DISCLOSURE: I RECEIVED THIS COMPLIMENTARY PRODUCT THROUGH THE HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW.

When I was in school, discussing literature was my absolute favorite. I loved analyzing the characters and anticipating what the author was thinking! As a homeschool parent of 3, juggling chores and education on top of anything else in life is a tall order, leaving me rushing through things like book reading with the kids. Study guides from Progeny Press are a great way to slow everything down to maximize comprehension and explore ideas further. We’ve enjoyed Progeny Press before and this time we are reviewing Wagon Wheels Study Guide and Cricket in Times Square Study Guide.

What We Received

We were given two study guide digital downloads, Wheels Study Guide and Cricket in Times Square Study Guide.

How It Works:

Study Guides are divided into sections determined by chapter groupings sandwiched between a synopsis, about the author and a summary. At the end there are ideas for post-reading activities, additional resources and an answer key. Throughout the study guide expect to see activities in geography, vocabulary. history, science, and writing. If utilized to it’s fullest, you could cover an entire semester with one study guide!

Progeny Press offers study guides for all levels and varieties of literature that are designed to encourage a greater enjoyment and understanding of authors and texts. The most important aspect that we appreciate is the Biblical worldview that is sewn throughout that questions and activities. The Wagon Wheels Study Guide is intended for grades 1-3 and Cricket in Times Square Study Guide is targeted for grades 4-6. As digital products, these can be used with multiple students and printed out at once or sections at a time. This is certainly a product that can work in a group settings too either as a family or a classroom setting. Many of the activities or questions can be addressed as a group discussion.

What We Thought:

Since we have tried out Progeny Press Study Guides before, it was easy to step back in. We did have trouble finding these books at the library, but an easy solution is to look on YouTube for the books being read aloud. Thankfully, both Wagon Wheels and A Cricket in Times Square were readily available!. Since my 3rd grader is an avid reader and my 5th grader loves to help, they both were expected to listen to the read aloud together and worked on the questions/activities together too. The Wagon Wheel guide was appropriately shorter with activities for younger students like a crossword puzzle or compound word activity. While both kids could grasp most everything, you could easily tell the difficulty level was appropriately aged.

As a parent and educatory, I love the holistic approach each study guide takes to the text and the child’s education. For example, A Cricket in Times Square is a story about characters, but the study guide suggests a scientific study of how many chirps a cricket makes in a span of time. Since my favorite learning approach is more like a unit study where every subject (science, math, etc.) is tied into one theme, these study guides are a great educational and affordable option for your homeschool!

Follow Progeny Press on Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/progenypress
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/progenypress
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/progenypress
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/progenypress

The crew reviewed several study guides at various levels so check out more reviews at the link below.

DISCLOSURE: I RECEIVED THIS COMPLIMENTARY PRODUCT THROUGH THE HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW.

Every time one of my children has successfully learned to read, I have felt like a rock star and halfway through homeschooling! That might be an exaggerated reaction, but learning to read is the most important thing to start students off in the right direction. Once they master it, it can be tempting to just relax because, “as long as they are reading, right?” It’s I have subscribed to that line of thinking a lot, sometimes out of sheer exhaustion or limited options. Doing the intentional work on comprehension, writing and vocabulary can get lost in the shuffle of 3 kids, math meltdowns and other activities. Today’s review provides a platform to work and monitor these elements while providing a ton of books for your child to read and work with. We were given the opportunity to try out the Premium Subscription to LightSail for Homeschoolers which includes Reading, Writing, Vocabulary and Fluency work and tracking.

What We Received:

We were given a one year subscription to LightSail with access for up to 5 children. The 4 year old was provided access to World Book Early Learners and the 8 and 10 year olds have full access to LightSail Premium.

How It Works:

According to their website, LightSail for Homeschoolers is a reading-centric, adaptive language arts platform. This program allows students to be placement tested in reading skills through a Power Challenge. There is an initial one to get each student started, but then certain books (indicated clearly) include a power challenge to continue evaluating their level. The library of books is enormous and searchable by category, level and name. It includes access to World Book which provides some really interesting live streams and educational videos. Each child has their own login information and parents have a dashboard where they can adjust and evaluate each all students’ progress. From the dashboard parents can set assignments for each child. As students read books and engage in activities, the program tracks all the things - vocabulary, fluency, etc. The library consists of K-12 level books which means not all books are appropriate for all ages. Some books require parent approval first which is something either student or parent can initiate.

