Literary Adventures for Kids: A Homeschool Literature Review

Last spring, I was talking with a fellow homeschool mom and was nearly in tears. It was an overwhelming season in our home, and I felt even more overwhelmed by what was coming — two kiddos in high school. Choosing curricula that balanced the current needs of two teen boys + the preparation they need for post-high school life while also considering their extracurriculars, a couple of road trips/extended travel, and my own commitments, was making it hard to breathe.

For most of our homeschool journey, we haven’t used a literature curriculum.  We’d choose all sorts of books, add some discussion and the occasional writing project, and then move on to the next one. But as I faced having two kids in high school, I needed some easy curriculum picks if we were going to make it through this unscathed.

A fellow homeschool mom suggested Literary Adventures for Kids (which just happened to be on sale!) as a hands-off program, and there are so many titles that we could use for the rest of high school — a one-and-done decision.

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What is Literary Adventures for Kids?

First, don’t be fooled by the name — Literary Adventures for Kids offers curricula for your elementary kiddos all the way through high school.

The online book clubs aren’t book clubs in the way you may be thinking. Instead, I’d call it a mini-unit study.

• You can use them “a la carte” by purchasing individual book clubs for the specific books your young readers have on their reading list.
• There are bundles available if you’d rather have someone else choose the books. (Easy decisions, FTW!)
• Finally, there is a subscription option that includes full access to all courses, as well as live events.

1. SELF-PACED BOOK CLUBS

These online book clubs are self-paced, month-long studies that consist of a novel, grammar & spelling, writing projects, hands-on activities, and rabbit trails.

With about 200 courses for elementary, middle school, and high school, these book clubs are easy to use all school year or here & there to break up your other literature curriculum. They also offer book bundles, which are perfect for a one-and-done curriculum choice.

2. MONTHLY MEMBERSHIPS

The membership program is a great way to mark off literature for everyone in your family. Inside, you’ll have access to all of the self-paced book clubs, live virtual poetry teatimes, and monthly live book clubs for elementary, middle school, and high school. For support, there are office hours, workshops for moms, and a private community.

There are three levels of membership, so you can choose the one that’s right for your family. Only high school kiddos? Choose The Society of Literary Adventurers. Are all of your students in elementary or middle school? The Literary Adventures Clubhouse is for you. Do you have kiddos in both groups? The Literary Adventures Readers’ Guild is an all-access membership.

Tell me what a day or week looks like.

What it actually looks like to use a curriculum is always one of my first questions.

Each course is divided into four parts/weeks. In Number the Stars, week 1, my son:

• Read two chapters
• Completed copywork & grammar (one day)
• In the Rabbit Trails, he learned about Copenhagen, King Christian, and the Dutch language, through embedded videos & articles.
• Learned to finger crochet

Each day, he worked about 20-30 minutes. My high school kiddo works 30-45 minutes a day on the high school-level courses with similar tasks.

Reason #1 — The price is right.

We outsource a class or two for each kiddo every year, but those costs add up quickly. But if you don’t pay with your money, you’re paying with your time. And, in this season of life, both are valuable.

Since these online book studies are done for me and are inexpensive, I was all ears! That’s not a combination you find very often.

And the price is even better for you when you save 20% with code BREAK.

Reason #2 — All the side trails!

I love designing little units around a topic in history or science. In my ideal world, I’d do it for literature, too. But I have a hard time getting creative & figuring out good questions. But Literary Adventures for Kids takes it further — she includes a variety of writing activities and grammar and spelling.

Then, she takes it even further with little rabbit trails — curious side topics that place the book in a historical or geographical context, explore the cultures in the book, introduce the author, and more. We’ve folded origami stars as we read Number the Stars, designed a “perfect” community in Animal Farm, and “walked” on Google Maps to explore the geography of Frankenstein.  

These rabbit trails may be tempting to skip — but you shouldn’t! Besides the interesting details you’ll learn, I’m a big fan of encouraging curiosity and learning that doesn’t ‘tick a box,’ especially for older kids. High school students spend so much of their day ticking boxes and doing “boring” work. If I can find a fun way to break up the tedious work, I do.

Reason #3 — Create the year you want.

Whatever kind of school year you want to design is possible with Literary Adventures for Kids.

• Alternate between these & Fishtank units (or whatever literature studies you love).
• Design a year of reading female authors, banned books, or books that align with your history.
• Split literature and writing so you do one semester of book studies and one semester of intensive writing.

If you are drowning in decisions, choose a pre-made bundle and call it done. We grabbed the British literature bundle for my older son. Since his English credit includes another writing program, we’re spreading this bundle over his last two years of high school.

Is it a complete high school program?

Whether to assign a full language arts credit to a year of these online book clubs will vary depending on the homeschool. In our home, I chose not to do so. The grammar and spelling are a handy review, but it’s pretty basic, so your student may need more.

The biggest weakness for us, though, is in the writing. While writing activities are included, they aren’t actually graded, and the feedback is more of a response than critical feedback. For the price, of course, it’s what I would expect. But it won’t help to improve your students’ writing, which is critical in our homeschool. We’re supplementing his writing using Write at Home.

tl;dr

• Choose from individual book studies & an all-inclusive membership program
• The price, the rabbit trails, and a custom year are three reasons we love it.
• Not ready to purchase? Try out one of her free book clubs.
• Save 20% with code BREAK.