BookShark

Tag: how to homeschool

  • Is It Too Late to Start Homeschooling? Is My Child Too Old?

    Is It Too Late to Start Homeschooling? Is My Child Too Old?

    Search homeschooling on just about any platform you can think of, and you’ll instantly be flooded with resources. Gorgeous wooden Waldorf toys, nature studies for preschoolers, vintage handwriting tablets, tricks that incorporate LEGO into reading. There are printables, book lists, and math manipulatives galore—so many options. You’ll find books and blogs all devoted to explaining the various homeschool philosophies, from Charlotte Mason to unschooling, classical to literature-based. There are all the checklists and planners and getting-started guides a parent could ever need, just at your fingertips, for when you decide it’s time to start homeschooling your little one.

    But what about when you don’t start homeschooling until your child is a little older? What if you’re looking into homeschooling for the first time with a middle schooler? What if you are wading through preschool crafts and all the books that go to great lengths discussing the importance of a solid educational foundation while searching for upper grade resources?

    If you have an older child and have only just begun to dip your toe into the primary-heavy world of homeschooling resources, is it too late? 

    (Spoiler alert: you’re not too late.)

    Starting to Homeschool Mid-School Year

    I became peripherally aware of homeschooling when my middle child was in second grade. I knew it was potentially on the horizon for us, but for the time being I was keeping it at arm’s length and trying to power through. I’d casually search Pinterest here and there, maybe look on Instagram to see how other families were doing it, but I wasn’t diving into homeschool research or devoting my nights to wording an educational mission statement. Until I was. 

    When the time came to pull my third grader out of public school, I found myself grasping at every resource I could find. I was a woman possessed, spending every waking hour (and far too many bedtime hours) Googling reviews, poring over forums for suggestions, gobbling up book lists and filling up my online carts. I was looking for anything I could find that would make this task seem less daunting. And there was a lot to be found in the lane of encouraging homeschool moms… of preschoolers. 

    It seemed that most websites and blogs and Instagram accounts were operating under the assumption that all homeschoolers started out as homeschoolers, and most of the encouragements and recommendations I was finding were geared towards the parent of the very young child.

    • Pep talks for parents teaching their kids to read.
    • Magical speeches about creating a lifestyle of learning from very young ages.
    • Passionate calls to allow children to learn through play.

    References to foundations and habits were everywhere, but I had a child who had already passed all of these milestones. My child could already read, already do math, already had an idea of what learning was and very much needed to “do school,” not just play. 

    Was I too late? Had a foundation already been laid by someone else’s hands, with someone else’s philosophies? Could I jump in and take over the reins, or was I going to have to break something down in order to build something else entirely up?

    A little of all of it, honestly.  

    Picking Up Where They Left Off

    Yes, my son could read. We didn’t need to spend hours working on phonics together for him to develop a love of language. We just needed to find books we enjoyed reading together. 

    Yes, my son could already do math. We didn’t need to point out patterns in nature or count the legs of a caterpillar for him to appreciate what numbers were. We just needed to find a math curriculum we liked. 

    Yes, my son could write. We didn’t need to create sensory-friendly bins for him to practice letters and penmanship in order for him to communicate well. We just needed to find writing prompts that excited him. 

    Part of transitioning into homeschool from a previous educational setting did involve a bit of a relay, figuring out where the school had left off and running ahead from there. 

    Part of choosing to homeschool after a few years in a traditional institution did require the breaking down of some habits or expectations that had been instilled.

    You’re Not Playing Education Catch-Up

    The transition period allowed me to develop a homeschool philosophy that included both of us. Instead of declaring ourselves to be devout followers of this method or that, I was able to work with my son to discover how and what he wanted to learn.

    Did I miss a window in his development by having someone else teach him for the first few years? Absolutely not! I was still his mother during those years, after all, and my influence was strong back then, too. He wasn’t some totally different child that had been built by strangers that I now needed to re-program, he was my kid all along, and homeschooling was just giving us more time together. 

