How long is a typical homeschool day and how does it compare with the hours of a day in public school? Many parents, new to homeschooling, wrongly assume that they should homeschool for the same length of time as their public school counterparts.
In general, a homeschool day is much shorter than that of a traditional school. But this shorter school day doesn’t mean that less is getting done. In fact, homeschoolers can often achieve more in less time than public school students.
Some homeschoolers tout the expression “done by noon” as one of the benefits of homeschooling. This may or may not be the case for your own homeschool depending on the number of children in your family, outside activities, your natural pace, and how old your children are.
The beauty of homeschooling is that you can cater it—your routine, your curriculum, and your methods—to the unique needs of your kids and your family! Homeschool moms have the advantage of being in nearly full control of their homeschool schedule.
Diligent early birds with young children, on the other hand, might have their work complete before brunch.
Other families may like to take long breaks in between each subject, taking all day to complete their work but in an enjoyable and leisurely fashion.
Typically, students in elementary grades get their work completed in a fairly quick amount of time, often hitting that “done by noon” standard if they started the day early. Of course, the workload increases as children mature. So a middle schooler or high schooler will need to spend more hours on school work. Outside activities such as co-ops, field trips, doctor appointments, therapy and library visits can interrupt and lengthen your homeschool day, too.
In short, the average homeschool day varies greatly from family to family. But it is typically much shorter than the school day of a traditional classroom.
The Homeschool Day vs. a Typical School Day
Take a moment to consider all the classroom management teachers deal with! While all these tasks arenecessary based on the setting, they aren’t directly related to learning. Teachers have to juggle:
20-30 kids per classroom
individual and unique needs for each chile
keeping the classroom organized
roll call
class disruptions
redirecting students and keeping them on task
bathroom breaks
lunch break
hand raising
discipline issues
standardized testing and preparations
emergency drills
All these requirements cause teachers to lose important teaching time. Homeschoolers may have many these issues to contend with as well, but they are equipped to handle them much more quickly and efficiently because of the drastically lower student to teacher ratio.
As you become a more experienced homeschooler, you will gain a sense of the right amount of time for your school day. Remember your day will still be shorter than a typical public school day. And that’s one of the big perks of homeschooling! Enjoy it!
The flexibility of homeschooling allows you to cater the learning experience to your child’s unique needs and interests without the loss of teaching time. That means more time for the extras you love!
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.
Homeschooling in Michigan? Or wanting to homeschool in Michigan? Find out how you can get a FREE literature-based curriculum with support and online assessments! Join Janna Koch, BookShark’s Community Manager, as she is joined by Jen Myers and Gwyn Domke, from Michigan BookShark Virtual with Alpena schools in Michigan. Find out the benefits of using Michigan BookShark Virtual with Alpena and the option of getting it at no cost to you!
Janna (00:00): Welcome to Homeschool Your Way. I’m your host Janna Cook and BookShark’s community manager. Today’s episode focuses on homeschooling with confidence. My guest, Jen Myers, and Gwyn Domke are from Michigan BookShark Virtual. Jen and Gwyn are immersed in homeschooling both personally and professionally. Not only have they homeschooled their own children now facilitate homeschooling for numerous families across the state of Michigan. Their program has equipped parents to homeschool confidently and successfully. Let’s hear how. Jen, Gwyn, welcome.
Jen (00:38): Thanks, Janna, for having us today.
Gwyn (00:40): Thanks, Janna, for hosting us today on the show.
Janna (00:43): I’m excited to hear how your personal experiences have led you to your partnership with Michigan BookShark Virtual.
Jen (00:53): Yes, thanks, Janna. So my career is in education and I did homeschool my kids, but I also stepped into the role as director of our partnership here in the area in northeastern Michigan. And we service families who homeschool and we offer electives, but we also offer core curriculum like BookShark Michigan Virtual. And so when we first started our journey working with homeschool families, we realized that there was a real need for homeschool families that were looking for assistance with the curriculum.
(01:26) And so we did some research and we discovered BookShark. So we loved that there was a set of books that this family got as well as the virtual component. And as we did more research, we realized this was going to be a great fit for our families. So we started offering BookShark Virtual within our in-house program and we saw how successful that was. And so we decided we would launch it statewide and offer Michigan BookShark Virtual, which is pretty cool because now any homeschool family with a student in grades K through eighth grade who reside in the state of Michigan can actually sign up with our program and receive for free the whole box of BookShark Materials as well as access to the online program. So that is how I got into Michigan BookShark Virtual.
Gwyn (02:16): So my side of things is coming alongside Jen when we started the program and looking at Michigan BookShark Virtual, the opportunity is I homeschooled my kids for 16 years using the curriculum. So for me, it was just a natural fit to help families use this amazing curriculum because I know it works. And I was very excited to be able to share it with our local community and then to take it statewide is amazing.
Janna (02:46): And you mentioned this virtual component to BookShark, and it may sound possibly misleading because typically virtual schooling means that you are on the computer and you are doing everything in front of a screen. How is this program different?
Jen (03:04): Yes, that’s an important delineation that you’ve just made. So traditional online programs are indeed a hundred percent online. Matter of fact, in our very first year offering virtual classes through our partnership, we utilized traditional virtual programs where the student is a hundred percent online, and our families didn’t like it. They didn’t like that their kids, especially the younger kids, but really at any age, they just did not like how much time their kids sat in front of the screen. Plus they really lost that personal, intimate experience that our homeschool families were looking for. And that is indeed what birthed our search, there’s got to be something out there, something where it can still fit the confines and requirements of a virtual program that the state requires for schools, but also be something that works organically in that learning environment with mom, dad, or whoever is leading that homeschooling at home.
(04:02) And that is where we started looking at different options and we met a Book Shark representative and they started to explain how the beauty of this program and the uniqueness of it is yes, you still have all of those hands-on materials. You actually get a physical book to open up and sit on the couch and read with your child. You actually get a workbook to fill in, or you do hands-on experiments, and then the online part is really only about 25% of the time and that’s where you go to upload your answers, to upload the responses that you’ve already talked about. So it’s really a great blend and for sure more developmentally appropriate for those younger kids especially.
(04:41) So you’re right, it’s a great way to look at and explain how the virtual component in your curriculum is a traditional one.
