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Author: Shanna Behrens

  • Helping With Executive Function

    Helping With Executive Function

    EPISODE 145 SEASON 4 | What makes a successful student or person? While there are a LOT of items on that checklist, there are a set of skills that can make it a great deal easier to be successful. This skill set is called executive functioning. It is a broad group of mental skills that enable people to complete tasks and interact with others. It is a skill set that allows a student/person to write that final paper, plan a business outline, or follow a set of instructions on what chores to do in a specific manner. 

    Join Janna and her guest Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly as they discuss time management and other executive functioning skills. Learn how you can help your child as they move through their educational journey.

    ABOUT OUR GUEST | Lauran Kerr-Heraly is an award-winning educator and author who has dedicated her career to transforming lives through education. She was homeschooled all the way through high school, which allowed her to develop a deep appreciation for self-directed learning and a passion for helping others to take control of their education. Lauran has worked in college readiness in American high schools, taught in international and British schools in England, and currently serves as a professor in an American community college. Her innovative teaching includes turning a classroom into an escape room, multidisciplinary projects showcasing personal food histories and environmental justice, and experimental learning spaces. She helps students and parents develop a holistic approach to college success, which includes a focus on essential skills, executive function, and emotional awareness.

    Listen to this podcast episode

    Podcast Transcript

    Janna  00:00 Welcome to Homeschool Your Way. I’m your host Janna Koch and BookSharks Community Manager. Today I am joined by Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly. She’s an award-winning educator and author, who has dedicated her career to transforming lives through education. Fun fact, she was also homeschooled.

    I’m super excited to delve into our topic today about executive functioning. And believe it or not, it’s not just students who find themselves with a possible deficit in this area. Lauran, thank you so much for being here.

    Lauran  00:30 Thanks for having me.

    Janna  00:33 Why don’t you go ahead and give us just a little bit of your background and how you became involved in homeschooling? Kind of not even of your own volition?

    Lauran  00:44 Yes, well, so I was homeschooled K through 12. And I like to say my parents were homeschool pioneers because we were one of two homeschooling families and my entire town and Wyoming. So things have changed quite a bit from them. But I really loved being homeschooled. And I graduated when I was 15 went straight to community college, which I also loved so much that I am now a community college professor. So as a student, I had a really good opportunity to learn about homeschooling. And now, I teach a lot of homeschoolers through the community college system, either in dual credit or recent graduates. And I’m also planning to homeschool my own kiddo. So I’ve gotten into a lot more kinds of homeschool groups and discussions, as of late.

     Janna  01:36 Do you find it interesting that because you were homeschooled, you didn’t automatically want to homeschool your child because I’m the same way I actually didn’t. I resisted it for years about homeschooling my own children.

    Lauran  01:49 I think it’s, you know, it’s something we considered. When we were looking at educational options, we considered homeschooling, private, public, whatever. And it just seemed like it wasn’t quite the right time. But now that our kiddo is getting to middle school, we want to road school and we want to do all these things that we think would be beneficial for our whole family. So it’s Yeah, it is interesting, because it’s always different with your own kid. And it’s part of why homeschooling works is because you can tailor it to what their needs are. And you can start homeschooling and then go to public school, and then go back if you want. So there’s there’s a lot of flexibility.  

    Janna  02:30 That’s nice. I think it’s a common misconception that if you were homeschooled, and you don’t choose to homeschool your children that must mean you had a negative experience. And that was not at all the case for me. I really enjoyed homeschooling, it just didn’t fit our family at the time.

     Lauran  02:46 Exactly. And you know, my sister who was home-schooled with me is homeschooling her three kiddos. And so we both had a great experience, it was just more of the needs of our family, which is what we all want to really look at is what is the best possible educational situation for our kids.

     Janna  03:03 And now you find yourself surrounded by homeschooled children coming up into young adulthood, looking to you and wanting more information at a higher level of learning. What has been your experience as you see this next generation of homeschoolers coming up into the collegiate realm?

    Lauran  03:26 So one thing that I see with every teenager, regardless of their educational background, because you can prepare them with all the right SATs, classes, and all that subject tutoring, and you’ve got the essay writing coach, and you’ve been to all the extracurriculars. Every student when they are a young adult will struggle with executive function. And executive function. To put it plainly is the set of skills that help us get things done. It’s the mental processes that tell us to get things done. And the demands that are required of a student in high school, whether they’re at home school, or not exceed what their brains can do. And part of that is not their fault part of it too, because we ask a lot of them. Part of it might also be that we’ve scaffolded too much. You know, I think a lot of parents think, especially if they didn’t get a lot of help when they were a teenager, they want to sort of make sure their kid has everything. And that’s why Yeah. And homeschoolers have the opportunity to help their students in every possible way. But sometimes that means that they don’t have the skills to do things on their own. So those are some of the things that I see they’re universal, but particularly for homeschoolers, I remember you know, as I mentioned, I was 15 when I graduated straight to community college, and I had great homeschool education. academically, I was very prepared for the college environment. But I was not necessarily ready socially. And I don’t just mean with my peers, I mean, interacting with adults, I mean, navigating the systems of the college, registration and payment and scholarships, and all of that I was not prepared for. So there is this big jump, that we kind of expect students to go from having their schedule completely planned out. You know, even in homeschool, we say you have to do these five things, here’s the order, I recommend, and I’m going to check on you and half an hour and make sure that all of this is going well, you don’t have that in college, even if you’re living at home, and you’re in a college environment, you don’t have that kind of oversight. So it’s something that can be kind of a shock for students. When they get to the college environment, or even the high school environment.

    Janna  05:59 It’s amazing how we, as parents try so hard to make sure that our kids are completely prepared. And what I am finding in my parenting, my twins will be 18 Soon is that we all parent, kind of from our own deficit. So like you’re saying, like, Okay, so maybe our generation had a little bit less oversight, right as I mean, and it kind of sounds like probably my homeschool experience was very different than yours. I was left to my own, I sought out my education, I loved education, so nobody could stop me, right, like nobody had to check on me. But from that, I do feel like I have micromanaged my own children, even as they have done concurrent enrollment, and being outside of the home. Because in my mind, this is what I would have wanted when I had been homeschooled, and I have to constantly remind myself that they didn’t have the same upbringing. So their need is not my need. And I know this is not groundbreaking, but as homeschool parents, I think sometimes it has to be reiterated like, you are naturally parenting your children and preparing them out of what you experienced their experience is not the same.

    Lauran  07:15 Correct. And it’s important to recognize that they’re also growing up in a different world than we were when we were kids. You know, just homeschooling in general, like I said, two families in one town, and we had to drive five hours to the once-a-year homeschool convention, that was our only support. And now there’s so much support that it’s totally overwhelming. Like, if you search for Facebook groups, for homeschooling, it’s you’re gonna get everything. So in a way, we have to figure out how our kids how our students can get the individualized systems created for them. And they need to be part of that process that works for them. We have students who have different learning styles, we have a lot of neurodivergent, that, you know, finally we’re starting to recognize this society. And we have people who are interested in different career pathways, but they’re all going to have to take my history one-on-one class, and they might not care. So we have to figure out how to get them to care about everything that they’re involved in, and sometimes how to push through and do the boring things. And then also how to take ownership of their education and their skill set.

