Review of Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide

Does teaching literature class scare you?  Are you looking for a literature curriculum to use with your high school student?  Are you looking for a course you could use as a book club, with a co-op, or just alone at home?  If so, keep reading about today's review!

Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide is a new literature program for Christian High Schools and Homeschools by Writing with Sharon Watson. We had the true blessing of reviewing this course plus the first 2 novels with my very reluctant high school reader.  I explain the blessing part later in the review during how we used the course.

About the Course

The course includes 3 physical books - The Teacher's Guide, The Student Book, and An Optional Quiz and Answer Manual:

Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide (Student Book)

The student book can easily be completed by the student with very little input from the teacher.  You can set up a weekly, monthly, or every other week meeting for yourself and your student to discuss the lessons.  We chose to go over each lesson at the end of the day.  

Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide: Teacher's Guide 

The Teacher's guide will be your best friend while teaching this course.  It has so much information including discussion ideas of what your student is learning in their student book.  It has your suggested schedules, reading plan, discussion questions, vocabulary quizzes, answers, grading grids and lots more.  I loved the fact she includes Facebook questions and links that she asked her own Facebook group of students.  This section makes it so simple to start your own group.  Just know that there is so much information included in this guide that I'm barely touching the surface!

Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide: Quiz and Answer Manual

The quizzes found in the Quiz and Answer Manual can also be found online and completed online by the student.  This is an optional feature if you would rather your student take the quizzes and opinion surveys on paper instead of online.  Online quizzes are automatically graded for you and you will find the answer key to the paper version in the back of the book.  

Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide:Novel Notebook (Free PDF Download)

The course also includes a free PDF download of the Novel Notebook which your student can use to answer questions from the lessons and make notations in while reading their novel.  They may also just use a composition notebook instead but the Novel Notebook makes the pages more visually pleasing and creates a nice keepsake book as well. 

The suggested schedule has your high school student complete the course in 2 semesters and earn 1 credit in either literature, language arts, or English.  The entire course consists of 70 lessons.  Some lessons occur before you read the novels and some after.  The course will take you through these 8 novels (which need to be purchased separately from the curriculum):

• Pudd’nhead Wilson by Mark Twain
• The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
• The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West
• Peter Pan by Sir James Barrie
• Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis

The novels were selected for their colliding worlds - physical, political, extraterrestrial, racial, spiritual, and philosophical.  Students will tackle these concepts as they analyze these works of literature.  It is also highly recommended that you use the novel versions listed in the teacher's guide to make following along with the page numbers easier.  The ISBN numbers are given in the teacher's guide and the novels are available for purchase on the website. Please note that this curriculum is written from a Christian perspective but the books chosen are not necessarily written by Christians. The books will contain words, characters, and events that many may find to be offensive.  The beauty of this course though is your student is taught how to analyze these works of art and evaluate these findings with the truths found in the Bible.

Some of the literary terms you will cover include text and context, pseudonym (nom de plume), foreshadowing, conflict, protagonist, antagonist, satire, irony, and so many more.  Scroll to the bottom of this page for a complete listing.

Our background story and use in our Homeschool

My Senior is and always has been an extremely reluctant reader.  One of the first questions of the course is why might passages or whole books written over 100 years ago seem boring to today's readers.  His answer was, "because I often cannot understand a word they are saying!"  Admittedly, I agree with him.  When you can't follow the dialogue, you really have no idea what the characters are feeling or trying to say.  As we began the course, he was again immediately reluctant but the course guides you through the lessons before you even begin reading the book itself.  It introduces you to the book, gives you words to look for that might be slang or unfamiliar to you, introduces to a little about the author, gives you literary terms, and more.  Still reluctant, he began to read the book, and he actually started to enjoy it. Honestly, I was so shocked.  We slowed the time frame down for him and that really helped him as well.  He just could not comprehend more than 2 chapters at a time so he did that 4 days a week taking him almost 3 weeks to complete his reading of the first book.  The suggested schedule said to complete the reading of the book in 2 weeks.  The layout of the schedule is completely flexible which lately seems like a must for our homeschool.  I don't think we follow any suggested schedules around here!  That's the beauty of homeschooling!

               

My son and I both would highly recommend this course for high school students of all backgrounds.   The literary terms and analyzing questions will certainly prepare your students for college literature.  The practical tips and writing style of Ms. Watson are so relatable to students.  Ms. Watson draws you into the book before you even pick it up by giving you background information of the author, time period, and intriguing facts that you may not be aware of - at least I wasn't!  The real beauty of this program is I don't have to read all the books to be able to have a wonderful discussion of them with my son - what a time saver!  However, after our discussions I must say that I was highly intrigued and do plan to add them to my own reading list.  A few of them I have read, but there are several that I have not.

