Embracing a Healthy Family: Lightning Lit

Writing is an important subject in our little homeschool because we all love to write. Someone is always writing a story and when we were provided Hewitt Homeschooling Resources' Grade 8 Lightning Literature and Composition Set to review, I was more than happy to see how my 8th grader would like it. She's hard to please and usually resistant to new curriculum. Were her expectations met? Keep reading to find out more!

We received three books:

Lightning Lit & Comp: Eighth Grade Literature & Composition Student's Guide;
Lightning Lit & Comp: Eighth Grade Literature & Composition Workbook; and
Lightning Lit & Comp: Eighth Grade Literature & Composition Teacher's Guide.

The set is to ready junior high students for high school composition skills by using some of literature's great works. With the three books, seven other books are required to complete the lessons:

Treasure Island;
A Day of Pleasure;
A Christmas Carol;
The Hobbit;
My Family and Other Animals;
To Kill a Mockingbird; and
Stories and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children of All Ages.

Once I was able to read the Teacher's Guide and review the Student's Guide and the Composition Workbook, I was ready to begin.

The Teacher's and Student's Guide

It has a very comprehensive Table of Contents and provides the how and why to use the curriculum. It's broken up into very easy to read sections which I love. I like to be able to quickly identify chapters and particular sections which Hewitt Homeschooling does superbly in this curriculum. They thoroughly cover every step and required book needed as well as go through the lesson instructions.

Some other key aspects I liked about the Grade 8 Lightning Literature and Composition Set is how the lessons are set up. In the Student's Guide, after the welcoming message, they provide an Introduction/While You Read section that covers the author and a brief autobiography of the author or authors. This was purposeful to my daughter as it expanded her knowledge about not only the different works of literature but also more about each author she read. As she continued, she would provide me with interesting information she learned with a bit of excitement in her voice.

The other sections include:

Vocabulary Lists which the author states clearly it's not meant to substitute a regular vocabulary curriculum and even suggests one.
Comprehension Questions follows and the author provides great instruction on how and when you might want to utilize these in the sequence of the lessons pending your child's level. This part really is critical for the child to understand as every test that I have encountered for high school and college involved a heavy reliance on how well a person can comprehend.
The Literary Lessons were one of my daughter's favorites as it focuses on settings, figurative language, and character. It's 'the heart of the Lightning Literature set.
Mini-Lessons are included in one boxed lesson per chapter to introduce other composition skills or relates to the lesson. The Teacher's Guide helps to guide on how best to utilize these with your child.
The Written Exercises are meant to be done at the end of each chapter and post the workbook questions. Within the Teacher's Guide describing all the different sections, the author does note how when correcting lessons, it's important to, 'strive to be as positive as possible.' This is very true as both my younger children take criticism fairly poorly so it's a good reminder to be gentle.

The Weekly Planning Schedule provides flexibility pending on the child's skills as well as any other curriculum you might be using such as vocabulary. Each week's assignment are not too cumbersome. My daughter had no problem completing them and actually enjoyed it. I didn't have to keep reminding her to complete them either which was nice.

The Student Guide follows the Teacher's Guide and provides all the instructions for each lesson. The vocabulary lists and comprehension questions are contained in the Student's Guide. Lesson one started out with an Author's Purpose and the corresponding section in the workbook has the student's utilize their skills in answering the questions.

The book on the left shows the page from the Student's Guide and the book on the right is an example from the workbook.

As the workbook lessons continue, they get more robust but continue to build on the last ones. She really enjoys the Literary Lessons.

She was eager to complete the lessons no matter where she was as a desk or table never stopped her.

She moved forward as Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is one of her favorites.

Overall Thoughts

My daughter really enjoyed Hewitt Homeschooling Resources' Grade 8 Lightning Literature and Composition Set and this was the first literature program that she gave me no grief in completing her lessons. It's very thorough and comprehensive. With the vocabulary words and comprehension questions, it is a well rounded curriculum especially with the Literary Lessons. Given my journalism background, it's a particular area that I want to ensure my children excel in. I would recommend the curriculum!