Progeny Press (A Homeschool Crew Review)

When I was in school, one of my favorite courses was my English classes. Even in college, I enjoyed my college literature classes because it was in those classes that I was given the opportunity to read and enjoy classic literature.  However, last year, my oldest daughter graduated from high school.  In the course of her schooling, I was very disappointed to find that she didn't really read much as far as classic literature.  No Victor Hugo, Leo Tolstoy, Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Bronte sisters, Mark Twain, or even William Shakespeare, which were required reading when I was in school.

One of the things I enjoy most with homeschooling is that I can have control over what books my younger kids have to read through their school years.  I want them to learn to read, appreciate and even love classical literature.  Progeny Press allow me as a parent to go well beyond just reading the story with them. Using their study guides to dive deeper into the story using questions and activities, students are able to develop critical thinking skills, interpretation skills and go beyond just the surface of the story.  For the last few weeks, the kids have been using The Green Book - eGuide from Progeny Press to better understand The Green Book by Jill Patton Walsh.

About Progeny Press

Progeny Press is a publishing company who offers E-guides for literature with a Christian perspective. Offering guides for reading levels from early elementary through high school, each of the Progeny Press guides are designed to help students to better understand the story they are reading as well as to recognize the themes presented by the author. The units contain study questions as well as recommended map work, research ideas, vocabulary lessons, and even Biblical verses that tie into the story.

However, what makes Progeny Press different from other literature study guides is that Progeny Press uses Biblical teachings, backed with scripture, to tie the story into practical lessons. While many books contain content or beliefs that do not align with Christian beliefs, Progeny Press guides direct students to instead study what God says about such things so they will be better prepared and strong in their faith when they face such behavior, language, and philosophy in life. 


How We Used It

We reviewed the 57 page  downloadable E-guide version of The Green Book study guide by Rebecca Gilleland as well as a 6 page Answer Key that accompanies the study guide. The chapter book must be purchased separately from the study unit but it is offered for sale on the Progeny Press website. This particular study unit is recommended for Upper Elementary and is recommended to be used for grades 3rd-5th.  I used it with Ash and Garrett as we read through the book together.

The E-Guide is broken down with questions and activities to use with each chapter of the book.  The activities include vocabulary exercises, word searches, crossword puzzles, venn diagrams, and even a mystery message activities that the kids really liked. At the end of each chapter of the E-Guide is various suggestions on projects and activities to do after completion of the book that tie in arts and crafts, cooking and oral reports.  Utilizing these activities helps to tie other subjects such as Science and physical activities into the study.  (The kids especially enjoyed learning about Fire Opals).

I hate saying it, but the kids and I didn't care for the book itself.  Luckily, I'm not reviewing the book.  The study guide, on the other hand, is very nice and we enjoyed all the various activities.  I especially liked the vocabulary activities where the kids had to take a guess at a words meaning based on the context it was used in the story.  I enjoyed listening to the guesses that the kids made and seeing how correct they were.  For example:  the kids were introduced to the word "treacle" from the text "But what he showed us[...]looked a funny hue, as though someone had brushed it over with a layer of treacle."  This was a word the kids had never heard before.   Ashleigh guessed it meant a blanket  while Garrett thought it had something to do with a tree.  Now, they both know that treacle is the British term for molasses.  The study guide has plenty of vocabulary building exercises like that. 

I've used other Progeny Press Study Guides in the past and I have always found them to be well written and thoroughly cover the books main topics.  Each guide really does well to expand beyond just reading the book but also understanding the underlying elements.  But mostly, I am glad that when it comes time for my kids to read Huckleberry Finn, Beowulf, Julius Caesar or Jane Eyre, these guides will be waiting to help them develop a true understanding of Classic Literature.

For more information about Progeny Press and their large selection of literature study guides, visit their website. You can also find them on the following social media platforms:

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

ASD Reading (A Homeschool Crew Review)

Due to his Autism, one thing Garrett has always struggled with is reading.  Originally, we weren't sure if he would ever be able to read due to his ASD but over the years he has worked hard and does read.  However, he 's still not at the level of reading that I think he could be at, even with his diagnosis.