Gwyn (04:51): The other benefit of BookShark is that students within certain ages can be grouped together. So for mom homeschooling, and I know from my personal experience I had four children and I could have them in two separate cores, but I had two kids in each history and science core and then they each have their individualized math, individualized language arts. But it took the pressure off of me having four separate history social studies, and four separate science levels to teach. So that is so unique and amazing with BookShark, and it’s one of the things I love sharing with families.
Jen (05:29): And the third thing I’d like to mention that’s unique about the virtual component of this curriculum is the online graders. So with a traditional online program, your online grader might be somewhere in a different state and really not have a pulse on what your expectations are or your autonomy as a parent with this online curriculum. Whereas our online graders work personally with our program so they understand the nuances of this curriculum and they understand our families. They understand where these families are coming from and each student gets individualized responses, which is very unique in the online platform. So that’s another huge delineation between BookShark virtual and traditional virtual.
Gwyn (06:16): And within our program, we also have mentors who are assigned to a family. So you have that middleman, so to speak, that’s coming alongside of you if you have those daily questions or any situation that you just want to discuss with your mentor, and then they can take it back to the BookShark teacher or if there’s something else that they’re having difficulty with or a book or a question, anything. They’re not going alone. They have someone alongside of them.
Janna (06:46): So what I hear you say is, if I’m a parent new to homeschooling, I might feel as though I don’t even know where I would begin. And so this program not only offers me a teacher to connect with, but a mentor to come alongside me, and then a curriculum that is fully planned so I don’t have to do any of the legwork if I want to homeschool my child.
Jen (07:08): Yes, that’s the beauty of it. As a matter of fact, truly right from moment one, you have someone coming alongside. Gwyn, as our bookshop coordinator, meets individually with each family prior to ordering any material. So she really can hone in on what that best fit will be, not only for each individual child but collectively as a family. So right from the beginning, you have assistance even to decide what level is your best fit, not to mention what other materials your family may need.
(07:42) And so it really helps because some families, when they start using BookShark, they’re not really sure where they want to start, which math curriculum they want to choose, do they want to bring the level up a little bit, or bring the level down a little bit? There are all these nuances about the curriculum that Gwyn is able to come alongside each family individually to really get that best-fit level.
(08:05) And so right from the beginning they have that assistance not to mention then once the material comes in, they have the assistance as far as how to navigate the IG, which is like the teacher’s manual, what to do with the materials, how to report the LMS. That’s the beauty of it is that at every step, they have assistance with those components, so they never really feel like they’re alone. They may be several hours away from where we are, but they always feel connected.
Janna (08:31): I think connections is one of the things that people who even start to contemplate homeschooling really get … Personally. I got a little anxious because I thought, I’m not classically trained. I don’t know what to look for necessarily in a curriculum. And then one of the biggest things we find in advising families with BookShark is that it’s not that easy if you don’t understand the nuances, Jen like you said, to pick a level or to combine children. To the company, we think it’s easy because we’re in it all the time 24/7, but for somebody who’s being introduced to it, it can become very overwhelming. And when I first heard about Books Shark through my co-op, I remember parents saying, “Oh, be careful there. There’s a lot of work and you really got to know what you’re doing.” But then when I got into it and saw how well it was laid out, step-by-step processes. It’s simple but not easy, I think is a great way to describe it.
Jen (09:29): Yes, and also one of the things that we’ve heard from the families is they like that the online graders can grade at the grade level expectation, so it really takes that pressure off of the family, especially when it comes to writing or subjective grading. It takes the pressure off of the parent to have to know where they should be at that grade level. As I said, for writing, that’s a good example where it helps them to have this online grader that can give the grade and subject-specific feedback, which parents really appreciate. And that also is part of the Michigan BookShark virtual component is they have that connection with their online grader for that feedback, which is pretty immediate. Some of the questions are auto-graded so they know right then when they submit it, and then for the ones that aren’t auto-graded, the responses are within days of the answer being submitted. So it’s nice. It’s not like a way of weeks and weeks to get a response from their online teacher.
(10:32): The other thing that our families really like about that is that the IG, the teacher’s manual, has all of the answers in it. So as a parent is working with a child, they’re not on their own trying to play the guessing game of what is this question asking. They can see the answer right there, which really helps. Any parent that has worked with their child with homeschooling, sometimes you do run into those questions that you’re not really sure exactly what they’re asking, and that’s a nice thing is by seeing the answer, not that you’re going to give your child the answer, but it does help to direct the discussion so that you can lead them to understand where the curriculum is trying to take them with that higher-order thinking question.
(11:09): And so that’s something that our parents really appreciate about the virtual side, is even though it’s online, you still have that printed IG with those answers right there, and it does help guide the discussion.one of my favorite things about being a parent, really, is being able to walk with my children through these hard things in life, and then seeing, okay, we don’t have all the answers.
Gwyn (11:20): Another benefit of BookShark is it is a four-day curriculum. So families absolutely love the fact that it’s four days of focus and then they have one day left in the week for enrichment or other purposes for their families. That offers so much more flexibility. Especially like some of our families homeschool in different ways. It can work for so many different families. Some work full-time, and some students are with grandma or another guardian or someone, and this curriculum offers them the opportunity they can take that with them and grandma or whoever is helping them coming alongside a tutor, whoever it is, and help them complete that.
Janna (12:08): I think flexibility is a really important point to mention because if you’re new again to this idea of taking this education and bringing it home, or you’ve been homeschooling, but you’re kind of branching out to these other programs that are available to families. If you think that it is a Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM type of program, that will disqualify many parents who are working during those hours.
Gwyn (12:35): And when you have other younger children at home, it gives you those moments to be able to put that little one down for a nap and do some of your readers together. And just the flexibility of when dad comes home at night or whoever comes home at night can do some of the work with the students. You can travel. We have families that take this curriculum on the road. They’ve been to Europe, they’ve been to Mexico. All over. So it has so many benefits to it that I think you’d be hard-pressed to not find a situation in which you can’t make BookShark work for you.
Janna (13:18): And in Michigan Books Shark Virtual specifically, are the recommended hours the same as it is for the traditional BookShark curriculum? So for let’s say a certain level, we say that it’s typically three to four hours of student work per day. Does that change at all within your program?
