Hound of the Baskervilles Study Guide from Progeny Press: Review

We do school a bit differently around here. If you’ve visited us before, you know that we homeschool; but we also really love to read and are very choosy about any boxed or already-prepared curriculum that we use. Since we have the freedom and ability to use whatever suits each of my kids individually, I prefer to take advantage of that as much as possible.

That’s why I was thrilled for the opportunity to review the Hound of the Baskervilles Study Guide from Progeny Press. It’s vastly different from the other study guides I’ve seen on the market, and it’s a great fit for My Little Man (who’s really not so little anymore).

My Little Man, so named when he was about five, is now twelve and edging past me in height. He’s in seventh grade with the amazing ability to read and understand seemingly anything – but he greatly dislikes writing. Not the crafting and combination of words, because he’s really good at that and loves to surprise us with catchy phrases; but he dreads the physical act of writing.

That’s one reason why Progeny Press‘ study guides are such a great fit for My Little Man: they come in the form of editable PDFs! This was a game changer for us. While I know he has to write, even though it’s so difficult, and he does so every day, I plan his assignments very carefully so as to maximize their ability to promote growth. This was a non-issue with this study guide, however, since My Little Man never had to pick up a pencil. He has been able to type all of his answers, and this has made his lit work much more enjoyable for him. He even gets excited about the days when he’s doing vocabulary work or other types of assignments!

Another fabulous trait of this study guide is the depth of the questions. My Little Man has been explaining allegory and symbolism and doing all manner of analysis for me for years now. His mind never ceases to amaze me – but he has always done his best work verbally. Even though we’ve tried typing answers to questions in the past, he’s never done as well as he has with these questions from Progeny Press. They challenged him in ways that I’ve never been able to do, and he’s really learned to dig into the text so that he can point to specific lines for his answers. He’s differentiating in ways he’s never done before, and I love seeing him learn in these new ways.

I also enjoy the depth of the faith-based questions. Some of them refer to scripture, others ask the student to find their own references; but My Little Man has sat at the computer with his Bible, diligently studying scripture and contemplating the characters’ actions in light of what the Bible says. It’s a fantastic piece of this study guide!

The vocabulary portions of the study guide are surprisingly challenging. My Little Man had to go beyond his usual context clues and use multiple dictionaries to figure out the right answers. As both a mom and a teacher, I appreciate this push. I think it’s important for students to learn to dig in and work hard when challenges of any kind arise, including those of the academic variety, and My Little Man has learned to do that here. On the other hand, however, it’s not so hard that he’s overwhelmed. He’s learned how to give a bit more and is doing well.

One of My Little Man’s favorite activities with this study guide, however, has been the math component. He’s fascinated with money and collects foreign money, and he really enjoyed this conversion exercise.

This was also a source of frustration, however. As an editable .pdf, it took some time for us to learn how to save the work – and sometimes we weren’t successful. My Little Man did this particular lesson on his own, and it didn’t save properly when he thought he had done so. Unfortunately, this isn’t the only piece that has disappeared despite saving. While saving a file isn’t difficult, the idea of having to save a .pdf over and over to so that the most recent work is included was new to us. Is there a better way? We would have appreciated directions or tips for this part from the company, but I haven’t found any.

Included are optional projects that incorporate multiple skills. There’s great variety in the type of work these require, and most give students the opportunity to be much more creative than the typical question-and-analysis sections do.

My Little Man hid himself away in his room for several hours – my kids don’t do anything halfway! – and worked on his giant map of the locations for this book. He read and reread the passages, looked up descriptions of the landforms of this part of England, and tried hard to nail down what it might really look like. When he brought his map to me, he was full of descriptions about each item that he had carefully placed on his map.

These projects are a great way to dig into the story in a more creative way. They add an element of fun to the work and allow the student’s natural gifts and talents the opportunity to shine without sacrificing any of the rigor of the study.

This study guide is intended to take 8 – 10 weeks to complete. It’s structured for the student to do a bit of pre-reading work, and then to read the story in it’s entirety before beginning the study guide work. Then the student goes back through the story, working with a few chapters at a time and completing one page of work in the study guide each day.

This structure worked incredibly well for us. Unlike most studies, which require students to stop reading the book on their first read to do analysis work, Progeny Press gives students to the green light to read without interruption and enjoy the story. This was a huge plus to My Little Man, who hates having to put a book down to do do any type of analysis. He says it kills the enjoyment of the story, and I can’t say that I disagree with him, even though as a teacher I see the benefit of pausing to reflect and predict. My Little Man was wayyyy happier to be allowed to work in this order, however, and it’s made the analysis work much more comfortable for him.

The idea of doing a single page of the study works well, too. It allows time to answer the questions in-depth without needing to work for hours on it. My Little Man likes knowing where the concrete end to the day’s work can be found – because, honestly, he often gets lost on a rabbit trail of his own creation.

A plus for teachers? Each study guide is worth 1/4 credit towards high school literature. With this structure, you can mix and match the study guides you want to get the amount of and style of credit you need. This particular study guide is recommended for Grades 9 – 12, though Progeny Press offers others that are suitable for different grade levels. (Yes, My Little Man is only in seventh, but because he reads and analyzes well, I thought this would be a good fit for him – and it is!)

All in all, we’re really impressed with The Hound of the Baskervilles Study Guide from Progeny Press. It’s a great product with depth and flexibility of use, and I’m definitely going to look at their other studies for future use.

Would you like more information about the study guides that Progeny Press provides? Click on the graphic below to check out other reviews from the Homeschool Review Crew!