BookShark

Category: How To

  • 10 Ways to Raise Little Bookworms

    10 Ways to Raise Little Bookworms

    This might sound crazy, but one of my biggest fears as a new mom was that my children wouldn’t like to read.

    You see, I’m a bookworm of the highest order. I’m always reading something, actually several somethings. I have my upstairs book, my downstairs book, and my car book. I am a bibliophile.

    I’m also an educator. Before homeschooling, I was a school psychologist. In that role I saw so many children who loathed reading. Some of those children had underlying disabilities that made reading challenging, others were pushed to read too soon and balked while others lacked exposure.

    I wished that I could go back and change reading for every reluctant reader I met to help them fall in love with reading.

    And that was one of my biggest wishes for my own children. Thankfully, they did fall in love with reading with the help of these ten methods I used to help them fall in love with reading.

    Learning to read is a skill, and like all skills, it requires hard work and heaps of practice in order to become proficient.

    In order for kids to want to put all that time and effort in, we need to provide them with oodles of positive early reading experiences. If reading is pleasurable, they are going to want to learn how to do it themselves.

    1. Surround yourself with words

    If you want your children to read, surround yourself with things to read! Here are some ideas:

    • Access to a variety of reading materials, from books to newspapers to magazines
    • Book baskets in every room
    • When watching television, enable closed captioning
    • Label items in your home, such as toy bins and dresser drawers

    2. Read aloud every single day

    Reading aloud is the best thing you can do for your child’s future reading success. By reading aloud to your child, you are building

    • Vocabulary
    • Background knowledge
    • Reading fluency
    • Pronunciation
    • Listening skills

    Make a promise to read at least one book aloud to your children every single day. If you find you are too tired by the end of the day, start your morning off with a read aloud. By reading a book at breakfast, you’ll be starting off the day on the right foot.

    3. Visit the library or a local bookstore

    Nothing gets kids more excited to read than a special trip to the library or local bookstore! When you are surrounded by so many fresh books, it is hard to be inspired.

    4. Let your child select books

    Sure, they may not choose the books that you would choose, but if you want your children to be passionate about reading, you have to let them discover what they love. In our family, each child has a library tote back. Each week, they check out as many books as they can carry from the children’s section.

    5. Sprinkle in fantastic reads based on your child’s current passions

    Children are always passionate about something. What is your child obsessed with at the moment? Guess what? There’s a book about that! Every week, while my children are busy filling their library totes, I select a few additional books based on their current passions. Then, when we get home, I leave them out in plain view. Without fail, they read the book.

    6. Reread, even when you don’t want to

    Sometimes one of my children will approach me with a book that I have read a gazillion times. Children learn through repetition, so do not get discouraged if you feel that you are reading and rereading the same books every day.

    7. Make read aloud time something everyone looks forward to

    By creating memorable read aloud moments, you are not only connecting to your children but you are also making reading a pleasurable experience for your child. When reading is fun, kids are going to want to do it! Here are some ideas to jumpstart your read alouds:

    • Grab some blankets and snuggle up together with a good book
    • Have a picnic and bring your favorite story
    • Plan a related craft for after your read aloud
    • Grab a flashlight and read in the dark

    8. Don’t pressure your child to learn to read

    Nowadays there is so much pressure to read early, but this pressure makes reading anything but fun. If reading is seen as a job, rather than a joy, children aren’t going to want to spend their time reading! Instead, focus on enjoying good books together.

    9. Set aside quiet reading time each day

    The importance of reading aloud cannot be overstated. Still, silent reading is important too. In our family, we have an hour of quiet time every afternoon. This time is usually spent reading. Even my littlest guy, who is not yet reading, will spend that time paging through his favorite books.

    If you are homeschooling, choosing a literature-rich curriculum will ensure there’s time spent each day with great books. 

    10. Set an example

    Do you know what I do during that afternoon quiet time? I read my book. Make sure your children see you reading. Children learn by watching you, so give them something to imitate!

    By providing your child with positive reading memories, you will not only connect with each other, but you will be helping your child’s future reading and learning success!ns with our children. Draw out the topics they are interested in and can relate to, ask questions that spark opinions and more questions, and get excited about what will happen next. Your kids will follow suit and you’ll be digging in and having valuable discussions with them before you know it. 

