BookShark

Author: Nichole Guza-Waltner

  • Homeschooling Multiple Children: Finding the Right Fit

    Homeschooling Multiple Children: Finding the Right Fit

    Meet Your Child Where They Are: Customizing BookShark for the Perfect Fit

    My husband Joe and I decided to homeschool our children very early on in parenthood. We discovered BookShark right away – it was a perfect fit for our family. The prewritten weekly schedule was just the level of organization I wanted in a homeschool program – now I wouldn’t have to create everything from scratch! I ordered the Pre-K program three years ago, when my oldest was three, and I never looked back.

    In what seemed like the blink of an eye my oldest daughter sailed through preschool and kindergarten. Her love for learning grew with each passing year. First grade was a big year for both of us. My daughter would be entering the elementary school years. And I would be teaching two separate grades of children, preschool and first grade, simultaneously.

    I felt nervous, like I was entering uncharted territory. What if I couldn’t figure it out? Would I struggle to keep track of all the details, the books, all those critical thinking questions between two separate grade levels? Thankfully each level of Bookshark spans a three-year age range. I could always teach just one level over both their ages if I needed to simplify.

    There was no need to worry! BookShark is designed to flex and fit with any schedule. By following a few simple steps:

    •  Customizing my curriculum    
    • Leaning on BookShark’s built-in tools for parent success
    • Managing my time
    • I have the ability to create an enriching homeschool schedule for my family, fostering a deep love of learning in the process.
    • I was able to nurture the unique needs of each of my children.

    Using Bookshark Assessments to My Advantage

    BookShark has many tools to help parents succeed in finding the right level of curriculum for each student. These include:

    •  Reading assessments – lists of words for children to read, to determine their proper level of reader
    • Language arts assessments – a sample weekly English lesson for children to complete
    • Mathematics placement tests  – Each math program offered by BookShark – Math-U-See, Singapore Math, Saxon Math, and Rightstart – has its own placement test. Not only did these tests help me figure out the best level for my children, but they were invaluable in choosing which math program would be best for our family.

    All of these tools are found on BookShark’s main website. They recommend that the level of reading a child uses should match their language arts level. This helped me understand what level of education would be the best fit for each of my children.

    It’s important to remember that these assessments are just a starting point for discovering the best level of math and English. Children are unique individuals. The knowledge they gain does not always follow a clear path or a straight line. My children progress slowly in some areas before shooting ahead rapidly. As an educator, sometimes I just have to hang on for the ride.

    Case in point: seven weeks into first grade my oldest was identified as being highly gifted. At the beginning of the year, she could only read basic words and phrases. She tested into first grade, which was the appropriate grade for her then. Eight weeks later she was reading third-grade chapter books. She had completed two math workbooks. She will likely finish second grade mathematics within the next month or two and first grade by December.

    Don’t Be Afraid to Customize the BookShark Experience

    My experience with my oldest daughter’s learning journey taught me a valuable lesson: feel free to modify the homeschool journey. Sure, I just purchased first grade two months ago. My youngest can still use those materials when she gets older. Right now, Level C with third grade readers and language arts is best for my oldest daughter. I could stick my head in the sand and keep her at her current level, but why hold her back?

    She is progressing quickly. That’s how her brain is wired. As her teacher and her mother, I owe it to my daughter to support her in the best way possible. If my child needs more advanced readers then I will give them to her. BookShark gives me the flexibility to modify the difficulty of each school level up or down based on child ability. This flexibility is my favorite part of the curriculum.

    It’s All About Time Management

    Before I began teaching two levels I took the time to get organized. Organization is key for success in homeschooling, especially if you’re managing a household while you teach. I take my children to four activities and two play dates each week. I cook three meals a day from scratch. Ever since my husband was diagnosed with a thyroid disorder I have managed all of the housework, cared for our 37 birds and managed a good portion of the yard work and errands while he heals, and I owe it all to organization.

    It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it does have to exist.

    Lean on the BookShark Monthly Calendar

    BookShark already makes life easy by providing parents with a printable calendar to organize your homeschool schedule. I use our calendar for all my daughters’ extracurricular activities and science experiments for the year. Before the year begins I flip through the science experiment books for each level and make sure:

    •  The experiments will fit with the weather over the year.
    • We have all our materials and that they all work
    • I have chosen a date each week that we are likely to have time for an experiment

    Then I write it down in my calendar in pencil. Life happens. Sometimes I need to change things around. Pencil makes that easy.

    Get a Day Planner

    I’m not sure why but I found the concept of a day planner very intimidating. Before I began homeschooling two levels at once I made all sorts of excuses to not use one. Let me be clear, day planners are essential for homeschooling success, at least in our home.

    Once again, they don’t have to be fancy. I tried many printable planners. The best one was a plain, old wide rule composition notebook.

    • At the top of the page I write the date and day of the week. Otherwise I forget what day it is. I also leave space for any house chores and homeschool prep that need to be completed that day.
    • On each line I write down, roughly, the hours of the day from when I wake up to the time I go to bed. I plan what we will eat and when I need to start cooking. I write down where we need  to drive that day and when we need to be in the car. I plan when my children will be practicing their electives and, roughly, when they will be in school.
    • At school times I make two columns, one for each student. I alternate between work they can do more or less independently and work that needs more supervision from me. When one child is working on independent work, like math or spelling, I might be doing a read aloud with the other. Some activities, like history and science, we do together since my daughters draw  different conclusions from the same project or read aloud.