Gwyn (13:38): I think it depends on the family and how much of the enrichment that they participate in. You can do what’s required, especially in those years when you have a lot of littles, or if you have the dynamics of, I have some families who are homeschooling one or two children and they want every single thing that’s offered.
(13:59): And so yes, you can fill your day, but you also have that opportunity to scale back when you need to. So it would ebb and flow. It’s one of those questions that’s very different for every family.
Jen (14:14): What I would say is I don’t feel like Michigan BookShark Virtual, adding the virtual component would add time. If anything, it would add options. With traditional BookShark, as amazing as it is, you are limited to just the hands-on materials that you have, which is awesome. The nice thing about the virtual component is you have the same hands-on materials, but you also have the virtual component so that if you do need your child to be a little bit more independent, by the time they get to the older grades, you can say, “Okay, while I do this, you are going to work on this.” And that’s when they can do the virtual aspects, or as Gwyn said, you can do all of the extra stuff hands-on and then still have them upload their answers to the virtual, but it really hasn’t added time. It just adds an option that you have the flexibility to add independence for your student, especially as they get older. So if anything, I would say it adds opportunity, not time.
Janna (15:22): Well, I really like that distinction because as a homeschool mom who is down to one and she is working very independently, there’s actually very little that I do with her now working through Level I as she’s 13 then when we first started seven years ago and she was still learning how to read. So this idea that as they do age, if you are looking for more independence, it will give it. And if that’s not what you’re looking for, it certainly doesn’t have to be the focus with Michigan BookShark Virtual.
(15:53): So if I’m considering putting my child into Michigan BookShark Virtual, I would love to have the assurance that if I choose to put my child back into a brick and mortar after any time, either a year or two years later, that they are going to be tracking with their peers. So how does your program come alongside parents to give them the assurance that they’re doing enough?
Jen (16:23): Yes. Well, that is a very common question that all homeschool parents have am I doing enough? Am I at the right level? Have I covered what they’ll need? Whether you’re going to put them in school or not, homeschool families have that questions. That’s a nice thing that you can utilize with Michigan BookShark Virtual is that they’ve done that legwork for you. They’ve taken these levels, they’ve compared it to grade level expectations that Michigan has, and they’ve made sure that that material covers most of those standards so that when you hit a level in a certain grade you know that when they’ve completed that level, they’ve covered the topics and the benchmarks that are hit in the state standards for that subject, for that grade level, which is really, really a relief for homeschool parents because they don’t have to have the guesswork of how much do I do? What do I do, what do I cover? It’s all right there.
(17:29): Not only is it all right there, but by using Michigan BookShark Virtual progressively through the elementary grades and into junior high, you’re getting a really great caption of all the different subjects, all the great literature. It’s a wonderful journey of learning that those kids go through and coming from an educator comparing it to what, as I’ve seen in the classrooms that I’ve taught, the literature is high quality and the volume of literature is a lot more literature than what you would see traditionally, which all of us know the best way to make a great reader is to read. And so that is something that really is a cornerstone to this curriculum is the amount of reading that the child does as well as the read allows that the adults do with the children. What a great way for them to develop and understand how a story is put together and to study the topics of science and history as they’re tied in with stories. It makes it so much more real for them.
(18:35): Then to be able to have the practical hands-on aspects like laying it out right on the timeline. What a great way to understand how an event fits into history. You’re reading about it in every book that you read. Michigan Bookshop Virtual has the student not only identifying where in the timeline that event happens but also mapping it to where it is with geography, it makes it so much more real for the kids. It’s more meaningful than what I remember history being. And so that’s a really nice aspect of that.
(19:09): So not only are the standards taken care of and covered that the state would require, but Michigan BookShark Virtual goes even further and takes those standards and gives them application opportunities, which is really great to see incorporated in a virtual platform.
Gwyn (19:27):: So another way that you could meet some students’ needs with the curriculum is I had an auditory learner. So for him, he struggled with the readers on his own because he spent so much time trying to comprehend that I did audiobooks for him, and he’d follow along in his reader, and then he could grasp the comprehension and answer those questions effectively. So I love the fact that BookShark uses phenomenal literature. You can find an audiobook, they can listen, they can glean from history, and they can really engage and learn and grow, even for a struggling student.
Janna (20:13):: And even if there isn’t an audiobook available, it just because it’s stated as an independent reader for the student if you know your student and you need to read that to your student as they read aloud, that is one of the reasons we homeschool is so that we can speed up or slow down or make adaptions for our children. When I started homeschooling my own girls, I didn’t even realize that one of them was a struggling reader, because she compensated so well. And then when we started to go through all the literature, she wasn’t keeping up with the pace like her twin sister. And then I started to realize, oh, she’s struggling with words even though she was understanding concepts. And so just a few years of homeschooling with BookShark, she was off the charts and totally caught up and surpassed her peers. But I wouldn’t have known. How would I have known had I not been homeschooled with her?
(21:08): All right, ladies, you have me sold on this program. If I were to live in Michigan and I was contemplating that I wanted to homeschool and I know that this is the right choice for me, what would be my next practical steps as a parent who’s interested in Michigan BookShark Virtual?
Gwyn (21:27): So you would reach out to me through my email, which I think you will have that at the end of this podcast included. Tell me you’re interested. I will contact you and discuss how you will enroll with our district for the year using this free virtual online component. We will ship a box of curriculum to you directly and come alongside you and help you set up your year.
(21:57): Also students within our district are issued Chromebooks that they will check out and will be shipped. I’ll ship them to the family and they can use those to submit their work, which is another great benefit. And that would be your first couple of steps in getting set up with us here.
Jen (22:22): Then in that meeting with Gwyn, she would sit down with you once you’ve decided that this is a good fit for your family and she would discuss which level is the best fit, whether are you able to combine kids and how that works.
(22:35): We offer this for students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade, and we are able to combine kids who are close in grade level. So that is a nice thing. Usually, how that works is they combine-
Gwyn (22:49): Within a couple of grade levels.
Jen (22:52): And then they do their separate math and language arts, typically.
Gwyn (22:56): Yes. So three math programs that we offer are Saxon, Singapore, and Math UC. So families can look at those three. I do have an email that I send, and I send the links and information about all those curriculums so they can choose the best fit. We have an organic conversation about the dynamics of their student, what type of learner they are, and what approach they’re looking at.
