and exams, probably not going to work for you (Although I don't think they are necessary if they aren't your style). 

Want to Know More?

We reviewed the Fourth Grade Literature Guide Set from Memoria Press. You have read our thoughts on the program, but why not head over and see what the rest of the crew did with their units?! We had members checking out levels Pre-K through 9th grade, so you can get a peak at what to expect at all the levels. Want to stay up to date with the latest happenings at Memoria Press? Follow them on these social media outlets: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/memoriapress/
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*** I am very happy that this unit was what I was hoping for. I look forward to continuing the rest of the books that we were given, and I will definitely be checking out the upcoming grade levels for future use!