In Disguise on the Underground Railroad: A Graphic Novel Biography of Anna Marie Weems (Barrier Breakers)

If you have a reluctant reader that struggles with reading books you assign for school and prefers comic books to library books, you might want to try out one of these visually-oriented topical history titles. Each 32-page book explores an event from American or world history in a format very similar to a comic book. Text is conveyed through boxes of narration and dialogue balloons, accompanied by full-page, dramatic full-color illustrations and scenes. Additional facts, a glossary, suggested internet sites, recommended reading, a bibliography, and an index are included as well. While the text is fairly minimal, the essence of each event comes across pretty well here, and each title is a fast read. Although a serious reader will not get much out of these, they offer a viable alternative to struggling or reluctant readers, filling their minds with something more educational - and real - than typical comic-book heroics. - Jess

Neither intensive nor too informal, this curriculum strikes an excellent balance in beginning instruction. Lessons focus on reading skills, but also touch on math, science, Bible, art, creative thinking and children's literature. In all, there are 166 daily lessons in the program. Both Reading Plan and Activity Guides are used for five days; only the Activity Guide is used for the sixth. Each lesson takes five days to complete, and 60-90 minutes daily.

Beginning reading lessons are systematic and thorough, using tactile, visual, and auditory methods to teach children letters and letter sounds. The corresponding letter flashcards are beautifully illustrated with animals and other items from God's creation. Letters are not introduced in alphabetical order, but in an order to facilitate early blending into words (for early reinforcement of phonetic skills) and to correspond with elements of creation ("S" is introduced first along with a science lesson about the Sun. Students also construct a sundial, make raisins, paint a sun and see how, like the sun, Jesus is the light of the world. Textured letters are integral to the lessons (see below), as are the flashcards. Handwriting is also incorporated into the Reading Plan, as are various games, songs, drawing, cut & paste, and other reinforcing activities. By lesson 6, children begin blending letter sounds into simple words. By the end, they'll be reading simple stories. The Reading Plan contains five daily lesson plans for each of the 26 lessons. Day 1 is an introduction to the letter via textured letter, flashcard, "A-a-Apple Song," worktext page, and other "hands-on" letter activity. On Day 2, children sing the Short Vowel Song (starting in lesson 4) verses containing letters they've studied, work their handwriting page, do a letter activity, and practice sound discrimination. More reinforcement activities including letter sound practice, singing the letter song, and blending (starting in lesson 6), follow on Day 3 along with working a cut & paste worksheet, playing letter sound Bingo, and a Number Review. Day 4 continues with singing the special A-B-C song, and several more blending activities (starting in lesson 6). Children also complete a Word List Page (starting in lesson 6), and construct a Cut and Paste or Story page from their worksheets (starting in lesson 9). Day 5 provides final review and reinforcement activities including songs, blending activities, drawing pages, and worksheet page.

The flashcards used throughout the Reading Plan have illustrations corresponding to the science topic for the day, as well. Lessons for these activities are contained separately in 26 activity guides focusing on science, Bible, math, art, creative thinking and children's literature. Like the Reading Plan, these are broken down into daily lessons. Day 1 is a introductory and fact-gathering day for the topic, along with presentation of the Biblical concept. Days 2-5 develop the topic using different activities. The unit on Rocks, for example, has children collect rocks and study Bible verses which use rocks as illustrations (Deut. 32:4, James 1:22, Matt 7:24-27). There's also a chorus of a hymn to sing. On Day 3, children count the rocks and classify them in several different ways, then put them in order from large to small, then practice ordinal positioning. After this, students construct a badge from paper (the badges are a recurring activity, giving students a visual remembrance and record of each letter/topic they study throughout the curriculum). Day 4 has them building a model volcano from clay and erupting it. On Day 5, students conduct an experiment with rocks, following the Scientific Method.

New for 2017 is the 2nd edition of the teacher's manual. Previous versions had six days of activities (with lower-key activities on the sixth day) which have now been reorganized into five days of activities. New edition also includes new Christmas and Fruit of the Spirit units, some new activities and an updated library booklist.