    My schedule is not set in stone. It is a guide. Sometimes life comes up. Spontaneous play dates happen. If something is not finished one day, I write it on tomorrows page of my notebook.

    What this notebook does is take the stress off my memory. I don’t have to constantly remember everything I have to do in a day. I can reference my day planner any time, giving clarity to my thinking and allowing me to be more present with my children throughout the day.

    Be Present in the Moment

    Homeschooling multiple levels of children can be accomplished smoothly with the proper planning. Not only that, the entire experience can be fun and rewarding for everyone!

    Every family’s homeschooling journey is different. Take each day one moment at a time. Most of all, don’t be afraid to customize the Bookshark experience!

    I am a firm believer that by:

    Listening to my children

    Observing where they are in a given day

    Fostering a love of learning

    Using the tools available to me

    I can handle anything.

    BookShark has enabled me to optimize how I educate my children. I can customize each of my daughters’ school schedules and meet my children where they’re at, maximizing their homeschool experience.

    For my family, homeschooling is an ever-evolving process. I need a curriculum that provides the flexibility to ebb and flow with life’s changes. BookShark’s ability to conform to our lives has allowed our family to maintain a high quality of education in constantly changing circumstances – adapting to every unknown – helping us grow in love, and strength, together.

    About Our Author

    I’m Bianca, a mom of many hats. Our homeschool journey began in 2020, in the Green Mountain State of Vermont. When we’re not enjoying the splendor of the countryside, my family is immersed in our literature-based curriculum and school 7 days a week, year round. With two highly gifted and competitive daughters we keep a rigorous schedule, but always make time for our friends and family.

    You can usually find me in the homeschool room with a cup of apple tea, or shuttling my children to and from activities. I also operate a Facebook page, Northern Vermont Homeschoolers, to facilitate connection between the lovely homeschoolers of our great state. Read about our journey on my website Bianca’s Family.

  • Benefits of Book-Based Learning

    Benefits of Book-Based Learning

    Think back to your favorite textbook growing up. You probably read it word for word, right?

    The weight of textbooks in our backpacks is often more memorable than the textbooks themselves. Not that they aren’t chock full of information. On the other hand, books like the fiction and non-fiction literature that make up the BookShark curricula conjure up images, characters and narratives. Certain books are so meaningful and memorable that when recalling their stories, the characters feel more like real people who you knew in your life than constructed characters from lines of text.

    What if one of those special childhood books took place during the Civil War? It’s likely that the reader would learn about the Civil War in a more intimate way than they would through textbook.  A young reader would “meet” the characters that represent the opposition, the leaders, the enslaved, the soldiers and the women and children left behind. The characters become real, and the reader feels empathy for them. The reader also learns a holistic view of the Civil War, and can place the event in their memory quite clearly.

    Why Literature-Based Learning Works

    This notion of experiential learning through reading is the basis of a literature-based curriculum. Reading a novel or a biography allows students to become deeply engaged in a story, and understand a wide range of topics more intimately from a more intimate perspective.

    The engagement doesn’t end with the student and the book. Great books spur engaging conversations between teachers — in this case parents—and children. Parents can ask questions about the books, add their own knowledge about a place and time represented, and easily see where the child has gaps in understanding. This interaction is core to homeschooling through BookShark’s book-based learning program. Students receive individualized attention, genuine verbal interaction, and easy engagement when taught with books. This even holds true when it comes to literature-based learning for science and mathematics.

    The Proven Benefits of Reading

    The value of reading for children and adults alike is tried and true. Here are some proven benefits of reading:

    The Reality is Reading Has Decreased in Our Culture

    But where did this reading, and its numerous benefits to children as they grow into adults go? The Boston Globe reports:

    • Only 30% of 13-year-olds read almost every day.
    • The number of 17-year-olds who never read for pleasure increased from 9% in 1984 to 19% in 2004.
    • The average person between ages 15 and 24 spends 2 to 2 1/2 hours a day watching TV and just seven minutes reading.
    • Only about a third of high school seniors read at a proficient level, a 13% decline since 1992.

    Unfortunately, the quiet work of a person and a book is often replaced with social interaction online, streaming content, television programming and digital games. Computer tablets, chat windows on computer screens, and smart phones are an all too tempting and easy distraction from reading a book. 

    The decline in reading is a problem that homeschooling parents can actively counteract. Give your children the love of deep reading, and that love will prioritize their free time throughout their development. As we know, strong routines build habits that stick with us through adulthood. Do your child a favor and create a framework for them to develop that habit. In the meantime, they will be learning, and more intimately understanding history, culture, language arts, science and even mathematics.

    Get all the benefits of book-based learning by using BookShark homeschool curriculum. See all our options here. And request a catalog here.

  • 3 Common Misconceptions About BookShark Homeschool Curriculum

    3 Common Misconceptions About BookShark Homeschool Curriculum

    When you homeschool, you have extreme freedom:

    • freedom to choose the curriculum you want to follow
    • freedom to do schoolwork in the morning, afternoon, or evening
    • freedom to shelve schoolwork for a day and take a fieldtrip

    You, as the teacher, are the one shaping your child’s education.

    Yet most of us homeschooling parents, especially those of us who ourselves attended traditional school, have trouble letting go of the brick-and-mortar school mentality. It’s deeply rooted within us, and we may not even realize how much it is influencing us and our decisions when it comes to our children’s education. These hidden assumptions are demonstrated clearly in the many misconceptions people have about BookShark.