The goal here is to grow a love tackling and analyzing the classics and seeing that they are not so scary after all.  Let's face it, the majority of us are just as scared to teach the classics as the students are to read them.  So, not only did the course give my son confidence in his abilities but it gave me confidence as well! 

You can check out some samples and information from the course and see for yourself why we will be continuing this course in our homeschool.  

Right now there is also an awesome giveaway and Facebook party going on to celebrate the release of this curriculum. The giveaway ends 8/26/15 so hurry!   Join the Facebook party on Thursday, August 27, 2015 for even more prizes and information on this wonderful literature curriculum.

Illuminating Literature iPad Giveaway from Writing with Sharon Watson!

Coming soon we will be sharing about a wonderful new Literature curriculum that we have had the opportunity to review.  Does teaching literature scare you?  Do you get eye rolls and sighs when the big old bad literature books come out?  Then, the Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide set might be just what you and your student have been looking for!  My reluctant reader has so far jumped right in and this mama who had no clue what to do with him is happy, happy, happy!  Join in on the fun and a chance to win some amazing prizes!



To celebrate the release of Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide, we are joining with Writing with Sharon Watson to bring you an incredible giveaway!  One of you may win ALL of the following prizes, a value of nearly $450:

Apple iPad Mini 16GB, WiFi Only ($329 value)

• 7.9-inch LED-backlit Multi-Touch Display; 1024-by-768 Resolution
• Apple iOS 6; Dual-Core A5 Chip 1GHZ
• 5 MP iSight Camera; 1080p HD Video Recording
• Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n); 16 GB Capacity
• Up to 10 Hours of Battery Life; 0.68 lbs

Illuminating Literature Curriculum Set ($64.47 value)

Literature in a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere . . .

Your teens will appreciate the unstuffy way Sharon Watson teaches literature. They’ll read some great novels, encounter the hero’s journey, learn literary terms and elements, and gain an appreciation for fine literature. More important, eager and reluctant readers will become more discerning as they learn the secret craft of the writer. Prepare your teens for college literature courses and for the rest of their reading life.

• Written for Christian high schools, homeschools, and co-ops.
• Two-semester course earning one credit for language arts or English.
• 70 lessons.
• Student-directed, with clear lessons and reading schedules.

Illuminating Literature 8-Book Bundle ($52.84 value)

This book bundle includes the following books used in Illuminating Literature:

• Pudd’nhead Wilson by Mark Twain
• The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
• The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West
• Peter Pan by Sir James Barrie
• Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis

   
To enter the giveaway, use the Rafflecopter below, then  join us for a Facebook Release Party on Thursday, August 27 at 9pm ET when the winner will be announced. 

RSVP for the Facebook Party

Enter the Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway Terms and Conditions: This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.  Void where prohibited by law. Must be at least 18 years of age. This giveaway is in no away associated with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. No purchase necessary for entry. Odds are determined by the number of entries. Selected winner will have 48 hours to respond to email notification to claim their prize or another winner will be drawn. Entry into this giveaway will subscribe you to the Writing with Sharon Watson email list.

Review of Jim Hodges Productions Audio Books

Since reaching the middle school and high school years, we have relied more and more on audiobooks in our homeschool. Jim Hodges Productions has produced many audiobooks. We were sent In the Heart of the Rockies to review. It is recommended for ages 10 and up.

In the Heart of the Rockies is available in a MP3 CD format or an instant downloadable format. The CD will play in a computer CD drive, DVD player, or any MP3 compatible CD player.  Please note that the files will not play in a standard CD player.

The MP3 CD version costs $25 and the digital download costs $18. We received the MP3 CD and listened to it on my laptop. It lasts for 10 hours and 53 minutes and is broken down into 19 chapters on average of 35 minutes each. You can purchase these and other audio books online at Jim Hodges Productions or by sending a check.  

In the Heart of the Rockies is by G.A. Henty and set during the early American history time period of the 1860's. We were introduced to Henty earlier this year and have fell in love with his novels. He accurately portrays history with the remarkable skills of a storyteller. We used the free version from Gutenberg to follow along as Jim Hodges read to us the story of Tom Wade. The book is not necessary but it aids my oldest son who is currently a 10th grader to really comprehend what he is hearing. He is receiving both the visual and auditory learning that he needs. My 6th and 8th graders listened in as well.  