    Janna  08:33 So when you’re seeing these students come into your classroom, and you’re recognizing these this deficit, what what are some of the tips that you have, that you share with your students, and then we can kind of talk about to the program that you created since you were seeing this so frequently.

    Lauran  08:51 So if I’m going to speak to my college classroom, one thing that they really struggle with is knowing how much time the course is going to take. So I would say to them, it’s going to be you know, and I have a whole calculation, I’ve got a video on this that we can put in the show notes. But it’s how to calculate the time that you need for a college course. And this is a good thing to practice for high school homeschoolers because they can see, okay, this semester, my history class, is this many weeks, and this is how much time I need to spend per week and this is how I’m going to break it down, etc. So I do go through with them and encourage them to find time in their weeks. I have a lot of students who have care responsibilities, they have full-time jobs, etc. And this is also true of homeschool students who are dual credit or recent grads because they’re often taking care of younger siblings. They’re interning maybe in a company or they’re working to pay for their education. So it is significant that they sit down and they find a time in their week. It’s also important, you know, as we want to have warm open communication with our high schoolers, we want to have that same warm open communication with our college students. So I wouldn’t necessarily sit down with my sophomore in college and say, let’s figure out, you know, the 10 hours a week that you need to study. But I would ask them, to have an open conversation with you, you know, my students, I tell them, You need to tell your friends that between these two hours, you are not available, your phone is off, you can’t do the dishes, they’ll do them later, whatever it is you but you need to sort of, you know, arrange that time. So time management is a big thing. Time blindness is maybe a term that is a bit newer, but that is the sense that when you think, Oh, this thing is going to take five minutes, but it actually is a two-hour task. Or conversely, it’s a three-hour task, or you think it’s a three-hour task. And it’s a five-minute task. So you put it off till the very last minute, right? So having a perception of time that’s realistic can be a pretty big game changer. It comes to emotional regulation, which is a big part of executive function because that is a brain function that comes from the frontal lobe, and again, it’s around 25, that the frontal lobe is fully formed. And that can vary based on, you know, neuro divergence, as well as trauma and other factors. But, so if a student is in college before 25, they’ve got deficits there, right? So we have seen, you know, my spouse has been a high school teacher for a long time, I taught college prep high school, and I taught embedded ACT courses. I’ve taught in boarding schools. I’ve taught in a lot of different types of environments. And then my favorite is now what I’ve been doing for several years, which is Community College. 

    In all of those environments, I can almost set my watch to midterm. When everyone is going to have a breakdown, the students are going to come to me and they’re going to say I can’t do it anymore. It’s too much. I’m behind. My mom wants this from me, my job wants me to work more hours, or you know, I overcommitted or I wasn’t prepared for this course. And they just shut down. Some of my students will disappear for two weeks and not come back. And then they’ll come back when they’ve like, sort of composed themselves. But I tell them, you need to be communicating with me and the people in your life about what’s going on. So emotional regulation is one of those things that can be practiced. And it can be practiced on a micro level in high school, to start with awareness. And that can be just how are you feeling right now. Do a self-check. We use the feelings we’ll use. You can Google that. But my spouse and I use it too, it’s not just for kids. But it helps you identify? Because you might be able to say, Oh, I’m feeling overwhelmed. That’s not really a specific feeling, right? How can you break that down into something that is more specific? Once you have emotional awareness, then you can make a plan for how to deal with it. But if the midterm breakdown is coming, then you need to be aware of what’s leading to that as well. So practice that on a micro-level in the high school situation. Make sure you have a good support system, and make sure that you’re not overcommitted. And be kind to yourself. That’s a big thing for parents and our kids.

    Janna  13:26 When my daughter called me yesterday, crying because there was a mix up with her schedule at school. And my first response is definitely to cry. I mean, I think, I don’t know if I’m the only one but I just feel like tears are my soul’s way of letting go of some of that overwhelm. So definitely cry. And then let’s figure out what had caused the problem. And part of it is, I think, fatalistic thinking of young adults because their frontal lobe is not fully developed. So they do need safe mentors in their lives to walk them through some of these things. It’s like, even though maybe wasn’t stuff that we talked about when we were kids, now we know when we can do better. She felt like she dropped the ball somewhere. And, so I was like, Okay, well, let’s get before we think about the rest of the schedule. Let’s get rid of let’s get down to the bottom of that feeling because that’s going to make you feel insane. If you can’t pinpoint what had happened. So come to find out she hadn’t logged into her college email. And when she did, the class had been canceled just the week before. So she did do that. She did register for it. It was on her calendar, and now she knows why it has disappeared. But once you can kind of like take away that. Oh my gosh, did I make a mistake? I don’t like making mistakes, Lauran. I don’t know that a lot of people do but some personalities can roll with it better than others have in mind. otter is very much like me. And so I was like, Don’t you feel better now that you know that you did do all the right steps and this was completely out of your control, you still feel out of control, right? You still have to come up with a solution. But just taking away that one thing of it, am I not paying attention? Did I do something and didn’t do it properly? It’s like these little things that just immediately when you’re already emotional about, you know, whether you’re finishing up high school and in college, or you’re in college, and you don’t know what the next steps are, that’s incredibly overwhelming emotionally for young adults. And then as parents, we feel it too, and we’re trying to fix things, but we’re trying to let them figure things out on their own. And, it’s this dance that we do that it’s like if we can eliminate things that are causing extra stress, and not eliminate it for them, but helping them walk through the processes to find out how they can eliminate it for themselves. It’s amazing that one thing changed the entire scenario for her.

    Lauran  16:01 Well, and I think that’s a great example of how to handle it as a parent because emotional regulation does not mean like you’re a robot, it means figuring out how you feel and then being able to deal with the feelings. So I think that’s great. And, you know, I talked about how I was a procrastinator, and I’m still a procrastinator, but I was a much worse procrastinator in college because I’m a perfectionist. So I finally figured that was I had this moment I was 2am. This was back when we still had computer labs. So it was 2am. They were closing the computer lab, they’re kicking me out, I’m like my papers do the next day and the printer is not working. And I was like, Okay, this has to stop, I have to figure out what’s going on. And I realized that I procrastinated. Because I’m a perfectionist. If I waited till the last minute, I had a reason for why it wasn’t perfect. So once I figured that out, I was able to start earlier, I was able to just let it go, I was you know, a 90, it’s fine. An 85 is fine. Sometimes a 70 is fine, if that’s you know, which is how I handled math. But that, for me was a big game changer. And part of the reason I’m so passionate about executive function is because I’ve taught students with so many various backgrounds for a long time. And my spouse and my child were recently, a couple of years ago, diagnosed with ADHD. And it was one of those things that it was kind of like this lightbulb that like, Oh, this is why this is hard. I know. And this is this is what we can do about it. Because once you sort of know what’s going on with your brain. And in the case of ADHD, it is a disorder. You know, my husband always says I hate it when people say this is a superpower. It’s a disorder, it’s hard. But there are ways to deal with it. And you know, in our case, it’s a mix of medication and routines and just a lot of grace. But knowing all these things about ourselves will help us be a lot more gentle with ourselves. And then again, like I keep saying we have to create systems that work for us. I worked with a student recently, who for an entire year did not write down, any assignments. So was one of my one-to-one clients. And I said so you hate doing this, don’t you? And he said yes. And I said, Okay, well, let’s figure out a way for you to not hate it. So through conversations, we figured out that he’s really into graphic novels. So I said, Let’s every class do a square of a graphic novel. And we came up with a character. And we came up with a little soundcloud. And so this little character tells him what his assignments are for each class. But that was a total change. Because what his brain thought was, I can’t do this. And my brain doesn’t work this way. I can’t write down my assignment. So he didn’t even attempt it. But once we figured that out, it was like, Oh, my brain likes stories. My brain thinks this way. So that we’re doing it this way. And it’s a big change. So it’s liberating to realize that maybe your professor or your parents and homeschool will say you need to put your stuff in a calendar this way. The important thing is you put it on a calendar. Is it an app? Is it did you draw a giant Mind Map? Did you make a graphic novel, whatever it is, it has to work for you or you won’t do it.