    Misconception #1: BookShark Levels Are Equivalent to Grade Levels

    Many people look at BookShark curriculum, and they automatically assume that each level corresponds to a grade, i.e. Level 5 is for a 5th grade student. While a 5th grader can certainly tackle Level 5, what most people miss is that BookShark gives an age range for each level. Level 5, for instance, is recommended for ages 10-13, which means it can be used for what is traditionally thought of as 5th – 8th grades!

    I encourage parents to choose the BookShark curriculum along the upper end of the age range instead of the lower one. Using Level 5 for ages 10-13 as an example again, I suggest this curriculum is better suited for the typical 12 and 13 year old (the upper age range) than the lower range of ages 10 and 11. You know your child best. Is your child sensitive? Go with the upper age range. Is your child especially mature or gifted? Then you may want to try the lower range. 

    This rule of choosing along the upper end of the age range is especially valid for higher levels that include sensitive topics. For instance, my son used Level 5 in 7th grade at age 12. One of our favorite books was the read-aloud A Moment Comes which deals with weighty issues. While he would have understood the book at a surface level as a 5th grader, his added maturity as a 7th grader helped him catch nuances and implications that he would have largely missed at a younger age.

    Request a catalog here so you can compare the age ranges of all BookShark programs.

    Misconception #2: Your Child Will Fall Behind If He Isn’t at the “Right” Level

    Even after hearing the advice to teach your child using the BookShark Level where he is at the higher end of the age range, many parents just can’t do so. Why? They’re afraid that their child will “fall behind” if they’re doing Level 5 as a 7th grader. They worry that if their child is doing Level 7 as a 9th grader, he’s actually completing a middle school curriculum as a high school student.

    Yet look at everything your child is learning. In Level 7, your child will read 26 novels. I’m sure that most brick-and-mortar high school freshman are not reading that many books, nor are they reading books of the same quality.

    However, it is true that you may need to change some aspects of the curriculum if your child is at the high age range. For instance, a high school freshman is not likely in pre-algebra, which is the math curriculum used for Level 7. That situation is easily remedied by customizing your Math selection. Just choose the Algebra package instead. (By the way, for help customizing a package, just email or call BookShark.)

    As a parent who loves BookShark and has seen what tremendous knowledge children get from being on the higher end of the age range, I say your child will not be behind his peers with this curriculum.

    Misconception #3: Students Aren’t Learning Because They Aren’t Taking Tests

    Here is the last, and perhaps strongest, misconception from our own school days—to learn something, a student must take a test.

    Think back to your school experience with tests. Was it like mine? I crammed furiously, hoping the information stayed in my brain long enough to make at least a B on the test. Then I promptly forgot it all because I didn’t learn the information in a genuine way.

    We all know that an A on a test doesn’t mean the information was internalized. An A could merely mean that the information was memorized, only to disappear in a few weeks or months.

    Because BookShark students are learning in a genuine way that is more likely to pique their interests, they’re more likely to remember what they read.  In addition, after every section of reading, there are questions to monitor your children’s reading comprehension and to dive more deeply into the events and ideas. These discussions about what you are reading is one of the best parts of BookShark, and they are a superior substitute for tests.

    Students are learning more—without tests—because they’re learning much more deeply.

    If you bring a brick-and-mortar school mentality to BookShark (and it’s hard not to if that’s the way you received your own education), you may have these three misconceptions. But rest assured, BookShark provides a quality education, just in a different way than a traditional school. For me, that makes it a much stronger curriculum.

    About Our Author

    Melissa is a homeschool mom to three kids. BookShark is her primary curriculum, and she and her kids love it! When she’s not homeschooling, she’s either shuttling kids from one activity to another or working from home as a freelance writer. You can read more about Melissa’s homeschool journey at her blog Moms Plans.

  • When Grandparents Disagree with Homeschooling: Tips and Advice

    When Grandparents Disagree with Homeschooling: Tips and Advice

    When you first make the choice to homeschool, what you need and want most is support. And naturally, where do you look first for that support? Family, and almost always, your parents. Now if grandparents have been unsupportive and critical of your parenting decisions from the start, their criticisms of homeschooling probably won’t surprise you. But if, on the other hand, you are used to unwavering support for your parenting choices, opposition to homeschooling may come as a shock.

    Whatever your experience in the past, keep in mind that unless you are a second-generation homeschooler, homeschooling isn’t an obvious choice. As much as it has progressed over the years, homeschooling is far from mainstream. You are choosing an educational option that is far from vetted with no guarantees of a successful outcome—at least in their minds. You are putting their precious grandchildren’s future at risk, and they probably won’t keep quiet about it.

    Personally, my parents are former teachers and administrators in the public school system. They seem to love the fact that my kids aren’t exposed to the (what they call) garbage of public schools, Common Core, and the non-stop standardized testing. But at the same time, they often make comments about homeschooling that seem a bit disparaging of my choice. 

    So what can you do when grandparents voice their criticisms and concerns of your choice to homeschool? For all of you dealing with more extreme opposition, my heart goes out to you. Homeschooling is hard enough without grandparents hating it. While the interactions I’ve experienced haven’t been that extreme, I want to offer you the tips and advice that have helped me thus far. 