In the Heart of the Rockies takes you on the adventures of Tom Wade as he leaves his England home a boy at the age 16 and joins his Uncle Harry in Denver, Colorado to help mine for gold so that he could help his sisters earn money for their family finances. Both of his parents had already passed away and they left behind Tom and his four sisters.  He felt leaving for America was his best option to help take care of his sisters.  His Uncle had previously sent a letter to his mother (before she died) telling her of his good fortune and letting her know that he could put Tom to work easily and "make a man out of him."  After many toils and troubles some of which include frigid temperatures and Native American warriors, he finds the fortune in which he set out to find.  As the story draws to an end and Tom returns to England two and a half years later, he has turned into a man just as his Uncle Harry had promised.  The story is full of vivid vocabulary that help you visualize the surroundings of Tom and the Colorado Rockies.

Also available for purchase is a study guide.  The study guide cost an additional $12 but in our opinion is well worth the extra cost.  The guide covers two chapters at a time and has a place to discuss vocabulary, history and comprehension questions, and an activity section.  There are also three quizzes included. It includes all the answers to each question and quiz at the end.  Some of the activities include research, geography, Venn diagrams, charts, experiments, character traits and more making it really simple to make each of these novels into a complete unit study.  We used the study guide together as a family and pick and chose what activities we found most interesting.

Click the banner below to find out what my crew mates thought of some of the other audio books available from Jim Hodges Productions. You can also find Jim Hodges Productions on Facebook.

Review - Old Western Culture: The Greeks

Roman Roads Media has produced a homeschool curriculum that I was extremely excited about trying!  Old Western Culture: The Greeks is a full year course that explores history, theology, philosophy, poetry, and art from the perspective of the greatest works of influential literature of the Western world. The term "Old Western Culture" is a term coined by C.S. Lewis to describe the fabric of ideas that shaped Western Civilization.  
The whole 4 year course is still being completed and when finished will be:

Year 1: The Greeks

Greeks: Epics

Greeks: Drama & Lyric

Greeks: Histories

Greeks: Philosophers

Year 2: The Romans

Romans: The Aeneid

Romans: Historians

Romans: Christianity

Romans: Nicea

Year 3: Christendom

Coming 2015

Year 4: Early Moderns

Coming 2016

The course is available in DVD and online streaming formats.  I was sent Year 1: The Greeks, which is a full year course.  I received the self paced online streaming format.  I was also sent a DVD of Unit 1: The Epics so that I could try out both formats.
DVD Course - $224 + $7 shipping fee (USA) Self Paced Online Streaming Course - $199 (on sale as of this writing)
Both the DVD and Online Streaming courses include Digital copies of the Student Workbooks but you can purchase a physical copy for $48 (includes 4 workbooks - 1 for each unit). 
Both formats and extras can be purchased at the Roman Roads Media website.
The full one year Classical Christian Homeschool course is broken down into 4 units with each unit lasting 9 weeks.  

The 4 Units are: The Epics - covers The Iliad and The Odyssey

Drama and Lyric - covers a collection of Greek plays and poetry

The Histories - covers the works of Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon

The Philosophers - covers selected works of Plato and Aristotle

Each Unit Includes:

• 12 Lessons with Video Lectures for each Lesson (48 for the full year)
• PDF Student Workbook with comprehension questions
• PDF Answer Keys
• 9 week suggested schedule
• All required texts in etext form (PDF and Kindle)
• Guide to the Art booklet (online streaming gives you a PDF version and DVD version includes a booklet for you in each DVD)
• 2 exams with teacher guide and answer key for each unit

You can find an outline of the 12 Lessons in each Unit here. Each Lesson is approximately 30 minutes each.

Prerequisites required from the website...

Old Western Culture is intended for mature and discerning students. We recommend this course for ages 14 and up. The course will deal with mature themes such as paganism, sexual immorality, battle scenes (mostly in actual reading), and classical paintings. Old Western Culture is meant to equip your child with a Biblical lens from which to process these themes. We assume your child has a working knowledge of the Bible and basic Christian doctrine. Advanced readers will have an advantage since the reading load is relatively heavy. 

