Review of Progeny Press Dragon's Hoard Study Guide

     My girls have worked through several different Progeny Press study guides in the past, but The Dragon's Hoard was the first of the elementary versions that we have tried. For this review, we received a download of Progeny Press's study guide and the physical book The Dragon's Hoard.

     Joseph likes to read out loud.  My 4th grader (who is in the grade range that the book was designed for) read The Dragon's Hoard book then together we worked through the study guide. One of the first activities was looking up the words fear, worry, and courage. Joseph has learned how to use a dictionary, but with this digital resource he worked with me looking up words online.

     The interactive pdf document contained activities including vocabulary, creative writing, and literary components. He created similes using examples from the story and looked up Scripture references which further explained vocabulary words. Additional activities suggested ideas for community outreach. We have not focused much on literary components so some of the activities involved concepts that were new to my eight year old such as anthropomorphism. Even though it was unfamiliar, after the explanation provided in the lesson, he was able to find an example in the story and even come up with a new one on his own.

     Below is an example of one of the "dig deeper" questions which led to interesting discussions with my son.

"It has often been said that courage is not the lack of fear, but is doing what needs to be done in spite of the fear. Do you agree? Why or why not?" 

     After the activities that were at times difficult for him, Joseph was happy to see the fun and easy word search. It wasn't quite as easy as he thought it would be. Though we completed this study guide, we are continuing to use words as part of his spelling list and complete more examples to solidify his understanding of some of the new concepts. Upon completing it, he expressed interest in the "soon to be released" sequels The Red Queen, The Winter Wolves, and The Pirate Cave. This study guide is available for $15.99 as a download and the book is $9.99. The 64 page book includes illustrations.

     The author Rebecca Gilleland created The Hall of Doors series which star her own children in an imagined world similar to Narnia. Dragons, unicorns, elves, and treasure are just some of the exciting things we read about. Though designed for young readers, my 13 year old recently expressed interest in fantasy books. She was able to read the entire book in less than fifteen minutes.