Those loving great literature and unit studies will enjoy the combination that Margie Gray of Cadron Creek www.cadroncreek.com has put together.  She is a homeschooling mom who was looking for a certain curriculum and couldn't find it, so created her own.  I have had experience with both Where the Brook and River Meet (Green Gables) and Prairie Primer (Little House).  Because I don't care much for CS Lewis and some of his philosophies I have not looked at Further Up and Further In, but for Narnia fans this may merit a look! 

Where the Brook and River Meet and Prairie Primer are set up similiarly, but I will tell about each separately.   Each unit study recommends that you add in Math, Spelling and Grammar.  Where the Brook and River Meet suggests also adding Science, Latin, and some History.   I would do a foreign language instead of Latin. I don't have a problem with the amount of history in it, though.

My version of Prairie Primer is an older version but the newer one is set up in the same way.   It is mainly used for grades 3-6, but I have adapted it for younger and older students.  I hope as a homeschooler, you realize that you do not need to do everything as given in ANY curriculum.  You have the freedom to change things to suit your needs.  Take out what you don't need or like and add in something your  family might enjoy doing.  For example, since we talked about blood on Day 3, I added watching the Moody Science video "River of Life" and had "Jack-Jack" do a poster of blood cells.  I also printed out puzzle cards of different "blood" terms.

We began Prairie Primer with the "Little House on the Prairie" book.  Each book takes approximately 4 weeks to go through.  Background information for "Little House on the Prairie" is given on settlers, Indians, and the beginnings of the US postal service.  General activities to do throughout the unit are listed for organizational purposes.  Each week has a useful planning guide with items needed to be gathered, suggested field trips, and book or research information needed.  The one thing about this curriculum is that you need to plan way ahead to be able to gather the books and research materials that you need.   If you cannot find a particular resource listed, then substitute one from your local library.  Really, it is okay!!

Next, is each day's lesson plan.  (I love when lesson plans are already done for me, so that tweaking is all I need to do!)  Reading comprehension questions are given for each chapter.  I just discuss these with the students. Various activities from the story but relating to Bible, Science, Geography, etc are given.  The Living activities are unique.  One was to trade labor with brother or sister just as Pa and Mr. Edwards did in building their cabins.

The Prairie Primer also has a list of topics covered ( from bathing/hygiene to Thomas Edison to hyperbole to the water cycle and much more!).  Directions on how to use the Prairie Primer and make the most of it assist the parent.  I appreciated the writing scope and sequence listed for grades 3-6.  The scope and sequence help the parent to know what skills each grade needs.  My children, even the boys, have enjoyed using this curriculum.  I did not assign the book to be read by the children, but instead read aloud to all three.  If you have loved the Little House series as I have, you may want to use this as your major curriculum or just pick one book a year to go through for something different for your students.  At $50 for The Prairie Primer  you do not need to feel like you must use every single bit to get your money's worth. 

Anne Shirley is one of my favorite heroines in literature.  Her use of language is beautiful and the Disney movies based on L. M. Montgomery 's books capture Anne just as I imagined her.  Therefore, I was very anxious to introduce my only daughter to the books my grandmother introduced to me.   Where the Brook and River Meet  ($65) is a huge geared-for-high-school curriculum, though jr. high students could also use this program.   A list of earnable high school credits is given.    

"Violet" began working through the assignments on her own.  As she began, I realized that it would be better to wait until she was in high school to actually go through the complete unit.   The main reason is that I really like the Victorian literature that is introduced and want her to be old enough to digest it.  I did not get into that type of literature until college, but wished I would have earlier.  "Violet" enjoyed starting the unit and it was not too difficult for her except for the literature aspect.  Anne's Anthology  ($30) is essential to understanding the literature.  I really like the use of Writer's Inc.  ($23) to teach writing skills.  The Annotated Anne of Green Gables   ($45)  gives the complete text of the book along with tons of notes throughout the story.  I really prefer to use this instead of the smaller paperback book.    All three of the above books are essential to make this WBRM curriculum work. 

Throughout the unit, other books are needed but many of these I either have or am able to get through my library.  Each week the student decides which contract reading choices they want for an A, B, or C grade.  The first chapter's assignment had "Violet" reading Job and a biography of George Mueller.  Books could be substituted if the ones listed could not be found.  Reading comprehension questions are also given for each chapter.

Where the Brook and River Meet is set up like Prairie Primer.  The introduction at the beginning helps the parent get started on the curriculum.  Each chapter has a planning guide which tells the items to gather and research topics for that week.    Mrs. Gray reminds you to choose from those topics OR YOUR OWN based on the reading.  Once again, this curriculum wants to help you , not bog you down!  The weekly lesson plan is in a different format, but still easy to follow.  You can always add more to a topic or add a totally different topic if your child has an interest.

The back of the book has appendices dealing with background information (very interesting!), activity directions, quizzes, final exam, resource list for hard to obtain resources, list of topics covered (this is huge), and answers to the reading comprehension questions,  quizzes and final.

I love, love, love  both The Prairie Primer and Where the Brook and River Meet.   It is a program which will take some gathering time and some additional purchases or adjustments.  Teaching with these, I learned new information even though I have read and reread both sets of books countless times.   I do plan to take a look at Further up and Further In because maybe my sons would enjoy that one.  I really don't think they'd get into Where the Brook and River Meet as they have The Prairie Primer.

www.cadroncreek.com    (Just in case some of you may not realize what a literature-based unit study does, I would like to add in what the Cadron Creek newspaper catalog says.  "It opens the door to in-depth literature studies, to an era, to a study of the sciences, to life application, to increased writing proficiency, to the mechanics of language, to instilling the value of scholarship, to growth in character, to easier, more effective instruction."  What a great summation!)