    Janna  19:20 My youngest daughter refuses to write down things. And I am a list maker and a box checker. So it frustrates me to no end. And as a homeschool parent, I find that everything I talk about it always comes back to how I need to change my perspective, and how I’m looking at things with my children as we’re taking this journey. And so I keep saying, Okay, I just don’t know how you’re not writing it down. It’s just that I’m trying to breathe through it myself because it doesn’t make sense to me. But I also know that you don’t always complete the tasks. So what we have yet to come up with is the system, we’re still kind of working on it. And if first you don’t succeed, try try again, right?  I find that demanding things of my older children now really tends to backfire. And I really would rather partner with them to help them be successful, as opposed to them just being obedient. And that’s definitely not the type of parenting that I was modeled. And so it has taken well, almost 18 years with my first to, to really try to understand that executive function isn’t something that is natural to necessarily a lot of people. I mean, it’s something that can be developed, but you have to be aware of it right, you have to be aware that you don’t have a process. And, some people are just naturally, they make the list, and it feels good. And that works with their personality. But that’s not everybody. And so as a parent, it’s so frustrating. But it’s important to recognize these things so that when our kids do get to college or outside of our home, you know, they are prepared, even if it’s not the way we would have done it.

    Lauran  21:05 Well, I think that you made several good points there. And I want to capitalize on the fact that you say you want to partner with your kids, which is the best way to do it. Because, and sometimes, you know, my daughter, and I think very differently. I have anxiety, she has ADHD. And so sometimes we’re like speaking different languages. So one of the things that has been successful for us, and what I suggest to parents is to find someone who thinks like them, some kind of other mentor that has, particularly if you can find a recent college grad. That’s golden because they’ll see, okay, this person is not a list taker, but they graduated, they did okay, what did they do? Right? So that can be helpful. Because our kids always want to listen to someone besides us, right? The other thing I would say is, when we are trying to support our kids, this is something that I have learned to do with my students, as well as with my own child is to not have hard starts. So that would be like, you know, the they come in the door, I got your report card. What did you do? Like, how could you like, you know, whatever it is? And instead of saying, first of all, you reconnect, how are you? But then with my students, I’ll say, you know, I’m noticing that you’re struggling. What’s going on? Like, let’s find out, I’m inviting them to tell me the emotional reason that things aren’t going well, right? And it’s also an opportunity for them to, because if I go to them, and I say you haven’t turned in the last two assignments, you’re gonna fail the course, that relationship is over, right? So what we’re trying to do is invite our students to come to us before things are dire, right? So this can be something that happens with a lot of first-generation college students in particular, or maybe they’ve had, they’ve been homeschooled, and so they feel some pressure to succeed because they’ve had a different type of education than their peers is that they, they’re not doing well, in a class or they’re not doing well at college socially. They’re miserable, they’re whatever, but they don’t tell anybody. And they just wait till the end of the semester until they fail. And failure is not the end, you know, I have students who have taken my class, I am very proud of this student who just took my class for the third time. And he had a lot of emotional stuff going on. He had all kinds of issues that were challenges, I should say. And he passed my class on the third time and we celebrated, you know, so failure is not the end. But also it’s before that midterm breakdown. Let’s have a conversation with our kids and say, How are things going? If you’re struggling in this class, it’s okay. If you’re struggling socially, it’s okay. So having that kind of safety net to put out for our kids, in the beginning, invites them to open up instead of saying, I’m just gonna, you know, I lost my financial aid because I failed a class and now I’m sleeping on my friend’s couch, so you won’t know about it. It’s a big stream, but it happens maybe more than you would realize. So again, that warm open communication, trying to figure out what’s going on emotionally inviting them to help you help them. The biggest thing is it’s their idea, right?

    Janna  24:35 Well, that in and of itself is a whole other college course that I think all parents would take if it were available to us. Lauran, I am so pleased to hear you giving homeschool parents permission to give grace. I think sometimes there’s this outside pressure along with inside pressure when we choose to do something that’s countercultural, and then we feel the need to prove to those around us whoever they are, that we made the right decision for our children that we didn’t mess them up in some way. And so from the pressure out and the pressure in, it boils over and our children are unfortunately kind of a casualty that happens in that they’re the force that you know, that feels our force when it happens. So permission to give ourselves grace, and then that there’s nothing wrong with giving our children grace. And it really doesn’t matter what anyone else says or thinks. Because when everybody’s 35, and in their career and has their own families, if that’s their, what they choose, like, none of this stuff, none of the pressures are going to matter. But it’s what we do in the day-to-day, the relationship building that does matter.

    Lauran  25:50 And the reality of the matter is, we’ve all done the best we can with the knowledge that we had. And so we need to give ourselves so much grace, because we’re learning as our kids are learning. And the world is changing very quickly. And maintaining a close relationship can be difficult, and it can be felt like a mountain that we’re climbing, but you just have to hang in there and be supportive. The because the students I know, you know, could be the first generation students whose parents don’t speak English. And they have very little context for the college experience. The ones that do better, are the ones who have a close relationship with their parents, and they can go to them and say I’m struggling, they can go to them and whatever. So that it is really significant. But, you know, being homeschooled myself, sometimes I’ll say to people, you know, I was homeschooled, and they’re sort of surprised, not because they, they don’t think it’s legitimate, but it’s like, oh, but now you have a doctorate and you’re doing this or whatever. I’m like, Yeah, so you’re right. But once we get to a certain point, it doesn’t matter. And we don’t really need to compare ourselves to anyone. In any situation, you know, this is this can be difficult if you have a neurodivergent child. And they’re being compared with their behavior or their you know, you know, for my daughter, she’s sometimes pulled out of situations so that she can get extra time or whatever it is. And I would encourage everyone, you know, I’m not a psychologist, not a neurologist. So if you suspect any kind of learning challenge with your child, definitely go and get them, you know, assessed because it is a game changer. My husband was 40 when he was diagnosed. And it’s like, it’s changed our whole life. But my students who have their letters, there are lots of accommodations, you know, that that has to be formalized. I have several students who have letters but never turn them into me. And because it’s they want to start over when they’re in college and prove that their dyslexia or their ADHD is not going to hold them back. And they can just do it their own way. Don’t make it hard for yourself, you know, and make it so that I always say smart students ask for help successful students ask for help. All you’re doing is getting the support that you need for the way that your brain works, and the way that you need to have help. You know, I had a, what, like an assistant dog in my class last semester, and I was like, This is great. Made everyone is happier, right? So because that student took the steps that she needed to have her emotional support dog with her so that she could focus in class. So this is, it benefits everyone if you get the help that you need.

