BookShark

Category: How To

  • How to Use Lap Books with Literature-based Curriculum

    How to Use Lap Books with Literature-based Curriculum

    Visual aids work. It’s the reason companies spend thousands of dollars on an icon to represent their brand. The same principle works for us homeschool moms. When we can connect homeschool lessons to an interactive, visual learning aid, children will understand and remember more readily. If your children are crafty and enjoy cutting, coloring, writing, and assembling papercrafts, lap books are a fabulous way to add a visual and hands-on component to whatever curriculum you use.

    A lap book is an interactive notebook with smaller mini books affixed onto a file folder. It’s a fun way for craft-loving kids to organize what they learn.

    • The creation of the lap book is part of the learning.
    • And then the reviewing of the lap book cements the learning for long-term retention. 

    Benefits of Lap Books with a Literature-based Approach

    Kids get more screen time now than ever before. While digital content has a place, it shouldn’t replace a child’s artwork, handiwork, and creativity. Lap books encourage a child’s natural desire to research, organize, and display the information they learned. What they create becomes a book of information they can reference later and be proud of.

    I’m always looking for ways to simplify what we’re learning and to make my teaching time count. Lap books do that for my kids! Although some families think that the time it takes to do lap books can be a turn off, I view them as a long-term investment. Almost ten years later, my sons still take out their lap books and review what they compiled when younger. And I can’t count how many times they reviewed the information through the years while explaining their current topic of interest to family and friends. 

    Do you have to create lap books to learn? Of course not! Many children (and moms) are content to read and discuss—the cornerstone of the literature-based approach of BookShark curriculum. But if enjoy lap books, then they are one more tool in your toolbelt for narration and composition.

    A lap book is also a portfolio of a child’s schoolwork. If you live in an area that requires annual documentation of learning, lap books are tangible and impressive proof of what your child has studied.

    After realizing that my sons didn’t have to use glitter or pompoms when making a lap book, we adjusted each lap book to suit each child’s learning style. It has been one of the most flexible tools I’ve ever used with a literature-based approach. If your kids are extra crafty, they can go all out with decorations. But if your children are less interested in embellishments and design, they can keep their work simpler. It’s up to you!

    Making foldable projects can help your child master things that require repetition or topics your child is struggling with. For example, if your child can’t remember the helping verbs, then encourage him to create a flip book that lists the words. Creating the book is a learning experience in itself. And then when your child lifts the flaps to recall the word list, the activity becomes active learning. Although you want your child to add tidbits of information which delight him, think of the lap book as a memory aid or reference tool to help your child recall information, too.

    Lap Books: Worthless or Worth Keeping?

    Mini books, graphs, charts, worksheets, maps, and writing can all be arranged in a lap book. This versatile learning tool can be adapted to each child’s needs, likes, and dislikes, and creative spunk. All you need are basic school supplies, you already have on hand:

    • file folders
    • glue stick or rubber cement
    • paper in various colors
    • scissors
    • tape
    • markers and colored pencils

    Then, look at your homeschool science or history lessons with an eye to dividing up chunks of information into small units that can be individual mini books or projects.

    • Is there a list? It will probably make a good lap book project maybe as cards or a flipbook.
    • Cause and effect? Another lap book project!
    • Vocabulary words? Yes, those too make for great lap book components. 
    • Events in a series? Display them in a small timeline format.
    • Diagrams? Perfect for lap books!

    Remember that a lap book doesn’t have to include everything you studied from a chapter or topic. Pick and choose the parts that your child finds captivating and wants to illustrate through papercrafts. Lap booking works perfectly in the narration stage of your homeschool lesson. After your Read-Alouds, ask your children to narrate back what they learned, using the discussion questions in your Instructor’s Guide. Then make a project for your lap book based on what your child narrated.

    You may want to create one or two minibooks a day depending on their complexity. A very elaborate project may stretch out over several days. Store each project in a ziploc bag as your child creates them. After your child finishes 10 to 13 minibooks, he can arrange them on a file folder base. 

    Tips for Using Lap Books with Your Homeschool Curriculum

    Here are a few dos and don’ts to avoid lap book pitfalls. 

    • Do cut some of the mini books for your child and fold some of the completed worksheets for him. Look at this tutorial for turning boring worksheets into interactive minibooks.
    • Don’t turn designing the mini books into a crafting session unless the child wants to. The emphasis is on the concepts learned and how they are organized not on the fancy coloring or cutting technique—again, unless your child thrives on that kind of crafty work.
    • Do remember that it takes time to build a lap book. So be patient.
    • Don’t try to cram every idea or teaching point into the lap book. Pick and choose.
    • Do remember that lap books are not only for young children. Lap books give older children a chance to organize the material they’re learning. And extra flaps can easily be added to lap books to accommodate compositions and drawings added by an older learner. 
    • Do integrate cleanup time into your homeschool day so you aren’t left with that chore by yourself.

    While anything you study for homeschool can easily be made into a lap book, many families love buying pre-designed lap book kits, like these for American History I, American History II, World History I, and World History II that provide the exact templates and directions for assembling them. If your children are extremely outside-the-box thinkers, you can use a kit as a springboard for their own designs. Just add additional flaps to the lap book base and add as many extras as you like! 