    Had I been homeschooling him all along, I may have directed us down a path that wasn’t one he would have responded to as well. Had I labored over an educational mission statement when he was four, he may never have had the opportunity to tell me when he was 8 that he loved history and wanted to learn more than he could have in public school. If he didn’t know what he’d been missing, he couldn’t have known what he wanted from home education.

    You’re Getting a Homeschool Head Start

    When you start homeschooling an older child, you’re not scrambling to build a new foundation, you’re given the unique opportunity to work where you know the cracks are. Rather than fretting over choosing a methodology to apply to an unknown future, you have the advantage of molding a method to fit your child as you know them to be. 

    So is it too late to begin homeschooling an older child—a child who can already read, already write, already has habits formed and ideas sprouted?

    Well, mama, you’re still learning. It’s never too late to start, and it’s almost an advantage to have waited.

    So go ahead and take the leap. You may not have use for those beautiful play silks or the vintage school desks, but you’ve got a great kid who you already know, and that is the best tool of all. 

    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.

  • Why Elementary Kids Need History & Science Alongside the 3Rs

    Why Elementary Kids Need History & Science Alongside the 3Rs

    On social media or while talking to other homeschool moms, new homeschoolers often ask how much time they should expect their school days to take, or what subjects they should cover. Inevitably, some more experienced parents advise them to simply make sure they cover the basics of language arts and math, or tell them they don’t need to do school more than a few hours a morning during the elementary years. 

    Although there’s nothing wrong with thinking through a schedule—what you will cover each day and how long it might take—there’s a danger when we seek the opinions of others who may not share our view of homeschooling. We can end up with a focus on doing the minimum required instead of nurturing the natural wonder and curiosity of childhood. We begin to view school as the things we have to do instead of the privilege of inspiring a love of learning. 

    Thomas Berry, twentieth century cultural historian said, “Our children should be properly introduced to the world in which they live.” There’s a lot of wisdom in that statement. 

    The Elementary Years Are for Exploration and Discovery

    When we see learning as an adventure, we can inspire our children to view it in the same way. Instead of trying to figure out the minimum of what we can do, we need to ask how we can open up the world for our children.

    “Teaching is not about answering questions but about raising questions—opening doors for them in places that they could not imagine.”—Yawar Baig

    Young children are naturally curious. If you don’t believe that, spend time with them and count the number of times they ask why! Their questions aren’t easy to answer either. Consider one of the most common questions, “Why is the sky blue?” How do you explain the science in a way a young child can understand?

    As homeschoolers, we want to encourage that curiosity, and learning history and science during the elementary years is all about exploration and discovery. 

    The times, people, and places that can only be visited through books open up a world bigger than the one they know. It captures their imaginations and answers so many of those burning why questions. 

    History and Science Strengthen Core Subjects

    Traditional education models often separate subjects into neat little boxes. It’s the way most of us who attended public or private school grew up learning. We went to English and math and science classes—often moving from one classroom to the next. The early elementary years weren’t much different except we may have stayed in the same room. 

    With a literature-based approach like BookShark’s, subjects aren’t taught in isolation from one another but as a connected set of skills and knowledge. 

    Students read about history using living books. They learn language arts skills through copywork and dictation taken from those same books. They write about what they are learning—strengthening their writing skills while assimilating their knowledge of history.

    BookShark Science includes a collection of real books, not textbooks, with hands-on experiments and activities. Students use math skills such as measuring and reading charts and graphs. 

    As students study and practice the skills of core subjects alongside the knowledge they encounter in history and science, they learn and remember. Our brains are designed to make connections.

    “As we learn something new, cells that send and receive information about the task become more and more efficient. It takes less effort for them to signal the next cell about what’s going on. In a sense, the neurons become wired together.” —Alison Stevens, Learning Rewires the Brain

    History and Science Prepare Students for Future Studies

    Studies have shown that children who are read to and have access to books are better equipped to learn to read when they go to school. It makes sense that the same principle applies when it comes to learning history and science. 

    Extensive exposure to science and history will help them understand those subjects in a deeper, more complex way as they mature because they have been exposed to more concepts and scientific vocabulary.