Jen (23:22): The nice thing too is there are some pre-assessments that she sends links to that they’re able to do with their child, and then those pre-assessments give a great picture of what level would be the best fit.
(23:35) So they kind of use both the results of the pre-assessments as well as this conversation that they have to figure out what would be the best. And then from there, once they’ve decided on the level, Gwyn puts the order in, we order it, we take care of the paperwork enrollment on that, and really then everything is taken care of. Then it’s a matter of the box arriving at your house sometime later in August, and we share a calendar with the family. And like Gwyn had mentioned, it’s a four-day program. So each week they have four days of work to complete for that week, and it’s laid right out in 32 weeks. Starts at the beginning of September, goes through the middle of May, and they submit their weekly work and then at the end of the week that is all submitted, and then their mentor contacts them if they have any concerns or any questions that they need help with, and otherwise it just runs through the year.
(24:30): So it’s a pretty smooth process. It’s the enrollment, it’s receiving the materials, familiarizing yourself with the materials and the books, working through your school year, and then at the end of the school year, you’re able to keep that box of materials if you choose. If you’ve completed the whole year, you can keep that box of materials and then sign your children up for the next level if you choose to do the next year. So it’s a pretty easy process. And then we come alongside, we have Gwyn as well as our online graders that come alongside them throughout the year and pretty much weekly communication with things that they may need help with, reminders of different things that they’re doing.
(25:14): It’s a smooth-running machine. We’ve done this now for a few years and our families really, really appreciate it. It’s something that not only is the financial help to them, but really they feel like it’s an emotional help for them because they’re not out on their own. They may be in an area in Michigan where they don’t get to be with other homeschool families, and this gives them an opportunity to really rub shoulders with someone else. Oftentimes, I’ll hear Gwyn, have conversations with family where she can help them through the transition of homeschooling.
Janna (25:51): All right, I am thoroughly convinced that this is an amazing program that I want to be a part of if I were a resident of Michigan. You had mentioned that the district would send me a Chromebook for any student I sign up with through this program. What other things would I need in my home to make this successful homeschool?
Gwyn (26:12): One of the most important things for a virtual program is to have internet that is adequate for uploading because you are required to upload work each week. And if a student doesn’t have those capabilities because you’re so remote and your service is very slow, like dial-up, it’s just not going to be, unfortunately, a good fit for you. And Michigan BookShark Virtual won’t be available for you, unfortunately. Besides that, your basic school supplies, pens and pencils, and markers. That’s just a typical thing you’re going to need for your school supplies. Other than that, books are provided, the virtual component is there, and you have your teachers on this side, your mentor, and support.
Janna (27:07): In closing, what are your final words for families who are contemplating coming to Michigan BookShark Virtual?
Jen (27:16): Jenna, really what I would say is take a look online, look up Michigan BookShark Virtual, do some research, take a look at what they offer, look at the all subject packages, drool over the amazing literature that a kid can read in one year, which is pretty amazing. And then contact Gwyn. Start a conversation. You’re not committing to anything by just having a conversation. Reach out, and see if it’s a fit for your family. Dig a little bit and do some research. And at the end of the day, if you feel like this is something you like to try for your family, you’re not out anything because again, this curriculum is free.
(27:55): So I would just encourage families to do a little research, make a contact, ask the questions, and find out if it’s a good fit for them. And if so, we are here to support you.
Gwyn (28:08): I’ve homeschooled four children that are very different learning styles with BookShark. So for me personally, to have those conversations, I think it would be hard-pressed for a family to bring something to me that I wouldn’t know how to direct them and help them come up with the best solution for their children’s education for that year.
Janna (28:30): I know that if there are people who are listening who had any doubt in their mind that they could not homeschool successfully and confidently after listening to this podcast, they will now know that with the support of Michigan BookShark Virtual, they have all that they need to do this and do it really well.
(28:50): Ladies, thank you so much for coming on today. Thank you for sharing your expertise, and thank you for providing a program for the state of Michigan.
One of my chief concerns was that I valued my relationship with my son too much to homeschool him. I was convinced that spending so very much time with him would result in us growing tired of one another.
We already had battles and emotionally charged moments, and I feared that being the person to constantly force school assignments he didn’t want to do would mean butting heads even more. I worried
that he would see me as a strict teacher and not his loving mom
that lines would blur as our roles shifted
that what was already unsteady would become unsustainable
I’m very happy that I was so very wrong.
The relationship between my son and I has grown stronger than I ever could have imagined as I’ve watched him heal, grow, learn, and thrive. I’ve gotten to know wonderful parts of his personality that I would have missed otherwise. And I have been privileged to help polish the rougher parts that always seemed to rub the wrong way before.
While we’ve grown closer and found our groove in homeschooling, I’ve stumbled a few times. Through my experiences, I’ve discovered a few temptations that absolutely have the potential to damage our relationship. Here’s what I avoid to keep from ruining my relationship with my homeschooled child.
1. Too Much Review
Most curriculum works in a spiral format. It reviews previous material while introducing new information in an attempt to keep facts and formulas fresh. This isn’t necessarily a bad format, but there comes a point when reviewing can become excessive.
While learning about the state capitals, I decided to take every opportunity to quiz and review my son
while driving in the car
sitting at dinner
during commercial breaks
This was just too much. Instead of keeping facts fresh, I was negating opportunities for casual conversation and was trading connection for repetition. The freedom and peace that we enjoy in our homeschool, the chance to learn at a pace we’re comfortable with, was replaced with drills and expectations.
He wasn’t learning the capitals anymore; he was being beaten over the head with them!
What if you devote all of this time and energy into a lesson for it to go in one ear and out the other? At the end of the day, your goal as a homeschool parent isn’t to create a recording of everything taught. It’s to inspire a love of learning in your child and to forge a relationship with them in the most intimate of settings.
What your child learns is important, of course, but conversation with your kiddo is usually sufficient to get a feel for what they’ve soaked up. Be their parent, not their drill sergeant. Sit next to them and learn together; don’t ask them to recite for you.
2. Trying to Replicate What Everyone Else is Doing
Seeing how well other families are doing, it’s easy to begin to wonder if maybe you should try it, too. Maybe if you tried that curriculum your child wouldn’t struggle with spelling. If you had a dedicated homeschool room, you might be a better homeschool parent. And what about what they’re doing at the public school down the street? You heard that they’re doing this experiment and reading that book, so does it say something about you that you’re not?