    Whether you are looking for a way to reinforce the major teaching points in your literature-based curriculum or are looking for a creative outlet for your budding artist-scholar, lap books are a method to try.

    About the Author

    Tina Robertson celebrated the graduation of Mr. Senior in 2013 and Mr. Awesome in 2015. Because of her love for new homeschoolers, she mentors moms through her unique program called New Bee Homeschoolers. She loves all homeschoolers, though, as she shares her free 7 Step Curriculum Planner, unit studies, lap books and homeschooling how tos. She can’t sing, dance, or craft, but she counts organizing as a hobby. She is still in the homeschool trenches blogging at Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus.

  • How to Make and Use a Personalized Weekly Homeschool Checklist

    How to Make and Use a Personalized Weekly Homeschool Checklist

    I admit it: I’m a pretty techie girl. If there’s an app for something I do regularly, I’m on it. However, even after trying numerous approaches to I decided it wasn’t for me.

    For one thing, it created extra work when the kids had trouble accessing or viewing the online checklists I created for them. Plus, I have to admit, it wasn’t super helpful for me to be tied to my laptop or tablet all day. I needed to be able to step away from the tech to focus on homeschooling.

    I know some moms love writing out daily checklists on post-it notes or in a spiral notebook. More power to ‘em. But as a tech-happy person, it really bothered me to repetitively complete work that can be automated.

    Enter the checklist templates.

    Make Your Homeschool Checklist Template

    Even if you prefer to use paper planners or checklists for your children’s chore and homeschool assignments, that doesn’t mean that you can’t automate the process a bit by creating a template for your weekly homeschool checklists.

    Use any word processing program like Google Docs or Microsoft Word. Follow these steps to create your checklist:

    • Put your document in landscape mode.
    • Create a page for each student.
    • Add a column for each day of the week you need to track, plus one additional column. (I used the span Monday through Saturday because I wanted to include some Saturday chores.) 
    • Add enough rows for the different subjects/categories you want to include, plus one extra row.
    • Leave the top left box empty and then fill in the remaining top row cells with the days of the week.
    • Fill in the cells in the left-hand column with the categories/subjects such as history, chores, math, science, language arts.
    • In each cell, fill in as many details as you can, but only the things that do not change from week to week. For example, instead of typing in actual math assignments or reading pages, type Math-U-See, Lesson ___ . Or Read __________ p. __ – ___.
    • If you want to have a box to tick, add each item as a part of a square bullet-point list.

    Fill in Your Weekly Homeschool Checklists

    Each weekend when you do your planning for the week, print out one (only one!) weekly checklist per student. Then go through and fill in the details. Add the pages or lessons to be completed each day for each subject.

    If you want, add extra notes below each column about specific events such as Poetry Teatime or Ryan’s birthday.

    Once you’ve added the week-specific details to each checklist, photocopy it. You keep the original and give your child the copy. 

    The checklist can help students have reasonable expectations for the week. Then each day, the checklist will remind students of what they need to complete. Mom keeps the master copies in a binder or folder so that she can check off school work that is done, corrected, and mom-approved!

    Apply It to Long-Term Homeschool Planning

    The printable checklist system also helps to create a framework for long-term homeschool planning. You don’t really need to know the date you will give each particular assignment for the entire year. You just need a list of future assignments to pull from.

    Have you ever seen those caddies that go into a cabinet or refrigerator to hold and dispense canned goods or soft drinks? You load new items into the top and they roll down to the front. Grab the first available item and a new one rolls into its place, ready to go. You can work your homeschool planning in the same way. Instead of putting assignments on a calendar, just write them in a list. For example, you could list the chapters or page sections in a reading book in one-day chunks. Or make a list of math lessons interspersed with quizzes and tests at the appropriate places.

    If you use a curriculum like BookShark, a great deal of this work is already done for you. All you have to do each weekend is to pull the next five assignments and customize the checklist accordingly.

    If a student gets further ahead in one subject than another, or two siblings are going through the same material at different speeds, no big deal. Each person’s weekly checklist can still represent the next five assignments in each subject.

    This is another great reason to write up only one week at a time. If your child only completes, say, four math assignments instead of five, no big deal. Next weekend, you can write that fifth assignment down for Monday and go from there! There’s no need to do a lot of erasing and rewriting.

    Apply It to Homeschool Record Keeping

    If you need to keep lesson plans or records of attendance, simple archive your weekly checklist master copies. If not, toss out those old sheets and start each new week fresh!

    This printable template system has reduced the amount of repetitive writing I was doing each week. I love it! Use or adapt this idea as you wish to fit the needs of your home and homeschool!

    About the Author

    Lynna is a former homeschooler, then classroom teacher, now homeschool mom of eight crazy (and lovable) hooligans from middle school down to bouncing baby.

