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Tag: homeschool encouragement

  • Avoid These 4 Relationship Killers for Homeschool Parent and Child

    Avoid These 4 Relationship Killers for Homeschool Parent and Child

    When I first started explored the possibility of homeschooling, I resisted.

    Hard.

    I thought of dozens of reasons why I couldn’t, why I shouldn’t. I insisted. I protested.

    And, as you can probably guess, I eventually accepted that homeschooling was the best option for my son. 

    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’d resent me for the change from public school to homeschooling
    • 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! 

    The temptation to review, review, review is strong. How else can you be sure that what you’re teaching is really sinking in?

    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

    It’s tempting. So tempting.

    You see detailed lessons and colorful nature journals or organized homeschool rooms and a curriculum that just works so perfectly for this family or that one. Your friend cannot get her homeschool day started without morning time and your sister’s schedule is so precise that you could set your watch by it.

    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—these are 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. 

  • 10 Ways to Raise Little Bookworms

    10 Ways to Raise Little Bookworms

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    1. Surround yourself with words

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

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

    2. Read aloud every single day

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

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

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

    3. Visit the library or a local bookstore

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

    4. Let your child select books

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

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

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

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

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

    7. Make read aloud time something everyone looks forward to

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

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

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

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

    9. Set aside quiet reading time each day

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

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

    10. Set an example

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

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

    About the Author

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

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

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

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

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

    Busy work often appears in the form of

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    1. Play

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

    2. Games

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

    3. Quiet Times

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

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

    4. Use Group Work or Pair/Share

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

    5. Read

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

    6. Focus on What is Going Well

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

    7. Take a Break

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

    8. Go Outside

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

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

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

    About the Author

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

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

  • Tote Bag Homeschooling: THe Time-saving Solution for an On-the-go Family

    Tote Bag Homeschooling: THe Time-saving Solution for an On-the-go Family

    Are you in a season of on-the-go-schooling? Are you out exploring the world more than you’re at home? I know I am! Museum visits, sports practices, dentist appointments, weekend trips, co-op classes, piano lessons and countless hours in the car blanket our week.

    This constant motion means that our homeschooling has to be flexible. Sometimes reading assignments are tucked into the twenty-minutes hanging out in the waiting room or the forty-five minutes at the library between activities.

    At first, I didn’t think we could fit anything meaningful into these short shifts of learning, but I knew I had to find a way!

    My solution? Tote bag homeschooling!

    Next to my front door, you’ll find a laundry basket filled with tote bags of various kinds. As we waltz out the door, staying on track with learning is as simple as grabbing a tote. Let my bags inspire you to build carry-alls that meet the needs of your on-the-go family! 

    1. Tote Bag Homeschooling for All

    If you’re going to set up just one tote, this is the one. It has something for everyone—perfect for family-style learning! Here are some suggestions based on what’s in my own bag:

    • A card game or two
    • A juicy read-aloud
    • Drawing books and colored pencils
    • Journals for freewriting
    • Magnetic white boards 
    • Magnetic letter tiles for word play
    • A tablet for streaming documentaries 

    2. Tote Bag Homeschooling for One

    This kind of tote bag is designed for one learner and is individualized accordingly. Here is what you’d find in a few of ours.

    • Learner, age 6: phonics workbook and early readers, math book, a couple of picture books, a geography sticker book, crayons and unlined paper, audiobook player with earbuds
    • Learner, age 12: atlas and Markable Map, deck of cards for math games, writing journal, historical fiction book, tablet with science videos bookmarked
    • Learner, age 14: laptop for online math lessons and history videos, novel, science book, word roots game, colored pencils and drawing notebook
    • Mom: Instructor’s Guides, a few math manipulatives, a read aloud book, a box of granola bars

    3. Tote Bag Homeschooling by Topic

    This tote bag is focused on one subject area and the contents will vary depending on the topic. 