    1. Remember Grandparents Want What’s Best for Their Grandkids

    While this isn’t always the case, most grandparents love their grandchildren and want the best possible outcome for them. When they express concerns—directly or indirectly—it comes from a place of love and concern. They probably don’t want to pick a fight.

    2. Resist the Urge to Engage the Negative Comments 

    When the negative comments and questions come, resist the urge to engage in a debate or lengthy conversation. It’s kind of like politics on Facebook: pretty much no one ever has changed their mind because of a political debate in a Facebook thread, right? We share things that reinforce what we believe to be true, and other side does the same.

    You are probably not going to change their mind about homeschooling with a conversation. Hopefully that will happen when they see evidence in the superior outcomes that your style of education provides. Choose to quickly move past the comments and change the subject. If they insist on returning to it, see the next tip.

    3. Devise a Canned Response

    In the heat of the moment, it’s easy to say things we regret. Or worse, in my opinion, to get flustered and look like an idiot just when you want to impress them with your witty response. Instead, choose a predetermined response that leaves no room for debate or discussion. Here are a few I keep handy:

    • Homeschooling is the best choice for our family right now.
    • I’m glad regular school worked best for us growing up. Homeschooling is working really well for us.
    • I appreciate your concern, but right now, homeschooling is working really well for us.
    • Socialization? We’ve got it covered. Thanks!

    I’m sure you can come up with better ones, but make sure they are not baiting, sarcastic, or defensive. Make it short and sweet, polite but firm, with no room for further discussion.

    4. Set Boundaries with Grandparents 

    Depending on how antagonistic—or passive-aggressive—the grandparents actually are, you may need to set firm boundaries about what they can and cannot say to your kids. For example, have you noticed that certain people love quizzing homeschooled kids? They are determined to prove that homeschooling is a poor educational choice.

    While some kids can take that kind of interrogation without batting an eye, some kids will walk away from a Q&A session extremely anxious, wondering if they measure up. Other times, grandparents might suggest to your kids all the fun things about school they are missing out on:

    • “Wouldn’t you love to see other kids every day?”
    • “Buying school supplies is so much fun!”
    • “Putting on the school play was one of my favorite memories from school. Don’t you wish you could be in a play?”

    Whatever grandparents might say to your kids about homeschooling or traditional school, make sure you have a conversation with them to establish guidelines for what is okay and not okay. Those guidelines will likely vary based on how anti-homeschooling they actually are and how confrontational they tend to be. It doesn’t need to a be a long conversation, but you should be clear about a few main points:

    • You hear and understand that they don’t love homeschooling.
    • You are the parent and you will continue to make the best decisions you can for your kids, including the educational ones.
    • You hear and understand that they don’t love homeschooling.
    • They cannot undermine your decision via your kids. And if they persist in their attempts to do so, you will need to set stricter boundaries about how often they interact with your kids alone.

    Surround Yourself with Supporters

    When the people closest to you don’t agree with your choice to homeschool, you can start to doubt your decision. Those first few months of homeschooling can be so tough. You don’t really know what you’re doing yet. You haven’t fully found your footing, and you desperately need to believe that you made the right choice.

    You need to surround yourself with like-minded homeschooling parents—both newbies and veterans. You need cheerleaders, parents who will encourage and support you. Whether you find that those people in person or online, make sure to set aside time to find them. You’re going to need a place to vent, a shoulder to cry on, and a pat on the back to let you know you’re doing great.

    Final Thoughts on When Grandparents Disagree with Homeschooling

    Change is hard. Change is even harder as you get older. When our society has so normalized school that any other choice is taboo, you need to expect questions and stares and criticisms, even from those closest to you. People fear what they don’t know. Grandparents might also have experiences with homeschool families that are less than ideal—the ones who give homeschooling a bad name.

    Either way, remember to stay humble in all of this because honestly, we don’t know our kids’ educational outcomes either! We can do all the right things, but we still cannot guarantee a fantastic educational outcome for our kids, any more than traditional schools can. The schools just happen to already have the benefit of the doubt. As homeschoolers, we are still earning ours.

    Grandparents might eventually come around, when they see homeschooling really working for your kids. But it may take them longer than you’d like. Hang in there while you wait. And whatever you do, don’t let their negativity make you question your choice to homeschool.

    You will always find people who don’t love your parenting choices. You can choose to let the questions cripple you, or you can choose to let them strengthen your parenting muscles and increase your confidence.  The choice is up to you.

    About Our Author

    June loves deep discussions about homeschooling, parenting, and minimalism. When she’s not homeschooling, decluttering, or blogging at This Simple Balance, she loves to enjoy perfect silence while sipping a hot cup of coffee and thinking uninterrupted thoughts—which, of course, with four kids ages eight and under doesn’t happen very often!

  • Experience Ancient Greece with These Hands-on Homeschool Activities

    Experience Ancient Greece with These Hands-on Homeschool Activities

    One of the allures of BookShark is rather than teaching history to your children from a dry, boring history book, your children learn about history through literature. Instead of merely learning the facts about Ancient Greek culture and events, your children learn through characters (both fictional and historical) in an engaging narrative.

    You can bring that knowledge to life even further by supplementing BookShark’s curriculum with hands-on learning experiences and culinary delights. Whether your child is using BookShark Level B for ages 6-8 (1st Grade) or Level 6 for ages 11-13 (6th grade), they’ll enjoy these extra world history activities. For older kids using Level 6, let them take more ownership in the planning (and clean up) of the projects. For younger kids in Level 1, you’ll need to take the lead.