    She calls her blog Homeschooling without Training Wheels because she loves to encourage families to embrace the freedom and flexibility that come with homeschooling and let go of the things that are holding them back! You can read more in her free eBook 5 Myths that are Killing Your Multi-Age Homeschool

  • How to Homeschool While Your Partner Works from Home

    How to Homeschool While Your Partner Works from Home

    Whether he’s just taking a vacation day to catch up on a house project or has a random day off from work, I love having my husband home. Don’t even get me started on that wonderful family cocoon we cuddle up in during the slow and confusing time between Christmas and New Year’s. Having my husband home in the middle of the day is a treat equivalent to when I’d be on a field trip and realize that I’d normally be in math class but was watching a show or taking in zoo animals. It’s out of the norm and always a surprise. 

    Well, it was. 

    Like millions of others, my husband has been working from home for the last few months as a result of the coronavirus. I was excited at first. Why wouldn’t I be? All of my favorite people under one roof, all day, with nowhere to go and all of our plans cancelled. Sounds like heaven to me! 

    Well, it did. 

    Once it became clear that this global pandemic wouldn’t be allowing us to return to normal very soon, my delight and optimism began to fade. Not only did I downshift to the bare minimum in our homeschool while we devoured news and statistics all day, but I also had to figure out how to homeschool with my husband working just feet away. 

    Talk About It First

    Assumptions threaten us all, and with the novelty of our new arrangement, the temptation to hope or assume loomed large.

    • With my husband home, he could help me school the kids, right?
    • With my husband home, I wouldn’t have to be the only one figuring out what we’d have for dinner, right? He could thaw the meat, switch the laundry over to the dryer, and even give me a much-needed break during the day. Right?

    While he could do these things, in theory, I couldn’t just come up with a mental list for him and expect him to fulfill my imaginations. I had to talk with him — a lot, and often.

    We had to discuss what he needed to do and what extras he could take on. We had to talk about what time the day needed to start. I even had to check with him to see if there were any subjects he wanted to take over with our kids. We had to know what was expected of us and what was protected for us, everything from what times he needed a quiet place to make calls to when we needed him to keep his nose in his computer and stay out of our lesson.

    We had to talk often because it turned out that I didn’t want him to take any subjects away, and his Zoom calls didn’t happen at the same time every day. 

    If you are homeschooling while your spouse is working from home, make sure your’e not holding onto expectations which you’ve never clearly voiced in conversation. 

    Schedule It Next

    I am not someone who enjoys schedules. I don’t even like packing for a trip. I want everything to be available at all times for any reason. Schedules feel limiting to me, like I’m leashed to a clock, and our homeschool reflects that.

    We don’t have a start time, don’t follow any particular order for the subjects, and can spend as little as 10 minutes or as much as 3 hours on a Read-Aloud. I like flexibility, so schedules feel stifling.

    My husband, however, is always aware of what time it is. Even if he’s a mile away from the nearest sundial, he can, at any moment, tell you exactly what time it is. He has some internal clock that gives him this superpower, and he uses it to create, and adhere to, schedules. 

    We new it wouldn’t be wise to wait until tempers flared to make a plan. We needed to schedule our days so that no one was in the other’s way. Because he had numerous virtual meetings in the mornings, I couldn’t bang around in the kitchen or play a lively (but educational) game whenever we got our day started. He couldn’t pop in to chat or ask what we were having for dinner when I was in the middle of science lessons with three kids. We set our do not disturb hours and planned accordingly. 

    Don’t wait until you’re annoyed, interrupted, or both in need of the one laptop you own. Schedule your days, even if only loosely, to protect precious time and silence. Be sure to set aside time to be alone, time to date your partner on the couch, and time to spend as a family. It is as important to protect and plan for personal time as it is work time. 

    Don’t Let Home Become the Office

    I’ve worked from home for over a decade and love it. Plenty of articles stress the importance of maintaining a strict routine and getting dressed in work clothes to help your mind stay in work mode. Honestly, that just means more laundry for me later and the possibility of spilling lunch on a good top. I embrace my sweatpants while working from home because one of the benefits is not wearing office attire. I also don’t work on a strict schedule, tending to get most of my work done after midnight, when anyone who would want my attention is asleep. It’s awesome. But this won’t work while my husband is working from home. 

    The lines between work and play easily get blurred when you

    • stay in the same clothes all day and night
    • do your history lessons in the living room
    • taking virtual meetings in the dining room
    • play games and watch TV in the same rooms that were homeschool areas and business offices earlier in the day

    Suddenly what was once a comfort is now a rut. You feel stuck in a day that bleeds over and resembles the next. Whether it’s putting on a nice shirt or setting a time to be done with school and work, find something that separates the time spent in your home.

    Maybe go for a walk after lessons are finished so you can all walk in the front door as though you’re coming home. Encourage your partner to pack away their technology that keeps them tethered to their work when finished. Put a tie on over pajamas, open the curtains, or ring a bell.

    Wriggle in at least one small gesture that signals the end of the work day and begins official family time. 

    When in Doubt, Step Aside

    I’ve been working from home and homeschooling for years. I don’t have a schedule, but I have established a routine the works. I’m used to switching between medieval medicine texts and watercolors. My husband (and maybe your partner, too) is the newbie. They’re stepping into what is, essentially, our world.