Recently I was given the opportunity to review  ASD Reading, a reading program designed for children ages 4-15 who are on the autism spectrum that teaches reading and writing to a third-grade level (Lexile score of 750).  Using a similar structure as the original Reading Kingdom program designed for neurotypical kids, the ASD Reading program incorporates a number of modifications

and additional formats making it more effective for students on the spectrum.

We've been working hard on reading with the kids, mostly focusing on phonics. But let's admit it, when it comes to phonics, English is confusing for kids. Why is BIND pronounced B-EYE-ND but WIND is pronounced WAHY-ND and how do we explain to them when these changes in vowel sounds occur?  We try to teach them to sound out words but this only works if the word follows the set rules and can be sounded out. Many words just don't follow the norm.

ASD Reading is a browser-based reading that understands that phonics and sounding out words will work only with limited success.  It is designed by Dr Marion Blank who is a world-renowned expert on literacy. ASD Reading requires no prerequisite skills - even those who are nonverbal can use the program and provides customized instructions that adapt to your child's skills to read, write and comprehend the written language.

The program is very thoughtfully presented with cute backgrounds, rewarding animations when children answer questions correctly, changing scenery and engaging activities.  With a child like Garrett who easily bores, this was exactly what he needed to keep his attention focused on what he was doing. Lessons are fairly short (taking about 10-15 minutes a day) but geared towards learning letter locations on the keyboard as well as repetition, recognition, and recollection of words.

It is recommended that the student uses the program for at least 4 days or more a week, with 1-2 sessions each day in order for the program to work most optimally. 

How We Used It:

Garrett has become significantly more independent when it comes to using the computer during his school time, so after the initial login and set up required by me, I simply put a link to ASD Reading on the Bookmark Bar so that Garrett could easily access the program.  Then, each day I would just tell him "Garrett, go to your Dinosaur program" (The animation at the beginning of each lesson is of a dinosaur) and he could log in on his own.

 Each level consists of 6 books containing activities that help students learn to read, spell and write words used in each book.  Each book builds upon the previous learned book, helping to build word recognition and also helps to build confidence.  These activities include things such as asking the child to first type a word they might already know. 

If they do not know the word, then the activities gear towards repetition and recognition to help the child become familiar with the word before moving on to the next word.  Then, when the original word is repeated in the sequence, the student is quickly able to recognize the word.

Garrett seems to enjoy almost all of the activities he's encountered with ASD Reading, with one exception - the typing skills activity show in the picture above.  While he has a pretty good understanding of letter placement on the keyboard, he does find the task tedious as he gets bored with it very quickly as it typically involves around 80-100 keystrokes at a slow pace.

Activities are scored and students are made aware of what score they need to achieve in order to progress to the next level in their "passport" and move through the program. Garrett is still working on achieving his level 2 in his passport and each time he uses the program he gets closer to the intended goal. 

Some of the activities are on a timer. Initially, Garrett was getting rather frustrated with the program because he was running out of time before he was able to answer the question.  This is super common for Autistic kids - it takes a few seconds for those gears in their brains to engage.  Luckily, a few days after we started the program, we received an email from Reading Kingdom letting us know a few tips and tricks for using ASD Reading, one of which was how to slow the program down through the parent dashboard to allow users more time to answer the questions.  This was a game changer for Garrett.  He went from hating the program initially to really enjoying it - with the exception to that typing skills portion.

Parents are able to see a progress report that shows how the child is progressing through the program.  This shows how many days per week the child uses the program on average, as well as how they are progressing with the program.  Garrett is currently still in level 1, as he works on the program once a day/three times a week (sometimes more). 

 By clicking on the child's name, you can then see a slightly more detailed list that shows what book your child is working on for that section, what words they are currently learning and how their overall progress is.

Finally, a parent can choose to download a report in Excel spreadsheet format.