    Ancient Greece: Activities

    1. Create a LEGO Parthenon

    For the LEGO fans in your home, why not create the Greek Parthenon? Find photos online for inspiration, and enhance your building with LEGO minifigures from the time period.

    2. Create a Physical Map of Greece

    Form self-hardening clay into the mainland of Greece and all the many islands. Do this inside a 9 x 13” glass baking pan or deep sheet pan. After you let it completely dry, pour a pitcher of water dyed blue over the model. You’ll have the beautiful Greek mainland and islands as well as the Aegean Sea. For older students, you can create flags attached to toothpicks and insert them in the land masses to identify each of the islands.

    3. Make a Greek Vase

    You can make your own vase with papier mache, or you can simply buy a plain terracotta vase from the store. Then all you’ll need is a pencil and a black marker or acrylic paint pen. Search the Internet for actual Greek vase designs as inspiration. Sketch out the design in pencil first, and then go over it with a fine-tipped permanent marker.

    4. Star Gaze

    Learn the Greek constellations and then go out after dark to locate them in the night sky. Lay down a blanket for comfortable star gazing, use a mobile app to help you begin your search, and bring out some munchies like popcorn.

    Ancient Greece: Foods

    What better way to learn about a people than eating the foods that they typically ate or are most famous for? For your Greek feast, consider these culinary delights. If cooking really isn’t your thing, look for a local restaurant where you can take a mid-day field trip to try the dishes.

    1. Gyros

    Cook lamb and make gyros. Simply cook and slice the lamb thinly and place on a pita along with cucumbers and tzatziki. You can buy the tzatziki ready-made or mix up your own with yogurt, cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil, and herbs.

    2. Greek Salad

    Serve a Greek salad with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, and feta cheese. Add a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice over the whole salad.

    3. Make a Greek Salad Skewer

    Don’t have time for a full Greek feast? Why not make a Greek hors d’oeuvre? Simply skewer one grape tomato, one slice of cucumber, half of a black olive, and a cube of cheese onto a toothpick. This is a quick snack that will give your kids the taste of Ancient Greece without hours of preparation.

    Round out your Greek meal with hummus, goat cheese, and olives. For a fun dessert, you can serve baklava.

    Of course, you don’t have to do all of these activities. Choose one or two that fit into your schedule and your child’s interest. Your child will likely remember doing these activities for years to come, and in turn, they’ll remember their study of Ancient Greece.

  • Why Read Historical Fiction?

    Why Read Historical Fiction?

    Historical fiction is a big part of our homeschool. I believe that reading historical fiction greatly enhances both our understanding of history as well as our retention of facts from history.

    That being said, you would be surprised how that flame got lit. It started long before I ever had children, long before I ever got married. In high school I had a history teacher who used historical fiction to teach. We would learn about a topic from the textbook, but we also had to read one historical fiction book from each unit. We wrote about these, we listened to each other present theirs, and we learned a ton. In fact, my favorite book to date is one I read that year for history.

    Needless to say that my history teacher, and his means of teaching, really stuck with me. I encourage you to consider reading historical fiction as a solid and valuable means of learning history for the following reasons.

    Historical Fiction Makes History Matter

    When kids can get involved in a story by mentally putting themselves in a historical setting, they glean a whole new perspective on the names and dates on the page.  Historical fiction makes history seem relevant and personal.

    Historical Fiction Offers Food for Thought

    Reading historical fiction gives kids a chance to learn empathy and compassion. It helps them to see the similarities that lie just underneath our differences. When they can sport similarities and difference in historical movements, time periods, and people, it helps them to dig deeper and think about the bigger pictures in their life and times.

    Historical Fiction Brings Dates, People, and Facts to Life

    Historical fiction makes the facts come alive. It gives the heroes and villains from history varied facets, bringing to life what was once only names and maps, printed in black and white.

    Historical Fiction Brings to Light Multiple Perspectives

    When reading from a textbook you typically get one perspective with the author’s or editor’s bias. When reading various works of historical fiction pertaining to a person or time period, children get to see multiple perspectives. For instance, when we were learning about the Titanic we stumbled upon a book called Ghosts of the Titanic. It was told from their perspective of those sent out to clear the bodies from the water, as opposed to from the side of someone on that voyage. This is a side we had never seen or even knew existed. Reading that book offered us a chance to see the situation from a different point of view.

    For these reasons I encourage you to consider a literature-rich curriculum or at least to to include historical fiction in your plans for history. Even if you just include a book here or there as a supplement to your history studies, it could very well be the thing that lights a fire of interest, or open up a new perspective for your child.

    About Our Author

    Heidi Ciravola has been married to her husband for over seventeen years.  Together they have three children with whom they began their homeschooling journey with in 2006 when their oldest was beginning second grade.  Heidi is a mother, taxi service, and homeschool parent by day and an avid reader and homeschool blogger whenever there is time left over. You can visit Heidi at her blog Starts at Eight where she blogs about homeschool products and unit studies, homeschool organization and general tips, and homeschooling high school, as well as many book reviews, lists, and unit studies.

  • Why You Should Read Aloud to Your Kids with ADHD (And How to Do It!)

    The idea of reading stories aloud to our children is almost as old as the idea of parenthood itself. Long before printed books were available, children learned history, language, and more simply by oral retelling.

    Now that many of our children are exposed to technology at a young age, reading stories aloud can seem a bit outdated. But using read-alouds with our children, especially children who have ADHD, can be wonderfully beneficial.

