My most recent review item to share with you is a great Christian literature study guide by Progeny Press. We received a downloadable The Josefina Story Quilt – eGuide, which came as a 34 page PDF study guide.
The cover page is in full color, but the pages inside are in black and white, which is perfect since my printer has been giving me trouble lately.
Looking Inside the Progeny Press eGuide for “The Josefina Story Quilt”
Included is a note to the instructor (in this case me, the parent), a synopsis of “The Josefina Story Quilt” book, an About the Author section, some background information (great for a mini history lesson as the story is set in the 1800s), a few Before-you-read Activities (including mapwork and using an encyclopedia), a vocabulary section with a word search for review, and a section called “Looking at the Story” (which breaks the book down into two sections and asks plenty of open-ended questions and weaves the Scriptures into the lesson.
After that, students will work through the “Dig Deeper” part of the study, which again uses Scriptures. This section helps students to really go back through the book and the Bible to answer more in-depth questions and to consider applying some of this information into their current lives. Some of the questions are much more reflective. If your kids love Crosswords, they’re sure to like the Crossword Puzzle Review, which has 45 different spaces to fill in based on the hints. There is a recipe for bread for children to try, 2 art assignments, and a few craft suggestions. Finally, you will find Suggestions for Further Reading, which give ideas based on the author, the time period in history, and by some of the crafts mentioned in the book itself. At the very back there is an Answer Key.
“The Josefina Story Quilt” is a chapter book written more toward younger elementary students, so the Progeny Press guide suggests their study for students in grades 1-3. That range seems appropriate considering the content, length, and reading level of the book.
In the story, Josefina is Faith’s pet hen. As her family is loading up to leave in their covered wagon, Faith insists that she is able to bring Josefina and her parents reluctantly agree. Keep in mind that the hen does die at the end, so if that is a sensitive topic in your household, you might want to choose a different book and study.
With help, I think the Progeny Press guide could be completed with younger students, especially if they are tagging along with an older sibling. Students in higher grades could still enjoy the book and study as well, especially as an activity during a holiday or summer break when parents might want to assign some gentle work. This guide is a good value for parents or teachers, because they do allow you to print it out as much as you would like for your whole class or your whole family. Guides like this are amazing for homeschool co-ops or book clubs!
Trying it Out
The son I primarily used this with was my 8 year old. He just finished 2nd grade this year, so he was in the suggested age range for sure. My next youngest son is 6 and did tag along a little big. I did things orally with him, but printed everything out for my 8 year old. This makes me feel like the eGuide would be good in a small group or co-op setting as it is versatile in how students answer most of the questions.
The Art Center activities were my sons’ favorites. This story brought up that quilts are ways in which people in those days would hold on to their memories, making squares to represent important people or experiences. One of the art activities involved creating their own quilt squares to represent various memories. Those turned out really cute, and it was cool to see which memories each boy chose for the imaginary quilt.
I like how detailed the questions were. The Scriptures were woven heavily into it, as well. They aligned with the story and some of the main ideas and feelings in the book and were helful tools for my boys.
We completed the study over the course of a few times a week for a few weeks because we took it slow. I did have them complete it in order, but you could jump around easily once the student has completed reading the entire book. Both boys liked the Progeny Press study, with the older son completing the work as written and the younger one answering my questions in a discussion format, orally. Both ways worked nicely!
I would recommend the literature study guides from this company, including this one. They offer over 100 options for various books, from elementary to high school level. The eGuides range in price from $5.99 to $17.99.
We have reviewed the Mr. Popper’s Penguins E-Guide and the Sarah, Plain and Tall E-Guide in the past, so be sure to check those out.
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Manisha says
Great work, thanks for sharing such useful resources.