Overall, this program seems like a great addition to any reading curriculum for autistic students. The confidence that Garrett has achieved in word recognition has really become apparent as he progresses through the program as well as in his classwork when he has to read aloud with our other curriculum. 

For more information on ASD Reading, visit their website.  You can also visit them on the following social media platforms:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/readingkingdom

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/readingkingdom 

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/readingkingdom/

Reading Kingdom (A Schoolhouse Crew Review)

One thing Garrett struggles with is reading.  He has improved significantly but he's still not to the level I would like to see him at.  Recently I was given the opportunity to review Reading Kingdom Online from Reading Kingdom and I knew it was something I wanted to try with Garrett.  Members of the crew were given a 1 year membership to Reading Kingdom for up to two students so both Ashleigh and Garrett were able to participate in this review.

We've been working hard on reading with the kids, mostly focusing on phonics. But lets admit it, when it comes to phonics, English is confusing for kids. Why is BIND pronounced B-EYE-ND but WIND is pronounced WAHY-ND and how do we explain to them when these changes in vowel sounds occur?  We try to teach them to sound out words but this only works if the word follows the set rules and can be sounded out. Many words just don't follow the norm.

Reading Kingdom Online is a browser based reading and writing program that understands that phonics and sounding out words will work only with limited success.  It is designed by Dr Marion Blank who is a world renowned expert on literacy and whom is also the director for the Light on Learning Institute at Columbia University. Using six various skills (sequencing, motor skills, sounds, meaning, grammar, and comprehension) to help children to learn reading and writing, Reading Kingdom claims to teach children 4-10 years of age to achieve a 3rd grade reading level through their program if used at least 4 times a week.  There is also an ASD reading program for Autism Spectrum Disorder students available, however, we opted for the regular program to use with Garrett.

How We Used the Program

The kids were very excited to start using this program. How excited? Well, the first night, we only had one account set up and were waiting for the second student to be added (which was very quickly done) and Ashleigh was quite upset that she couldn't begin immediately.. LOL  Luckily, her account was ready by the following morning and I was able to log into both accounts to allow them to get started together.

The very first offering is a placement test to see how well students perform at letter recognition and keyboard skills.  These are a series of activities where kids are shown letters and they must either use the mouse to click the correct letters or type the correct letters on the keyboard. These activities are timed.  Both of my kids were at a disadvantage in this because neither have had much computer time in the past. Because of this, it was suggested that they should start with "Seeing Sequences" and "Letter Land" to learn these skills before starting Reading Level 1.

The program is very thoughtfully presented with cute backgrounds, rewarding animations when children answer questions correctly, changing scenery and engaging activities.  With a child like Garrett who easily bores, this was exactly what he needed to keep his attention focused on what he was doing. Lessons are fairly short (taking about 10-15 minutes a day) but geared towards learning letter locations on the keyboard as well as repetition, recognition and recollection of words.

Each kid did really well with the Seeing Sequence aspect of the program as they became more familiar with keyboard placement.  Ashleigh, whom already was a bit ahead in reading than her brother, quickly progressed through both the Seeing Sequence and the Letter Land and began working on Reading Kingdom Level 1. Each level consists of 6 books containing activities that help students learn to read, spell and write words used in each book.  Each book builds upon the previous learned book, helping to build word recognition and also helps to build confidence.  These activities include things such as asking the child to first type a word they might already know. If they do not know the word, then the activities gear towards repetition and recognition to help the child become familiar with the word before moving on to the next word.  Then, when the original word is repeated in the sequence, the student is quickly able to recognize the word.

Learning the word "Girls"

Activities are scored and students are made aware of what score they need to achieve in order to progress to the next level in their "passport" and move through the program. Garrett is still working on achieving his level 5 in his passport to move on to the Level 1 reading portion of the program and each time he uses the program he gets closer to the intended goal.  (I have no doubt he'll read this goal within the week).

