Little Women Study Guide by Progeny Press – Review

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

As a professional teacher, I love planning schoolwork for my kids. It’s really fun for me – but I definitely love working with some subjects more than others, and sometimes I need a break even in the subjects I love. That’s one of the reasons I’ve enjoyed having my Big Helper work with the Little Women Study Guide by Progeny Press. It’s a high quality product by a great company, and we know we can trust their products!

I love that these literature guides are from a Christian perspective. Scripture is compared to characters’ actions and examined throughout the story. This both takes the student deeper into the story and can help them learn real life lessons in a way that the story alone cannot teach. (See the top question in the picture below for an example of this.)

The variety of activities within this guide is another element that we liked. Throughout the guide, there are suggestions for activities that the student can do that go beyond books and paper. It’s an opportunity to work with one’s hands and to use talents and gifts that take place away from a desk (usually). I love this part of the guide, and My Big Helper really liked working on these activities.

This study guide is digital, and that means that beyond reading the story, everything must be done on the computer. That makes these interactive activities even more important. With pages and pages of digital content, though, My Big Helper felt that sometimes it became difficult to see where she left off – especially on pages like the one above, where there are several optional activities to choose from. She used a digital tool to circle them as she completed them to make it very easy to see.

Another great element of the Progeny Press study guides is the overall structure itself. There are prereading activities available, and background reading about the author and the work itself; but then the student reads the literature – all in the same week. That is a huge plus for my kids; as fast readers who hate to put a book down, nothing makes them despise schoolwork more than interrupting their reading time. Because Progeny Press introduces the work and then lets the student read it uninterrupted, you get to enjoy the flow of the story and can then analyze it afterwards, and that works beautifully. My kids both have a much better appreciation for what they’re reading when they can do it this way.

As far as the written work itself goes, My Big Helper enjoyed the vocabulary work the best. This work was the most unlike the rest, and she enjoyed this variation in even the digital, onscreen activities.

Each of these digital guides is worth 1/4 high school credit, so using four of these high-school level guides equals one year’s worth of literature credit. It’s easy to open the file and type in your answers, and they work through the story thoroughly. They walk students through story analysis well and in a variety of ways. My Big Helper did have trouble with her work being saved, however. Despite doing this correctly, she had some answers delete themselves several times, and so she started opening a separate file and typing her answers into that so that they would not get lost. I’m not sure how this could be fixed, but it is very frustrating to the student.

Because these guides are so thorough in analysis and are each worth 1/4 credit, there are a lot of questions to answer. That equals a lot of days and weeks sitting in front of a computer, answering short essay-style questions; and that just isn’t our favorite style of learning on a day-to-day basis. However, at some points of our school year, my kids are busier than others, and this type of repetitive work would be easier to manage than other assignments. I think these could also be really great for people who don’t like to plan literature assignments or who just want that off their plate. Progeny Press‘ work is easy to use, detailed, and predictable. If your student likes knowing exactly what to do each day, this is the perfect curriculum piece for you! Also, with much of education potentially headed online, this is a great option if that’s your style, but don’t take my word for it. Click on the graphic below to read other reviews from the Homeschool Review Crew.

Want to read another Progeny Press review? Check out this one for The Hound of the Baskervilles!