    • History Bag: history read-aloud, atlas, geography game, world history encyclopedia
    • Science Bag: field guides, nature notebooks, colored pencils, science books, science-themed games
    • Math Bag: deck of cards, snap cubes, math-themed read aloud, base-ten blocks, math notebooks, dice
    • Reading Bag: early readers, letter tiles, white-boards and markers, word cards, a phonics game
    • Fine Arts Bag: poetry anthology, art books, how to draw guides, markers, colored pencils, oil pastels, books about famous musicians, audio player with earbuds

    4. Tote Bag Homeschooling on a Budget

    This tote bag is inexpensive and versatile! It could be assembled with just a few items from the dollar store! 

    • Library books
    • Notebook and pencils for writing and drawing
    • Dice, a deck of cards, and dominoes for math games

    Homeschooling flows smoothly into the pockets of our days with grab-and-go tote bags! They don’t have to be fancy or overly involved. Build a few totes and line them up in your entryway so you’ll be ready for next day of on-the-go learning. Each bag can fit your family’s needs and the contents can change as often as you’d like them to! 

    With your purchase of an All-Subjects Package, you get a canvas BookShark tote!

    About the Author

    Angela Awald is a homeschooling mama to 6, certified teacher, writer, and doula. Her days brim full of learning, loving, and laundry (lots and lots of laundry)!! She believes that nurturing children (and ourselves) means helping them to see that all of life is about learning – from our mistakes, from each other, and from great books! Angela blogs at nurturedroots.net where she shares the ways she is nurturing her family and inspiration for nurturing your own.

  • When You Are Afraid People Will Judge You for Homeschooling

    When You Are Afraid People Will Judge You for Homeschooling

    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!

    1. Be Confident in Your Why

    There is a reason you’ve chosen to homeschool. Maybe it’s the quality of education your child is receiving, or maybe they have special needs. You might be homeschooling because of your family situation or to avoid bullying. There are tons of reasons people choose 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

    When people say things to you like

    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! 

  • My Journey Away from Faith-based Curriculum

    My Journey Away from Faith-based Curriculum

    In all honesty, I never thought I would homeschool my kids. I started because my oldest missed the cut off date for kindergarten and would have to wait a full year before starting school. She was beyond ready, so I knew I needed to do something. After a lot of research and many discussions, our family plunged head first into homeschooling.

    We began our journey as unschoolers. The kids were young, and it worked well to have learning revolve around their interests. Then we moved. The new record keeping and evaluation requirements of that state made it difficult for me to continue homeschooling without a focused plan. I realized I was going to need curriculum.

    Choosing Homeschool Curriculum

    As you know, venturing into the world of homeschool curriculum can be overwhelming. I had no idea where to start. So I did what most of us do. I starting using what my friends recommended which happened to be well-known, faith-based curriculum.

    Just take a quick look at any homeschool convention and you’ll see that a large percentage of materials have a religious (mostly Christian) point of view. However, not everyone schools at home for religious reasons, and not all families who follow a religion want their homeschooling materials to be faith based. In fact, I’m one of those homeschooling moms.

    Unchoosing Homeschool Curriculum

    At first, I welcomed the idea of using books that supported our beliefs. Unfortunately, I found that I don’t need (or want) the level of religion found within many Christian textbooks used for core subjects. In my opinion, they dedicate too many pages to watered down religion—pages that could be better used for more subject material.

    For example, my kids don’t need multiple paragraphs in each chapter of a science book reiterating the point that God’s creation is perfect and beautiful. I want our science curriculum to focus on science. So now I look for faith-neutral or secular materials.

    A Solution for My Curriculum Struggle

    Because of the curriculum struggle I faced, I made the decision years ago to forgo standard homeschooling textbooks for most of our core subjects (like science and history) and instead create my own lesson plans. As a substitute for pre-made curriculum, my kids watch relevant videos, read living books, play educational games, and complete a ton of hands-on activities.

    Compiling everything on my own is definitely time consuming, but works well for our family. Other homeschool families in my situation use a quality curriculum that isn’t faith-based such as Bookshark’s literature based, secular materials. The convenience of a full boxed curriculum or a curriculum plan for a key subject takes the burden off an already busy mom and allows her to enjoy the homeschool experience without spending hours of planning and researching.