    About the Author

    Cait is a school psychologist, mom to three amazing children, and an unexpected homeschooler. She loves nature, good books, board games, strong coffee, and dancing in her kitchen. You can read about all of these things and more at My Little Poppies.

  • 8 Ways to Say No to Pointless Busy Work in Your Homeschool

    8 Ways to Say No to Pointless Busy Work in Your Homeschool

    If you’ve ever doubted yourself as a homeschooler, you’re not alone. No matter how many years we homeschool, doubt can get loud. Seeds of doubt plant germinate and sprout when our kids struggle, when we’re tired, when our kids say they are bored, or when learning stagnates. When worry rears its head, our inclination might be to turn to a quick fix or busy work to quiet our fears.

    What is busy work? Busy work is anything we tell ourselves is good for our child knowing full well deep inside it’s a way to keep kids occupied or put a bandaid on whatever is going on.

    Busy work often appears in the form of

    • worksheets you’ll never look at or use
    • excessive practice and problems
    • crafts
    • online learning games
    • educational television
    • flashcards, and workbooks

    While all of these things can be wonderful learning tools if used as such, they can also be pointless. They can be busy work.

    Busy work in education is like the fillers in our food. We can pretend something labeled natural is automatically nutritious. But when we analyze the ingredients label, we see the truth. And at times (especially when we are stressed or exhausted), we tell ourselves our children are learning when children are merely doing something school-like.

    I’m not here to judge. When I was a new teacher, I gave my students busy work. Again, there are a variety of reasons good teachers and homeschoolers use busy work to keep kids occupied. Busy work keeps kids quiet and basically content when other children are learning at different paces, when children are struggling to learn, when a teacher is tired or overwhelmed, and when there isn’t time to plan a more meaningful or hands-on lesson.

    Good teachers and homeschoolers don’t turn to busy work because we’re lazy. We turn to it because we feel something is amiss. When we have that feeling, we need to answer the deeper questions:

    • Is my child struggling or challenged by something we are learning?
    • Is my child complaining about being bored or miserable?
    • Am I comparing my child to someone else?
    • Am I tired or in need of a break?
    • Is my child tired or in need of a break?
    • Are my expectations realistic?
    • Am I looking for reassurance?

    All of these questions point to something other than the need for busy work. And in fact, offering worksheets or mundane practice on something a child already knows, finds boring, or they don’t understand is only going to make the situation worse.

    There are alternatives to busy work, even when we’re tired or feel overwhelmed. Here are eight ways to say no to busy work.

    1. Play

    Children learn through play! Play is just as important, if not more so than anything we are teaching our kids. Rest assured, they are learning! If you need to work one on one with a child, have toys or activities the others can play with independently. Maybe set up an art station, reading corner, or building center. These areas do not have to be complicated or time-consuming to set up. Pull out beads and strings, watercolor pencils and paper, put books in a basket, or grab a bin of LEGO blocks.

    2. Games

    There are countless games that offer practice in reading, writing, math, geography, etc. Children will learn the skills at a faster rate if they are playing. Bonus: playing a game can be the perfect way to both take a break and learn at the same time.

    3. Quiet Times

    If we want our children to learn, our children need rest. A study out of the University of Edinburgh and the University of Missouri looked at the best ways to improve memory. “The participants were asked to listen to some stories and answer questions an hour later. Without the chance to rest, they could recall just 7% of the facts in the story; with the rest, this jumped to 79% – an astronomical 11-fold increase in the information they retained.”

    When our kids aren’t used to resting or playing quietly by themselves, it can take time to help them adjust. Start out with ten minutes of quiet play and work your way up.

    4. Use Group Work or Pair/Share

    We can learn by watching others. If there are skills you want your children to practice, find a friend or sibling they can practice with. The other child may explain the concepts in a new way that helps it stick.

    5. Read

    As long as you’re reading high quality books, reading is never busy work. Read with your child, to your child, listen to an audiobook together, or have a child read silently. 

    6. Focus on What is Going Well

    We all need reassurance, but as homeschoolers, we may have to offer it to ourselves. Keep lists, charts, or bullet journals to remind yourself you are all doing great! Keep track of and encourage yourself by focusing on all the things your child accomplishes during a school day. 

    7. Take a Break

    Give yourself and your child time to process everything you’re doing. Take time to plan, to talk together about what your child wants to learn or needs to learn.

