Homeschool Review Crew Review: Hewitt Homeschooling

Teaching my child to write well is a goal of mine after working as an English tutor in a college and reading the papers of young adults who didn't even understand the basics of writing. My son was diagnosed with Dysgraphia, a writing disability, which makes writing a daily struggle for him. When I saw the Lightning Lit Set: American Early-Mid 19th Century for grades 9 through 12 from Hewitt Homeschooling, I knew this would be an excellent set to review as my son loves learning about American History. Finding something he loves helps him stay engaged in learning, which is half the battle won.

The American Early-Mid 19th Century set comes with a Student Guide and a Teacher's Guide. In addition, you will need to either purchase or borrow from your local library four additional books: The Autobiography and Other Writings by Benjamin Franklin, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave Written by Himself by Frederick Douglass, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Moby-Dick by Herman Melville.

The Student Guide starts with an Introduction that offers students tips on how to read Literature, how to read Poetry including the various literary elements such as figurative language, and how to write comprehensive papers. Each unit starts with an Introduction, a short blurb of the reading selection, Comprehension Questions, a Literary Lesson, and Writing Exercises section.

The Teacher's Guide contains grading tips based upon various elements of writing depending upon whether it is nonfiction, fiction or poetry and includes grading templets for use on your student's assignments. It also contains schedules: one for an eighteen week semester course and another for a thirty-six week yearly study. Lastly, it contains answers to the comprehension questions from the Student Guide, writing exercises for each unit, and discussion questions as well as project suggestions.

As I mentioned previously, my son enjoys learning about American History. Therefore, the reading selections for this particular Literature Study are a perfect fit. He is learning about one of his favorite Americans: Benjamin Franklin and the Colonial Era of History with this nonfiction selection. He is also learning more about slavery and the Civil War Era from the other nonfiction selection. By engaging him in the learning process, it makes the challenge of getting him motivated much easier. Due to his Dysgraphia, a writing Learning Disability, my son struggles with writing assignments. This curriculum from Hewitt Homeschooling made it easy to adapt the lessons and requirements to meet his accommodation needs such as dictating his writing assignments. For the comprehension questions, I read them aloud and he answered them. The discussion questions were great conversation starters that allowed him to express verbally his thoughts on the particular section we were currently reading. Having curriculum that makes learning easier for him is a tremendous blessing for me as well. I strongly recommend American Early-Mid 19th Century from Hewitt Homeschooling.

Hewitt Homeschooling has a myriad of great resources for all ages. For the Elementary level, they have Grade 1 Lightning Lit Set, Grade 2 Lightning Lit Set, Grade 3 Lightning Lit Set, and My First Report. For the Junior High/Middle School, they have Grade 7 Lightning Lit Set and Grade 8 Lightning Lit Set. For High School, they have American Mid-Late 19th Century, Speech, British Early-Mid 19th Century, British Mid-Late 19th Century, British Medieval, British Christian, American Christian, Shakespeare Comedies, Shakespeare Tragedies, World Lit 1, and World Lit 2.

To learn more about American Early-Mid 19th Century and these other amazing resources from Hewitt Homeschooling, visit their Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+ pages.

To read reviews on the various curriculum available from Hewitt Homeschooling, please visit the Homeschool Review Crew.