    Why Read Aloud to Kids with ADHD

    Since children who have ADHD may have problems with executive functioning, they may have trouble processing information and understanding how to use it. If you have a child with auditory processing issues, for example, he or she may not hear speech correctly, process it correctly, or understand how to turn it into action.

    And that’s where reading aloud can help. As you read aloud to your children, you may be able to spot auditory processing issues at an early age. You can even use reading aloud to strengthen their auditory processing skills.

    Reading aloud also serves another purpose: it can make your children more interested in reading. Since reading requires sustained attention, children who have ADHD may find it difficult to sit still or concentrate long enough to develop a love for reading on their own.

    With read-alouds, though, you can make stories fascinating simply by the way you read them. Your children might become fans of certain characters, which could inspire them to seek out and read more books about those characters on their own.

    How to Read Aloud to Kids with ADHD

    Now, the big question is how do you read aloud to kids with ADHD? Simple. Bring the book to life as much as you humanly can. Remember, the goal is to keep your kids interested in the story. So do whatever you can to make that happen.

    Here are a few tips to try:

    • Use different voices for each character.
    • Stand up and act out a scene or two as you read.
    • Have the kids take turns helping you read a passage.
    • Dress up in a costume based on one of the characters.
    • Let your child choose the book you read.
    • Give your child something soft to fidget with or squeeze as you read.

    Most of all, don’t expect your child to sit still during the read-aloud session. Moving around may actually help him or her to pay attention better.

    It’s also helpful to stop every now and then to do a short review of what you’ve read so far and to build interest for what’s to come. Simple questions to ask:

    • Tell me what happened with (character) in the beginning?
    • Did you hear what (character) said to (different character)?
    • What do you think will happen next?
    • Do you think the story will have a happy ending?

    Afterwards, ask your child what he or she liked and didn’t like about the story. Use those answers as a guide for choosing your next novel. Depending on your child’s age, you could do an extension activity such as drawing a picture of an event in the story or writing an alternate ending.

    Reading aloud to children who have ADHD can help them develop listening skills, retain information, and learn to love reading. Adding read-aloud books to your homeschooling curriculum is definitely worth the time and the effort.

    And who knows? Your child may even end up reading stories aloud to you in return!

  • Keeping a Homeschool Bullet Journal: A Beginner’s Guide

    Keeping a Homeschool Bullet Journal: A Beginner’s Guide

    Homeschoolers are record keepers! Depending on our state’s requirements and personal preference we fill folders and boxes, create portfolios and transcripts, write lesson plans, make charts, take hundreds of pictures, maybe even blog.

    Here in Indiana, even though I’m not required to turn records into the state, I keep my children’s projects, encourage their goals, and document their learning. I want to capture our time together. I want my children to see and remember their progress. And when doubt sets in as to whether or not I’m doing enough with them, my records remind me that yes! Yes, I am.

    A number of years ago I came across the work of Ryder Carroll. The creator of The Bullet Journal, Carroll offers an analog method to, “track the past, order the present, design the future.”

    I love journals and organizing, so I immediately took to bullet journaling my grocery lists, to-do lists, goals, the books I read, the books I wanted to read . . . When I found that many of my pages included bits and pieces of our homeschooling days, I realized we needed a homeschool bullet journal.

    I won’t go into specifics as to how to bullet journal, since you can find out everything you need to here. But remember that the point of bullet journaling is to make life easier, not harder. I have not found that keeping my calendar in my bullet journal is especially helpful.

    I prefer an actual calendar and don’t have time to write our daily comings and goings multiple times. Instead, our homeschool bullet journal captures our past, present, and future more thematically.

    Your BookShark Instructor’s Guide could serve as a basis for your journal, but you may find it too bulky and inflexible for day to day record keeping. If you want to use bullet journaling, you’ll probably want to use a separate notebook. A homeschool bullet journal typically goes beyond lesson planning and incorporates the extras from your larger family life.

    • The curriculum you’re using
    • The scope & sequence of your curriculum
    • The curriculum you want to check out
    • Books you’ve read each month/year
    • Books you want to read
    • Classes your children are taking
    • Your calendar
    • Deadlines
    • Field trips
    • Vacations
    • Websites
    • Movies or documentaries you’ve watched
    • Movies or documentaries you want to watch
    • Podcasts your children love
    • Simple meals you can make in a hurry
    • A list of rainy day activities
    • Goals
    • Achievements
    • Skills your kids are working on
    • Supplies you need
    • Supplies you have on hand
    • Expenses
    • Homeschool budget
    • Favorite memories
    • Strategies that help your kids
    • List of inspiring quotes

    Using a Homeschool Bullet Journal

    Once you set up your homeschool bullet journal, you just have to remember to use it. Put it on your bedside table and spend time each night recording and reflecting. Or put it by your coffee pot and use it to begin your day. Pull it out to help you plan for the week, month, and semester. If you have older children, let them add to it and check off the things they accomplished.

    It can be challenging to organize all the information and remember all the things. A homeschool bullet journal won’t shrink your child’s LEGO model of the Seven Wonders of the World, but it will remind you they made it. It will keep your book lists, goals, grades, achievements, and reminders safe and sound and all in one place. They are both easy to create and to use. Give homeschool bullet journaling a try.