    The temptation is great to puff our chests and declare that we were here first, forcing our partners to find an unused corner to set up an office. But really, our homeschool will survive if we put off a subject for a few hours or move to a different room.

    It’s our spouses who are thrown for the biggest loop, who have the harder task in learning how to suddenly do their work in a way they never have before. We’re used to the din of children, but your partner is not, especially while trying to work. We’re used to grazing on snacks or having lunch whenever we feel like it, but my husband is accustomed to a set lunch hour.

    The person experiencing the greatest change is the person who should be given the most grace. 

    When tempers flare and you start toying with the idea of spousal distancing, remember that it’s a lot harder to change the way your job is done than it is to simply change where or when it’s done. I can step aside so my husband can use a room or computer, because our homeschool is far more flexible and I’m not getting paid to do it. 

    We’re all under stress, experiencing situations and thoughts and news cycles we never imagined before. Change can be scary and frustrating. But by talking about and managing expectations, creating and sticking to a schedule, and extending grace to the partner most affected, you can get through this time without sacrificing your children’s education, your partner’s job, or your relationship. 

  • How Homeschooling Helps Me Manage My Bipolar Disorder

    How Homeschooling Helps Me Manage My Bipolar Disorder

    • Anxiety…
    • Depression…
    • Bipolar disorder…

    Although millions of people have been diagnosed with these mental illnesses, there is still a stigma attached to having them. At the age of 15, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and for years I let that label control my life. I lived in constant fear that someone outside of my family would find out about my mental health struggles and hold it against me or question everything I do as a parent especially since I homeschool.

    Once I stopped letting fear rule my life, I realized that homeschooling actually helps me manage my bipolar disorder. Homeschooling has brought a structure to life that my family didn’t previously have. This newfound, flexible structure opened the door to incorporating more natural treatments for my bipolar into our daily lives. With these natural treatments and an incredible curriculum, I am able to both manage my disorder and successfully educate my children.

    What do I mean by natural treatments? Here are a few examples:

    1. Staying Active and Working Up a Sweat

    Part of managing bipolar disorder is staying active with exercise. Exercising increases the production of endorphins in your body. These awesome little “feel good” chemicals can boost your mood over time and help you through the low periods of your disorder.

    Since exercise is a key component of managing my bipolar disorder, I had to find not only a way to incorporate it into my daily life, but also find the motivation to stay consistent. I have always heard that it is easier to stay motivated when you have a workout buddy, so I decided to get my children involved with P.E. classes for homeschool. Not only is my whole family staying active now, but my children are learning from a young age the proper way to exercise and live a healthy lifestyle.

    Afterall, exercise benefits us all whether we have bipolar disorder or not. Here are my favorite exercises to generate those happy endorphins:

    • Cardio
      We own both a treadmill and an elliptical, but you don’t have to have fancy equipment to get in a good cardio workout. Going for a walk, jog/run, or bike ride outside will work up a sweat in no time.
    • Weightlifting
      To avoid using the excuse of not wanting to leave the house to go to the gym, my husband and I built a home gym with a variety of weights, a weightlifting bench, and a power rack. Don’t be afraid to buy secondhand equipment for your workouts. You would be surprised at the treasures you can find at thrift stores and garage sales.
    • Exercise DVDs
      There are a variety of amazing exercise programs out there for a reasonable price or even free. Try out a few and find what works best for you and your family.

    2. Eating a Balanced Diet and Avoiding Trigger Foods

    There are certain foods that are considered trigger foods when it comes to bipolar disorder. These trigger foods can vary drastically, but my main culprits are these three:

    • Caffeine
      Caffeine is a stimulant which can interrupt sleep patterns. Sleep deprivation is a well-known trigger for bipolar mood swings and mania. I already have issues sleeping, so I only allow myself to have one cup of coffee in the morning.
    • Alcohol
      Alcohol is the leading trigger for bipolar depressive episodes. Alcohol takes away your self control and can be unsafe to take with your medications. Since managing bipolar disorder can be difficult enough on its own, I do not consume alcohol ever.
    • Starches
      Pasta, rice, and potatoes all make me feel a bit drowsy, which leads to me being very unmotivated and even depressed. Just like caffeine, I try to limit the number of starches I include in my diet.

    Since there can be such variation in trigger foods, you should talk to your doctor and keep your own personal notes. I found that keeping a food journal not only helps me eat a balanced diet but also allows me to make mood observations. Through my food journal I discovered the correlation between starches and my low energy levels.

    As an added bonus, keeping a food journal opened the door to teaching nutrition in my homeschool. My children each have their own food journals and are learning about portion sizes, macronutrients, and good and bad fats.

    3. Getting Beauty Sleep, Sticking to a Schedule, and Socializing

    Before I started homeschooling our life was very relaxed. I slept in, ate at random times, and spent a lot of time doing nothing. In order to both homeschool and manage my bipolar disorder I had to make some big changes to my lifestyle.