My Thoughts
I chose to go through this curriculum myself and test drive it before introducing it to my children.  
We follow what I call an eclectic classical homeschool style. I never experienced reading any of the Great Books in school so I wanted to offer that advantage to my children.  I must admit though, they intimidate me greatly!  I have a hard time understanding them and therefore teaching them is even more intimidating.  My children know my homeschool philosophy is that we NEVER stop learning so just because I don't know something doesn't mean we cannot learn about it.  That is often when we begin our journey of learning together!  I was hoping that this curriculum would be just the aid I was looking for.  I was looking for something to help me teach my children while reading some of the Great Books.  
The student questions in the online streaming format were multiple choice questions while the ones included in the PDF with the DVD I received were writing the answer out.  I answered the multiple choice questions in the online streaming format and had difficulty so I didn't even try the ones on the DVD PDF!  

I found that the suggested 9 week schedule included was not too heavy of a course load considering you are working towards 2 full year credits for high school.  For comprehension reasons however, I would have to take the course at a slower pace than suggested which is truly the beauty of homeschooling.

While this curriculum did contain what I was looking for - someone to teach my children and myself more about the influential works of art from a Biblical worldview, it was often times above my head.  Wes Callihan is a master story teller with so much knowledge and there is no doubt that he has researched what he is teaching thoroughly.  I had to watch several of the lectures over even to answer some of the questions myself.  This curriculum is recommended for ages 14 and up.  I felt like it could pass as a college course!  With that being said, I can tell you that I did learn so much from this curriculum.  I would need to slow down the schedule for myself so I am almost certain I would have to do the same for my children.  I do not think my 8th grader or 11th grader would be ready for this curriculum as of yet.  Neither are advanced readers. 
Having said that, I do think this would be a great curriculum to go through together as a family.  Mr. Callihan speaks so eloquently on these topics and always keeps a Christ-centered approach. We can learn much from past mistakes and see clearly where God was left out - much chaos reigned.  Teaching that to the next generation is not an option - it's a must for Christians.  To approach such pagan instruments is often difficult so this is a valuable resource for those intimidated by the subjects like I am.  
Here is a book list of the works covered (again these are included in digital etext versions) but you also can purchase your physical copy as well.  You can find the links to these books here.
THE EPICS BOOK LIST:
- The Iliad
- The Odyssey

DRAMA AND LYRIC BOOK LIST:
- Aeschylus (The Oresteia)
- Sophocles (Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus)
- Aristophanes (The Frogs and The Clouds)
- Eurpipides (The Medea and The Trojan Women) included in Roman Roads Reader
- Sappho (various poems) included in Roman Roads Reader
- Pindar (collection of Odes) included in Roman Roads Reader
- Theocritus (Idyls I, VI, VII, and XI) included in Roman Roads Reader
- Hesiod (Works and Days) included in Roman Roads Reader
- Quintus of Smyrna (The Fall of Troy) included in Roman Roads Reader
- Apollonius of Rhodes (The Argonautica) included in Roman Roads Reader

THE HISTORIES BOOK LIST:
- The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories
- The Landmark Thucydides
- Xenophon: The Persian Expedition

THE PHILOSOPHERS BOOK LIST:
- Plato: Six Greek Dialogues
- The Basic Works of Aristotle 

You can also find several samples here so you can decide for yourself if this curriculum is right for you.
Other Places To Find Romans Road Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RomanRoadsMedia

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RomanRoadsMedia

Pinterst: http://www.pinterest.com/romanroadsmedia/

Google+: https://plus.google.com/115410002124541916147/posts

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/romanroadsmedia/videos

See what my fellow crewmates thought of this curriculum and others offered from Roman Roads Media by clicking the banner below.

Review: Moving Beyond The Page

We were recently given the opportunity to review a couple of Individual Units from Moving Beyond The Page.  We chose the Language Arts Package - A Wrinkle In Time/online version and Science Package - Space to supplement what we had already been learning the past school year.  

First up, let me tell you a little about Moving Beyond The Page, whom I had never even heard of! A few of the co-founders of this curriculum are in my neck of the woods even (eastern NC).  I'm still amazed at all the curriculum choices available to homeschoolers these days.  

Moving Beyond The Page is available as a complete comprehensive homeschool curriculum or as a supplement allowing you to put together your own curriculum.  Subject areas covered are Math (for age levels 5-7 and 6-8 only), Language Arts, Writing, Science, and Social Studies.  The units can be purchased in physical copies as well as online copies.  The age ranges are from 4-14.

Moving Beyond The Page is also a literature based curriculum that was designed with the gifted learner in mind. The student studies concepts or big ideas that connect each subject together and help apply them to their lives and world.  Please do not click away yet if you don't feel your child is gifted.  The curriculum takes great care to break subjects down by age levels rather than grade levels and guides you to pick the best level for your child which I find more and more valuable in homeschool situations!  More can be read about picking the right level here and they also offer placement tests. 

