Exposing Michael and Therese to great literature has always been important to me. When I saw a new literature and writing course from Hewitt Homeschooling Resources, I knew I wanted a chance to review it with the kids. We were chosen to review the British Medieval high school course. Having them read works by the great authors was a fantastic way to have them learn a wide variety vocabulary words and learn how to write their own great papers.
Hewitt Homeschooling Resources is a company that provides homeschooling families with a wide variety of resources o use in their everyday lesson. They offer students from Kindergarten through high school curriculum that focuses on great literature and great composition skills to carry them through life.
What is British Medieval Lightning Lit Set?
For this review, we received a physical copy of the British Medieval Student's Guide and the British Medieval Teacher's Guide. We checked out the first selection, Beowulf, from our local library.
When ordering, the entire British Medieval Lightning Literature and Composition Pack can be purchased. This set includes the student guide, teacher's guide, and the great works of literature read during this course:Beowulf, Piers the Ploughman, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Canterbury Tales.
After a very thorough introduction to the course, the student guide is broken up into 4 Units. The introduction explains to the students why we should study read great works of literature, how to read poetry, why it's important to learn how to write well, and how to use the student guide during the course. The four units are broken up into two lessons. The first lesson in the unit deals with one of the four works of literature and its author.
Unit 1~ Beowulf
Unit 2~ Piers the Ploughman
Unit 3~ Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Unit 4~ The Canterbury Tales
The second lesson usually covers a smaller works of literature and its author. This smaller piece of literature is included in the student guide.
Each lesson is divided into different sections for the student to work through.
~Introduction~
A brief summary of the historical context of the work that is being studied. This will help the student understand the work of literature better.
~Read the Selection~
This is the poem or story that is being taught for that lesson. These selections should be the book length works, not the abridged.
~Questions to Consider While Reading the Selection~
This is a short list of questions for the student to keep in mind while they read the selection. These questions will help the student work through the literary lesson that will follow.
~Comprehension Questions~
These are short answer or multiple-choice questions that help the student with their understanding of the work. The questions for the books are broken up into chapters. Students can answer the questions after the selected chapters or wait until they have finished the book. For the shorter selections included in the student guide, students can read the until work and then answer the questions. Answers to the questions are included in the teacher's guide for quick and easy access.
~Literary Lessons~
Each selection has a literary lesson that covers one major topic. Students working through the British Medieval Set will learn about foreshadowing, metaphors, allegories, theater, tone, biographies, and humor.
~Writing Exercises~
This is the section where the student gets to write! All the writing exercises cover the selection read for that lesson or the literary concept that is being taught. For the book length selections, students should complete at least two writing exercises. For the shorter selections, they should do at least one wiring exercise. Students are given 4 or more writing exercises to chose from.
~Perspectives~
These are short articles that students should read at the end of the unit. They offer students a little more insight to the selection by introducing topics that are important to understanding the time period or selection. Not all the units have a perspective section.
What Did We Think of British Medieval Lightning Lit and Composition?
My goal for this course was to use it along side of our history curriculum. Our history curriculum is literature based, so both Michael and Therese read a lot of books. I chose the British Medieval set because we were heading into this particular time period with history. We'll go even deeper into this time period next fall when we start back up. Our history curriculum already had a few of this titles listed for them to read, so I just added the other works into our lessons.
I love combining classes when I can. Read a book, learn some history, answer a few questions, write a paper, and we've taken care of history and English at the same time. Since we were adding this to our current lessons, we've been working through it a little slower. We've been taking longer to read the selection of Beowulf, so neither of the kids have written a paper yet.
Due to our slower pace and an unforeseen event (Michael heading to the Olympic Training Center for a camp) during the last few weeks, we did get into Unit 1 and the study of Beowulf as far as I would have liked. Sometime we just have to go with the flow of life.
Both Michael and Therese began reading Beowulf and have found it a little different from what they have read so far this year. They do like it better than Shakespeare. Neither one has liked all the comprehension questions, so we decided to do a few questions orally and then do a few in their notebook. I think part of this complaining was because it was getting close to the end of the year. We have officially stopped schooling for this year. The kids will finish reading Beowulf over the next few weeks and then we'll stop and pick up the course again next September.
The teacher's guide is great! it provides a brief introduction to the course and the student book. There is a wonderful section that explains how to grade and even has a few grading templates that can be used when grading the student's writing assignments. A recommended schedule to follow is included. This is the same one in the student book. The last section of the teacher's guide is all the answers to the questions in the student book.
I loved the additional resources at the back of the student book. There were three appendices.
Appendix A~ Discussion Question for extension projects
Appendix B~ Additional Reading selections for medieval British literature
(great for an honors course)
Appendix C~ Schedules
2 schedules (semester course or full year course)
I was thrilled to see additional ideas to take this course even further. I loved the idea of keeping a vocabulary notebook and a reading journal. Both of these suggestions are a fantastic way to encourage growth in your students literary understanding and writing skills. A fun idea suggested was family movie night. After reading the selection and completing the unit have a fun, family movie night. Try to find a few adaptations of the book, pop some popcorn, and sit back and enjoy.
The course is amazing. It uses a wonderful selection of great, historical living books. The depth achieved in the units brings the literature to life. I know when Michael and Therese finish this course they will have a strong understanding of British Medieval literature. They will be prepared for whatever college and life throws at them.
The crew were given a wide selection of resources to review.
~Elementary ~
~Junior High~
We reviewed this one a few years ago. You can read our review here.
~High School~
Just click below to read more reviews the homeschool crew did for the various resources offered from Hewitt Homeschooling Resources!
Till Next Time,
Monique
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