    • Sleep
      It is not uncommon with bipolar disorder to find it almost impossible to sleep or at least to have sleep disturbances. Despite these difficulties, I try to go to bed and wake up around the same time every day. I may not get the recommended 8 hours of sleep, but I know I can’t just stay in bed all day any more because school must go on.
    • Schedule
      Finding the balance between homeschooling and homemaking can be difficult. This year I started using BookShark’s all-subject curriculum packages with my children. (Read more about my story here.) Each package includes an Instructor’s Guide, which organizes everything into a 4-day schedule. Since everything I need is included in my guide, I have a lot more time to simply teach, prepare meals, and keep our home tidy.
    • Socialization
      Last year I enrolled my children in a homeschool partnership. I thought it would be good for them to take some elective courses and to make some new friends. However, it turned out to be so much more than that. Joining this homeschool community forced me out of self-inflicted isolation and brought some incredible friends into my life.

    Don’t let a diagnosis hold you back. I am a mother, I am a homeschooler, and I am bipolar. Each of these labels is only part of who I am. Having a mental disorder does not make you incapable of living your life to the fullest—or homeschooling your children. 

    About the Author

    Roxanne Raiche is a book hoarding, coffee loving, homeschooling mama of three in Iron Mountain, Michigan. She is the voice behind Blushing Bibliophile.

  • Homeschooling Multiple Children: Finding the Right Fit

    Homeschooling Multiple Children: Finding the Right Fit

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Using Bookshark Assessments to My Advantage

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

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

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

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

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

    Don’t Be Afraid to Customize the BookShark Experience

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

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

    It’s All About Time Management

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

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

    Lean on the BookShark Monthly Calendar

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

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

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

    Get a Day Planner

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

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

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

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

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

    Be Present in the Moment

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

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

    I am a firm believer that by:

    Listening to my children

    Observing where they are in a given day

    Fostering a love of learning

    Using the tools available to me

    I can handle anything.

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

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

    About Our Author

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

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

  • NGSS Standards-based BookShark Science: Why the Change?

    NGSS Standards-based BookShark Science: Why the Change?

    The new 2021 BookShark Science for levels A through F¹ was designed with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)² in mind. But why would a homeschool curriculum care about outside standards at all?

    • Isn’t the BookShark way of reading great books and doing hands-on exploration enough when it comes to learning science? Yes! 
    • Aren’t homeschoolers allowed to do school their own way, at their own pace, without worrying about adhering to a strict outline of what should be covered year by year? Absolutely!

    And yet we never want to become complacent when it comes to providing a top-notch education for your children. So we constantly evaluate our programs to make sure the material is up-to-date, culturally sensitive, and in line with the most current, research-based instructional practices.

    Updating Science to Stay Current

    Science moves fast! And it’s hard to keep up! That’s why you see Science books being replaced in our packages when the technology pictured in them is more akin to what you might see in a museum than what you’d see in a modern lab or a 21st century home. 

    When new technology is released, we want your children to learn about it! So, we periodically swap out books and add new content.

    Updating Science Curriculum to Reassure Parents

    With the influx of 2020 pandemic homeschoolers, we received more questions than ever about accreditation, state standards, standardized testing, and keeping kids on track so they don’t fall behind their peers. Many BookShark families feel a sense of reassurance to know that BookShark meets and exceeds state standards! 

    We love being able to provide that reassurance to you. BookShark works. It’s a solid curriculum. Kids love it, and kids get turned on to science as a result of this engaging program! Demonstrating how BookShark Science aligns with NGSS standards, for example, is just another way to affirm its high academic quality. 

    If standards don’t do much to impress you, you can safely ignore them, trusting that BookShark Science is still the robust, spiral approach curriculum you’ve loved for years. 

    Updating Science to Provide You a More Linear Experience

    Over the years, we’ve gotten feedback from BookShark families who were confused about the weekly progression from reading to doing. Many times, the end-of-week activity didn’t match the weekly reading. Although the Instructor’s Guide was purposely designed this way and in no way is a flaw in the educational structure, still many parents were uncomfortable with the jumping around. 

    We listened to your requests and designed a more linear program in which the weekly activity always aligns with the weekly reading. Was the older way deficient? Not at all, but this new structure provides a progression that families feel better about. And we want you to feel confident. So, we flexed to your preferences! 

    But Why NGSS?

    So, of all the different standards in America, why did we pick Next Generation Science Standards when making Science curriculum updates?

    First of all, NGSS standards are both widely accepted and academically solid. NGSS standards were created by states in conjunction with practicing scientists and science-based industries in a variety of fields. The goal was to enable America to continue innovating and leading in the sciences worldwide and to create science jobs for the future. A worthy cause, right?! We want your children to be those scientists and innovators of the future, so we used the NGSS to inform our curriculum updates. 

    And while the NGSS standards outline what to teach, they don’t preclude our natural methods of reading great books, discussing them, doing simple (no busy work) Activity Sheets, and then exploring with hands-on activities.  The NGSS are standards, not curriculum. Thus, BookShark Science remains true to our original design while also accommodating NGSS and giving you the more linear read-about-it-then-do-it sequences most parents prefer. 