Attempting to replicate what works for one family can cause you to forget (or even ignore) what works for your own. By shadowing someone else’s footsteps you rob your child of the chance to forge their own path. You create a box that you were never meant to fit inside of, and the relationship between yourself and your child suffers as you both struggle against its confines.
You, the homeschool parent, have the opportunity to meet your child where they are in every area of their life, to fine-tune and customize their education in a loving and thoughtful way. Your lesson plans can be seen as love letters to your child, the result of your dedication and devotion to what’s best for them. Be the homeschool parent that your family needs, not the one you see succeeding elsewhere.
3. Comparing. To Anyone.
In the same vein as attempting to replicate someone else’s homeschool comes the temptation to compare:
Your slow mornings with someone else’s early rising.
Your child to someone else’s.
Or yourself to another parent.
Or yourself to a homeschool philosophy.
Your tattered books to someone else’s laminated worksheets.
Any time you begin to compare yourself or your situation to another, you invite the idea that you are not good enough. Any time you compare your child’s academic performance to that of another, you invite the idea that one is better than the other. Any time you begin to notice a deficit or weakness in your home because it’s a strength in someone else’s, you are walking a dangerous line that can too easily leave you disillusioned, dissatisfied, and dismissive of the unique needs in your own homeschool.
It’s not hard to see how comparison can ruin your relationship with your child, but it’s worth reminding yourself, as often as you need to, that it is a path towards bitterness, not betterment.
4. Resenting Your Commitment to Homeschool
I know, it seems obvious. Resenting homeschooling is obviously a no-brainer when it comes to how you could possibly ruin your relationship with your child. What’s not so obvious, however, is how we come to resent it.
Maybe you’re always having to turn down invitations to lunch with friends. Maybe you’re struggling financially and could really benefit from a second income you’re forfeiting to homeschool. Maybe you’re just having a hard day.
Little thoughts creep in and say, “If only I weren’t homeschooling, I could really…” The seed is planted, and the resentment grows.
Now instead of recognizing homeschooling as a privilege, you see it as a prison, a necessity, an obligation. Your child has become a pair of shackles instead of a partner in learning.
A decision made to bring freedom to your family can quickly convert to feelings of resentment, bitterness, offense, and displeasure. Where your relationship with your child was once a cornerstone of your homeschool, it is now a duty, a task, a chore, suffering under the illusion of obligation.
You get to homeschool! You get to share this time with your children! You get to hand-pick their education and provide them with all the love, enchantment, and opportunities they can handle. Homeschooling is a privilege, but the moment you start to see it as an obligation you begin to damage the relationship you have with your child. Suddenly they are to blame, and your reason for homeschooling becomes an excuse for your unhappiness.
There are many, many ways to ruin your relationship with your homeschooled child, but none of them are caused by actually homeschooling.
Our expectations, our ideas, our own boxes that we build and expect our children to fit into—theseare the breeding grounds for relational damage. When it comes down to it, these situations and feelings can be just as damaging in any setting. As a homeschooling parent, though, you find yourself spending more time with your children than most parents do, which creates more opportunities for these little seeds to sprout.
Really the greatest way to ruin your relationship with your homeschooled child, with any child, is to become lax in examining your own heart and motivations. By guarding yourself against feelings of bitterness or insecurity, you protect your child and your relationship.
About the Author
Jennifer Vail proudly lives in the great state of Texas with her very handsome husband and three very funny children. All three kids are educated in three very different ways according to their very different needs, which is exhausting but fulfilling. Jen’s hobbies include naps, 90’s pop culture, Netflix binges, buying books with the best of intentions to read them all, photography, and extroverting. She holds a degree in counseling but has found her calling by writing for and spending time with families of differently-wired, outlier kids—the square pegs of the round world.
She stays up way too late and drinks way too much caffeine, but has no intention of changing either. She is the community manager and contributing author at Raising Lifelong Learners where she writes about homeschooling gifted, anxious, and otherwise different kiddos, but also rambles at This Undeserved Life from time to time. She feels compelled to mention that she still very much loves the Backstreet Boys and rarely folds her laundry.
With history’s constant expansion, it’s easy to understand why homeschooling the subject may feel a bit daunting. How can children begin to grasp how it all fits together? There are so many people, cultures, continents, and events!
Timelines come in a variety of formats, but one thing is consistent. Whether it’s vertical or horizontal, there’s a dated line that helps students put information in chronological order.
Students can create history timelines for a variety of reasons:
to study a specific era or region
to see the events of a person’s life
to trace the development of a particular subject—like the evolution of art or progress of scientific discoveries
to compare the histories of multiple countries at the same time
to give context to a person’s life or an event
Homeschool timelines are incredibly versatile. They can be kept in a binder, hung on a wall, or even written on adding machine tape, They come pre-printed (like BookShark’s Timeline Book), or students can make their own. Whatever format you choose, consider these five benefits to making one part of your homeschool history studies.
1. Homeschool Timelines Help Kids Make Connections
A timeline acts as a way to tie history together. As students add people, events, scientific discoveries, and inventions to their timelines, they discover how these smaller puzzle pieces fit together into the bigger picture of history.
Teaching tip: Color code your timelines. For example, you can write people’s names in red, events in blue, etc. Or you can assign specific colors to countries and label anything to do with that area in the same color. Just keep a key for reference.
2. Homeschool Timelines Provide a Way to Organize Learning
Many parents enjoy a chronological approach to studying history, so using a timeline makes perfect sense. But there are also times when you may want to follow a rabbit trail—something your kids are interested in studying or a current event you want to take advantage of, like the Olympics or US Elections.
When you use a timeline like BookShark’s The Timeline Book, students can add to it even when they aren’t studying history sequentially. They will see how their current studies fit into the broader scope of history.
Teaching tip: Have students memorize a few key dates. These can become pegs to hang their learning on. For example, while studying the American Revolution, knowing what happened in 1776 is essential.
3. Homeschool Timelines are the Perfect Review
With a timeline, students have the opportunity to look back over what they have learned and review it. And when you ask questions about their timelines, it can be an informal method of evaluation.
