Customer Reviews

A Guide for Using Little House in the Big Woods in the Classroom

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If your're looking for Study Guides to go along with the Laura Ingalls books, keep looking or create your own. I have reviewed most of these guides because I bought most of them, and regret the money spent. I found that it would have been much more economical, and a lot more fun, if I would have simply used my own ideas in creating study materials for my child as we read the books. It is not difficult to engage a child who is enjoying the books in dialog and questions regarding the material to aid in comprehension and test his or her comprehension; to scan the chapter for age or skill level appropriate spelling words; to give a writing asignment; to do a story related craft or activity; having done this, you will have equaled or surpassed what is available in these guides and saved money. Also, you and your child will be focusing on what the stories mean to each of you and relate it to your life. This is a real value in retaining what is read and learned.

I would like to respond to the negative review submitted by the Homeschooler, if I might. There is probably some truth to the fact that you might do well working with your child on a one on one basis and thinking up special projects relating to particular material. Unfortunately, if you are in a classroon situation with 20 - 30 students you will probably not have this obvious advantage. Therefore the teachers' guides are worth much more in this case and can prove to be invaluable on this point. I would recommend the guides to any teacher or any homeschooler who doesn't have the obvious talents that the aforementioned posesses.

I am homeschooling 3 children and we really enjoy these literature units. I do realize I could do it on my own. I could think of the questions myself, I could think of the activities myself. But, frankly, I just don't want to! lol I like having the ideas spelled out so I can lead the activities without so much work involved. There are SO many other areas of homeschooling that I have to plan, research and organize myself, that these activities are a blessing to me. :) My kids enjoy the activities. We make a booklet for each of the literature units that we finish. With the ideas the guide gives me, I add a few of my own and we're off and running without my having to plan each and every activity. If I had to do that, we likely wouldn't bother doing more than having them give me an oral summary and moving to the next chapter. :)

Everyone here has made a valid point or two, I would like to add my own 2 cents. I have been in public education for 40 years, the latter several in curriculum development and special project coordination. While I agree that these lit guides are mostly superficial, they make wonderful jumping off points. I have never yet used one that I did not embellish to a great degree, nor have I used one as my only resource. Especially when you are working with more than one level or modality. We are preparing to remove my grandchildren from public school and begin home schooling. I am purchasing this guide to supplement our first unit.

From a teacher's perspective, this guide could be better. The questions provided are very surface, recall questions that anyone could come up with on their own. I like questions that require the students to think aobut what they have read, not just detail recall. I also wish it focused more on vocabulary of the time period. That being said, it does have some fun activities to photocopy.

This is an excellent guide for the busy teacher or parent who wants supplimental ideas to use with this great work of literature. I am an education student and this guide is a valuable resource in planning a teaching unit on pioneers. It not only provides unique ideas, it also inspires ideas for higher order thinking skills activities. I would recommend this guide as a wise investment. I agree with the reviewer who stated that a teacher in a large classroom would find this guide useful. Time is of essence when planning for 20 or more students and this guide is very useful in doing so.

I ordered just about every available Ingalls Study Guide available, and the bottom line is that most of them are not worth the investment. A parent can easily come up with pertinent questions to ask his or her child while reading these books; pick out some spelling words from each chapter; give some grammar or writing assignments related to the reading material; engage the child in some story related crafts and activities; and do just as good a job, while saving considerable money, with the added bonus of catering to each individual child's skills and interests. I was not impressed with these Literature Units.

Great resource and activities for third grade. The quizzes are well written, and the students enjoyed participating in the crafts and activities.