A lot of us have heard about Total Language Plus and Progeny Press, which are excellent literature study guides. I have come across one that has a different twist. It is called Latitudes by Perfection Learning. It is an upper level course that helps students understand the time period the book was written in and how that connects to the content of the book. Use of a timeline ,newspaper articles, other books and writings of the period etc. help the student understand the book more. Questions and activities are suggested as well as more involoved student projects Questions given are for discussion only and there are no answers. Check it out at http://www.perfectionlearning.comor http://www.rainbowresource.com. Note, this is not a Christian based literature, so be cautious.

Time4learning has a special for April. The first month is only $4.99. This will give you a good chance to try out this program at an even more reasonable price than the regular $19.99 per month Offer ends April 30. You can go to their website, http://www.time4learning.com to try a sample and check out what they have to offer.

THE STORY OF MOVIES

This is a middle-school curriculum using 3 American film classics to teach life lessons. Being an old movie buff myself, this caught my attention. The 3 films are The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), and To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), which are some of my favorites. The movies have a some important things in common-children in key roles, �one person who is making a difference, and a distinctive style of storytelling. Another goal of the curriculum is to teach children to embrace the cause of �preserving older films. There are plans to include a curriculum for upper-elementary grades using silent films and comedies and one for high school with an emphasis on animation and the technology behind it. Now of course this curriculum is coming out of Hollywood, so we do want to be careful about what it is teaching. The materials can be downloaded free at www.storyofmovies.org.