Teaching tip: Have students show off their timelines. When they are sharing it with grandparents, aunt, uncles, etc, they will naturally be telling others about what they learned. You’ve covered narration and review at the same time!
4. Homeschool Timelines Develop a Global Worldview
Students can see what was going on in different parts of the world at the same time. For example, using a timeline when studying inventors and inventions shows students that ideas were often being worked on concurrently, but in different ways.
Thanks to a timeline kids will realize that Christopher Columbus and Leonardo da Vinci were contemporaries.
They will marvel that Socrates, Buddah, and Confucius all lived at around the same time period.
And they may be surprised to learn that while Europe was mired in the Dark Ages, the Islamic Empire and China had a flowering of science and art.
Teaching tip: When working on your timelines, look for overlap. Prompt them to consider,“How did people from around the world contribute to this event, idea, etc.? Does this event remind you of something else in history? While this is happening here, what’s happening elsewhere?”
5. Homeschool Timelines Show Patterns in History
Timelines help students discover patterns in history. You’ve probably heard a variation of George Santayana’s observation, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” By using a timeline, students see certain patterns emerge. Rising tensions, war, times of economic depression, times of prosperity—these tend to cycle in almost every developed nation around the world.
When students look back over their timelines, they can find specific types of events more easily and compare to current events. The 2020 pandemic is the perfect time to look back and see when a disease or illness has had a major impact on society.
Teaching tip: Questions help your student develop critical thinking skills. Instead of simply adding a person or event to the timeline, ask them if they’ve noticed any patterns. Be specific, especially with younger students. For example, “Have you noticed any similarities about events before a war begins?”
Why You’ll Want BookShark’s Timeline
Timelines are such a valuable tool for homeschool history that every BookShark Reading with History curriculum package includes a Timeline Book as part of the required resources. Of course, if you use BookShark more than one year, you don’t need a fresh Timeline Book each year. You can continue placing figures in the same Timeline Book throughout your entire homeschool career. The spiral-bound notebook format is especially practical:
includes pre-printed dates from 5,000 B.C. to the present
constructed of quality, heavy-gauge paper that holds up over time
is in a standard 8 ½ x 11” size so it’s easy to store on the shefl or take with you on the go
includes plenty of space for figures, notes, and drawings
Even if you’ve never used a timeline in the past, it’s never too late to start! And if you get behind in placing your scheduled figures, no worries! Just have a timeline book day when you review what you’ve learned and affix all the figures you’ve covered in the last few months. pics 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.
The decision to homeschool your children is a big one. You take on not only the parenting duties you already have but also the responsibility of their education. I’ve never known anyone who has decided to homeschool on a whim. Most people weigh the benefits, the concerns, and all the factors they can think of to make the best decision for their family.
But even after you’ve made the choice to homeschool, fears can creep in. One big fear that many new (and even seasoned) homeschoolers face is the fear of judgment from others.
Maybe your family isn’t supportive of your homeschool journey.
Maybe your friends think you’re crazy.
Maybe you excitedly shared your decision to homeschool on social media and felt a negative backlash.
Possibly none of that has happened yet, but you are paralyzed with the worry that it might occur.
Whatever the reason, your fear is real. The good news is that it can be dealt with so you can still feel confident in your decision to homeschool!
Because homeschooling is such a tremendous commitment, your why is surely something of great importance to you, your child, and your family. Take time to think deeply about your reasons, even writing them down, putting into words all the reasons why you are homeschooling.
When we have a clear handle on that drive, that desire, that why, it is easier to shrug off judgment and feel confident in our decision. When you know and can clearly articulate that you are doing what is best for your child, you can focus on that assurance when fear of judgment rises.
2. Realize People May Be Projecting Their Fears Onto You
or any other number of objections, realize these statements are usually not about you at all. Often these questions and exclamations say more about themselves than about your choices.
They realize their own shortcomings and what they would likely struggle with as a homeschooler and are putting their own fears onto you. When confronted with this kind of situation, take a minute to realize this tendency to project fears, and then let them roll off your back.
Think of your why, be confident in your decision, and don’t other people put their fears onto you! It is likely that their hearts are in the right place—concern for you and your child—but often their own fears color their opinion. They can be concerned, but it doesn’t have to affect you!
3. Surround Yourself with Like-minded People
A great way to get over feeling judged about your decision to homeschool is to find a tribe that will make you feel great about it! Find a friend you can talk to who will give you a pep talk when you need it. Join a Facebook group of homeschool moms where you can vent if needed. Knowing you’re not alone in your homeschool challenges helps you feel confident and not worry so much about those who would judge your decision.
Anytime we take a bold leap in life or make a big change there are bound to be fears and people who question what we are doing. There are people who will judge our decisions, but we can rise above that by knowing that we are doing our best for our families, letting those judgments roll off our backs, and pressing forward on our new adventure!dless of our personal beliefs. We all believe in this—our kids are best served by being educated at home by their parents.
About the Author
Krista is the homeschooling mom of 3 boys. After 13 years she has learned the value of chilling out, going with the flow and keeping homeschooling fun! She is the blogger behind Far From Normal where she hopes to encourage parents and homeschoolers, and inspire a life lived happily outside the box!
Because I love BookShark curriculum, I tell all of my homeschooling friends about it. During such a discussion, it’s not uncommon for a friend to lament that while BookShark looks amazing, it’s just too expensive.
Although this is a common misconception among many homeschoolers, I find the opposite to be true. The way I see it, BookShark is an affordable way to provide my child with a quality education.
1. BookShark Versus Private School
First, I compare BookShark’s cost to private school. When my oldest child was nearing school age, we immediately ruled out public schools because of an inferior school system in our local area. Instead, he attended a private school through third grade.
Since we qualified for tuition assistance at the private school, our monthly tuition payment was $258. Without financial aid, the payment would have been almost $600 a month! Annually, we were paying $3,096 a year for tuition with financial aid! On top of the base costs, we also had to pay for school supplies, uniforms, and fundraisers. With all those additional expenses, the yearly total was closer to $3,500 a year. Without financial aid, we would have paid $7,200 a year.
Yes, compared to private school, BookShark’s full grade curriculum packages of approximately $800 to $1000 a year are a bargain! Plus, I find BookShark’s curriculum far superior to the education my son received in private school.
