I received a resource pack from Institute For Excellence In Writing. IEW is a website that I love to browse and just dream about all of the homeschool resources I would love to buy!
They have a lot of amazing products. I love their tag line: Listen, Speak, Read, Write, Think!
I was really excited when these products were offered for review because they tie in really well with everything we are doing this school year. We have been using Teaching the Classics, Teaching With Games Set, A Word Write Now, and Timeline of Classics in our homeschool over the last few weeks.
This review was first published in 2013.
My favorite of all was Teaching the Classics and so I am giving a more in-depth look into this resource. It is a 6 session seminar (on 4 DVDs) and includes a spiral-bound workbook/syllabus.
It was written by Adam & Missy Andrews and is taught by Adam Andrews on the DVDs. Adam is currently a Preacher and Teacher, while Missy develops curriculum materials and homeschools their 6 children.
This course is meant for the parent/teacher, but I think an older student may do it on their own (high school). It is available for $89.00.
This DVD course prepares the parent/teacher to study literature using the Socratic Method (named after Socrates, the Greek philosopher who taught by asking his students questions to engage them in discussion and get them to think). To be more specific, it teaches the parent/teacher how to analyze any piece of literature and how to teach their children/students the same, by asking questions from the Socratic List.
Details:
- It is filmed in a live seminar setting and has mostly great audio.
- It is a total of about 7 hours of watching time.
- The first session starts the course by explaining why studying literature is important and what the Socratic Method is.
- Sessions 2-5 are step-by-step lessons on how to analyze the plot, conflict, setting, character, and theme of any piece of literature from children’s books to biographies and more.
- Adam Andrews is a very engaging teacher and uses pieces like H.W. Longfellow’s poem Paul Revere’s Ride, The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Rudyard Kipling, Mark Twain’s The Adventure’s of Tom Sawyer, and Martin Cobbler by Leo Tolstoy.
- Session 6 gives the class (parents/teachers) a chance to practice their new analyzing skills using Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer.
- The workbook also includes The Socratic List (a list of 21 main questions and numerous sub-questions, meant to be used to spark discussion), Reading List (a list put together by the authors of their favorite books for young children, juvenile, and high school levels), and a Glossary of Literary Terms (important literary terms).
- Also, included at the back of the workbook is a Scope and Sequence, Daily Lesson Plans, and blank Story Chart to guide you through teaching your students.
I found this course very interesting and enjoyable. In fact, my oldest chose to watch it with me and enjoyed it as well (he is like me and loves books, loves to read, and loves words!). All of my kids loved when Mr. Andrews read the pieces of literature chosen for each lesson.
Mr. Andrews is a great “story reader” and really gives it a lot of emotion. We learned new words like onomatopoeia, which means “sound words” (words that express sound, like bang!).
Teaching With Games is a set with a book, a DVD, and a CD-Rom. The 2 DVDs are a recording of a class that Lori Verstegen taught to a group of moms about teaching practically any subject with games.
My kids and I really enjoyed watching the DVDs. Lori explains each game and demonstrates them with the ladies in the class.
The CD-ROM is the PDF version of the book and makes printing the game pieces easy. The spiral-bound softcover book is 117 pages and includes step-by-step instructions on how to play each of the 20 games, as well as reproducible pages with instructions on how to create many of the games.
There are five categories of games presented in the book:
“NO-PREP” GAMES
MATCHING GAMES
QUESTION GAMES
MATH FACTS GAMES
“MAKE AS YOU TEACH” GAMES
Here are some of the games listed:
WHEEL OF FORTUNE
HOT POTATO
JEOPARDY
SUM FUN
BINGO
BOARD GAMES
After watching the DVDs, my oldest went to work himself to create some of the games to play with his younger siblings! We have enjoyed adding a few games to our school week.
A Word Write Now has come in handy for creative writing. It is a “thematic thesaurus for stylized writing” and is geared towards elementary grades, but can be used by anyone who wants to be more creative with their writing.
It is a spiral-bound softcover book with 107 pages. There is a handy section at the front with the definitions of the parts of speech, to act as a quick reference guide.
It categorizes words into easy-to-find sections such as Character Traits (words for anger, cheerfulness, and many more emotions, Descriptive Traits (words to describe the color, size, time, etc.), and Words for movement and the Senses (seeing, smelling, thinking, etc.).
Each main section has the definition of the word, a thoughtful quote about the word, and an excerpt from classical literature before giving a large list of words that can be used in their place. Each category also has the words listed by part of speech! Nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs are all included.
This is a great resource for creative writing in the upper elementary and even high school grades!
Another favorite resource has been the Timeline of Classics! It is a “historical context for good and great books”, but also includes movies! This spiral-bound softcover book has 87-pages packed full of amazing literature and movies in order from Ancients (approx. 5000 BC – AD 400), The Middle Ages (AD 400-1450), Renaissance and Reformation (AD 1450-1850), and The Modern World (AD 1850-present).
You’ll find books and movies based around historical events throughout history: Bible Times, Ancient Egypt, Dark Ages, Vikings, Crusades, Protestant Reformation, The New World, Westward Expansion, American Civil War, and so on!
It has been a favorite resource for us during history. Throughout the week, my oldest will look through the Timeline of Classics and choose a book or movie to use to expand our history lesson.
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