    Janna  28:44 Well, before we go, can you share a hack with our listeners?

    Lauran  28:49 Yes. Just one. Okay. One of the things that with, you know, I’ve talked about executive function kind of in a sort of umbrella sort of way. But again, it’s really the set of skills that helps us get things done. It’s the working memory, it which helps us remember, processes, people with deficits and working memory, can remember, you know, we’re a big trivia family. So my husband can remember all kinds of trivia about like the 50 states, but he can’t remember to, like, unload the dishwasher. That’s working memory, right? And it’s something we joke about, but that’s just an aside. Anyway. So it’s mental flexibility. It’s emotional regulation. So on my website, I have an infographic called the College Prep Essential Skills infographic. What I recommend as a hack is to look at that infographic it’s I’ve divided it into skills of scholastic study, social, and sensibility, which is the emotional part. And so what I recommend is for you to take a couple of weeks and write down executive function skills that your kids do really well. I’ll. So for example, one of the executive function skills is being able to sort of remember and also process what you’ve read. So if your child reads a book and tells you about it, and has an opinion about it, that’s well-founded based on the text, write that down, write that, because that’s an let’s put it in a positive category, if they were helpful to a sibling, but that in the sensibility emotional regulation category, that’s positive, right? It can be really helpful for you as a parent to see, okay, maybe they’re like, again, that fatalistic attitude of like, nothing is working, you know, you got to start with the positive. And then I would take another week to note down some areas of growth. And then I would not go to your child and say, I’ve been observing you like a weird scientist for the last couple of weeks. But to say, you know, I’ve noticed that time management has been a struggle. And I wonder if there are some things that we could change or a way that I could help you? Can we change a system, etc. So that’s my hack is to start observing these skills, and then to pick just one or two things at a time, that maybe you as a family can work on together. And maybe that’s first you saying, like, you don’t have this to say, like,I have a list? Why doesn’t my kid have a list? You know, to step back, and maybe maybe the first change is to change your perspective. And then to think, okay, but there is still a gap, there’s still not turning things in on time, or the tasks aren’t getting completed. So list is not the answer. The problem is the tasks aren’t happening. What executive function skill category can we work on? To close that gap?

    Janna  31:49 I hear you saying is literature-based learning where we read to our kids, and then have discussions and have them tell us the story back is a great way to build executive functions.

    Lauran  32:01 Yes. And you can start, you know, we’re not born with zero executive functions, we all have them, they just need to be developed. And you start in kindergarten with, you know, my kid loved that memory game, right? Where you put all the cards down and you pick up to, that’s your developing memory, and then you develop working memory from then. So the book discussions, the memory games, the, you know, all in all, I could go on and on. But there are a lot of things that you could do in elementary school, to help your kids develop this. And you don’t necessarily have to tell them, that’s what you’re doing. But yes, all of those will help, there are a lot of things about homeschooling that do help build executive function, and that’s a positive thing I want to say. It’s just a matter of developing them and scaffolding them as they grow older, because, like I said, the demands grow higher than the executive function skills are at a faster pace.

    Janna  33:02 So I think it’s also natural as our children start to age, we stop playing memory games, right? We kind of get away from reading aloud if you’re not in a program like BookShark, that it’s the forefront of the curriculum. And being intentional to continue and scaffold these very things are going to be so helpful for parents to continue to help grow their children in this area, which is an area that has not been growing. Maybe the best way it can be so Lauran, thank you so much for coming on today. How can our listeners learn more about what you offer through your courses?

    Lauran  33:43 The best way to get to me is through my website, alteringcourse.com all my socials are on there. As I said, the infographic is on there. And all of my offerings are on there I have executive function cohorts is what I call them, and you can join the waitlist at any time. They are virtual experiences for students and or parents. And we do a lot of fun things in there to to assess executive function skills to help improve them. There’s a lot of gamification involved. So those are fun sessions but also you’ll come away with some really good skills and ways to continue to improve them.

     Janna  34:27 And then you had a special for our listeners if they wanted to connect with you and purchase something from you, what can they expect?

    Lauran  34:36 So you can get 10% off any products that I offer with the code bookshark.

    Janna  34:41 Alright, you guys, you heard it here. Go to alteringcourse.com and learn more about what Lauran has available to help you and your students learn executive functioning and ways to improve what you already know your children have. Make sure to use the code bookshark if you want to purchase something from her and we’ll have all the information including the link to the infographic in the show notes thank you so much, Lauran. Thank you guys, until next time goodbye

  • Why You Don’t Have to Be Good at Language Arts to Teach It Well

    Why You Don’t Have to Be Good at Language Arts to Teach It Well

    Many of us were taught language arts as a disjointed set of unrelated skills—a very ineffective way to learn it. Can you relate to any of these experiences?

    • Learning about a grammar concept and completing ten to twenty exercises after the lesson to practice the new skill.
    • Receiving a list of spelling words on Monday and memorizing them for a test on Friday. Then spelling them incorrectly in your own writing.
    • Defining literary terms and never noticing them in the books you read.
    • Memorizing vocabulary words, but never actually using them while speaking or writing—and then forgetting them.
    • Following a formula to write a paper and hating every minute of it because you were as bored writing it as your teachers were probably reading it.

    You did the work in school, but without context and without connection. As a result, you may believe you aren’t good at language arts. The truth is, you struggled with language arts because of how it was taught, not because of a lack of intelligence. Unfortunately we have a tendency to homeschool in the same way we learned, even if we believe our own education was lacking.

    There’s a better way. You can teach language arts effectively, no matter your own school experience with the subject. After all, Albert Einstein said, “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” 

    Life-Long Learning Starts with You

    As a homeschooler, know it’s perfectly fine to learn alongside your children. You don’t have to be an expert in every subject. It’s not even possible! What you do need is an attitude that says, “We can figure this out together.” 

    As Anthony J. D’Angelo said, “Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.”

    This we-can-learn-it attitude is incredibly beneficial to your students as they realize

    • You are never too old to learn and grow.
    • It’s okay if you don’t master something the first time around.
    • Learning is a process that takes diligence and practice.
    • They don’t have to do it alone.

    Modeling learning means you’re showing them how to learn, not just what to learn. You also get the benefit of a better grasp of language arts skills you can use in your own life. And you’ll also be more sympathetic when they struggle, because you know what it feels like. 

    Teaching Language Arts Comes Naturally

    “Learning is not the product of teaching. Learning is the product of the activity of learners.”—John Holt

    Your children began learning long before they ever started school. From the moment they were born, you watched in amazement with each skill they added from rolling over to lifting their heads, from sitting to standing, from crawling to walking. 

    You wondered as they picked up word after word and began speaking in phrases and sentences. You laughed at their grammar mistakes because they were adorable, and you knew one day they would say it correctly. 

    You were their first teachers. You encouraged them, you helped them, and you gently corrected their mistakes. 