    NGSS Is Not Common Core

    You may be wondering if NGSS is another way of saying Common Core. No, NGSS and Common Core are different entities. NGSS standards are not a federally mandated or supported system and adherence to them is not tied to school or state funding. To learn more, including common misconceptions, read the FACT SHEET here.

    NGSS Is About Application, Inquiry, and Discovery

    There’s an important aspect of NGSS that we want you to be sure to know about. NGSS strongly emphasizes the application of science. In fact, the doing of science is more important than focusing on the facts behind science.

    After all, facts are pretty easy to find in our digital age. What’s much harder is

    • knowing what questions to ask
    • learning how to process data and come to accurate conclusions
    • knowing how assimilate information across disciplines
    • grasping advanced processes
    • seeing how scientific principles apply to real-world situations
    • imagining the future of science

    These thinking abilities—and a fascination with science itself—are our goals for your children. It’s not about rote memorization of the periodic table of elements or focusing on dates and definitions. While these things are included in BookShark science, we agree with the NGSS that learning is only complete when children can synthesize, draw conclusions, make educated guesses, and imagine innovative uses of technology yet to be developed.

    New Science Levels A through F

    Visit each Science Package listing to see everything included, samples, and scope and sequence. 

    New in 2021: Now when you customize your All-Subject Package, you can choose from three different Science levels on the customize tab. 

  • How to Land and Keep a Work at Home Job as a Homeschool Mom

    How to Land and Keep a Work at Home Job as a Homeschool Mom

    One thing many homeschool moms want to do is land a work at home job. Relying on one income in today’s economy can be tough, and working from home seems like the perfect way to supplement a spouse’s income or provide a full time income if necessary while continuing to homeschool.

    Once you have decided what type of work at home job is perfect for you, you need to apply and then land the job. In the virtual world, this is easier said than done. Often times you are competing against many other moms who want the job same as you. In order to land a work at home job, you must stand out. How can you nab the best work at home jobs as a homeschool mom?

    Be Professional

    The number one tip for a homeschool mom wanting to land a work at home job is to be professional. Your email tone will need to be professional not relaxed. This means leaving out the texting abbreviations (LOL) and the emoticons from your messages.

    Also, be sure to end emails with a closing and a signature line that includes your full name, a photo, a link to your website, Facebook page, or other social media handles. Including a signature can make every email look professional and shows that you take yourself seriously.

    Make sure your social media profiles include a recent and businesslike photo of you — no cropped-out kids or messy backgrounds. Also, be sure that you don’t share too much of yourself online. Everything you put online is available for the world to see and believe me when I say potential employers are Googling you!

    Be Available

    The next tip for a homeschool mom wanting to land a work at home job is to be available. This does not mean that you need to be attached to your email every second of the day. It does mean, however, that you respond to emails and requests in an appropriate amount of time —typically within 24-48 hours.

    If a potential client is looking to hire you, he doesn’t want you to respond to his request a week after he asked for a phone interview. If you are unable to respond to email for a potential client, how will you respond once you are hired? Keep this in mind and do your best to be available.

    Be Reliable

    Have you completed tasks for other clients in the past? Were you reliable? Do you have references that will attest to the fact that you turn in assignments on time? As a work at home mom, you are responsible for completing tasks independently. Potential clients want someone they can rely on to complete a task correctly and on time.

    Having a curriculum that minimizes your prep time means you can devote more time to meeting work deadlines. So, look at ways you can streamline your day-to-day schedule so that you maintain an impeccable reputation.

    Always under promise so you can overdeliver. And never use your role as a homeschool mom as an excuse for being unreliable. Your client needs his work done regardless of if your children were sick or you had a plumbing issue. 

    If you are considering becoming a work at home, homeschooling mom consider these three things. If you present yourself as a professional, are available for employment requests, and can show that you are reliable you will have a better chance of standing out and landing that job!

  • Do I Really Have to Read That? Questions About the BookShark Program

    Do I Really Have to Read That? Questions About the BookShark Program

    As homeschooling parents, our time is at a premium. Many of us are homeschooling several kids. In addition, we need to cook meals, grocery shop, clean the house, take kids to activities, and perhaps also work a part-time job.

    Life is busy.

    To carve out more time in their schedule, parents frequently ask these two questions about reading the books in BookShark homeschool curriculum.

    1. When Can I Stop Reading Aloud to My Child?

    BookShark recommends that you read aloud to your child through the middle school level. There are many reasons to read aloud to your child, but the primary reason is that children can comprehend a story at a higher level when it’s read aloud to them versus when they read it on their own.

    The more challenging books in the BookShark levels are assigned as Read-Alouds. As Jim Trelease, author of the Read Aloud Handbook, states,

    “A child’s reading level doesn’t catch up to his listening level until eighth grade. You can and should be reading seventh grade books to fifth grade kids. . .A fifth grader can enjoy a more complicated plot than she can read herself, and reading aloud is really going to hook her, because when you get to chapter books, you’re getting into the real meat of print—there is really complicated, serious stuff going on that kids are ready to hear and understand, even if they can’t read at that level yet.”