    About Our Author

    Kelly left teaching middle and high school English to homeschool her children and reclaim how she and her family spent their time. Followers of interest-led learning, her family’s days rarely look the same, but they tend to include a lot of books, art supplies, and time outside.

    Kelly facilitates local writing circles for women and children and blogs about nurturing the love of learning on her blog, Curiosity Encouraged. She loves to journal, read memoirs, hike, and travel. She seeks quiet mornings and good coffee daily.

  • You Don’t Have to Do it All: How to Adjust Your BookShark Curriculum

    You Don’t Have to Do it All: How to Adjust Your BookShark Curriculum

    I’ll admit it; the giant blue binder that came with my daughter’s BookShark Reading with History curriculum was a little overwhelming. I remember unboxing day. While my kid flipped through her new books, excited by all the stories she was going to read, I unwrapped a ream of paper—my Instructor’s Guide (IG). 

    Never having had success with a boxed curriculum before, I’ll admit, I was a little skeptical. But BookShark felt different. The BookShark Science curriculum and US Elections Lap Book we had already used were a hit with both my daughter and me, so . . . deep breath . . . I needed to give this history curriculum a chance. I’m so glad we did! 

    Not only does our BookShark curriculum reduce the amount of time I need to prep for our lessons, it provides us with countless opportunities to read and learn together. I’ve found the teacher’s guide is just that, a guide. We can easily choose which lessons we follow, where we want to take a deeper dive, and which ones we skip or return to at a later date. 

    Feeling overwhelmed or a little uncertain about the plethora of materials in a BookShark curriculum? Never fear! You don’t have to do it all. Here are ways to pick and choose from your BookShark curriculum so it’s a perfect fit for you and your homeschooler. 

    Let BookShark Be a Flexible Guide

    When it comes to curriculum, I can get caught up in thinking I need to do it all exactly the way it’s laid out. The problem with this is sometimes my homeschooler wants to do things a little differently or needs a lesson altered. Sometimes she needs more time to read a book or buzzes through an activity and is ready to move on. 

    What I’ve found, thanks to BookShark, is a good curriculum offers options and ideas I can easily take and make my own. Below are the ways I adjust BookShark curriculum to meet the needs of my homeschooler.

    The Weekly Schedule Pages

    One of my favorite parts of BookShark curriculum is the weekly schedule grids. (See samples here.) Easy to read and modify, they lay out a concise plan. You can follow it as is, working down the assignments for each day. Or if your child prefers to stick with a book rather than skipping about, you can work across the page, reading the full week’s worth of passages at once. It’s up to you!

    Here’s how I use the IG pages. Each week, I flip to the new week’s plan and skim through what is suggested. Then I go back to the previous week and check to see what we are still working on. I cross off the things we’ve completed so it’s easy to see which lessons, pages of a book, or activities we have yet to finish. 

    To keep track of what we’re working on, I put a sticky note on the weekly schedules we need to complete. There’s plenty of room on these sheets to write down other things we’re doing or any modifications. On the rare occasion we are going to skip an activity or reading, I just cross it out.

    36 Weekly Dividers 

    The weekly dividers are useful guides in that they help me keep track of the units we’re working on, but I don’t worry about what week we’re on or push my homeschooler to finish everything listed in one week’s time. 

    When we started our BookShark Reading with History curriculum, she was not a confident independent reader. We used the independent books as Read-Alouds, so it took us longer than was suggested. This was okay! I homeschool because I am not interested in flying through lessons just to get them done. 

    Now, just three months in, my daughter reads on average a book a week independently. Her remarkable achievement is a testament to how reading awesome books and discussing them does, in fact, grow readers. Moreover, it’s possible that by the time we’re in the second half of the curriculum, she could be ahead of the weekly schedule. This is also okay! 

    BookShark curriculum is organized in such a way that we can easily adjust the lessons and move at our child’s pace.

    So you can follow the weeks as they are outlined in the IG. Or you cand do what I do and just work through the material in the order laid out but not necessarily in the time frame (week by week) that it’s laid out.

    BookShark Books

    The number of books provided with the BookShark curriculum is impressive yet can be overwhelming due to sheer quantity.

    Remember this: The great thing about a book is it doesn’t expire.

    Again, I had to remind myself of this when we started our curriculum. It’s okay if your child doesn’t read every single book provided or if they don’t read it at the exact time it’s suggested. 

    Guess what?! We have skipped a book here and there, and it’s okay! Why? Because my daughter was ready to move on or we wanted to take our time with a book she was really loving. We can always go back and read the books we skipped later.

    Permission to skip books is fully granted! 

    BookShark Lessons

    My daughter is learning all about the Eastern Hemisphere. She loves filling in the maps, reading and discussing the novels, and exploring the different countries and cultures. Taking notes is challenging however, since she is listening to me reading about a country’s history or reading about it herself. We use the history text provided as a guide as well. We use it for its maps and pictures, skim it for information, and supplement the text by finding documentaries and videos. We also use the notes provided for me in my IG to help her write down notes. She’s learning all of the information she needs to learn in a way that works for her and that’s what matters. 

    No one knows our kids like we do, so finding a perfect curriculum that meets every one of their needs is unrealistic. BookShark clearly understands this, so their curriculum’s provide learners with an organized Instructor’s Guide and tons of resources that can easily be adapted to fit the needs of each learner. Nowhere in the curriculum does it suggest you have to do it all. Our children will get a well rounded education no matter how we tailor it to meet their needs. 