    You’ve been teaching them since the day they were born, and you can continue to teach them everything they need to be effective communicators. 

    BookShark gives you the tools to help you teach language arts skills naturally, in the way kids were designed to learn. 

    Real Authors are Ready to Help

    Workbooks and textbooks may offer lessons and exercises to teach kids language arts skills, but they are ineffective to inspire a love of literature and writing. Often students don’t know how to apply those exercises to their actual writing. They miss those things that make writing compelling to read and their speeches compelling to listen to.

    With a natural approach to teaching language arts, students learn to write from real authors. They learn to communicate from those who do it best.

    • Spelling and vocabulary comes from the books they are reading. 
    • Writing assignments are tied to the subject matter they are learning about in the books they read.
    • Grammar skills are learned through copying and writing from dictation using sentences and passage from the books they are reading.

    You see the pattern. Students learn from published authors—experts in their field. Good writing inspires good writing as students absorb language arts skills naturally.

    You Have a Guide

    Anatole France correctly said, “Nine-tenths of education is encouragement.” As a homeschool parent, tou have the opportunity to be your students’ biggest cheerleader—the one who encourages them and helps them stay on track. 

    But you also have a coach to help you along the way.

    With BookShark Instructor’s Guides, you have everything you need to teach language arts, even if you don’t feel confident in your own skills. You get:

    • A 36-week, 4-day schedule designed to save one day a week for co-ops, music lessons, sports, field trips or other extra-curricular activities.
    • Weekly overviews
    • Student Activity Sheets
    • Separate parent instructions, answers, and definitions
    • Rubrics to help you evaluate more subjective activities

    You Can Teach Your Children Language Arts

    You may not consider yourself equipped to teach language arts because you didn’t understand the way it was taught to you. But there’s good news. You aren’t alone. BookShark can help

    You’ll have everything you need to teach your kids naturally, and along the way learn a few things yourself. It’s one of the reasons homeschooling is so successful. As a homeschooler, you are the facilitator of your children’s education. You don’t have to know everything, because like any life-long learner, you can find the resources to help.

    About the 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.

  • Why It’s Okay for Kids to Redo Their Work and Retake Tests

    Why It’s Okay for Kids to Redo Their Work and Retake Tests

    Roald Dahl said, “By the time I am nearing the end of a story, the first part will have been reread and altered and corrected at least one hundred and fifty times. I am suspicious of both facility and speed. Good writing is essentially rewriting. I am positive of this.”

    While I believe Dahl is right, if my children thought they needed to revise a story one hundred and fifty times to produce good writing, they’d never pick up a pencil again. But if not one hundred and fifty times, then how many?

    How many times should our child retake a test, re-do an assignment, rework math problems, or revise their writing? Should they do their best the first time or be given as many times as it takes to get it right?

    Depending on whom you talk to, the answer varies. If you believe, as I do, the point of an assessment is to see what the student retained so they can continue to build skills and learn, then like me, you believe revision is essential. But revision can feel like a punishment. A redo can be synonymous with failure. I wonder if instead of asking how many times my child should revise, we ask, how can I help my child see revision as part of the learning process.

    Before we ask a child to retake a test or re-do a worksheet, we need to make sure the assessment genuinely captured what we hoped to assess. A child who struggles with test taking may be able to answer the test questions correctly when they are asked orally. Instead of assessing what a child knows about World War I (your goal), the test could be assessing their test-taking, reading, or writing skills. A child who struggles with sitting still or following directions might struggle with workbooks. Is a blank page an assessment of what they know, or how they are being asked to show what they know?

    Once we know what our child needs to learn, it’s important we, too, embrace revision. We have to check in with ourselves. Do we want our child to hurry up and get something done so we can mark it off of the Instructor’s Guide, regardless of the outcome? Here are five ways we can all see the importance of revision and help our children find success. 

    1. Focus on a Growth Mindset

    Revision is part of the learning process. It is not the final step, nor is it a means to perfection. There is no end point when it comes to learning. The more we practice and dig into a skill, the more we deepen our knowledge.

    Assessments given without the chance for revision can offer students the idea that their learning has an end.

    • They get an A+, the skill is mastered, and it’s time to move on.
    • They fail and therefore know nothing.

    Neither is true. When we encourage students to revise, rework, and relearn skills as needed, we empower them to become lifelong learners.

    2. Allow Plenty of Time

    Learning is not a race. Homeschooling allows us to slow down and offer our children plenty of time to make sure learning happens. We can slow down our curriculum. We can pause and come back when our child is ready, break down skills into smaller parts, and take our time.

    3. Help Kids Practice Skills in a Variety of Ways

    Drilling kids or using a method that isn’t working over and over will only lead to frustration. Once you identify a skill your child needs to work on, use a variety of ways to help them practice. If your child needs to work on fractions, cook something together. Play games where they practice multiplication, spelling, and grammar. Approach the learning from different angles, use multimedia, and apply hands-on methods. The more fun and engaging learning is the more it will stick.

    4. It’s Okay to Practice One Skill At a Time

    While revising an essay by hand allows a child to practice handwriting and writing at the same time, doing so over and over could lead them to hate revision, handwriting, or both. Computers make revision a lot less painful. Once they get their writing just the way it needs to be, they can always copy it or something else to practice their handwriting.

    5. There Are Many Ways to Revise

    Revision doesn’t have to look like red pen marks and rewriting the same paragraph over and over. It shouldn’t feel like a punishment. If a child is struggling with organizing their writing, have them cut up their paragraphs and sentences and revise by rearranging them in a more cohesive manner. Do a scavenger hunt with their writing and have them first find all the capitalization errors. Another time look for the spelling errors or missing periods. Give them fun pens and let them grade themselves.

    You don’t have to even call it revision. We’re just continuing to learn.

    When we help our children embrace a growth mindset, offer plenty of time to learn and practice a skill, make sure the assessment is measuring what needs to be assessed, practice one skill at a time, and use revision as tool instead something that feels tedious or like a punishment, the number of times something takes doesn’t matter. What matters is learning happens, the child finds success, and the child is motivated to keep learning.

    About the 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.

  • Sidewalk Chalk Ideas for Homeschool Learning

    Sidewalk Chalk Ideas for Homeschool Learning

    If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to liven up your school day, grab a bucket of sidewalk chalk and head outside. While it’s easy enough to let kids go wild and create whatever they want, consider adding some structure and hands-on education to your outdoor chalk time.

    Below you’ll find activities focusing on a variety of subjects —mathsciencelanguage arts— that have one element in common; they can all be done outside with sidewalk chalk. These activities are adaptable, so feel free to use these directions as a springboard for your own fun! Modify the ideas below depending on your child’s age and ability.

    Engage Your Kids with These Chalk Activities and Games

    1. Chalk Sundial

    In an area of full sun, draw a large circle with chalk. Mark off the center of the circle. Early in the day, at the top of the hour, have someone stand on the center mark. Then, have someone else draw the shadow that is created. At the shadow’s edge, write down the time. Throughout the day, repeat the process. You’ll see the shadow moving across the circle.

    Questions to ask:

    • How does the sundial work to tell time?
    • How accurate is a sundial?