What We Thought:

LightSail is a massive resource and very overwhelming at first. It was recommended that we watch the intro videos before diving in, but we didn’t follow that advice at first. Big mistake. The big kids tried it out and kept getting frustrated because they essentially didn’t know how it worked. So I tried to help them and I got pretty frustrated. Then, I remembered the intro videos and finally did what I should have started with! The concept and platform of LightSail is educationally sound and very versatile. With so much trouble at first, we have come to the conclusion that we haven’t even begun the scratch the surface of what LightSail can do. Through this program, my 4 year old has access to all kinds of videos, games and activities in addition to books, which he loves.

Besides being overwhelming at first, the only other concern we had was that after a little bit of use it often slowed way down and required us to logout and log back in. That was a little time consuming, but fixable. Overall, this seems to be a wonderful resource to effectively evaluate and challenge your student’s language arts level that can be really handy the older they get!

Social Media Links: LightSail for Homeschoolers

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LightSailEd
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightsailed/

Are you interested in other family’s experience with this product? Check out the other reviews through the link below.

Let’s Make Some New Magic

Have you ever met up with an old friend you haven’t seen in years and it’s a little awkward because you’re a completely different person than you were back then? Sometimes I feel that way when I write. I remember the season when I truly discovered my relationship with writing and how amazing it was. It was around the same time that my future husband and I became such good friends. There was a lot of magic flying around then. Now, 16 years later, I really want that magic back.

Thankfully, I’m not talking about my marriage! We’re far from perfect, but I wouldn’t want us to go back to those foolish kids for anything! My relationship with writing, though, really needs a revival. It’s not exactly about the words being written or how my skills are being exercised. It’s my heart that’s the problem. As a 20-something living largely on my own and dreaming of the future, my creative spirit soared with possibilities. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. Like diving into marriage or parenthood, we all rush in with blinders and miss the realities we’re headed for until it’s a bit too late. That’s growing up, I’ve learned. Now, as a 41 year old woman, the blinders have come off. The magic of possibility has faded because I now know so much more about it. Frankly, it’s the price tag that I am now well aware of. Whatever your dream of possibility is - money, parenthood, marriage, business success, personal goals - they all cost something. That something includes time and commitment, of course, but more specifically, the neglect of something else, even if just temporarily. I hate that price tag. I want to do it all - mostly at the same time - and for no other priority to suffer. At all. That’s not how the world works though.

So, writing. Writing has become that unfinished puzzle in the corner that you might add a piece or two when you pass by every week or so, but it will likely get put up to make way for something else long before it actually gets finished. I have a healthy marriage that I want to stay that way. I homeschool three amazing children that I won’t risk being a stumbling block more than I already am. Now, more than ever, our health has to be a top priority which takes time and effort. There are so many important things that whisk you into the current before you’ve even given permission. That’s what erodes at the magic that once was. I’ve never been good at prioritizing my to-do list, a stereo-typical characteristic of the AHDH brain come to find out, and prioritizing something that no one else in the world is demanding I maintain takes moving a mountain sometimes.

In one of my favorite books on writing, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, she talks about how she practiced meditation for years, but most things in life didn’t make sense unless it was applied to writing. The following statement has always summed up my relationship with the written word:

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“This book is about writing. It is also about using writing as your practice, as a way to help you penetrate your life and become sane…To do writing practice means to deal ultimately with your whole life.”

Being a mom (especially one with ADHD) and having any kind of built in practice - prayer, art form, meditation, sacred alone time - is terribly hard. The broken-record phrase of every mom is “Me time? What’s that?” And those who do champion a mother’s self care often get accused of being self-focused snowflakes. There are a lot of hurdles in the way of staying sane within the realm of modern motherhood and I have fallen victim to every one of them over the last 10 years. The magic of writing that has slipped out of my hands so many times since my children were born is to be found in the practice of it. The immediate demands of this fast-paced life has shoved out the slow and steady practice of things and I have to get it back. I say have to because without it I lose clear thought and healthy reactions, the major things needed in all the roles I play in my life.

In this upgraded blogging adventure (name tweak and new website), I am committing to making writing my practice and inviting you to come along with me. As if it wasn’t before, life is just a LOT right now and I don’t think my family can afford for me to get lost in it anymore. Being a highly sensitive person (HSP), there’s no way to avoid the chaos and stress so I have to deal with it. For me, that means writing about it and more importantly prioritizing time to write about it - making writing my practice.

Any tips or suggestions for fitting a new priority into an already full brain?