Better learning for less money? Yes! Sign me up.
2. BookShark Versus DIY Curriculum
Next, I compare BookShark to piecing together your own program. Most moms who tell me BookShark is too expensive are frugal with their money and like to make smart financial choices. They usually prefer to piece together their children’s curriculum by buying used novels and second-hand Instructor’s Guides. This can be a great way to go. I tried it myself during the early years of homeschooling.
What I found, though, is that when buying used, I spent more money than I anticipated over the course of the year. Some of the books I purchased weren’t as described —filled with highlighting and pencil marks, for example, so I’d have to spend more money buying the product again, hopefully in better condition.
What’s worse, I spent far too much of my valuable time searching for the items I needed, corresponding with sellers, and tracking down sellers who didn’t send my product in a timely manner. For me, the few hundred dollars I saved buying used wasn’t worth the hassle, frustration, and time. Now I prefer to buy my BookShark curriculum new, in pristine condition, ready for my child.
3. BookShark Versus Single Use Curriculum
If you homeschool more than one child, the cost of using BookShark curriculum goes down each time you use it with your next child. I have a seventh grader who has used Levels D and E and is currently in Level F. I also have two younger children who are currently in Level B. When they get to Level D, which I already own, I’ll only need to buy the consumables for them, making my yearly cost approximately $300! You really can’t beat that price for a year of quality instruction. Then, when my younger children are done with the material, I’ll sell it used and recoup some of the money I originally spent, lowering my overall cost even further.
While on the surface some may think BookShark curriculum is expensive, when you compare it to the expense of private school, the time spent to piece together used books, and the savings from reusing a particular curriculum package, BookShark can be seen for what it is—a quality education at a very affordable price.
About the Author
Melissa is a homeschool mom to three kids. BookShark is her primary curriculum, and she and her kids love it! When she’s not homeschooling, she’s either shuttling kids from one activity to another or working from home as a freelance writer. You can read more about Melissa’s homeschool journey at her blog Moms Plans.
To celebrate going back to school one year, my mom sewed the prettiest pink and purple, paisley bell-bottom pants for me. Because my mom didn’t know bell-bottoms had been out of style for a few years, I was called names and made fun at school that first day back to class. On the outside, I expressed anger and wanted to punch the bullies in the mouth, but on the inside I was crushed.
When I think about the time and love my mom put into those pants (which we never wore again), I get emotional, yet I’m also grateful that I didn’t resort to fist fighting and that the teasing never went beyond a single occurrence related to the funky pants.
What is Bullying?
As a parent, I’ve wrestled with the definition of bullying as I teach my sons the difference between a personality conflict and abuse. The difference is not always obvious to a child or even to an adult, yet understanding the definition of bullying empowers a victim to take a stand if necessary.
It’s almost impossible to cover every warning sign of a bully, but one simple definition of bullying is intentionally hurting another person or deliberate aggression. As we all know, that definition is still too broad. Other telltale signs of a bullying situation are as follows:
continual physical acts and/or verbal abuse over a period of time
(on the part of the person being bullied) stressing over not only what just happened but also what may happen in the future
the stronger dominating the weaker
Homeschooling as a Reaction to Bullying
Bullying immediately brings out that maternal feeling to shield her child from harm. Parents want to do something, and they may consider a huge change—even leaving public school to homeschool.
So is homeschooling a viable option when a child is facing bullying at school? I say yes! It is a parent’s natural (and good) instinct to shelter her child. If a child is unable to protect himself, it falls to the parents to do so for him.
Is homeschooling the easy way out as some critics may say? Should kids be forced to work out their problems on their own, grow a tough hide, learn how to ignore caustic remarks, and fight back when physically confronted?
Does homeschooling turn our kids into socially inept sissies who can’t handle the pressures of normal childhood squabbles?
No way.
I homeschooled my boys, and they still learned how to get along with their peers and constructively face relationship problems. My children are now reaching adulthood, and they’re confident, secure, and capable of making decisions that go against the crowd. This didn’t happen because I sent them to public school to duke it out with mean girls or bullies.
Is Your Child a Victim of Physical or Verbal Bullying?
When I worked in a lawyer’s office handling divorces, I saw many cases of abuse, and it never got easier to observe. I remember key advice social workers would give an abused spouse—You can never change the person you’re living with. The message was that a victim of abuse has two choices: leave the abuser or live with the abuse.
When an abused spouse choses to leave, nobody thinks that she is not facing up to real-life problems or trying to escape the real world! In another example, no one thinks poorly of the employee who stands up in the face of workplace bullying to exert his legal right to a safe work environment free from prejudice and abuse.
Quite the contrary. We applaud victims of abuse when they take a stand to escape a toxic relationship or to assert their rights.
Bullying is a type of abuse that we don’t tolerate when it happens to adults. Why should a child be forced to stay in an abusive situation that is destroying his sense of safety and confidence? Living in such a fearful situation is no way to build character in a child.
So, yes, homeschooling is a viable fix for bullying (not an easy fix as homeschooling is a big responsibility and sometimes sacrifice). But homeschooling is good for so much more than merely pulling your children out of a toxic environment of bullying.
Here are additional ways homeschooling benefits your child socially:
When a child studies what interests him and manages his time to do so, he grows in to self-confidence.
When a child is focused on his own learning and interacting with others who care for him instead of forced to fend for himself in a doglike pack hierarchy, he can learn truelife skills.
A child can flourish with social skills when he is involved in public speaking in a co-op setting and focuses on rigorous academics.
A warm and loving home is the best place for a child to learn how to build character. School, after all, is an artificial, institutional environment.
There are many team building opportunities in homeschooling like 4-H, football, basketball, and volleyball where a child can learn to work out personality conflicts with others.
A child has the right to learn in a stress-free environment, supported by adults who love and protect him.
When I was a student in my paisley bell-bottom pants, homeschooling was not a well-known option to escape bullying at school. Fortunately, what I faced was a one-time episode of teasing and not full blown bullying. So my parents didn’t have the tough decision of handling a toxic learning environment. If you are considering homeschooling because of persistent bullying, don’t listen to the people who accuse you of being too protective or being a helicopter parent. Trust your parental instincts to protect, and know that homeschooling will provide a wealth of positive emotional and social benefits far beyond merely escaping a negative public school environment where bullying is rampant.