    2. Math Path

    Draw a large hopscotch board; feel free to extend it by adding extra boxes. Place a different number inside each box. Give your child a specific math function to solve in order to move into each box. For example let’s say you have the number 63 in the first box. Say, “Use division to get to 63.”

    Make it harder:

    • Instead of having them solve one math equation, make them answer many to move into a box. Using the above example, ask them to use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to get to 63.
    • As they move along the boxes, have kids determine whether a number is a prime number or not.

    3. Spelling Circles

    Draw many circles across a large area of your driveway. Write one letter into each circle. Give your child a word to spell and have them move among the circles, spelling it out.

    Variations:

    • Instead of having kids move from letter to letter, give them a specific movement. For example, “For this word, skip through the letters.”
    • Let your student create words from the letters in the circles. If you want to make it more challenging, have them stick to different word lengths each round, for example six letter words.

    Additional Outdoor Chalk Projects

    Build a Story

    Write a list of random words using chalk, and have your child jump from word to word, making up a creative story as they move along. You can also do this with two people by letting them take turns choosing words but contributing to the same story.

    History Timeline

    Choose a period a historical figure from your history lessons and create a timeline. Include both dates and pictures. Stick figures are welcome!

    Recreate a Masterpiece

    Have your child choose a piece of art they love and then let them make it with chalk. Discuss the pros and cons of using chalk as an art medium.

    Solar System

    Kids won’t be able to draw a life sized solar system, but they can chalk one using proper ratios. Have your student do some math and measure out each planet to make an impressive solar system.

    Whatever you decide to do, the main thing is to have fun while you’re learning! There are all kinds of chalk available, including neon colors, glow in the dark, and glitter. Hunt around for special chalks to make this outdoor learning activity extra special.

  • Five Ways to Have a Successful Family Reading Time

    Five Ways to Have a Successful Family Reading Time

    Although having a family reading time is important to my family, I realize that with the numerous other obligations a homeschool mama has, reading aloud as a family might not seems doable. Our family reading time is one of our favorite times of the day, but it didn’t always look like it does now. Here are five easy tips to help you and your family have an awesome daily reading time together:

    1. Be choosy about the time of day.  

    Your family reading time will be affected by the ages of your children and your daily activities. It may also change over time, depending on how your schedule shifts through the year. Choose a time of day that is more relaxedIf your evenings are always very hectic, that probably isn’t a good time for you.  

    We used to read in the mornings before school until the baby became a toddler. Our family reading time suffered while our mobile little sweetie was getting into everything under the sun. To say she was distracting is an understatement. We ultimately moved our reading time to evenings after the baby was in bed and after the older kids were showered and ready for bed themselves. Changing our family reading time to evening made it a great transition into bedtime.

    2. Choose books that interest your children.

    If your children can’t stand fanciful stories, don’t read them. Find an author that they love, and read his or her books. My kids love Roald Dahl! On the flipside, challenge your kids to try new literature styles, too. But make sure that they are having fun. Family reading time should not be torture.

    3. Read an array of books together.

    Sometimes I chose books that correlate with the season or an upcoming holiday. Sometimes my selections go with what we are studying in science or history.  Other times they don’t match our homeschool lessons at all.

    The point is that I select a wide variety of books, authors, and subjects.  Changing it up keeps family reading time from getting dry and boring.  Let your children suggest books they want to read.  Other times choose for them.

    4. Keep little hands busy.

    I have been reading to my kids for a long time, ever since they were very small. I’ve even read chapter books to my three-year-olds, but to expect them to sit still and not wiggle is unrealistic. Have a special activity that your little ones can do while you read. Make sure this activity is mostly mindless like these examples:

    • squeezing silly putty
    • stacking and unstacking blocks
    • matching socks

    This kind of physical action will keep them mostly stationary and quiet while you read. They may still be moving while they do their activity, but they are listening!

    5. Be consistent.

    When I’ve tried to read only one chapter every week or so, I almost never finish the novel. Being consistent in your reading time is key to being successful. With too much space between reading sessions, your kids (and you) will forget what is going on in the story. Shoot for at least reading four times per week.  It will start to become part of your daily routine, and your kids will miss it when you don’t read.

    Happy reading to your family!

    About the Author

    Alicia Hutchinson is the homeschooling mom to four.  She and her children love reading and history and exploring outside.  They are just settling into their new home in the Minneapolis area, where they just relocated from North Carolina.  

    You can read more about Alicia and their homeschooling adventures, current projects, and thoughts on motherhood at her blog Investing Love.

  • How I Found a Homeschool Schedule That Works

    How I Found a Homeschool Schedule That Works

    We have just started our fifth year of homeschooling with BookShark and have changed our schedule through the years to fit various stages of our life. I’ve learned to make my curriculum flex for me and my kids while also trusting it to lay a solid academic foundation. I know that BookShark doesn’t need extra dressing up beyond a healthy layer of real-life exploration. But how I arrange the lessons is up to me!

    The BookShark Instructor’s Guides offer an easy-to-understand four-day schedule that shows me precisely what to cover in each subject each day—what to read, what to talk about, what words to learn, what timeline figures to place in the Timeline Book, what locations to mark on the Markable Map, what Science activities to do, etc. It’s a relief to have a base to work from! I don’t have to spend energy planning lessons.

    Sticking to My Instructor’s Guide… or Not

    Sticking to the schedule benefits my kids since the subjects are so often intertwined. I find we get an an even richer learning experience when we work through the Instructor’s Guide as planned. For example, currently our Science, History, and Readers are all set in a relatively close time period, allowing us to dive deep into the mind-set of early American days. Keeping with the same time period means that the bulk of our lessons all relate back and forth with each other.

    While staying with the schedule is my preferred method, we have frequently found ourselves in a groove and excited to continue a History lesson to the point we may get several days ahead. Most days we want to work on all subjects, and other days we may power through an entire week of Science in one sitting. We can do that! I let the curriculum flex for me!

    We choose to homeschool because it offered our family the greatest flexibility in our school schedule. Even when our schedule may look different from one week to the next, BookShark has worked well with our changes.

    Homeschooling with a Four-day Schedule

    BookShark’s four-day schedule gives our family the opportunity to enjoy an extra family day or a learning day without books. We enjoy museums and will frequently use our extra day off as a field trip day to learn more with hands-on activities at a children’s science museum or an early American homestead.

    We have also used our extra day off to do more in-depth studying of things that interest us at the time. Robotics, foreign language, and crafts frequently fill our fifth day.

    The four-day schedule is a great choice for families who want to enjoy a three-day weekend or who elect one day a week for field trips, extra-curricular activities, or homeschool co-op.

    Using the Fifth Day for Rabbit Holes

    We generally plan for a four-day week, but homeschooling has allowed us the opportunity to jump down the many rabbit holes that come about with learning. We can take our four-day schedule and spread it over five days. This means we may start out talking about an early American family’s water well and then start learning about the water table and finally study the water cycle. We might begin a lesson on the ocean and end up spending an hour with our map discussing geography. I don’t plan these rabbit hole days, but I always welcome them and love that we can adjust our schedule and not stress about getting back on track.

    Stretching a four-day schedule into five days gives us more time to spend on each subject and encourages more in-depth learning on subjects our family is interested in.  

