Cricket in Times Square with Progeny Press- A Review – The Delight Directed Homeschooler

Disclaimer- I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

We were first introduced to Progeny Press last year through the Review Crew. Progeny Press is all about looking at literature through a Christian worldview. The way they teach critical thinking and analysis is fantastic. We added Progeny Press to our lesson plans last year so when the opportunity to do another review for the company came up, I was excited. We chose to use the Cricket in Times Square Study eGuide for grades 4-6. The study guide comes as a download. The download is instant and we are able to print what pages we want to use.

Covered in the study guide:

About the Author: Learn about George Selden

Background Information: Crickets in China.

Vocabulary words used throughout the novel, utilizing a variety of activities to stimulate retention and growth.

Literary Techniques: Adverbs, setting, descriptive writing, dialect, foreshadowing, in context, fact vs. opinion, similes, metaphors, theme, character traits.

Moral Lessons and Character Values: God is with us, friendship, truth, responsibility, money, giving, forgiveness, happiness.

Activities and Writing Assignments: Crickets, New York City, Chinatown, mapping, writing assignments, science, legends, talents, music, art, cooking, chopsticks.

Suggestions for Further Reading: We include a wonderful reading list of more books by the same author(s) and other books that tie in with, or are similar to, Cricket in Times Square by George Selden.

Each study guide from Progeny Press begins with a note to the instructor. This section lets you know if you need additional materials- a Bible, dictionary, and thesaurus are suggested. This section also gives you ideas on how to use the study guide with your children.

One of my favorite sections of the study guide are the pre-reading activities. This is kind of to whet the appetite of the readers before beginning the book. For this particular book, Cricket in Times Square, some of the suggested pre-reading activities included doing a report on the life cycle of a common cricket, looking up pictures of New York, checking out a map of New York, and more.

This study guide not only looks at comprehension, but also covers grammar and vocabulary. You could easily put together your language arts for the year using just the study guides from Progeny Press. In fact, that is exactly what I did with my son last year when he was in tenth grade.

Progeny Press offers study guides from lower elementary through high school. The study guides look at secular literature through a Christian worldview. What a great skill to have! Being able to take a piece of literature that is not necessarily Christian or Biblically based, but still being able to pull Biblical principles and analyze it through the lens of Scripture is a great skill to possess.

From the Book, Cricket in Times Square:

“Tucker is a streetwise city mouse. He thought he’d seen it all. But he’s never met a cricket before, which really isn’t surprising, because, along with his friend Harry Cat, Tucker lives in the very heart of New York City―the Times Square subway station. Chester Cricket never intended to leave his Connecticut meadow. He’d be there still if he hadn’t followed the entrancing aroma of liverwurst right into someone’s picnic basket. Now, like any tourist in the city, he wants to look around. And he could not have found two better guides―and friends―than Tucker and Harry. The trio have many adventures―from taking in the sights and sounds of Broadway to escaping a smoky fire.”

If you don’t already have the book you need to go with the study guide, you can purchase it as well through the Progeny Press site.

Because the Cricket in Times Square Study eGuide is designed for grades 4-6, my daughter was able to complete a lot of the work independently. This gave her a chance to really take ownership of her work and dig in at her pace and in her style. She especially liked the pre-reading activity of eating Chinese food.

Don’t worry parents! Each Progeny Press study guide also comes with a Teacher’s Key so you won’t be left scrambling to figure out the answers.