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Hi Rebecca, Thank you for your web site, I enjoyed reading through it. I am a home school mom of four blessings. At this time my 1st grader is reading at a 2nd grade level. He has worked through the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and is now working through the Noah Webster Blue Book. He is doing very well. My question is, can I do just your books and guides for 2nd grade with him for reading. If so, what books would you suggest for him? Would I need to supplement with anything else for reading? Thank you for your time, Deborah Dear Deborah, When children are first learning to read well is such a fun age! For reading and literature, our guides perform the job admirably. [At the first-grade level] I generally suggest choosing only 2-3 books per school year that you study with one of our guides. Writing skills will affect how much of the guide you have him write the answers for, and how many questions you may discuss and help him write the answers for. I've even had parents who allow their children to dictate some of the answers at the first grade writing level. You will know your child the best in this skill. The titles that you choose to study will help him learn to understand, analyze, and think about what he is reading. His vocabulary will expand, and he will learn to connect daily situations with the Bible. Good titles for a young boy in first grade who reads well include: The Bears on Hemlock Mountain, Frog and Toad Together, The Long Way to a New Land, The Long Way Westward, Sam the Minuteman, and Wagon Wheels. All these titles will be challenging to study, even if he is able to read the books easily. Remember that between 1st and 2nd grade children learn that crucial skill of being able to a) answer a question that asks them why, and b) retain that answer in their head while working out how to spell and write a sentence (without forgetting the end of the sentence they just began). It sounds so simple, yet it is a large step from verbalizing to writing. When writing skills become second nature, the flow will be easier. Supplement, supplement! Above and beyond the guides, I would also choose 'fun' readers that he can read easily and just for enjoyment. These books will provide reading practice, which is how children his age build speed. Some children will read one book a day, others will read one per week. Let him set his own pace within that range. For readers, just for fun (and reading practice), I recommend any of the above titles that you don't choose to study, also The Minstrel in the Tower by Gloria Skurzynski, if you can find a copy or get it from your library or interlibrary loan. Other good readers include: The Whipping Boy (more challenging), all the Henry and Mudge series by Cynthia Rylant, all of the Mr. Putter and Tabby books by Cynthia Rylant (I can't praise these enough), The Billy and Blaze series, Dr. Seuss books, Stone Soup by Marcia Brown, and any titles by Robert McCloskey. Don't forget how much children at this age enjoy pictures. Picture books vary from few words to many, so browse the library's shelves. I hope this was of help, and enjoy these times with him. Please write again if you need authors for any of the titles, or would like more 'reader' title suggestions. Sincerely, Rebecca
Dear Rebecca, I am very interested in using Progeny Press Literature Guides for my 2 daughters next year. What is a good way to use the guides? Do you read the chapters then work on the pages? Do you do them at the same time? What has worked best for you? Thank you, Jen Dear Jen, In general, most students read the 2- to 4-chapter section of the book and then answer the questions. Some students (my own children included) are such avid readers that they prefer to read the entire book and then go back to the beginning and work through the guide, gleefully reading the book a second time. The only problem this can create is the awkwardness of answering a question about foreshadowing when they've already read past that section. But, I've found it works well whichever reading method your children prefer. What works best for my family? Well, after they've read the entire book, we re-read the chapter section and then work on the guide section with the book in hand. This allows constant reference to the context of what they are studying. We may take 8-9 weeks for one guide, or even longer for a few high school titles. We generally work on one guide page per day, because I feel it's too difficult to answer 2-3 pages of questions and do a thorough job in one day's class. I always want the study of literature to be enjoyable, and we understand and glean much more from our study doing it in daily bites, than one large overwhelming weekly chunk. I hope this helps, and let me know if you have any more questions. Sincerely, Rebecca
Dear Rebecca, I'm looking for 3 books to use for my upcoming 4th grader. I've seen the list for upper elementary, but can you recommend 3 that would be on the lower end skill-wise from this upper elementary list? Thanks, Mona Dear Mona, We call books for this group our 'span' titles, for kids that are ready for chapters, but not quite ready to study full-size chapter novels. Appropriate titles include The Whipping Boy, Sarah, Plain and Tall, and all three of the Little House titles (these are long, but not as difficult as other full-size books and the guides include lots of hands-on projects). Also take a look at these titles from the lower elementary. They are smaller chapter books that challenge younger children, but work great for 2-4th graders also: The Courage of Sarah Noble, The Minstrel in the Tower, (currently out of print, but can be found used or at libraries, or through inter-library loan, and well worth the effort), and The Bears on Hemlock Mountain. We hope to be coming out with more guides at this level over the next few years. Some fun books for reading only might include Stone Fox, The Hundred Dresses, The Chalk Box Kid, and The Sword in the Tree. Good luck and enjoy reading! Sincerely, Rebecca
Dear Rebecca, I teach middle school language arts at a new Christian school. I saw Bridge to Terabithia on so many book lists, knew the local Catholic school teaches it as well as the local magnet middle school. I purchased it to read and planned to use with my students this spring, but was surprised to find the curse words in the book. How do you all handle that when the kids read a book with such in it? How do I tell them we don't use that language in our classroom/school and then use books with that language in it? I do enjoy using the Progeny Press teaching guides however, and I know the children have learned to appreciate the scriptural emphasis. Thanks, Janice Dear Janice, Your question is a good and thoughtful one that comes up often when I am at conventions. Yes, some books do have curse words or immoral situations or sinful happenings, just as the world around us does. I have always told teachers to teach their students that although we may run across language or situations like this in books and in the world around us (at the mall, the school yard, the workplace, etc.), we do not need to join in. Most students grasp this concept easily, and are appreciative of their teacher's honesty and the fact that adults are not being hypocritical, but are teaching them to handle the world they must be salt in. Learning this lesson is vitally important for junior- and senior-high students preparing to enter the college campus or work world where they will be exposed to much more and need to be able to stand against it. In the guides, we usually don't address the language issue, knowing that a thoughtful explanation from the teacher holds more sway than being preached at in a written format. If you've ever heard of Charlotte Mason and her teaching magazine from the 1950s, she had a very good article and quote I'd like to share with you. "(The) children meet many courageous, valiant, and good people in their story lessons. They meet wicked people too, but I learnt not to shelter them from the evil step-mothers of life. The desire to protect them is terribly strong but it is best they get to know the evils early, in fantasy, rather than only later in shocked reality." —Barbara Lindsay from the original Parent's Review (1950s) Progeny's over-reaching goal for our guides is to teach children literature, to train them to read critically and thoughtfully, and to always look at the issues and viewpoints in a book and go back to the Bible, our bedrock of truth, so that they will always be firmly grounded, knowing what they believe and why they believe it. Let us teach them to build their foundation on rock, not sand. I hope this was of help. God bless your efforts in teaching! Sincerely, Rebecca Page 1 2 3 | | |