    Keeping a Traditional School Schedule

    Following a local school’s schedule can be important for many families. It is a great way to keep on track with your school year and still get plenty of breaks during the year. When we began our first year homeschooling, we went this route and it worked well for us then. We had plenty of breaks and certainly plenty of days for learning, too.

    Choosing Year-round Schooling

    We currently choose to homeschool year-round. Although we do take a significant number of days off in the summer, I’ve found it works better for our family if we do not take two whole months off school. During the summer, we take more field trips since our local museums, libraries, and parks have great summer programs, packed full of learning opportunities.

    Our family loves to travel, so year-round schooling lets us do school while others are out on break. This means we can take our breaks during the school year in the off-season. Traveling while others are in school means the beaches are less crowded, the airfare is reduced, and the hotels are more affordable. Win-win!

    Year round schooling is a great option to avoid summer boredom while providing room for more breaks throughout the year.

    I found a homeschool schedule that works for me by being flexible and making changes when needed. Being willing to try new routines has helped me find my homeschool groove. Now I’m confident in my choices and know that I can change my schedule each year if I need to!o turn your non-reader into a reader. Some readers bloom later than others! And your investment may pay off in years to come.

    About the Author

    Pamela Gann lives in Alabama with her husband and two kids where they love doing science experiments. They began their homeschool journey back in 2013 and have used BookShark Levels K -4. Pam is a former flight attendant and is married to a pilot, so traveling is not just their passion—it is their livelihood. She blogs about their homeschool and family travel journey at PamGann. Homeschooling for their family takes place on planes, in cars, and most often outside under a shade tree.

  • Help! My Child Doesn’t Like to Read

    Help! My Child Doesn’t Like to Read

    When I started homeschooling many years ago, one of my main goals was to raise readers. As an avid reader myself, I’ve always understood the value of reading. It expands our vocabulary, teaches us, ignites our imagination, challenges us, transports us to amazing worlds, and so much more.

    I knew I wouldn’t be able to teach my girls everything, but if they could read well and enjoyed the process, they would be able to learn anything they wanted to. So I did whatever I could to make reading exciting and accessible. Here are ways to nudge your child toward becoming a lifelong reader.

    Create a Book Loving Home

    First, it’s important that our children know that we, as parents, think books are important. In our home, we have multiple bookshelves that are filled with a variety of books. Our Kindle ereaders get frequent attention. Library trips were (and still are) frequent and positive. We invest in a literature-rich homeschool curriculum.

    My husband and I read regularly, so our kids see us getting caught up in stories and hear us discuss what we’re reading. Remember that our kids tend to value what we value.

    What if you’ve done all you can think of and your child still doesn’t like to read? It’s time to ask yourself some questions.

    • Could your child have a learning disability, like dyslexia, that makes reading hard for him? Sure, we should all challenge ourselves by reading difficult books, but every time we pick up a story, it shouldn’t be a chore.

    We’re lucky that today, more than ever, there’s help available for those who have trouble reading. If this is an issue for your child, I would encourage you to seek assistance instead of deciding that he’s just never going to be a good reader.

    • Is your child a slow reader? Sometimes, especially with longer books, it’s hard to keep motivated when it seems to take forever to finish. Is he slow because he’s having trouble focusing? Is the story or vocabulary too challenging?

    Think about what can be done to break down any barriers for him. Reading isn’t a race, but see if you can help him pick up his pace, so he doesn’t get frustrated or lose interest while reading.

    Does she find the books she is reading boring? Do you let her choose her own books or is she regularly assigned reading material? Maybe she just hasn’t found the right subject to ignite her passion.

    Sure, children have to read books for school, even if they find them boring. Just make sure that you’re encouraging her to read for pleasure as well.

    4 More Tips for Turning a Non-Reader into a Reader

    • Spend part of your day reading aloud together, regardless of your child’s age. Yes, read aloud time is still valuable for teens! There is something very powerful about spending time as a family reading a story. Just be careful to avoid these common read aloud mistakes.
    • If the act of reading is challenging for your child, turn to audio books. By listening to books, instead of reading them, they can still develop the passion for the stories without having to struggle.
    • Introduce your child to a wide variety of books. Encourage her to explore the various genres and topics to find one that excites her. Make up a list and each time you go to the library, have her choose one or two different types. You both might be surprised by what grabs her attention!
    • Make sure your child is reading books that are at the right level for him. Books that are too hard or too easy can turn off a child’s interest. Challenge him to move up his reading material as he grows, but don’t jump so far ahead that every page is difficult for him to understand.

    Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that homeschooling or following any of these tips will raise a reader. However, instead of throwing in the towel claiming, “my child’s just not a reader,” persevere in your efforts to turn your non-reader into a reader. Some readers bloom later than others! And your investment may pay off in years to come.

    About the Author

    Megan Zechman is a veteran homeschool mom of two girls. Over at Education Possible, she shares creative, hands-on learning activities for middle school.

  • Winter Field Trip Ideas for Homeschoolers

    Winter Field Trip Ideas for Homeschoolers

    Field trips are great way for homeschooling families to add excitement and some real life learning to their days. Do you get out of the house with your kids?

    It’s easy to take the time to get out during the spring and fall but a bit harder to get motivated during the colder winter months. It’s important, though.

    It can become tedious to stay at home most of the day—for both you and the kids. Field trips give you all a chance to get out of the house, get some fresh air, learn new things, and interact with new people. Here are some ideas for field trips that are educational and fun.

    Zoos, Wildlife Preserves, and State Parks

    Most cities and towns have zoos and wildlife preserves, and you probably live within driving distance of a great State Park. Most of these places have indoor sections—a nature center, an education area, an aquarium, or (like our zoo) an enclosed rainforest habitat.

    These places give kids a chance to experience natural science first-hand. They interact with animals and learn about the ones that live in their area of the world: what they eat, when they sleep, their social habits, and more.

    They’re also wonderful for learning about different plant species that our local animal life depend on for survival and how human actions may be impacting them. It might be helpful to look online to see what these places offer and then write up a list of questions your kids have. Then help them find the answers while they visit.

    Art Galleries

    Even if your kids aren’t particularly interested in art, most children find galleries fun and interesting. Many even have exhibits that feature the work of child artists or have a special hands-on section where children can touch or create art. Take a look around and have your children write down the names of their favorite artists. Afterwards you can research each artist and learn more about their lives and their work.

    History and Science Museums

    I love taking my kids to science centers and history museums. With my age spread (2, 6, 8, 13), those types of places usually hold each of their interests for long periods of time.

    History museums give the kids a look into mysterious times long ago. What child can resist a dinosaur, caveman, or ancient Egyptian exhibit? Not only can they see how people lived in times past, they can see first hand what prehistoric creatures like the wooly mammoth or the saber tooth tiger looked like.

    Science museums usually give kids an opportunity to learn about science by seeing different scientific principles in practice. They may be able to learn about pressure and the effects of gas by launching a bottle rocket or about lasers by using mirrors on a grid. These museums also have seasonal exhibits that are sure to excite your kiddos, so check with yours often to see what they offer.

    Follow up your trip to a museum with a visit to your library where you check out books for further reading about whatever your children are still curious about.