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, lapbooks 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.
Ever since my oldest decided to go back to school, I’ve mourned the days when our schedule was our own and we traveled off-season whenever we wanted. I loved the lack of crowds, the discounted pricing, and how spontaneous we could be. I also loved how we could take our learning with us wherever we went. When we visited family or joined my husband on a work trip, we could maintain a familiar structure to our day.
BookShark is now making homeschooling on the road a lot easier. BookShark Virtual allows students to tap into their lessons and assignments anywhere with internet access! So whether you’ll be vacationing for a week or traveling for a year, BookShark Virtual makes it easy for students and parents to homeschool.
If you are considering an RV adventure this year or are already on the road, BookShark Virtual will help you homeschool wherever your travels take you. Here are some of the awesome features you can use the next time you hit the road.
1. Mobile Friendly Browser-Based View
BookShark’s virtual program is hosted through Buzz which features two main views, allowing parents and students to stay up-to-date with lessons and activities:
Teacher view: Parents (or a teacher supervising through a charter school situation) can assign and record grades, track missing assignments, communicate with students, view assignment descriptions, and update due dates. The adult using this view can also see which assignments were submitted and what still needs attention.
Student view: Students can view their grades, post discussions, watch videos, take quizzes, and communicate with their teacher/parent. They can also use embedded links to access their lessons. In addition, they complete Science and Language Arts Activity Sheets directly through the app.
The calendar feature in the Buzz apps is especially helpful. The assignments show up in list form, showing the day they are due. In addition, everyone can set reminder notifications.
2. A Digital Instructor’s Guide + More
When I travel, I live by the motto “Less is more.” I don’t want our car or camper packed to the gills. I love my big blue Instructor’s Guide binder, but it is not travel-friendly.
Thankfully, everything you and your student needs is now digital and housed in BookShark Virtual. You’ll find the weekly and daily plans, discussion questions, worksheets, and even assessments—all online. Leave the bulky IG at home and just grab the great books you’ll read.
3. Option to Download
When we travel, wifi is not always an option, so downloading the Activity Sheets is a huge perk. Once downloaded, students can complete the activities digitally as PDFs. Or print them and fill them in on the road, using the app to keep track of the assignments. Assignments can also be uploaded so students have all of their finished work in one place.
4. You Still Set the Pace
BookShark Virtual lets you set the pace. Weekly lessons are your guide, but it is up to you how fast you work through the curriculum. Your student has access to the virtual curriculum for a year, so there is plenty of time for them to take breaks or spend extra time on a lesson.
Traveling can also set our pace. If the weather’s bad, our kids might have extra time for schooling. At other times, school work might need to take a backseat to exploring museums, or nature preserves. It’s nice to know your students aren’t going to fall behind. BookShark curriculum is a flexible four-day-a-week program that meshes well with an RV or roadschooling lifestyle.
5. You Still Enjoy Great Books
I love that BookShark Virtual still includes physical books. Since most of the books BookShark uses are novels, you won’t be lugging around heavy textbooks. And students spend the majority of their learning time away from screens and with a good book in their hands.
I love that BookShark Virtual still includes physical books. Since most of the books BookShark uses are novels, you won’t be lugging around heavy textbooks. And students spend the majority of their learning time away from screens and with a good book in their hands.
On the road or not, the new virtual option gives us homeschoolers even more flexibility. Take your lessons to the park, study on a field trip, or head to a local coffee shop. Wherever you go, near or far from home, you can now effortlessly take BookShark with you.
*This post was updated 02/21/2023 to reflect the current Virtual platform.
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.
If you homeschool for any length of time, you’ll inevitably struggle with the idea that a fresh curriculum might be better for you and your child even if you are having no problems with your current curriculum! That maxim about the grass appearinggreener on the other side of the fence can apply to homeschool too.
Why We Chose BookShark Homeschool Curriculum
My oldest loveshistory and reading, and we chose BookShark for that exact reason. While using BookShark, my son received a strong historical overview of the time period that we were studying, but he also got plenty of excellent historical fiction related to the events he was studying in history.
Each day, he spent time in his room reading on his own. Later in the afternoon, after my youngest two were done schooling, my son and I read our current read aloud together. Sometimes even the younger kids listened in, asking questions and commenting on the book. BookShark fit our family perfectly, and we all enjoyed it.
The Temptation to Switch Curriculum
However, our family doesn’t live in a homeschooling bubble. Catalogs from various publishers come in the mail, and I often read other homeschool moms raving online about different science or history programs. Unlike years ago, today there are a myriad of curriculum options for a homeschooler.
Last summer, when I was reading a book about homeschooling high schoolers, I saw mention of a curriculum I’d never heard of before. Like any good homeschooling parent, I hopped on the computer to research this company.
It sounded like such a great program! There was a lot of history, perhaps even more than BookShark programs because this alternative included more non-fiction along with their list of historical fiction. I contemplated buying this curriculum for a while before I finally took the plunge.
Within two weeks of using this alternative homeschool program, my son and I both knew I had made a huge mistake!
Why We’re Back to BookShark
True, the other curriculum did win high points with us for the interesting non-fiction selections that gave my son an even deeper knowledge of history. But honestly, that was the only advantage this curriculum had over BookShark.
We missed so many features of BookShark!
As a teacher, I missed BookShark’s easy all-in-one, open-and-go format. With the other curriculum, I had to spend ninety minutes to three hours every weekend, choosing my son’s assignments and laying out a schedule for him for the week. I didn’t have time for that! With BookShark’s Instructor’s Guides, I could simply glance at what was coming up for the next week. Prep took almost no time.
Both my son and I also missed the questions BookShark includes at the end of each reading. The other curriculum didn’t have that and instead relied on students doing projects or lapbooks to show their comprehension — neither of which my son enjoyed. While BookShark has projects and lap books, they are optional add-ons and not essential to the program.
We missed the historical fiction in BookShark. Because the other curriculum was so heavy on non-fiction, there were fewer novels to read. While my son loves history, he also loves reading fiction, and he really missed the quality fiction books he was reading with BookShark.
After only two weeks, we set aside the other curriculum and are happily back to BookShark. Now, though I may still get catalogs and read others’ comments online, I can rest assured that BookShark is the best curriculum for us.
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.
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.
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!
