Tuesday, March 12, 2013

American Literature - Curriculum Review

I'm really excited to tell you about an awesome American Literature Homeschool curriculum for your high school age children.  It is written by James P. Stobaugh and is a 34 week course and has selections from classic prose, poetry and drama.  The complete set comes with a 542 page student book and a 359 page teacher's manual.  The teacher's manual is designed in such a way that leaves minimal work for the parent/teacher.  The lesson plans are laid out for you and an answer key is also included.  It also includes a grading guide or you can incorporate your own grading system.

The course promotes independent learning from the student.  Literary content covered in the course includes works by: William Bradford, Edgar Allan Poe, Frederick Douglass, Emily Dickinson and many more!  It is a VERY thorough course that will equip students to think critically about philosophy and trends in culture. They will also learn to articulate their worldview through writing.

Each weekly chapter has 5 daily lessons with clear objectives, concept-building exercises, warm-up questions, and guided readings.  It will take approximately one hour per lesson.  There are weekly test to help assess student learning.

I know when it comes to high school a lot of homeschool parents begin to worry whether or not they will be able to homeschool through the highschool years.  This curriculum will help put you at ease.  It is such a complete and thorough American Literature curriculum and the fact that it is well laid out for the educator is an added bonus.  You can check out more about it at masterbooks.net

***This curriculum was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for my review.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Noah Webster Father of the Dictionary - A Book Review

It is no secret that I love books and if I had to pick a favorite from my own personal library I would be hard pressed indeed.  However, I can tell you that one of my most favorite books and a recommended must have for everyone is my 1828 Noah Webster Dictionary.  There is something special about it.  I still remember the day I got it and I have referred to it many times throughout the years.

I recently had the opportunity to read for review Noah Webster - Father of the Dictionary by Isabel Proudfit.  I was so excited and I knew it would be a valuable asset to our homeschool library.  The book is written for mid-elementary age children, but I also think older students would enjoy it as well.  It goes beyond just telling the story of Noah Webster writing the dictionary.  It also tells of his childhood, his struggles and successes.

If you are wanting to learn more about the man who wrote the Noah Webster Dictionary, or maybe you are doing a unit study, or you need a great resource to go along with your History curriculum, this book would be for you!

***This book was provided to me by the publisher through the bookcrash program in exchange for my review.