    In addition, some of the Read-Alouds in a BookShark Reading with History package tackle difficult topics. If you’re reading them aloud together, you can discuss the issues as they’re happening in the story. You can talk about the choices characters make and the situations they face.

    2. Do I Have to Read the Books My Child Reads Independently?

    In short, no, you don’t. The BookShark Instructor’s Guide contains the questions you should ask your child about the Readers as well as the answers, so you’re covered. However, I still recommend reading the readers on your own, especially once your child reaches Level 3 and above. There are some real treasures in the books that are chosen as readers. I’m guessing that most parents did not read many of the books in their own childhood.

    Second, if you have a child who gets excited by reading and learning about history, you can share his enthusiasm when you read the Reader, too. You can discuss the story and facts that you learned. Finally, as your child progresses up the higher levels, you will get to read excellent literature that is just as appropriate for older middle school aged children as it is for adults.

    BookShark will give your children a quality education, and if you continue to read aloud and read your children’s readers, you will more fully share in that education with your child.

    If you have more questions about how BookShark works, reach out to customer service for help! Email [email protected] or call 1-866-668-0179.

    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.

  • 10 Big Fat Homeschool Fears (& How to Conquer Them)

    10 Big Fat Homeschool Fears (& How to Conquer Them)

    Ask any veteran homeschool mom whose kids have already graduated from high school, and she will reassure you:

    • She had the same fears you have now.
    • She realizes now how pointless most of those fears were.

    What a difference 10-15 years of hindsight makes! But you don’t have to wait that long. Let’s look right now at ten of the biggest and most common homeschool fears so you can face—and more importantly, conquer—them.

    1. What if I fail to prepare my child for the real world?

    Whether a family homeschools or not, parents may still fail to prepare their children for adult life. (The good news is that young adults can learn those adulting skills when they are required!)

    Choosing to homeschool doesn’t make parenting any easier. However, having unhurried time at home to model good habits, to correct thinking, and to guide each child individually gives a homeschool family an enormous advantage in this arena.

    The valuable, real-life experiences homeschoolers have can prepare them well for adult life if we maximize every opportunity:

    • community volunteer service projects
    • public speaking
    • competitive music
    • collaborating in co-op projects
    • ballroom dancing

    2. What if I don’t have what it takes to inspire my children every day?

    It’s unrealistic to think you’ll keep the same enthusiasm for homeschooling every day. What you can do is plan for those days when you can’t muster the inner drive to motivate your kids. Use plan B days and couch days when the learning is more low-key or stealthy. 

    Here’s more good news. It’s not solely your responsibility to inspire your kids. When you build upon your child’s natural curiosity with great living books and by following rabbit trails of interest, your child’s own motivation to learn will blossom. Then the two of you can work together to keep the enthusiasm high. 

    Like us, kids want choices; they want autonomy to move through the day, choosing the times when they prefer to learn, exercise, and relax. When our tweens and teens learn to be independent managers of their time and their education, they continue to learn even when we aren’t feeling so perky.

    3. What if I get angry?

    Homeschooling is a humbling process. Patience is a skill learned while on the job. You probably are going to blow your top as a homeschool parent. Make allowances for bad days and recognize that some days you will lose it—momentarily. You’re building rigorous academic habits and life skills for the long run; mistakes are part of the process.

    4. What if I get ill?

    Homeschool parents face the same sicknesses and accidents other families do:

    • bedrest for pregnancy
    • caring for a relative who is in the hospital or recuperating at home
    • coping with a spouse’s sudden medical crisis

    When these situations happen, assess how best to homeschool based on the circumstances as they are (not what we wish they were). Focus on what you can accomplish with the limitations of an illness instead of what you can’t.  

    You may need to cut back academics to only the basics of math and language arts. School may take place in waiting rooms or at the hospital. If you are using a boxed curriculum, you will be able to rely on the laid-out lesson plans that require no intensive planning on your part. And at other stressful times, you need to simply take a break from school altogether until life becomes more normal.

    Teaching your children about the fragility of life and the priority of family are important lessons, too.

    5. What if my child doesn’t measure up?

    Becoming a seasoned homeschool teacher means you know that learning is an ebb and flow. Your child will leap ahead at times and lag behind at others. The great thing about homeschooling is that we don’t have to evaluate our kids according to arbitrary scales determined by school boards. As long as our children are moving forward, it doesn’t matter that they don’t know the value of coins when other school kids learn it or don’t yet know how to write in cursive even though other kids their age do.

    Trust that the learning is happening—different facts and skills—possibly on a different timetable, but happening nevertheless.

    6. I’m too unorganized to do this well.

    While organizing is an essential component of homeschooling, that doesn’t mean a homeschool mom has to mimic a public school setting with a fancy schoolroom and elaborate record keeping. As long as you can research curriculum, make a choice, consistently teach your children, and submit any paperwork your state requires, you can do this! 

    7. How can I be sure that I cover everything?

    Choose a thoroughly researched curriculum that you can trust to guide you through the major goalposts of an education.

    Then accept the fact that you will not cover everything. And neither do public schools. How did we ever come to adopt an impossible standard of covering everything? (And who defines everything, anyway?)