    • Follow the plans weekly or as you see fit.
    • Read all the books or read some now and others later.
    • Choose which books your homeschooler reads independently and which ones you read together.

    What’s important is your child has a guide (that’s you), and you have a guide—your BookShark curriculum. With both of these in place, the love of learning happens over and over again. 

    About Our Author

    Kelly left teaching middle and high school English to homeschool her children and reclaim how she and her family spent their time. Followers of interest-led learning, her family’s days rarely look the same, but they tend to include a lot of books, art supplies, and time outside.

    Kelly facilitates local writing circles for women and children and blogs about nurturing the love of learning on her blog, Curiosity Encouraged. She loves to journal, read memoirs, hike, and travel. She seeks quiet mornings and good coffee daily.

  • Travel the Globe With These 12 Homeschool Geography Explorations

    Travel the Globe With These 12 Homeschool Geography Explorations

    I often wish we were wealthy enough to travel the world. I’d love to expose my children to all the wonders of the world and have them learn firsthand about what makes each culture unique. Unfortunately, we do not have the means to travel extensively, and so we have taken to travelling the globe from our home using these twelve winning methods.

    1. Cooking Traditional Foods

    With the internet, it is so easy to find authentic recipes from all around the world. A few times we’ve had to make small substitutions to recipes when ingredients aren’t found locally, but cooking up cuisine from each country we have studied has helped us feel like we’re there. Cooking and eating are also a great way to get Dad involved in our homeschool lessons in the evenings.

    Don’t be afraid to move a small table outside and pretend you’re at a Parisian cafe or eat in the living room gathered around the coffee table when studying Japan.

    2. Reading

    There is nothing like a great story to capture my boys’ attention. Of course, choosing a homeschool curriculum that capitalizes on the narrative of history through living books and biographies is an obvious way to travel the globe vicariously. But you can supplement any program with a collection of quality books covering all kinds of cultures, time periods, and continents in your home library.

    3. Watching Movies & Travel Documentaries

    Watching travel videos, historical movies, and documentaries is a wonderful way to learn more about a region or culture. Movies allow us to see the landscape, the people, and their culture in a way that reading can’t always provide. When I combine the visual of film with the background of a book, we get the best of both worlds, and my children have a robust understanding of the world without ever packing a suitcase.

    4. Crafting

    Art is as much a part of any culture as food! A great way to learn about native arts and crafts is to recreate them. We have found so many wonderful tutorials online:

    • making African Kente cloth
    • trying Aboriginal dot painting
    • sketching Japanese manga   

    The act of making reproductions or designing something in the style of art you are studying cements the learning and provides a fresh facet to your geography studies.

    5. Map Making

    Yes, you can trace outlines on paper. But we’ve also made topographical maps and landforms out of cookie dough, cake, salt dough, and even brownie batter. We’ve drawn maps with rivers, capital cities, and other features we’re interested in. Three-dimensional maps are a great way to focus on each region. You can bet your kids will remember geographic features after they molded them in frosting or dough!

    6. Listening to Music

    Music is an important part of each culture, too, and listening to music from around the world is so easy with the help of the internet and YouTube videos. You can always take it one step further and make your own instruments or learn how to play an instrument.  

    7. Learning a Foreign Language

    While we have never committed ourselves to fully learning a new language, we do enjoy listening to snippets of foreign languages or reading books that teach us words in the language of a foreign country. When studying Japan and China, we tried our hand at drawing some characters. Copying names, letters, and sentences written in a foreign language is a great way to get a feel for what street signs and environmental print would be like.

    8. Designing a Travel Brochure

    Assign your children the task of creating a travel brochure for your area of study. They can look up facts, add beautiful pictures, describe tourist attractions, and highlight all the special features of each country. The brochure can be on a sheet of paper, a posterboard, or even a digital presentation.

    9. Taking Virtual Field Trips

    Many museums, galleries, and historical sites have online webcams and virtual field trips that can give you a panoramic view of locations you can only dream of visiting in real life. Do some internet searches of specific locales or subscribe to an online virtual field trip service such as Field Trip Zoom.

    10. Postal Exchanges

    We have participated in a few cultural and postcard exchanges and had gobs of fun learning about other regions. We sent a letter and box of goodies to a family and received one in return filled with wonderful trinkets, snacks, and drinks from another country. If you Google cultural exchange box,  postcard exchange, and flat travelers, you will find groups that link families from across the globe in these kinds of educational, snail-mail activities.

    11.  Attending Festivals

    Many cities have cultural festivals, and they are a great way to feel like you are visiting a foreign country. You can usually get a firsthand look at the food, music, art, and dance from a culture. Encourage your children to ask questions! Most festival hosts and vendors are thrilled to educate inquisitive youngsters.

    12.  Hosting a Geography Fair

    Our local homeschool groups hosts a geography fair where each child reports on a country, complete with food and crafts for the kids to try out. The kids get passports and stamp their way around the room, reading the display boards, looking at the displays, and trying new foods and crafts. If your homeschool group doesn’t offer a fair, it is simple enough to invite a few friends over for a culture night. Pick a country or continent,  try new foods, have your kids report on what they’ve learned, and make some homeschool memories.  

    About Our Author

    Joanne Rawson is the author of the blog Our Unschooling Journey. Known around the web as Mother of 3, Joanne began her blog when she first started homeschooling her three boys in 2012. She lives in Connecticut with her family and enjoys reading, crafting, and travelling… all of which usually ends up on her blog.