    About the Author

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

  • Mother and Son, Both on the Autism Spectrum, Successfully Homeschool

    Mother and Son, Both on the Autism Spectrum, Successfully Homeschool

    Are you ever curious about other BookShark families? We can assure you that, after interacting with so many customers at conventions and online, every family is unique! While there is another family like yours in some ways, there is no other family exactly like yours!

    BookShark families span the gamut of family size, makeup, and approach to homeschooling. Of course, the one thing they all have in common is a passion for their kids. They invest deeply in and advocate fiercely for the academic and emotional well-being of their children.

    One example is Kelsey, mom to Emmett, living in North Carolina. You may know Kelsey from Instagram where she posts under the handle @_little_mama_purple. We recently interviewed Kelsey to learn more about her homeschool experience. She will inspire you to overcome your own challenges and grasp all the benefits homeschooling offers!

    Meet Emmett

    BookShark: Let’s start with Emmett, because he’s such an adorable little fellow on Instagram. Tell me a little bit about him.

    Kelsey: He loves books, puzzles, and his tablet. I always bribe him with his tablet. If he’s having a bad morning, and doesn’t want to do school, I ask, “Well, don’t you want to earn tablet time?”

    BookShark: So that’s his motivator? Smart!

    Kelsey: Yes. Emmett is six. He will be seven in September (2019). He has autism, global apraxia, and generalized epilepsy. He started wearing glasses at age four.

    BookShark: What is apraxia?

    Kelsey: It means that he has trouble talking and visually doing things¹. Sometimes he’ll write a word out, but he’ll leave a letter off. But in his head, he thinks he wrote that letter.

    BookShark: Tell me about your choice to homeschool.

    Kelsey: When it was time to enroll Emmett in kindergarten, we did an IEP with the school. They told me that he would get less therapies than he does now using our insurance. So, I decided to homeschool from that point.

    BookShark: Did you have Emmett enrolled with services at age 3 because of his special needs?

    Kelsey: No! I didn’t know there was special education available when he was little. I didn’t know there was early intervention, until he was almost too old to be in it. Nobody told me. They just handed me his diagnosis and said, “Here you go. He needs OT, speech therapy, and ABA². Go find it. Good luck.” 

    BookShark: Golly. That’s tough.

    Kelsey: Yes.

    BookShark: When you went to the school to find out about enrolling him, you discovered the lack of support for his special needs. That’s when you decided you wanted to go the private insurance, homeschool route, right?

    Kelsey: Correct.

    BookShark: Okay, and do you feel good about your decision to homeschool?

    Kelsey: Yes, I do because Emmett loves to read. He’s currently learning to read using Reading Eggs, along with BookShark, and he just loves it. I mean, he brings me books every day. He asks, “Read to me.”

    BookShark: But do you think that would be different if he weren’t being homeschooled?

    Kelsey: I’m pretty sure that he wouldn’t be learning to read at all. He has some behavioral problems, like if he doesn’t get his way he can become aggressive towards others. I’m assuming that the school would put him in a classroom setting where might be disciplined to a point that would negatively impact his learning.

    But because we homeschool, if he’s having a bad day, we take a break, we go do something else, and then we come back and it gets done. Even the best teachers in the world, they can’t love Emmett like I do. And the teachers have way too many children in the classroom, in my opinion.

    BookShark: So are you planning on continuing to homeschool him?

    Kelsey: Yes, I am. We already applied for a homeschool grant this year, and if we get it, we’ll be able to continue with BookShark curriculum.

    Every Kid Should Be Homeschooled at Least Once

    BookShark: Did you have any previous experience with homeschooling before you started homeschooling Emmett?

    Kelsey: Yes, I was homeschooled from seventh grade until high school.

    BookShark: So, you already had that in the back of your mind—that that could be a good experience?

    Kelsey: Yes.

    BookShark: Do you think there are parents whose kids would benefit from homeschooling but they don’t know about homeschooling?