    BookShark History: The Story

    Consider the etymology of the word history: “relation of incidents” (true or false), from Old French estoire, estorie “story; chronicle, history” (12c., Modern French histoire), from Latin historia “narrative of past events, account, tale, story”… 

    History is about story.

    From the beginning of time, people passed down their history through stories. We remember stories better than a list of facts because story connects us and captures our imaginations. That’s why BookShark’s use of historical fiction and biographies fascinates elementary age children.

    BookShark Science: The Spiral Approach

    With BookShark science your children will learn about scientific ideas in a way that engages their curiosity in the elementary years through living books and hands-on experiments. Because BookShark uses a spiral approach, students encounter topics multiple times at more and more complex levels. Students can then build on that foundation in middle and high school years.

    Your Elementary Students Need History and Science 

    Yes, need. Need means we require (something) because it is essential or very important. 

    When we see the elementary years through the lens of only what we have to study, we do a disservice to our children. 

    Although the core subjects of language arts and math lay a foundation of skills students use throughout their studies, history and science study speaks to the essence of who children are—curious individuals who are waiting to explore and discover the world around them. The study of history and science will strengthen core subjects as they are practiced and applied, and students will be well prepared for higher level learning. 

  • Set Your Own Daily Schedule: Homeschool Morning, Afternoon, or Night

    Set Your Own Daily Schedule: Homeschool Morning, Afternoon, or Night

    Setting your own daily schedule is a wonderful luxury homeschooling brings. We’re not scrambling to get kids on the bus at 7:30 in the morning. Breakfast becomes a leisurely meal instead of a frantic race against the clock. The shift into and out of Daylight Savings Time hardly impacts us.

    You have time to welcome the morning, spend time with your children, and enjoy a slow start. You determine the course of your day by setting your own daily schedule regardless of what the school does or what your other homeschool peers are doing.

    Homeschool in the Mornings

    Many of us enjoy homeschooling in the mornings. We can start the days with a brief morning time of poetry recitation, great literature, music, and art. The children tackle math when they’re fresh and able to think carefully about the problems. We get the business of our day—school—taken care of as first priority so we can do more frivolous pursuits later.

    After homeschooling in the mornings we have the afternoons free. We’re able to explore the town and go on field trips. Children can enjoy their favorite activities or play with friends. We can take long nature hikes and see the flowers bloom, leaves bud, and geese return.

    Evenings can be spent watching documentaries, enjoying read-alouds, or simply spending time together as a family.

    Homeschool in the Afternoons

    Just because many homeschoolers sit down to educate children in the mornings doesn’t mean you can’t homeschool in the afternoons instead. Sometimes it works best to spend the mornings sleeping, relaxing, working at home, doing chores, or simply enjoying the day.

    If a slow start suits you best, consider homeschooling in the afternoons instead. That’s the beauty of homeschooling. You set the daily schedule to fit your family’s needs.Enjoy a slow morning together, eat lunch, and then gather your school supplies. Run through math, English, and science. Curl up on the sofa to listen to the latest book you’re reading aloud. Spend the afternoon doing science experiments or history projects.

    Homeschool in the Evenings

    Despite the flexibility homeschooling brings, most people believe you still need to homeschool during daylight hours, and that’s simply not true. Remember, you set your own schedule. This means you can spend the morning on nature hikes, long bike rides, and exploring the town.

    Afternoons can be spent in activities, field trips, or time with friends. You can spend the day exploring the world and using up your children’s energy so they’re ready to sit and study quietly in the evenings.

    Begin your formal homeschool day at dinner time. Engage in long history and science discussions at the dinner table. Teach children to read in the living room after dinner. Work on math together.

    Each parent can take a child to run through schoolwork together. Discuss math, teach phonics, and write during the quiet evening hours.

    As you think about your ideal schedule, remember that homeschooling is flexible, and there is no right or wrong time to homeschool. Consider carefully your family’s routines and lifestyle before setting a daily schedule for your homeschool. Non-traditional homeschool hours may be best for your family.

    And you may find that one season of life fits morning learning while another season of life is better suited for evening homeschooling. Younger children tend to rise earlier, and teens love to sleep in, so adapt with their preferences by adjusting your daily schedule too. Or use a hodgepodge of times for your children. No one says that all your children have to study at the same time either!  

