Literary Adventures for Kids Overview: Everything You Need to Know

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Literary Adventures for Kids is a literature-based homeschool language arts curriculum for elementary, middle school, and high school grade levels. There are also a few unit study courses for other subjects. I have used several of the courses over my many years of homeschooling. This Literary Adventures for Kids overview will discuss the educational philosophy of the curriculum, explore the courses, evaluate pros and cons, and answer frequently asked questions.

Literary Adventures for Kids Overview

Literary Adventures for Kids overview written above a full bookshelf and a computer

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What is Literary Adventures for Kids

Literary Adventures for Kids is a comprehensive language arts curriculum. It is different from most other language arts curricula because this one program teaches all language arts strands. Grammar, vocabulary, spelling, writing, and reading comprehension are all taught through literature. This allows students of all ages to enjoy language arts.

The program contains ‘book clubs’. They are book studies that are designed to be as engaging as a traditional book club.

There are two ways to create a year-long Literary Adventures for Kids plan:

  • Memberships
  • Yearly bundles
  • Choose your own courses

Memberships

The Readers Guild is an annual membership program for the entire family. It features approximately 200 titles, for elementary all the way through high school. This membership includes roughly 200 book clubs, monthly live book clubs (online), workshops, live poetry teatimes, instructor feedback, and office hours.

The Literary Adventures Clubhouse is an annual membership for elementary and middle school students. The premium membership gives you access to every elementary and middle school book club, monthly live virtual book clubs and poetry teatimes, writing feedback, and office hours. The Lite Clubhouse membership includes access to the elementary and middle school book clubs and teacher feedback.

The Society of Literary Adventurers is an annual membership for high school students. The premium membership makes it easy to teach high school language arts. It includes dozens of online courses, monthly interactive book clubs, workshops for parents, and instructor feedback. The Lite Society membership includes access to the online book clubs and instructor feedback.

Yearly bundles

Yearly bundles consist of 10 pre-selected book clubs. Students can move through the program at their own pace, but typically complete one book club each month. Students will learn all language arts skills through the book clubs. This might be a great option if you want to use the program all year, but don’t want to have to select each book club.

The bundle options include:

Choose Your Own Courses

You also have the option of choosing each individual course. This allows you complete flexibility. You could choose to use a course for a month as a way to try out Literary Adventures for Kids. You could supplement another program with a chosen course. Or you can create a year-long plan by combining approximately 10 courses.

Literary Adventures for Kids Products

Book Clubs

The online book clubs are intended to take one month to complete. During that time, students read the book, learn vocabulary words, understand grammar rules, practice spelling, enjoy hands-on projects, and complete writing projects. The self-paced book clubs end with a little celebration.

There are options for picture books or novel studies. There are too many options to list individually, so I will just share a few from each section. The individual book clubs are organized by grade:

Early Elementary School

Upper Elementary School

Middle School

High School

Writing Instruction

Most Literary Adventures for Kids products include writing assignments, but there are several courses specifically designed to teach writing. They are both 12-week courses and are intended for advanced middle school or high school students. The flexible format includes both live classes and a self-paced option.

  • Academic Writing 1 – Students will develop academic writing skills through literary analysis, peer review, and participation in writing lab assignments.
  • Creative Writing 1 – The Creative Writing course does not include essays. Instead, it teaches students to express themselves through writing.
  • How to Write a Research Paper – This 4-week course will guide students through the process of crafting a well-written research paper. It begins with choosing the topic and conducting research and ends with a finished paper written in MLA style.

Other Literary Adventures for Kids Products

There are a few products that do not fit neatly under the book clubs or writing instruction headings. They are great products, so I wanted to make sure I mentioned them.

  • Psychology – This is a semester-long unit study that teaches high school psychology. My daughter took this exact course when she was in high school. She enjoyed it and said that it made her college psychology class easy because Ms. Dachelle already taught her everything she needed to know. It is currently free!
  • A Study of Japan – This unit study course teaches high school students about the historical events, culture, and geography of Japan. The work is worth one high school history credit.
  • Discover Italy – This history and geography course is created for the whole family. There are lessons for elementary through high school.
  • Exploring Your Backyard – This nature study for elementary students teaches math, science, language arts, and art while exploring your very own backyard.

Pros

  • Flexible scheduling
  • Wide variety of book clubs available
  • Includes hands-on activities
  • Digital products make it easy to start right away
  • Courses were created by a trained teacher
  • Require very little planning
  • High school courses are fairly independent

Cons

  • Need to purchase or borrow the books separately
  • Is an online program, so it requires internet access

My Favorite Literary Adventures for Kids Courses

My daughter enjoyed multiple Literary Adventures for Kids courses during her homeschool days. As I mentioned above, she was a fan of the Psychology course. She also loved the Poetry Teatime – Holiday Edition. Each month she invited a few friends over, and they worked through the holiday poems for that month. The guide made it easy because it did all of the planning. I just found the poems online, prepared the suggested snacks, and my daughter decorated with the recommended decorations. It made it easy to make these homeschool memories.

I really liked the Poetry and a Movie course. My daughter took that course in 9th grade as a hybrid class in our homeschool co-op. The homeschool co-op teacher, another homeschooling mom, taught twice a month. Students were expected to complete the work at home. Then, one week, she would review the literary elements taught through that poet. Two weeks later, they would watch the recommended movie. I really liked that it made poetry relevant to the real world.

FAQ

How much parental involvement is required?

The amount of parental involvement decreases with age or grade level. Young kids will need their parents to read the books and orchestrate the party celebrations. High school students will only need their parents to grade their assignments.

Who is Literary Adventures for Kids best for?

Literary Adventures for Kids is best for kids who enjoy reading. You will also need internet access.

Is Literary Adventures for Kids Secular or Christian?

This curriculum is neutral. Other than the Scripture a Day course, religion is not taught.

Does this language arts curriculum follow a Charlotte Mason methodology?

While it is not a strict Charlotte Mason curriculum, Literary Adventures for Kids does include parts of the methodology. There is a big emphasis on living books in the book clubs. There are also nature studies for the nature book clubs.

Where should I start?

I think a great way to start is to try one of the free courses. This will let you get a feel for Literary Adventures for Kids. If you like the format of the course, then there is very little risk in investing in another book club or membership.

I hope this Literary Adventures for Kids overview helped you discover new resources for your homeschool.

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Welcome! My name is Jennifer. I am a teacher at heart. Before my children were born I was a public school teacher. Now, I am a homeschooling mom of two.