    Kelsey: Yes. I totally believe that. I totally believe every kid should be homeschooled at least once. Homeschooling makes you closer to your parents; you do more with your parents. You have a different relationship than if your parents send you away to school, you come home, you do homework, and then they put you to bed. You don’t really get to spend a lot of time with them.

    BookShark: So I guess what you’re saying there, is as a mom, you would find one of the big benefits of homeschooling is the time you get to spend with Emmett?

    Kelsey: Yes, definitely.

    BookShark: What are some of the other benefits for you?

    Kelsey: We get to go to the park when we feel like it. We get to go shopping when we feel like it; we don’t have to go when the store is totally super crowded. I mean, we can just get up and say, “Okay, let’s homeschool at two o’clock this afternoon, and let’s just go do some running around, and get some stuff done.”

    Homeschooling Has Made Him a Reader

    BookShark: What kind of strides has Emmett made in these two years of homeschooling?

    Kelsey: He loves math. He’s a wiz at it. In language arts, he’s learning to write his name. He can now sign birthday cards himself. I found out that he loves dogs and horses. We just finished reading the book No Children, No Pets [in BookShark Level K]. He absolutely loves that book. I even had to put the book down one day when it was 70 degree weather outside. I told him, “No, we’re not going to read another chapter. Let’s go play outside for a while.”

    BookShark: Now, you said Emmett has trouble speaking, but he can speak, right?

    Kelsey: Yes. He speaks at like a three year old level, but he has a communication device that he uses.

    BookShark: So, when he reads, does he just read silently?

    Kelsey: No, he reads out loud, but he reads it phonetically.

    BookShark: You also do a lot of reading out loud to him, I assume?

    Kelsey: Yes. Yes, I do. All the time.

    BookShark: Great. Well, when you decided to homeschool, I’m curious if you had any fears or concerns before you started?

    Kelsey: Just teaching him to read has been my fear, but after my friend showed me Reading Eggs, it’s been real easy. And he loves the phonics books—Fun Tales—that are part of BookShark.

    BookShark: I’m glad you found something that works well! Everybody uses BookShark in their own way, and it’s not bad or wrong, by any means, to supplement with extras if needed. So what parts of BookShark do you use? Do you use the full package?

    Kelsey: We use everything but the science worksheets.

    BookShark: Okay, but you read the science books?

    Kelsey: Yes, we read all the science books. He loves them. He’s loving the Usborne Encyclopedia with the QR links [in BookShark Science K]. He loves to watch a video after I read what’s on the page.

    He absolutely loves all the books with BookShark.

    BookShark: That’s super. So, what would you say BookShark, specifically, has done for your homeschool experience with Emmett?

    Kelsey: Exposed us to books I would’ve never bought.

    BookShark: Yeah, why not?

    Kelsey: I’m one of those people that judges a book by its cover. I think, “I don’t really want to read that. It looks too hard to read.” Or, “The cover doesn’t look inviting.” But with BookShark, I’m like, “Well, it’s scheduled. Let’s read it and see.” And then I end up liking it!

    BookShark: That’s excellent. Yeah, you’re right. A lot of people say that, that they go to the library and they’re just not sure what’s a good book and what’s not. These books are already chosen for you!

    Homeschooling as a Mom with Autism

    BookShark: So, I’m curious. You yourself have autism, and you’re very open about that. Your YouTube channel and your Instagram profile both say that you have autism. So, when did you discover that you have autism?

    Kelsey: When I was 3. Emmett was doing something that reminded me of myself as a kid, and my friend said, “Well, go get tested. They can say yes or no. A diagnosis does not change who you are.” So, I got tested, and they told me I was level one³.

    BookShark: When you learned that, did a lot of things just suddenly make sense for you?

    Kelsey: Yes, definitely. I understood better how my brain works. I understood why I had meltdowns as a kid.

    BookShark: So, Emmett has autism, too. Do you think that your having autism makes you a better homeschool parent, or does it provide extra challenges, or maybe it’s both? I’d love to hear your perspective on that.

    Kelsey: I think it’s challenging, because sometimes my own autism makes me want to just get things done. But he’s having a meltdown and doesn’t want to do something.