    8. Go Outside

    There are a number of reasons to get kids outside. The outdoors offers places to learn, explore, and exercise. Nature is good for our brains and our well being. Take a walk or head to the creek, the fresh air will reset everyone’s mood and your kids will find all sorts of learning threads to follow.

    As homeschoolers, we have the opportunity to offer our children a quality education over quantity. Our kids do not have to sit in chairs all day, stand in lines, or wait for twenty other children to finish their work. We can set deadlines or not. Our kids can learn inside or out, in the morning or afternoon, and while that doesn’t mean our job as a homeschooler is easy, it does mean we can focus on what our children need and avoid keeping them busy with pointless busy work.

    If after reading this article, you wonder if your entire curriculum may be based on busy work, take a look at BookShark. Meaningful discussions about great books are the heart of a BookShark education. No fluff. No busy work. Request a catalog here. 

    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.

  • 25 Ways to Use a Markable Map for Homeschool Geography

    25 Ways to Use a Markable Map for Homeschool Geography

    We all suffer from information overload at times. When there is too much detail or too much to digest, we tend to shut down and not assimilate any of it in a meaningful way.

    The same is true for students. Some learning tools are overwhelming. For example, traditional maps and atlases that have hundreds of labels can be hard to digest. There’s just so much information, students may not know what to zero in on and consequently remember little of what they see. 

    That’s why the Markable Map sold in the Required Resources of every BookShark Reading with History program (or All-Subjects Package) is such an amazing—yet simple—tool.

    Reasons to Use the Markable Map

    • The Markable Map isn’t pre-labeled like most maps. It’s so open-ended that you can use it for dozens of different applications. 
    • By doing the work of locating and labeling places on their map, students are more likely to remember what they are learning. 
    • We tend to remember information better when it has a specific purpose or connection to what we are learning. The  Markable Map gives you a way to create that context. You read; then you mark. 

    Fantastic Features of BookShark’s Markable Map

    • This 23″ x 34″, full-colored map can hang on the wall so your students can reference it easily. Tip: If you don’t have room on your wall, pin it to a piece of foam board and store it under a bed. You can prop it up on an easel or a chair during school hours.
    • It’s laminated, so you can use it again and again for a variety of activities.
    • The map has two sides: the United States and the world.
    • All of your students can use it, from kindergarten through high school.

    Markable Map Learning Activities

    You can use the map for a variety of learning activities with students of all ages across subject areas. You’ll only need a few supplies and resources such as Vis-a-Vis® markers, an atlas, the Internet, and of course, the Markable Map. 

    BookShark Instructor’s Guides include suggested mapping activities, so you’re covering geography in an integrated way if you follow the lesson plans. Below are some of the kinds of mapping activities that you may encounter. If geography is a favorite (or a weak spot), you may want to add extra mapping fun into your homeschool routine. 

    For any of these activities, you can have your students include a map key or legend if desired. 

    Geography

    • Learn about the different kinds of landforms and geographical features, then find examples on the map and label them with the term. Create a geography dictionary in a notebook to go along with your study. Draw a picture of the landform, such as a fjord, and define it.
    • Label parts of the map such as lines of longitude and latitude and the equator. Learn what these terms mean and why they are important.

    United States

    • Write the name of the state you are studying and place a star on the capital of the state and label it. Also mark and identify major cities. Include geographical features such as mountain ranges by drawing triangles where they are located.
    • Choose a color for each region of the United States. Outline each state as you study it with a Vis-a-Vis® marker corresponding to the color of the region.
    • Draw a symbol, such as an outline of a car, on each state that you have visited. This is also a great activity to do as you plan a vacation showing where you will be traveling.

    World

    History

    Draw the paths of explorers. Include those who explored lands such as Lewis and Clark, as well as those who traveled across the oceans. 

    Literally track the building of the Transcontinental Railroad as you learn about it.

    Use your map to show where Native American tribes were located across the United States as westward expansion became the focus.

    As you study the history of different parts of the world, add a symbol or simple stick figure style picture on your map where major events took place.

    Show the movement of troops during wars. Talk about the obstacles the geography of the area might have caused for them. 

    History is being made everyday, so locate and label places you hear about in the news.

