Customer Reviews

A Witch's Primer: Grade: One

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"A Witch's Primer Grade:One" by Lorin Manderly stems from a wonderful idea. What she shares is really good, but it's my opinion that half of it is "too much, too soon." I bought it for my 10-year-old granddaughter, and feel there's quite a bit in it that I'm not ready to introduce her to. The larger print is great for her AND ME :-), but there are no pictures at all in the book which hinders a child's interest. The chapters are short (good), and the tests at the end of each are done well. The section on Esbats and Sabbats is TOP NOTCH! The explanation of the Oak and Holly Kings is not in line with the traditional teaching, but it's my opinion that Ms. Manderly's way of telling it is much easier to grasp for minds of all ages. However, I thought it was too soon to introduce pantheons, shamanism, voodoo, Druids, and Gypsies, and too soon to detail myths and legends. I also thought it was too soon to detail symbols, talismans, herbology, spells, potions and divination. Basic information would have been a good start. I'm sure there are many who will not find these subjects a hindrance, but I think it should have been limited to the basics.

This was a great addition to my extensive library. I found it quite by acciend looking for books to help my youn son learn about spirituality and was pleasantly surprised. My son was wanting to learn, but I was having too much trouble breaking down my information into bite size pieces he could understand. The font is large, which is great for young readers, and I liked the way the chapters were set up. However, there really needed to be some pictures. James was quite dissapointed when he flipped through this and saw that there were none at all. Simple line drawings would have been perfect in my mind. Such as showing what a cauldron, wand, etc. may look like. While James has seen my implements, he may not know off hand what something is. And,as I said, illustrations go a long way in keeping the interest of children. This is a quick read, at only 156 pages, but that's fine because younger children are just starting on their journey and they don't need a ton of info thrown at them. I was also dissapointed that there were no excercises for the children, such as in Pagan Homeschooling. While I admit that young children are not ready for big rituals or anything like that, I think it would have been meaningful to teach them super simple breathing & meditation excercises, crafts that they might do for a sabbat, etc. Simply telling them how it is done but not letting them experience for themselves isn't going to help them connect to it and understand it. Still, it's a wonderful base to start with and I'm well satisfied.

This book is pretty good. I got it a couple years ago (while my oldest was a toddler) as I was thinking ahead for when we start homeschooling. My son is now 5 years old, we've been homeschooling for 2 years, and he's reading at a 3rd grade level (reading is definitely his best subject). He's become much more interested in spirituality lately, so my husband and I have been including him in simple rituals and I've been introducing meditation to him. We've added a "Religions and Spirituality" section to our homeschooling, and this book is part of the "curriculum". He reads it well, and absorbs the information. We go over the tests together.

The information given has a strong Wiccan slant, which is ok. We're eclectic Pagans, not Wiccan, but we do have Wiccan leanings and for right now, the concepts are simple enough for my son to comprehend. When he gets older, we'll go deeper into what his father and I believe. But for now, this book does a pretty good job at going over the basics. Some of the concepts are a little on the advanced side, but when he gets to those parts and is confused, we will discuss the information with him further. Also, this book REALLY needs pictures. While my son is a fine reader and can read picture-less books, he's like any other kid and pictures help get his attention. Pictures would have made this a 5 star book.

I changed some of the wording for my kids, as I am not Wiccan BUT this book is WONDERFUL! I highly recommend this book to any type of Pagan family!! This is the best kids instruction I have ever seen! Worth every penny ~*~ Blessings~*~

Age appropriate for about second grade readers, but can work with any age. Great learning resource for kids especially with parent help.

This is a great book for children and is written clearly for the age group. There are no pictures to catch the child's interest, but then again, they encourage the reader to draw their OWN pictures, which is helpful for them to relate the information presented in their own lives. The chapter on esbats and sabbats were spot on and was, by far, the best explained section. Some of the chapters got a little more difficult for the age group it was intended for i.e.: spells, divination etc. It just depends on the maturity of the child in question, of course, so parents use your best judgement. In all, a wonderful book for blossoming young witches!

this is a wonderful book i originally bought it for my 10yr old son but but it has been a wonderful resource for all of the kids and i must say as a really easy teaching tool for my husband and my self as well written in very basic format and simple text perfect for younger children to read then they can come and ask questions

I was so excited to see this book! After reading it, I can't wait to get the next one in the series! It's perfect for kids!

My daughter was not enjoying going to Circle because she didn't relate to the symbols and rituals. But after reading this book and doing the lessons, she finally "gets it" and has begun designing rituals on her own with her stuffed animal "coven" (too cute!) The book is divided into bite-sized lessons, neither patronizing nor overly informative (TMI!), perfect for a child's attention span.

Pros:

*Well written

* Complete magickal education

*Easy enough to read for most 3rd graders

Cons:

* It is not for a first grader at all

*No pictures

*not enough hands on work and too many written tests