Little Bits of Life: Hewitt Homeschooling Resources Review

I have an official 7th grader in just a few short weeks. Since we have already finished our Literature for the year we have got a jump start on our Grade 7 Lightning Lit Set. by Hewitt Homeschooling Resources. We reviewed for them a while back with the elementary series and were very happy with it so I was excited to give the Jr high set a try.

What we got:
Lightning Lit: Gr-7 Student's Guide
Lightning Lit: Gr-7 Workbook
Lightning Lit: Gr-7 Teacher's Guide

What I had to order:
Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Helen Keller
Stories & Poems f/ Intelligent Children
All Creatures Great and Small

If you are ordering from the Hewitt Homeschooling Resources site you can get a package deal with the reading books included or you can just order the curriculum and obtain your reading books independently. I was able to locate almost all the book at a local library or the online library with the exception of the book Stories & Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children of All Ages. How ever you do have to watch which editions the books are or the page numbers/chapters may be a little off from what is in the student guide. I ended up deciding to just buy the books because it was just easier for us being so rural.

The Student guide contains the lessons that your child will do. It has lessons on plot, creativity, autobiography, character sketches, brainstorming, outlining, writing, instructions on poetry etc. The workpages are what gives your student practice on the concepts that are taught in the student guide. The teachers guide has explanations on the course, a weekly lesson plan, answers to the comprehension questions and the workbook pages, It has some extra suggestions for the lessons and information you will need to know about the writing exercises.

I feel that this is a very easy program to follow. My oldest is able to navigate this mostly on her own with me checking answers and fielding questions when she comes upon something she just doesn't get. I love the book selection they are all classic stories that I loved as a 6th and 7th grader. The selection of books is well rounded and includes some poetry. My daughter is currently reading and working through the Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Every day she comes to me to tell me some thing Tom did that she found cleaver or funny. She says she feel that the explanations in the student guide are a bit wordy but doable for the most part. She reports that the student workpages are spot on and easy to figure out.

The weekly lesson plan was a little different than the usual daily lesson plan that we have been used to with other programs. How ever with her being in 7th grade it gives her a little more practice at budgeting her time. This is how I have been doing it. At the beginning of the week I write down what lessons are required for the week on her marker board. She is then responsible for deciding when and how she wants to get those lessons completed. She has done very well with keeping up with each weeks assignments. I am pleased with the amount of work she needs to do each week. I feel like it is neither too much nor to little for her age and grade level. She starts off reading the lesson in the student guide then she moves on to any reading that need to be done in the book (Tom Sawyer at the moment) and lastly she will do the workbook pages. If she has questions she ask them as needed. If not she submits all of the weeks assignments to me on Friday and I grade them. Anything she gets wrong we sit down together and discuss it. My biggest challenge is grading the writing assignments. The teachers guide does give you some guidelines but I still find grading this part hard.

Over all I can recommend Lightening Lit grade 7 as a well rounded lit program. I feel that it doesn't cover enough grammar so you will most likely need a grammar supplement or some sort. It is reading intensive program so a reluctant reader might struggle with all the reading. How ever the books are engaging and fun and the workbook assignments are short enough not to be over whelming.

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