Progeny Press-The Hobbit-Review

This is the second time Progeny Press has supplied me with a study guide to review.  This year we got The Hobbit.  Katie, my 10th grader, has been working on this.  She is a lover of all things Lord of the Rings so this was a perfect study for her.

While you can order the study guide in a printed format or on CD we received the instant download version which is what I will be referring to.

The Hobbit study guide is a 62 page interactive pdf.  It also comes with an 8 page answer key, also on pdf. Each study guide can be counted for a 1/4 credit for a high school student. Students are able to type in answers or click for multiple choice questions.

Katie does her study each day on her computer and at the end of the week she e-mails it to me for correcting.  I love that we can do that electronically AND that we have the option to print the study and do it that way as well if we want to.  I find it easier to correct and go over with her by printing it so that is what I've done.

The suggested pace of this study is 1 section per week, but Katie has been completing more than this (because she wanted to).  It should take a typical student about 8-10 weeks to complete any of the high school studies. This seems like a good pace to me.

The guide begins with a how to use section for the teacher/parent, a synopsis of the story, a page about the author and pre-reading ideas including some map work, nature study and a music project.

Next is the actual study guide which covers a lot of vocabulary along with parts of speech and literary topics such as characterization, metaphors, epithets, similes, setting, synonyms, antonyms, parallelism, irony and more. Next you will find Questions about the Story, a Thinking About It section where various topics are explored and finally the last section in each chapter is called Digging Deeper; This section covers biblical principles relating the story to real life.

Here is a screen shot clip of a vocab/parts of speech question:

Not all of the vocabulary in the study is multiple choice. This is just one example.

And a clip of one of the Dig Deeper questions:

One of the really neat things about a pdf study guide is that I can make comments on Katie's work and e-mail it back to her.  It really makes doing this completely on the computer not only possible but kind of fun too.  (Of course I am not doing it this way, but I like that I could.)

Here is a screen shot of a sample comment:

You will also find projects and writing projects to be completed at the end of the study (and some within the study as well) and a list of additional resources (books and videos) that could be used.  An 8-page answer key also comes with the study.  I like how they condense the answer key down to just a few pages so I don't have to use a lot of ink and paper printing it (I could just use it on the screen, but again, I prefer to have it on paper in front of me.)

I like how so many different things are combined into one study.  Literary analysis, reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar and Biblical instruction all rolled into one convenient, affordable download.  I also like the variety of multiple choice, fill in the blanks AND lots of questions that require thought and writing out (or typing as the case may be) the answers.

I also love that we will be able to use these for years to come with other children, making Progeny Press study guides perfect for large families like mine.  As mentioned in my previous review of 2 other Progeny Press Study Guides, we plan to use more of these in the future.

 The Hobbit Study Guide is available in 3 formats:

$21.99 Printed Booklet
$18.99 CD
$18.99 Instant Download

Progeny Press has study guides for many titles for all ages. Each guide concentrates on critical thinking, comprehension, literary analysis, and Christian application.  Visit the FAQ page if you have questions (or feel free to ask in the comments and I'll answer if I can!) You read more about Progeny Press, its founders and their mission and faith statements as well.

Read what others are saying about Progeny Press on the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog. I am looking forward to reading the reviews of the other titles crew members are doing.