Since we had the chance to review one of the online individual units and one of the physical individual units, we were able to get a good feel for both.  I love that they offer both options for families and they also let you choose whether or not you want to purchase the literature books or get them from the library.  

We chose Concept 4:Systems from the 9-11 age level so we used Unit 1: Space and Unit 1: A Wrinkle In Time/online version together to see how the studies related to each other. Here you can see the other units available in the Concept 4 category.  

Concept 4: Systems
Unit 1: Space Unit 2: State Government Unit 3: The Human Body	Unit 1: A Wrinkle in Time Unit 2: Lincoln: A Pictobiography Unit 3: Independent Study

In the Space unit, you are sent the 2 books pictured below. They can be purchased online for $29.98 plus s/h.  The online version is $25.92.

The Space book has your lesson plans which are written to the student and include check boxes for them to mark when they have completed a task.  It also contains parent overview pages in the back giving you the big ideas your child should have learned, skills, vocabulary definitions, answers to questions, and much more for the teacher.  That portion would need to be taken out if you gave your child the book to work with or at least that's what I did. 

This unit can be completed by your student in 2-3 weeks and teaches about the sun, moon, planets, and science exploration.  There are 5 lessons in this unit and a final project due at the end where your child will get to put all he/she has learned into practice in a fun way of being a space tour guide.  The parent overview section helps you walk your child through each lesson including the final project.  

Most lessons can be completed in 2 to 3 days.  Of course, you can slow that pace down if you need to and since it is summer we did.  Instead of finishing in 3 weeks, we finished in 4.  Included in each lesson are lots of activities such as small projects, filling in worksheets, simple experiments, or making booklets that are included in the lesson.  You do not have to do all the activities but they are highly suggested since they are the heart of the lessons.  Often times, you will be given a couple of activity options allowing you to pick which level is best for your child.  I used this with Sarah, who is 10 and right in the middle of the age level range.  She needed a little help occasionally but this was a great beginning to leading her down the road of independence.

We also used the Literature Unit- A Wrinkle In Time that was designed to go along with the space unit.  The physical copies can be purchased online for $23.98 plus s/h.  This price does include the literature book.  The online version is $19.92 and also includes the literature book so you would have to pay shipping costs on the book.  Again, you have the option to pick up the literature book at the library to save a little money if you wish.

I could definitely see why they would pair these 2 units together.  We had never read A Wrinkle In Time before so it was fun to add it to our reading list. This time we were given the online version so we only received the physical literature book and the rest of the lesson plan was online.  The online version is the same thing you would receive in the physical version.  You still get the parent overview and your children can choose to type their answers to the questions on the computer or print out a sheet to write them on.  I choose to print everything out because that just made it easier for Sarah to use on her own.  They are hoping to add more clickable links to the online version in the future which will also be included in the physical books.  This might be another factor to consider when deciding between the online or physical versions. My personal option would still be the physical versions but I also still find it hard to read a kindle book versus a hard copy book. 

Each literature unit includes a spelling list containing 32 weeks of words plus bonus lists.  The lists are short to encourage you to add in any misspelled words from your child's writing as well. You can also include literature vocabulary words (also given as part of this curriculum) in this list if you have an advanced speller.  All of my children struggle with spelling so the lists were fine with Sarah.  Even if she knew some, the majority she did not.  Here is the suggested spelling weekly schedule and the one we followed:

Sample Schedule
Monday	Let your child attempt to spell each of the ten words. If your child can spell a word correctly, he does not have to use the word as a spelling word. He can write the other words 5 times each.
Tuesday	Use each word in a sentence.
Wednesday	Take a pre-test. Any words that are missed should be written three times.
Thursday	Take Spelling test. Any words that are missed should be tested for again the following week.

This unit contains 10 Lessons with a final project of writing a short story in the end.  We again probably progressed through these lessons slower but most lessons required reading 1 chapter at a time and that was a little too much for Sarah to read at one time. So, we spread the lessons out to match her reading skills.  Again, you can see how much flexibility this course allows you. 

I found this to be a very thorough Language Arts unit including learning literary terms, rubrics for writing, and grammar skills.  It's hard to find all of those in one program but I think Moving Beyond The Page has done a fantastic job with this!  

Teaching writing has never been my strong attribute so the the step by step guidance and final project in the end were really self rewarding for my reluctant writer and her reluctant teacher.

You can check out more at Moving Beyond The Page or find them on Facebook.

Overall, I am so glad for the opportunity to find these great products.  The individual units and flexibility to pick and choose really make them affordable!