  • How to Teach Language Arts to a Reluctant Learner

    How to Teach Language Arts to a Reluctant Learner

    If your son tends to dawdle instead of completing a page of grammar exercises…

    If your daughter draws pictures instead of working on writing assignments…

    If you’ve seen your child’s shoulders slump when asked to read…

    Then you might have a reluctant learner when it comes to language arts. From making excuses to complaining to avoiding the work, these behaviors point to a problem. But there’s good news! Your children can learn the skills they need and even enjoy the process, too! 

    Find Out Why Your Students Are Reluctant

    First, find out why your students are reluctant to learn language arts. It’s important not to assume that it’s a character issue. 

    How will you know the difference? Character issues are often seen in other areas of life, not only when it comes to completing their language arts assignments. If your children are trying to get out of all work, including chores or anything that requires effort, it may be because they need consistency and discipline. 

    But if you see these behaviors only when working on homeschool language arts, there may be underlying issues that aren’t related to character. Some possible reasons include:

    • Learning disabilities or processing disorders. Talk to your doctor or a specialist. Research options for getting a diagnosis so you can make a plan. The good news is that early intervention can help kids learn to cope and even flourish despite their challenges. 
    • Vision issues. A simple appointment with an optometrist or opthamologist will tell you what they need.
    • Maturity. Sometimes children are not developmentally ready, so the best thing to do is wait. But waiting doesn’t have to be passive! Read aloud to them. Tell stories together. Write down things they have to say. You’ll be developing the skills without expecting more than they are ready for. 
    • A lack of foundational skills. There are building blocks to learning language arts. If children struggle with the physical act of writing, then it will be hard for them to do creative writing. Be sure to focus on the foundation and find ways to build upon that foundation until they are ready to take the next step. Look for a language arts curriculum that is developmentally appropriate.

    3 Ways to Teach Language Arts to a Reluctant Learner

    1. Optimize the Learning Environment 

    Create a better learning environment, conducive to focused work time. 

    Often people define themselves as early birds or a night owls. Generally these are the times they are most productive. When do your children seem most focused?

    • Is it first thing in the morning?
    • Right after lunch?
    • Or even in the evenings?

    Use those times to your advantage.

    Children can also be very sensitive to the atmosphere around them.

    • Do they need a calm, organized area?
    • Is the temperature comfortable?
    • Is a chair better for this activity or does sitting at a desk help them concentrate?

    You may have to try a few different things to find what works best, but it will be worth the time

    2. Use a Natural Approach

    A natural approach to teaching language arts capitalizes on how children have been learning since the day they were born. You probably didn’t approach teaching your kids how to talk by putting an alphabet chart on the wall or giving them a board book titled The Syntax of the English Language. And you probably didn’t make them say a sentence correctly ten times so they would remember proper usage and structure. 

    Instead you immersed them in language by talking to them. They naturally absorbed the rules of language. Sure, they made mistakes, but you actually thought those mistakes were cute. You knew that over time they would learn not just what to say but how to say it. 

    A natural approach to learning language arts, like the one BookShark uses, continues to trust that process.

    Kids learn to write by writing, read by reading, speak by listening. They copy and dictate from books by real writers. They narrate what they have been reading. And in this process, sometimes riddled with cute mistakes along the way, students become proficient at writing and reading and speaking.  

    3. Get Creative

    Use a timer. Students can feel overwhelmed if they can’t see the end in sight so they don’t even want to try. Help them to get past this roadblock.

    Set a timer for 10 to 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, give them a quick physical break like jumping on an indoor trampoline or riding a scooter down the street and back. Or allow them to follow the timed lesson with a subject they enjoy more. 

    Build their language arts muscles by starting slow. Shorten a copywork or dictation passage or break it up over a couple of days. Let them experience success before increasing the difficulty. 

    Focus on just one skill at a time. If they are doing copywork and struggle to write neatly, have them focus only on how they are forming the letters. Don’t worry about a spelling mistake made when trying to get a letter just right.  