    Other Subjects

    • When you read about a place in a book, locate it on the map. You can even draw a small copy of the book’s cover to attach to the map.
    • When writing a fictional story, consult the map to find a setting for your story. Think about how the geography of that area would affect the character’s lives. 
    • Use the Markable Map as a visual for a presentation. 
    • Learn about graphing using the lines of longitude and latitude. Give students coordinates and have them draw a circle on the map where those coordinates meet. 
    • Learn about scale and include it in the map keys they create. 
    • Reference the Markable Map when visualizing  math problems dealing with distance.
    • Have students create their own word math problems using the map. 
    • When studying animals, put small pictures of them in the region they are most predominant. Or track migration routes of animals across the world. 
    • Draw small pictures of inventions and place them on the map where they were invented,
    • Label the places different types of music were created or emerged from classical to jazz to rock.

    As your students study different subjects, brainstorm your own family’s  ideas for how to use the Markable Map in your homeschool. You’ll discover it’s an inexpensive investment that yields valuable learning opportunities for the entire family. s with our children. Draw out the topics they are interested in and can relate to, ask questions that spark opinions and more questions, and get excited about what will happen next. Your kids will follow suit and you’ll be digging in and having valuable discussions with them before you know it. 

  • Discussing Books with Kids: How to Foster Valuable Conversations

    Discussing Books with Kids: How to Foster Valuable Conversations

    Have you ever had a conversation like this in your home? 

    Parent: How’s your book?

    Child: It’s good. 

    Parent: Why is it good?

    Child: I don’t know. I just like it. 

    Talking with our kids about a book they are reading can peter out before the conversation even starts. Why? The questions we ask, what we know about the book, and the way we hold discussions all matter. Good discussions are all about connection, and if there is one thing we homeschoolers do well, it’s connecting with our children.

    Looking for ways to having rich, meaningful discussions around the books your homeschoolers read? Here are some of my favorite ways to create conversations. 

    1. Read the Books Your Kids are Reading

    It’s pretty hard to have a conversation about a book you don’t know anything about. We can ask questions, but the heart of a discussion lives in everyone being somewhat informed. 

    If you can’t read the books your kids are reading, find summaries. The more you know about the book, the richer our conversation will be. 

    2. Ask Open-ended Questions

    Questions that have a right or wrong answer, that elicit a one-word answer, or that don’t spark interest will not get our kids talking about books. The questions we ask need to invite them to think about their opinions, the world around them, and who they are as a person.

    Try questions like these:

    • What do you like about this character?
    • What is something that annoys you about this story? 
    • Why do you think the character made that decision?
    • What would you have done in the character’s place? 

    3. Use Reading Strategies

    Reading strategies are tools that help readers think beyond the basic plot of a story. Use reading strategies to craft your questions and discussions: 

    • Predict: Discuss what is going to happen next. Find evidence in the novel to support your predictions. 
    • Connect: Discuss how you each relate to the characters, conflict, or setting. 
    • Question: Discuss what you’re wondering? What doesn’t make sense? What does the author not tell us?
    • Comment: Discuss your opinions. What do you think, like, dislike? 
    • Infer: Discuss what you know by reading between the lines. What are the clues that support your findings? 

    4. Model Excitement About Reading

    Modeling excitement is one of the best ways to create conversation because the more excited we are about reading, the more our kids will be. 

    This next tip may sound silly, but it works! While you’re reading in earshot of your kids, react audibly to your book.

    • Shout, “What?!” when you reach a shocking part.  
    • Laugh loudly when you get to a funny part.
    • Gasp loudly at a scary part.

    When we express what’s going on in our head while we’re reading, our excitement does a couple of things. If you’re reading independently, it sparks interest. Your kids are going to want to know what is so funny or unbelievable, which will spark discussion. If you’re reading out loud together, it’s a great place to stop and discuss what’s going on or how they are feeling. 

    5. Create Conversation Midstream

    While adults often wait until they have finished a book to discuss it, this isn’t always best to do with kids and teens. They need conversation throughout. It will help them stay interested, make sure they are understanding what is happening, and dig deeper. 

    If I’m reading out loud with my kids, we’ll stop and discuss when we’ve ingested a lot of information, get to a really important part, when they are starting to get antsy, before we read and after. 

    If we’re reading the same book independently, I try to create a conversation (even a small one) before and after we read each day. The discussion questions in each BookShark Instructor’s Guide give you perfect conversation starters if this doesn’t come naturally to you.

