A Stable Beginning: Progeny Press: The Drinking Gourd ~ a TOS review

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Progeny Press: The Drinking Gourd ~ a TOS review

School’s out for most of us and we are settling into a nice summer routine. I don’t want the learning to come to a complete stop even though our official school year is done because I have seen the effects of the “summer slide” and it is not pretty. I am so glad that we are able to incorporate literature guides from Progeny Press into our daily reading and learning.

Our family has a fond affection towards good books. I try to fill our bookshelves full of good books as well as check them out from the local library. Trust me when I say our bookshelves are overflowing. Over the last few years I have found that literature guides make reading even more enjoyable and fun. Have you ever checked out the literature guides from Progeny Press? For this review we received a downloadable interactive PDF copy of the study guide for the novel The Drinking Gourd.

Progeny Press has been a family owned and operated company since 1992. They produce high quality literature guides from a Christian worldview ranging from lower elementary years through high school. They literally have 100+ guides and add 3-6 new titles each year ranging from lower elementary, upper elementary, middle school, and high school. If you are looking for a literature guide, they have got you covered!

Literature Study Guides from a Christian Perspective {Progeny Press Review}

The Drinking Gourd is an engaging story about the Underground Railroad. It is set in 1851 in a small New England town where Deacon Fuller and his wife and six children live. One Sunday morning Deacon Fuller sends his son, Tommy, home early from church for misbehaving during service. While at home, Tommy uncovers a shocking discovery in the family barn. A family of runaway slaves. Tommy learns that his father is breaking the law to help this family of four get to freedom in Canada as part of the Underground Railroad by following The Drinking Gourd, which is a song with a secret message with directions northward by following the Big Dipper.

The first week I used the time to read the book aloud to my younger girls Montana (9) and McKenzie (6). After we finished the novel we then dove right into the chapters working through the vocabulary and reading comprehension questions. Vocabulary is addressed in many ways to make sure the reader has a full grasp, even at the elementary level. Using a thesaurus and a dictionary to study definitions is also taught. This was a timely study for us as we were just winding down in our study of the Underground Railroad.

Our family finds that literature guides make reading even more enjoyable! We give this guide 2 thumbs up and I look forward to adding more literature guides to our collection over the course of the school year. We enjoyed our literature guide and have purchased and/or reviewed several guides in the past and will be purchasing more in the future. I love that there is no limit on copying pages for use within our homeschool. Progeny Press Guides are economically priced from $10.99 to $27.99, The Drinking Gourd sells for $11.99.

Be sure to browse the online catalog for individual pricing on all the available guides. Be sure to check out what my Crewmates thought of this guide and the many other guides being reviewed, Minstrel in the Tower, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, The Sword in the Tree, Give Me Liberty, Indian in the Cupboard, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and Great Expectations by clicking the banner below.