After reviewing the Frog and Toad Together Study Guide from Progeny Press last year, I was excited for another Progeny Press review opportunity. Progeny Press offers a wide variety of study guides to compliment a variety of books for grades K-12. For our review we received the Miss Rumphius E-Guide.

The Miss Rumphius E-Guide is a Study Guide for the book Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. I, personally, opted to purchase the book online for use on my iPad. Many of the books for which the study guides are created can be found in the Library or purchased as a physical copy as well. I used the Study Guide with our older two children who are ages 7 and 9. We used the study guide 3-4 times per week in addition to our Language Arts Curriculum. Each lesson takes around twenty to thirty minutes for us. It was simple to work it into our homeschool day and it is easy to follow.
The E-Guide is a 43 page study guide downloaded as a PDF file to any advice on which you can download a PDF. The E-Guide can be printed for one or more children within the home. If you have other children, the file can be easily saved to your computer or device for use with your other children when they are that age. This is definitely something I appreciate!
This Study Guide first begins with a “Note to the Instructor,” which explains in detail the purpose of the Study Guides offered by Progeny Press. It notes other resources you may need such as a Bible, dictionary and thesaurus. I admit, though, I generally just access the internet for answers.
Next, it shares the Synopsis for Miss Rumphius. As this was not a book I have read, I really appreciated being able to read a quick synopsis before reading the book to our children. Likewise, I also appreciated the next page which was information about the book’s author and illustrator.

The Miss Rumphius Study Guide breaks contains three main sections that are between 6-8 pages. Although I first thought we would do one section in a day, I realized that wasn’t the best approach for our children as they both have special needs. They do better and comprehend more when we do small chunks at a time. So with the 3-4 days per week we would finish one section per week. I found it was helpful to read the book in its entirety each day, though I think with children with good comprehension skills this may not be necessary.
Many of the questions in the Study Guide are open ended comprehension type questions. It takes the information from the story and asks questions that make them think about how it is applicable in our lives while also helping the children recognize and reinforce what we read. It was definitely a good fit for our kids and encouraged them to not only retain the information but see how it applies as well. I love how it frequently references Bible verses that relate to both the story and our lives.
This year I did print out the guide and challenge our children to write their answers – even though this meant I usually had to write their answer on the white board so they can copy it. Practicing writing skills is always an advantage!
In addition to the questions, there were also a variety of activities in the Miss Rumphius Study Guide. We are an outdoors family, and I love that this Study Guide involved exploring things in the great outdoors. We got to search for seeds and plant flowers. We were also encouraged to learn more about our heritage and make a special gift containing something meaningful from our area. Plus, there were many “After your Read” activities as well, which was really great for taking things further.
At the end of the study guide it also shared related resources. These included other books by the author as well as the illustrator. They also a variety of Books of Related Interest. Plus, the Answer Key was included at the end as well.
Overall, we once again really enjoyed this great resource from Progeny Press! Be sure to connect with Progeny Press on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube
Members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew reviewed a variety of study guides from Progeny Press for all grade levels. Check out all the reviews by clicking on the button below!