Progeny Press Study Guide {TOS Review}

Mercie, my 8 year old daughter, loves to read. She does struggle with reading comprehension as she tends to "speed read" through books. I was pleased when we were chosen to review a literature Study Guide from Progeny Press.

I had never heard of Progeny Press before now, and boy have I been missing out! Progeny Press provides literature study guides with a Christian perspective. I received a digital download of "The Minstrel in The Tower" study guide. This e-guide is 47 pages, and it is the best literature study guide I have seen for this age group. The "Minstrel in The Tower" study guide is recommended for grades 2-4, and Mercie fell right in the middle of this age group since she is entering 3rd grade.

In this digital download there is:

• A Note to the Instructor {this tells you how to use the study guide}
• A Synopsis {a short summary of the book}
• Background Information {information about life in the time and setting of the book}
• About the Author {a small amount of information on the author of the book}
• Before You Read Activities {several fun activities to get your child excited about the book}
• Chapter by Chapter Study Guide {vocabulary and questions}
• Word Search {vocabulary word search}
• After You Read Activities {writing projects, oral reports, cooking, art and crafts activities to do after the book}
• Additional Resources {books and videos to go along with the book study}
• Answer Key

There are so many things I love about this study guide! I'll start with the chapter by chapter study guide.

• The vocabulary activities are fabulous. They are different each day, which really helped Mercie not to get bored with the vocabulary words. One day, she had to put the words in alphabetical order and then define them. Another day, she had to give her definition of the word, and then write the definition from the dictionary, comparing the two. Yet another day she had to write a synonym for each word. I love this approach, as it really made her think about the words and not just copy a definition for each. We used The Webster's New World Children's Dictionary, which had almost every single word in it.

• The questions are worded very well. This sounds funny but sometimes I find that questions geared toward this age group are not worded well - they are either too difficult or too silly. Here is an example of a question about chapter 2: "As they travel toward Bordeaux, the children meet two pilgrims. Write 2-4 sentences explaining what a pilgrim is." I love the thinking skills involved in answering the questions!

• There is a strong Biblical perspective. In the section on chapter 5, there is a "Dig Deeper" portion. There are 3 scriptures listed for the child to read and this question: "Summarize those verses. Where does our strength come from to do what is right?" I love that my children are learning to pull a Biblical perspective from literature.

I also love the book selection. "The Minstrel in The Tower" is a Stepping Stones Chapter Book with 64 pages and 8 chapters - the perfect amount of reading material for Mercie. The book was interesting and easy to read, with lots of mystery and action.

Mercie would read the chapter aloud to me, and we would complete the vocabulary portion of the study guide. The next day, we would answer the questions. She rarely had to look back in the book to find the answers.

Mercie really enjoyed this book and the study guide. She was proud that she could answer the questions mostly on her own, and she enjoyed the vocabulary activities. The book was right at her level, and she read it without any trouble. She gives Progeny Press two thumbs up!

I loved this study guide so much, I'm ordering several for Mikaela, Eli and Mercie to complete over the next school year. I plan for each of them to complete 3. They have study guides for Kindergarten through High School! There are so many titles to choose from. You can purchase an e-book or a printed book. I don't buy a lot of e-books, but this one was easy to print and didn't  use much ink - 47 pages is a manageable amount for me. The cost of the study guides is very affordable - $11.99-$18.99. Check out Progeny Press and their huge selection of study guides!