    But I’m learning to just go at his own pace, and whatever I’m feeling, just bury it deep, because it’s more about what he needs, not what I need. I’m getting more understanding of Emmett as I get older, but sometimes my own sensory needs take over. In those times, I just walk away for a while.

    BookShark: That’s what moms do.

    Kelsey: Yes, they do.

    Anybody Can Use BookShark

    BookShark: Do you think any family could use BookShark regardless of what kind of special need the family experiences?

    Kelsey: Yeah, everybody could use BookShark. I think learning through literature is way better than doing a dusty old textbook.

    BookShark: Do you think BookShark is especially good for kids with autism?

    Kelsey: Yes, because it changes. You’re not doing the same thing. When you do the same thing over and over again, they’ll get bored really easily.

    BookShark: Oh, really? I thought autistic kids liked that pattern and repetition?

    Kelsey: They do when it comes to a schedule. They want to know that math is coming up next and science after that. But they don’t want their science to be boring—the same every day. It it gets boring, they’re going to have a meltdown because they just don’t want to do it.

    BookShark: I see. So, what do you do when the meltdowns happen? I know you say you just kind of step away. Is that your main strategy—take a break?

    Kelsey: Yeah, take a break. For example, in level K, there are the writing sheets where they practice writing words and then sentences. Emmett has meltdowns about writing, so we just slowly do them throughout the year. If he has a meltdown, we take a couple days off. Then we pick it back up, and I see if he’s ready.

    BookShark: That’s really good advice for a lot of homeschool parents. When you go slowly, this means you get “behind,” so to speak, on the sheets, right? Does that bother you? How do you deal with that feeling of “being behind”?

    Kelsey: It bothered me at first, but now it doesn’t bother me at all. I know we’ll get to them when we get to them. Even if I pick them up two years later, we’ll still get to them when we get to them.

    From “You Can’t Homeschool!” to “You Can’t Put Him in Public School!”

    BookShark: When I think about your story, Kelsey, I’m struck by the number of challenges you face. You have autism, and your son has complex special needs. You’re a single mom, too. Some people might look at a situation like that and think, “Well, she can’t homeschool.” What do you say to that?

    Kelsey: Yeah, my friends thought that I couldn’t homeschool. My friends wanted me to get a job and put him in public school. But now they’ve changed their tune to “You can’t put him in public school! You need to homeschool him!”

    Actually, I am somebody else’s inspiration to homeschool! I have a friend—she has a YouTube channel where she talks about life with her daughter with autism who is about the same age as Emmett. She follows me on Instagram and says, “Every time I go on your Instagram account, I’m always writing down things I need to try with my daughter.”

    She is talking about homeschooling her daughter next year because of what she’s seen me do with Emmett.

    BookShark: That’s great, Kelsey. I love that you are encouraging other people to homeschool and showing people that while it’s challenging, it can be done! I’m just so happy that you are able to educate Emmett at home where he can be safe and loved, and he can grow at his own pace.orward in their education. Project-based assessments give children the opportunity to get their hands busy and their creative ideas flowing. 

    Notes

    ¹ Recognizing and treating speech apraxia in children with autism

    ² ABA is Applied Behavioral Analysis. This system of autism treatment teaches desired behaviors through a system of rewards and consequences. Read more here.

    ³ There are three severity levels for autism spectrum disorder, one to three. Read more here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Life-Long Learning Starts with You

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

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

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

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

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

    Teaching Language Arts Comes Naturally

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Real Authors are Ready to Help

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

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

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

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

    You Have a Guide

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

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

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

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

    You Can Teach Your Children Language Arts

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

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

    About the Author

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    1. Focus on a Growth Mindset

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

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

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

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

    2. Allow Plenty of Time

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

    3. Help Kids Practice Skills in a Variety of Ways

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

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

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

    5. There Are Many Ways to Revise

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

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

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

    About the Author

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

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

  • Help! My Child Doesn’t Like to Read

    Help! My Child Doesn’t Like to Read

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

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

    Create a Book Loving Home

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    About the Author

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