Classical literature is an excellent way to study the less exciting aspects of grammar, punctuation, and even historical events. We recently had the opportunity to review the Heidi Comprehension Guide from Veritas Press. I appreciate the way that it reinforced the many learning topics in this classical story for the girls.

Heidi is a classical story written about a little girl who comes to live with her gruff grandfather in the mountains of Switzerland. She is a lovable and mischievous child who makes friends on the mountain. Her grandfather falls in love with the dear child, but the girl’s aunt has different plans. This story is a classic that has been made into many different drafts from the original including picture books for younger children. There have been several movies created also off the original book written by Joanna Spyri.

The Heidi Comprehension Guide written by Ginny Walls uses the original release of the Heidi book written by Joanna Spyri. You will need a copy of the book to use alongside this book. We were able to borrow a copy from our local library.

Each chapter of the story is broken down into a question and answer comprehension activity. Along with the essay style questions, there are hands-on activities included for each chapter that really bring the story of Heidi to life for your child. Some of the activities included are making soft cheese, having cheese sandwiches for lunch the way Heidi and her grandfather did, writing your own story meeting all elements of a story, learning hymns, and making a prayer chart to remain consistent in their prayers to God.

Each essay style question allows the student to bring out not only the material that they had just read but also encourages their own thoughts and opinions about events that had taken place. The Heidi Comprehension Guide encourages students to really “read between the lines” and think about their own interpretation of the text that they are reading. The girls had to think about the new relationships that Heidi was forming and the changes that her presence was making in her new home.

While using the Heidi Comprehension Guide, the girls and I enjoyed learning more about goats, making cheese, making bread, and even investigated the history of Switzerland.

The Heidi Comprehension Guide is quite easy to use. You are encouraged to have your student write in full sentences and using proper grammar. The repetitive practice of answering the essay style questions helps them to develop critical writing skills.

The Heidi Comprehension Guide was written for Fifth-grade students. I used it with my sixth-grade student. Her sister did listen to the audiobook alongside her and worked on the hands-on projects. The grammar side of the Heidi Comprehension Guide was perfect for her because of her delays in her writing skills. She is also a fan of all things hands-on, especially cooking. She thoroughly enjoyed making bread and having cheese sandwiches for lunch. Fifth grade is a great recommendation for this level, but it can easily be adapted to a couple of grades below or above with modifications.

Both of our girls really enjoyed the hands-on aspect of the Heidi Comprehension Guide. This really brought the story more to life for them. They have asked to keep working on hands-on Comprehension Guides like this one, so we will be ordering more guides from Veritas Press.

Veritas Press offers not only a wonderful selection of comprehension guides for all grade levels but a wide array of printed materials in multiple subjects and grade levels. You can also sign up for online Live and Self-paced classes to make educating your child extremely easy. I thoroughly enjoyed the educational approach of the Heidi Comprehension Guide and how Veritas Press made sure to incorporate not only a secularly written book into also an encouragement for a student’s love for God and neighbor.

-Product review by Renita Kuehner, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, February 2020