"LitWits" Reading Curriculum Review

Jenny/ November 21, 2019/ Homeschool Reviews

I had heard of LitWits but had never used one of their reading curriculum programs so I was excited to receive 4 LitWits Kits for review.  I chose “My Side of the Mountain”, “The Railway Children”, “Around the World in 80 Days” and “All Creatures Great and Small”. These are all literature based programs designed to ignite a love of books and reading in your children!

What we got? 

Obviously the books are not included and these are downloadable homeschool lesson plans so you can reprint as needed (I always love that about digital curriculum!).  I chose “My Side of the Mountain” and “The Railway Children” because we already have those books.  My son listened to them on audio book.  We chose to focus on “My Side of the Mountain” for this review.

The lesson plans are full of fun, adventurous ways to really get into the books!  There are ideas for displays, food, and activities. Here are some of the ways we used it.

• We went to the woods and pretended on huge rocks that the boys were Sam. We discussed our plans to build a treehouse out there in our secret place.

• Jake killed, skint, and butchered his own deer.

• Here’s a picture of Jake modeling the deer hide of the deer he got last year. He also saved his from this year to get tanned. We are making him a deerskin outfit like Sam’s.

• We gathered acorns (Chinkapin) to blanch, dry and roast.

I loved how this study really got the kid involved deeply in the books!

We will be going onto “The Railway Children” next. I have plans on making the desserts in it!

We haven’t read the books “Around the World in Eighty Days” or the James Herriot book “All Creatures Great and Small “. I’m looking forward to doing those in the next few months. I guess I’ll have to buy 2 new books. Oh how terrible ????

This is such a neat concept. I had never thought of all these amazing ways to make the books come alive!  But if we can ignite a true love of great books in children when they are young, then really they can learn ANYTHING!

If you’ve never read “My Side of the Mountain” then here’s a short recap (by the way, you really should, its awesome!).  A teenaged boy, Sam Gribbley runs away from his crowded New York City home to live in the Catskill Mountains.  Amazingly, his family isn’t that concerned and really just lets him be for quite a long time.  Some readers would find this unbelievable, however in a different time this really would not have been unusual at all.

In the mountains he learns to survive and not just survive but thrive, by building a wonderful home in a hemlock tree, getting skins from animals and learning to collect, store and cook wild foods.  If your child loves adventure, this book is for you!  And this literature learning program goes fantastic with it!

I hope you’ll check these out, especially if you have a child who needs to get excited about books!  Check out the other reviews at the link below!