    Partner with your child. Take turns. They read a page, then you read a page. They write a paragraph, then you write a paragraph that they dictate to you. 

    Allow them to do some work orally. Language arts skills are built even when the physical act of writing isn’t happening. Good communicators know how to organize their thoughts. Therefore, any time your kids can express themselves clearly, they are practicing an important skill that will translate to writing later. 

    Let them do something with their hands. When you’re reading aloud, allow them to build with LEGO, create with playdough, or draw a picture.

    Make narration a normal part of life. Simply say something like,  “Hey, why don’t you tell Mr. Jimenez about the story we were reading!”

    You Can Teach Language Arts to a Reluctant Learner

    Creative avoiders can exhaust, frustrate, and even anger their parents at times. You don’t have to dread teaching your kids, though. Look for the signs to see if you have a reluctant learner. 

    By evaluating why, optimizing their learning environment, using a natural approach like BookShark’s, and getting a little creative, you can help your children succeed while keeping your sanity in the process. 

  • 5 Reasons BookShark’s Kit Changed My Mind About Lap Books

    5 Reasons BookShark’s Kit Changed My Mind About Lap Books

    Hands-on activities are a great way to add variety to your homeschool, reinforce learning, and incorporate creativity. When your children are coloring, cutting, and building, there is opportunity to both review and organize what they’ve learned or even explore rabbit trails of curiosity. One great type of hands-on learning I’ve recently rediscovered is lap books. These fun papercrafts offer an alternative to boring worksheets while offering a fun opportunity to talk about what your child has learned!

    To be honest though, sometimes lap books can be a bit of a chore for moms. There is a ton of printing, organizing the projects, and gathering supplies. Thus, I was at first a bit skeptical about lap books and hadn’t even given them a fair try.

    But after trying out BookShark’s American History Lap Book Kit, I’m on board! So why do we love BookShark’s Lap Book Kit so much? Here are five reasons my skepticism about lap books dissolved away.

    1. Everything Is Included

    Have you ever sat down to work on a lap book and can’t find a brown paper bag, a cotton ball, or a glue stick? With BookShark’s Lap Book Kit, almost everything that you need to put your lap book together is included. The folder base of the lap book even comes folded and ready to use. When we have used lap books in the past, it took me a few tries to put the folder together correctly! It is massive sanity saver to have all your supplies in the box, ready to go!

    2. The Pages Are Pre-printed

    Often lap books come as a digital file that requires a ton of printing. BookShark doesn’t leave you hanging like that. The set comes with all of the pages pre-printed. You’re saving both time and printer ink. The kit takes 98% of the of pre-planning out of the process; you just grab the pages you need, and you’re set!

    3. The Instructions Are Easy to Follow

    I love doing hands-on activities with my son, but sometimes I have to step away or have him work on his own. With this kit, each activity is covered in the Instruction Booklet with a brief history lesson, a list of needed materials, and clear, colorful, step-by-step instructions. The guide truly makes completing the activities a breeze!

    4. It’s Scheduled in Bite-sized Chunks

    We’ve found some lap books that are a lengthy process to assemble, and my son loses interest about halfway through! With this Lap Book Kit, the 25 hands-on activities are distributed throughout your history lessons. You complete one portion at a time, so it’s fun and interactive—not overwhelming. Often when we pull it out to add another element, my son likes to look back at the others we’ve already added. In this way, the lap book is a perfect vehicle for ongoing review! 

    5. The Activities Are Varied

    This lap book isn’t all about cutting and pasting. The projects incorporate creative writing, coloring, and drawing. When your children are finished with the lap book, they’ll have a collection of work that is uniquely theirs and demonstrates a concrete proof of learning.

    The Lap Book Kit has been a great asset to our homeschool this year, making our history lessons more interactive. Mom bonus—it’s easy to simply pull out and use whenever we are ready for it which is clearly marked in our Instructor’s Guide for Level 3 American History!

    If you are looking for a creative way to reinforce your history lessons this year, we highly recommend an American History Lap Book Kit. It is something we look forward to working on together each week!

    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!