    Indoor Play Zones

    When all else fails, call ahead to an indoor play zone, a laser tag facility, or a trampoline or bounce house building. They may offer group rates, and you can put out a call to your homeschool groups and coops to have friends meet you there to let the kiddos blow off steam and let the mamas have some important adult conversation. Even the indoor playground at McDonald’s and a friend and her kids meeting for a late lunch has done wonders for my sanity. Try it out.

    Local field trip spots are not hard to find and your kids–and your sanity–will thank you as you get out and move during the winter months.

    About the Author

    Colleen is a former teacher of gifted children who hoped for nice, average kids. Since things never quite work out as planned, she now stays at home to homeschool her highly gifted kids, trying desperately to stay one step ahead of them while writing about their adventures {and messes} at Raising Lifelong Learners. You can find her avoiding housework by playing on the trampoline or going for hikes with her kids. 

  • 7 Ways to Afford a Boxed Homeschool Curriculum

    7 Ways to Afford a Boxed Homeschool Curriculum

    Do you want to use a boxed curriculum but worry that you can’t afford it? If you feel that a boxed curriculum like BookShark is best for your children, don’t give up on purchasing it because you’re intimidated by the price tag. You may find that with strategic planning, you can afford a boxed curriculum.

    Before looking for additional money in your budget, first put the price into perspective. For example, consider the price per child if multiple children will be using it.

    Let’s say you have a fifth grader, a first grader, and a preschooler. If you purchase the fifth grade BookShark complete package for approximately $998, you receive materials for all the subjects your child needs—readers, read alouds, history, language arts, math, science, and spelling.

    If you keep the curriculum, you’ll be able to use it when your second child reaches fifth grade and again when your third child reaches that age. Of course, you’ll need to replace the consumables which cost approximately $350 per child. So, in this scenario, you’re able to teach three children the 5th grade complete curriculum for a grand total of $1,348, or approximately $450 per child. Suddenly, the curriculum has become much more affordable.

    Calculate how much you currently spend in one year to homeschool your children and compare that to the price on a complete curriculum. You may think that you’re not spending as much as a complete package, but that’s may be because you buy curriculum little by little throughout the year instead of all at once as you would with a boxed curriculum.

    Use Your Tax Refund

    Some families who live on a very tight budget earmark their tax refund or a portion of it to buy curriculum each year. A refunt typically comes in the late winter or early spring, just the time you are starting to consider your curriculum choices for the upcoming fall.

    Save Each Month

    Another option is to set aside a certain amount every month to pay for the curriculum you anticipate buying. If you’re buying the full package for third grade and Kindergarten, for example, you’ll be paying approximately $2,418 for the year, so you’ll need to set aside $202 a month to pay for the curriculum.

    When your children get older, your monthly saving plan will be less expensive because you can save a program for the next child. When the children in the above example are in sixth and third grades, you will need to spend only $1570 ($1200 for the full sixth grade curriculum and $370 for the consumables for the 3rd grade curriculum). In this example, you’ll need to set aside only $130 a month.

    Teach Your Children Together

    If your children are within two to three grades of one another, you can combine them for their studies in history, literature, and science. So, if you have a fourth grader and a second grader, you could choose to teach them at a level in the middle, perhaps 3rd grade, which is suitable for children ages 8 to 11. Keep in mind that you will still need to teach your children at grade level for math, language arts, handwriting, and spelling. By combining some parts of your curriculum, you can see substantial savings.

    Sell Your Used Curriculum

    Once you’re done with your curriculum and no longer have a younger child to use it, sell it. BookShark curriculum maintains its value. You can sell it via eBay or a BookShark used curriculum Facebook group. You can likely regain at least 50% of your purchase price especially if it’s relatively new and in good condition. You can also try to sell the curriculum at your local homeschool group, but you’ll likely make more money online.

    Buy a Used Set of Boxed Curriculum

    Since there is a booming market for used boxed curriculum, consider buying it used. You’ll likely pay only half the price of retail. When you’re done using the curriculum, you can sell it again and recoup a good portion of your investment.

    While you may initially think that a boxed curriculum is too expensive for your family, when you use these strategies, you may find that it’s comparable to other alternatives.

    One Extra Way to Afford Boxed Curriculum

    BookShark Payment Plans

    BookShark now offers 3, 6, 9 and 12-month interest-free payment plan! Click below to find out more.

  • 3 Ways BookShark Curriculum Is a Bargain

    3 Ways BookShark Curriculum Is a Bargain

    Because I love BookShark curriculum, I tell all of my homeschooling friends about it. During such a discussion, it’s not uncommon for a friend to lament that while BookShark looks amazing, it’s just too expensive.

    Although this is a common misconception among many homeschoolers, I find the opposite to be true. The way I see it, BookShark is an affordable way to provide my child with a quality education.

    1. BookShark Versus Private School

    First, I compare BookShark’s cost to private school. When my oldest child was nearing school age, we immediately ruled out public schools because of an inferior school system in our local area. Instead, he attended a private school through third grade. 

    Since we qualified for tuition assistance at the private school, our monthly tuition payment was $258. Without financial aid, the payment would have been almost $600 a month! Annually, we were paying $3,096 a year for tuition with financial aid! On top of the base costs, we also had to pay for school supplies, uniforms, and fundraisers. With all those additional expenses, the yearly total was closer to $3,500 a year. Without financial aid, we would have paid $7,200 a year.  

    Yes, compared to private school, BookShark’s full grade curriculum packages of approximately $800 to $1000 a year are a bargain! Plus, I find BookShark’s curriculum far superior to the education my son received in private school.

    Better learning for less money? Yes! Sign me up.

    2. BookShark Versus DIY Curriculum

    Next, I compare BookShark to piecing together your own program. Most moms who tell me BookShark is too expensive are frugal with their money and like to make smart financial choices. They usually prefer to piece together their children’s curriculum by buying used novels and second-hand Instructor’s Guides. This can be a great way to go. I tried it myself during the early years of homeschooling.

    What I found, though, is that when buying used, I spent more money than I anticipated over the course of the year. Some of the books I purchased weren’t as described —filled with highlighting and pencil marks, for example, so I’d have to spend more money buying the product again, hopefully in better condition.

    What’s worse, I spent far too much of my valuable time searching for the items I needed, corresponding with sellers, and tracking down sellers who didn’t send my product in a timely manner. For me, the few hundred dollars I saved buying used wasn’t worth the hassle, frustration, and time. Now I prefer to buy my BookShark curriculum new, in pristine condition, ready for my child.

    3. BookShark Versus Single Use Curriculum

    If you homeschool more than one child, the cost of using BookShark curriculum goes down each time you use it with your next child. I have a seventh grader who has used Levels D and E and is currently in Level F. I also have two younger children who are currently in Level B. When they get to Level D, which I already own, I’ll only need to buy the consumables for them, making my yearly cost approximately $300! You really can’t beat that price for a year of quality instruction. Then, when my younger children are done with the material, I’ll sell it used and recoup some of the money I originally spent, lowering my overall cost even further.

    While on the surface some may think BookShark curriculum is expensive, when you compare it to the expense of private school, the time spent to piece together used books, and the savings from reusing a particular curriculum package, BookShark can be seen for what it is—a quality education at a very affordable price.

    About the 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.