    6. Be Truly Interested

    Have you ever tried to talk to someone who was looking at their phone or not focused at all on the conversation? It can make us feel pretty small and unimportant. Discussions are conversations. They should look like people paying attention, listening, and truly being interested in what the other person is saying. If you don’t find the books your kids are reading interesting, remind yourself that you are interested in your child and helping them learn. (Or switch to a curriculum full of fascinating books!) 

    7. Have Real Conversations

    Books invite us into real-world problems, historical mishaps, conflicts, and so many lessons. Use a character’s flaws, values, and problems to discuss the best ways to handle struggle and conflict. Books can be wonderful ways to introduce and create conversations around hard topics. Create conversations that are meaningful and go beyond merely discussing a book for school. 

    If you have ever had a really good conversation with a friend about a book, you know the power of discussion, of lifting up the characters you liked, what you each thought and wondered. We can have these same types of conversations with our children. Draw out the topics they are interested in and can relate to, ask questions that spark opinions and more questions, and get excited about what will happen next. Your kids will follow suit and you’ll be digging in and having valuable discussions with them before you know it. 

    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.

  • 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 relaxed. If 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 7 Tips for Handling New Vocabulary During Read-Alouds

    7 Tips for Handling New Vocabulary During Read-Alouds

    Reading books to our children isn’t merely an ideal way to cement family relationships or enjoy a pleasant afternoon. It’s also an excellent method to introduce new vocabulary words to our children and help them master those words.

    Here are seven easy tips for teaching and reviewing new vocabulary learned during read-alouds with your children. Pick and choose from these different options. You don’t want to use every tip for each new word you encounter. Choose the words that you think are most integral to the story or words that your children are most likely to encounter in their daily lives or academic reading. 

    1. Stop and define the word

    Stop reading as soon as you run into the new word and define it immediately. Your children will immediately hear the word in context and how it’s used in literature.

    2. Ask children to define the word

    Instead of defining the word yourself, ask your children if they know what it means. If they don’t, help the children figure out what the word means from the context and see who can come up with the best guess.

    3. Look it up in the dictionary

    Another way to learn a new vocabulary word is to look it up in the dictionary after you ask the children to predict what the word means. This is also an excellent way to teach dictionary skills and ingrain the lifelong habit of checking the dictionary for any definitions the child doesn’t know.be assured that you can cover nearly every academic subject with almost any topic. Look for the connections between your child’s current passion and math, science, social studies, English, writing, and history. And then set them free to learn with full excitement!

    4. Write it down to look up later

    Instead of stopping the storyline in the middle of action and possibly losing children’s interest, keep a notepad next to you and write down any words you’d like to discuss later. Discuss and look up the words after you’ve finished the day’s read aloud. 

    5. Review new vocabulary at the end of the session

    Defining new words is important, but it’s also just as important to help the kids retain the new vocabulary words. As you finish the day’s read aloud, ask the children to review the new vocabulary words and their meaning with you. See who can remember the most words and hand out high fives to the kids as they define the vocabulary.

    6. Define words at dinner time

    Every evening review the new words at dinner time. Make an impromptu game to see who can use the most new vocabulary words at the dinner table. How many unique and challenging sentences can be spoken?

    7. Use the word as many times as possible

    Use the words yourself as many times as you can during the next week. The children may not use the vocabulary word in their spoken vocabulary, but even the smallest child will begin to understand the vocabulary words as they hear them in use.

    Read-alouds bring a wonderful opportunity to expand your children’s vocabulary. Using these seven tips to discuss and review the words in context will cement the vocabulary in your children’s mind better than any program.sitive emotional and social benefits far beyond merely escaping a negative public school environment where bullying is rampant.

  • 5 Ways to Give Accountability to a Kid Who Is Slacking in Homeschool

    5 Ways to Give Accountability to a Kid Who Is Slacking in Homeschool

    I want to develop my child’s natural love of learning. But some days it seems he’s more interested in smashing through the next level of a favorite video game than doing his homeschool assignments. 

    Yes, kids can lose steam with their school work even with the most engaging of curriculum. Encouraging a child’s accountability for their assignments is a challenge, but it is a worthwhile endeavor. When you can motivate your child, you curb their dawdling, you teach them time management, and—in the long run, you raise a young person who can self-regulate.