Overall, this program seems like a great addition to any reading curriculum for younger students or those who are struggling to read on level.  The confidence that Garrett has achieved in word recognition has really become apparent as he progresses through the program as well as in his classwork when he has to read aloud with our other curriculum.  Both Garrett and Ashleigh have really enjoyed working with the program and even ask to do extra work with it during their free time.

Reading Kingdom Online can be found on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.


Be sure to click the banner below and see what other Crew members are saying about Reading Kingdom, including the ASD Reading program for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Super Teacher Worksheets (A Schoolhouse Crew Review)

As any homeschooling family, I'm always on the lookout for a quick, fun activity for the kids do in in conjunction with their normal curriculum.  Worksheets are usually one of my favorites as they are quick and easy to print out and give to the kids to work on independently.   Worksheets are a great was for us to review what we've already done or help to reinforce newly presented materials that they might not quite have grasped without extra help.  However, it's a daunting task to scour the internet trying to find a last minute worksheet to add to the day's lessons, even more frustrating when that perfect worksheet will cost you a few dollars for one handout. Because of this, when I was given the opportunity to review the Individual Membership for Super Teacher Worksheets, I was pretty excited.

Super Teacher Worksheets is an all in one website that allows unlimited access to over 10,000 various worksheets, activities and classroom games available for download that range from various subjects and grade levels. Worksheets range from math, reading and writing, phonics and early literacy, science, social studies and more.  A search option allows you to search the catalog for specific topics (as well as by ccss standards) which comes in handy.  Also available is a worksheet generator which allows you to make your own word find, math practice, spelling lists, flashcards, quizzes and more.  This really opens up the possibilities to produce tools to help with any topic or subject you are working on.

Another option available is the "File Cabinet" option where you can save worksheets that you know

you can use at a later time.  For me personally, this was a wonderful option because I'm the type who sees a worksheet that I think the kids would like, however we're just not ready for it at the current time and then I almost always forget where it was.  With the file cabinet, I can save those worksheets and frequently return to view them to remind myself what I saved and decide if we can use them at that time.


How Did We Use It? What I Thought?

The best way to use Super Teacher Worksheets is to jump right in and start printing.  There is so much offered that it's very easy to find something that will fit in with your current curriculum.  For us, extra math practice is always needed and so I printed out a few addition and subtraction facts sheets.  Since my youngest loves to color, I knew that one of the "Color by Addition" sheets would be a perfect start for us.  At first, my kids were a bit overwhelmed by the amount of math on the page but they were quickly able to use skills they had learned to help solve each equation and then color the picture.

Both kids, including Garrett who does not typically like to color, has enjoyed the Color by Math additions offered on the website and have asked multiple times if we are doing a new one each day.  This means that the kids are actually ASKING to do math, something that is unheard of in this household.

We've also enjoyed using the worksheets that are designed to go along with chapter books. First we used some of the worksheets to go along with The Magic Treehouse book we were reading. Now  we're currently reading "Stone Fox" by John Reynolds Gardiner and I was thrilled to have found worksheets to go along with it in addition of the unit study we are working with.  Already in my File Folder I have worksheets waiting to go along with "The Phantom Tollbooth" and "Because of Winn-Dixie".  I really like that the worksheets for the chapter books not only contain quick comprehension questions but also vocabulary building exercises.

I also really liked that these worksheets allowed me to sneak in more writing practice for the kids.  Each activity is well thought out ahead of time and so far I have yet to find any grammatical errors on any of the sheets that we have printed out and used.  The worksheets are all very professional looking as well as being clear and concise as to what is to be expected in the activity.

Overall, we have really enjoyed using various offerings at Super Teacher Worksheets and the fact that more activities are being added on a regular basis means there will always be something new to use with your kids, regardless of subject or grade level.  There's also many worksheets geared for various holidays and even a back to school section. It's been extremely easy for me to find something to fit into our daily work.

The individual membership is available at a price of $19.95/year which is very reasonable for what your getting and considering many other sites to download worksheets charge anywhere from $1 to $3 per worksheet.


Super Teacher Worksheet can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Their website is located at https://www.superteacherworksheets.com.