    Instead of being scared that you won’t teach them everything, overcome fear by giving your children the tools and skills to learn anything. Research skills, reading for meaning, and technical ability set your children up for success in this modern age.

    8. Will my kids be socialized?

    Creating opportunities for socialization is a responsibility of a homeschool parent. Resolve to meet the needs of your children in this area, whatever it takes. It may mean joining or starting a co-op. It will certainly mean driving across town or hosting playdates. 

    But don’t go to the extreme of over scheduling your children out of fear of being weird, unsocialized homeschoolers. Talk to your kids about their needs for socialization. Introverts will want less time than extroverts. Watch their behavior, and work on any social skills that you see are deficient. But rest assured that there are plenty of awkward kids in every educational sphere. Homeschooling doesn’t necessitate that your kids will become reclusive freaks.

    9. I’m afraid my worst school subjects will become my kids’ worst subjects.

    Yes, your worst subjects could be your kids’ weaknesses, but the inverse is equally as likely. Your strengths could become your kids’ strong suits.

    It is possible not to negatively influence your child about subjects you don’t like. For example, your children can become math lovers as long as you don’t pass your math anxiety to them.

    Using a boxed curriculum, hiring a tutor, using a DVD supplement, joining a homeschool co-op, or trading out teaching time with another homeschool mom are just a few options to compensate for your own personal academic soft spots.

    10. I’m not cut out to be with my kids all day long.

    Sometimes, being with the kids all day is no picnic. Homeschooling is a selfless act not for the faint of heart. But that does not mean we have to offer up our sanity and health on the altar of homeschooling. It’s okay to take breaks. In fact, you need to have time away from your kids—guilt free.

    How do you refresh? Do you like to head out alone and browse the yarn shop or meet a friend for dinner out? Or do you prefer for dad to take the kids out so you can stay home alone in peace and quiet? Whatever it is, make it a priority.

    Being successful in homeschooling means coming face to face with your biggest fears.  Second-guessing is normal, but don’t allow fear to dominate your thinking. When feeling weak, I remember what Nelson Mandela said, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

  • How to Test Without a Test

    How to Test Without a Test

    We all can recall that feeling from our days in public school when the teacher distributed a test full of letters to be circled and blanks to be filled in. Our sharp pencils would start to tap on our desks as we tried to recall something—anything—about what we had crammed the night before, but it’s gone. We draw nothing but blanks.

    We carefully read and reread the questions, maybe ruling out a C here or a D there and making our best guess between A and B. When the test is mostly filled in, we hand it in, hope for a passing grade, and it’s on to the next chapter in the textbook to repeat the cycle again next week.

    These icky memories of tests are why I’ve never been a traditional test-giver as a homeschool mom.

    I know that my soon-to-be high schooler will need to have testing skills eventually, and we will work on that as it comes, but for younger kids, especially kids who stress out easily, paper tests can be the straw that breaks a love of learning for your child.

    As parents though, we want to make sure the things we’ve spent hours teaching our children has stuck with them. For that reason, I want to test my kids but not with tests in the conventional sense. Here are non-test ways I use to gauge a child’s learning without completely stressing them out.

    Presentation

    At the end of a unit or section, have your child prepare a presentation to give to the family. Invite the grandparents over to make it more official. Give them a short list of things from their Science or History lessons that you’d like them to prepare, for example, recite a part of a speech or create and explain a model of a battle. Set a date for the presentation and have them work a little bit on it daily until it’s ready.

    Oral or Written Report

    Writing a report, whether it’s several pages or just a drawing that your child talks about is a great way to see all your child has learned. There are lots of ways to do a report.

    • Have them type a traditional research paper based on what you’ve studied together.
    • Create a lap book. (BookShark has kits right here.)
    • Cover an empty cereal box in construction paper, then print pictures, write out information, and draw maps and cover all the sides of the box with information.

    Skit

    Have your children choose roles to play based on things you studied and write out their own skit. Have a lot of it be ad lib, because then you’ll know it’s not just memorized to get through the skit. Have them create costumes and a simple setting. When my kids acted out a scene about Alexander the Great and his parents, I saw exactly what they learned about him in a playful, no-stress way.

    News Show

    Put on one of dad’s ties, set up a desk, give your child a coffee cup, and have them play newscaster for an evening news show. In advance, have your child write out what he’ll talk about on the news. Makes sure he adds in lots of facts and details. It could be all about a new science discovery or ways to do long and short division or a battle in a war in history —anything you’ve studied in homeschool. Just pretend he’s saying it on the news!

    Dinner Party

    I love tying up a unit study with a great dinner party. Plan a dinner based on a time in history or a fun science theme you’ve been learning about. Gather supplies from around the house and let your child take the reigns. Cook food together, let him decorate, and allow him to have talking points throughout the dinner about things he’s learned. Have him share these facts with the guests at dinner. He’ll love showing off what he knows.

    There’s more than one way to make sure your child is retaining what you’ve taught. Pay attention to how your child learns and what makes them tick and what makes them shut down and use those clues to figure out creative ways to test them. You’re going to learn so much together!