    So, what can a parent do to help a child who seems to be slacking? How can a homeschool parent provide the accountability a child needs without micromanaging?

    1. Creating a Partnership Between Kids and Parents

    First, we need to understand that sometimes what looks like slacking can actually be boredom or feeling trapped in a routine that they have little control over.

    Creating a partnership between yourself and your child is a great step in encouraging accountability and responsibility. It begins by listening to each other and respecting each other.

    The outcome of this dialogue will likely include giving children control over their education. Look for all the possible ways you can allow them to choose. Some kids prefer a more structured homeschool plan of checklists while other kids may enjoy an unstructured rhythm. Your child may prefer to do much of their work online, while others may prefer hands-on activities, or a literature-rich approach. Give them ownership over their education by letting them choose topics, curriculum, schedules, formats, etc. The more control they have, the more motivated they will be. 

    2. Getting Kids Invested in Their Work

    A child’s interests can be a great way to get them invested in their work if they are slacking off. Ask your children what they want to learn about. This shows that you care and value their opinions.

    Is your child interested in

    Any of those topics can be the focus of a rich homeschool study. Let your kiddo choose the topic! Go to the library and pick books and videos all about the thing that interests them. Let your kid read, research, and dive deep. When your child has satisfied the thirst for knowledge on that subject, let them pick another topic! Or perhaps you may want to have several different interests going at the same time.

    If you are concerned about leaving out any particular topics, be assured that you can cover nearly every academic subject with almost any topic. Look for the connections between your child’s current passion and math, science, social studies, English, writing, and history. And then set them free to learn with full excitement!

    3. Empowering Accountability

    To be successful at anything, our children need accountability to be responsible. The primary way to instill responsibility is two-fold:

    • be clear about expectations
    • help your child set bite-sized goals to work through

    In all things remember that you want to preserve the joy of learning. So take a step back and consider whether you need to adjust your expectations when your kids appear to be slacking.

    External force and negative incentives (punishments) have been proven to be poor motivators in the long run. On the other hand, positive reinforcement and natural consequences are far better ways of building a work ethic in children.

    4. Modeling Accountability

    If you really want to bring home the idea of accountability, then show your kids by modeling that behavior in your life. Show your curiosity for learning new things, and your kids will do the same.Let them see your personal goal setting and then demonstrate consistency in achieving your own goals even when you’d rather do something else.

    Let’s face it, we as adults don’t find certain tasks enjoyable either. How many times have we put off taking out the trash, making an important phone call, or creating that spreadsheet for work? 

    Showing our kids that even the boring tedious tasks must be done, develops a sense of accountability in our lives and the lives of our young learners. Monkey see, monkey do, so to speak.

    5. Rewarding Effort

    Finding a balance between external rewards (such as screen time, money, gold stars, or candy) and the internal reward of a job well done is key.

    Done sparingly, rewards can be good motivators for reluctant learners who are prone to slacking. But try to encourage effort over outcome. This attitude sets your child up for a growth mindset which helps them overcome obstacles later in life.

    As a homeschool mom, I always want to to lovingly motivate my kids instead of using force. Rewards can be helpful but may not ultimately change behavior. So, it’s important to encourage perseverance. Teach problem-solving skills while also giving your children the freedom to choose their interests to get them invested in their work.

    It’s not easy as a parent to traverse the continuum of pushing our kids too much to the other extreme of coddling and over-sheltering them. But we can all agree that accountability in adulthood is forged in the early years. Now is the time to lay that foundation with loving accountability!f positive emotional and social benefits far beyond merely escaping a negative public school environment where bullying is rampant.

    About the Author

    I’m Erin, an introverted homeschooling mom to two intense extroverted kids. We are child led with a heavy emphasis on read alouds, games, art, nature hikes, and hands-on everything! My kids just learn better when they can use their hands. You can find me at Nourishing My Scholar.

    We traded the hustle and bustle of city life for the quiet that only farm life can provide. This creates a wonderful environment for our children, complete with chickens, goats, ducks, and cows. I’m a huge fan of Harry Potter and Gilmore Girls. When we’re not homeschooling, you’ll find me curled up with a cup of coffee and a good book or possibly enjoying a random dance party in the front yard to the newest Disney soundtrack.