Forgetful Momma

Secular Homeschooling in Canada

Box curriculum

Unboxing BookShark and Not Getting Overwhelmed

by

You have decided on the curriculum that you’re going to use this year, you ordered it, and it has arrived. That is a big ol’ box waiting for you to open and enjoy. Waiting for you to unbox it, put it away and get started using it. But that box is full to the point of overwhelming. Unboxing your new curriculum can be overwhelming, but I don’t want you to feel that way. Instead, I want you to enjoy it and love every second of unboxing BookShark curriculum.

Unboxing BookShark Not Getting overwhelmed

Unboxing BookShark and Not Getting Overwhelmed

*This post may contain affiliate links. I wrote this post in exchange for the curriculum we received to facilitate the review. All opinions are 100% my own.*

Opening your box of curriculum

Although my children are excited for the new books when that box first arrives, I don’t open it right away. I let my kids wander off and forget about it. I wait to open the box until they are doing something else that has all of their attention. That way I can see what is coming out of our BookShark curriculum box without losing something as one of my children runs off with a new book that they want to look at, I get to check it off as arrived and I know that it’s somewhere in our house after our kids have been looking through them all summer.

The first thing I do is grab a few things:

  • a cup of coffee
  • a pen
  • a pair of scissors

And then I open the box. I take in all that new book smell because I’m weird like that and love the smell of books.

Once I have the box unpacked and spread out over my kitchen island, I grab my pen, and the list of what is supposed to be in the box and check it off. I want to make sure that everything is there. Then it’s time to find a place to put the books. Not everyone is willing to just put them on a shelf and let their kids read them ahead of schedule, but that’s how I do it because books are meant to be read and can be read more than once.

Where do you put it all?

I have two cubes on our cube storage shelf for that is full of books for this coming school year, so they are all together. They can take one to read as long as it gets returned to that shelf. I have the remaining four cubes for other books of similar interest, those that we used last year and will be using again this year, and for our hands on manipulates for science and math.

What do you do with the binder and all the instruction manuals?

For me, I use the 3 inch D-ring BookShark binder and dividers for our science and history curriculum. I get smaller, individual binders for their language arts because each of my children is working a different level. I recommend at least 1 1/2 inch binders. I have gotten my curriculum early enough that I’m not rushing to get everything done all at once.

Set it aside and forget it

Besides the great books that BookShark uses in its curriculum, my favorite thing is that once you get your box, you can basically set it aside and forget about it until you are ready to start your school year. BookShark has covered the planning for you so don’t have to worry about how you’ll get through all the books. As you can see below and more here, they take care of figuring out the heavy part of planning, when to read each chapter, when to practice spelling and more.

If you choose to not let your kids look at the books ahead of time, setting them somewhere that you can just grab the ones you need as scheduled might be easier, you won’t have to hunt down books when you need them.

Unboxing BookShark Not Getting overwhelmed

What do you do when you receive your boxed curriculum?

 

Similar posts that you may be interested in:

BookShark is Secular Homeschool Curriculum

BookShark is Secular Homeschool Curriculum

Homeschool Scheduling Made Easy with BookShark

Homeschool Scheduling Made Easy with BookShark

Reading History – Learning about the World

by

I’m not much of a history buff myself so I wasn’t really looking forward to teaching it to my kids and to be honest I didn’t think about starting it now in elementary grades. But Austin is showing interest in history so I knew I needed to get a jump on teaching it, then entered reading with history from BookShark, which is our curriculum choice for this year. I’m seeing that reading history doesn’t have to be boring but is actually quite interesting. We’re all learning together.

Reading History - Learning about the World

Reading History – Learning about the World

*This post may contain affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information. This is a sponsored post, we received Reading with History 1  from BookShark to use through the year.*

As I have shared before, BookShark is a literature based curriculum, the box that arrived at our door was filled to the top with great books, and most of them were for this course. The picture above is most of them, I did forget to add in the timeline book (though it is a workbook not a read read book), see the picture below. Here we are going to be mapping out the timeline as we go along.

Reading History - Learning about the World

History

We are only a month into our school year, but we’re really loving reading with history. In fact we got our books in July and being a book loving family I put the majority of the books on the bookshelves in our main living space. Austin (8yr) has not been able to keep her hands off the books we got like:

The Time Traveller

Peoples of the World

The Usborne Book of World History

So as we have been reading together she’s been interrupting, “I already read, isn’t it cool?” mainly saying it to her younger siblings, but occasionally to me as well.

This history curriculum is going to help us to explore the story of the world from early civilizations through the fall of Rome, and to learn how people lived in ancient Egypt, Greece, Europe, Africa, India & China.

Because it is literature based there are some great read aloud books included in this curriculum including Charlotte’s Web, which we are really enjoying. We have been enjoying reading it each morning as a fun slow way to start our school mornings.

Reading/Spelling

BookShark Reading with History 1 isn’t just about history but about the reading as well. Included are Level 1 readers but use the quick reading assessment to make sure that is where your children are in reading. I love listening to my kids reading the Dr. Seuss books together.

We are also doing some spelling work, thank you I Can Read It… a set of books with reading lists, and simple stories to go along with each week’s reading list. The reading books have their stories broken down into lessons too so you always know which stories are going with the lesson you are working on. I don’t have to worry about finding stories to use the words they are learning which saves this busy homeschool Momma a lot of time.

Reading with History, just like other choices come with the Instructor’s Guide with includes a 36-Week, 4-Day schedule with lesson plans, teaching tips and more.

This year reading history books are NOT boring.

You can check out my Instagram feed to see more in dept views of the BookShark curriculum in our home. I am sharing pictures and stories each week as a peek into secular homeschooling. As well as check out BookShark’s Instagram account to see how others are using the curriculum.

5 Things You Don’t Need to Homeschool

by

Don’t think you have to have everything to get started in homeschooling. There are things that you just don’t need to homeschool no matter what you might read else where, no matter what someone else might tell you. Just take a minute and think about these 5 things that I am saying you don’t need. Just think about it.

I know because after two years of homeschooling, we don’t have these things.

5 Things You Don’t Need to Homeschool

5 Things You Don’t Need to Homeschool

*This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.*

Homeschool Room

The great thing about homeschooling is that you don’t have to replicate a school room. You are going to need a place to put things, but a hutch or bookcase works wonders. My children often do their worksheets at our dining room table, occasionally at our kitchen island.

Unlimited Budget

Wow, if I wanted to use a full boxed curriculum, I wouldn’t be able to afford it, not for both of my girls, and in all honestly, not for one of them.

Also, head to your local library, grab a library card, and get started on homeschooling within a small budget getting all the books you need/want for free.

Belong to a Co-op or Group

I don’t belong to any groups. Not that we haven’t tried, but secular in very religious areas makes it a bit harder, but with friends (for both my children and I), we don’t feel like we’re missing anything. We also don’t have to worry about comparisons between homeschooling families.

Use the BEST Curriculum

You don’t have to use the curriculum that gets the best ratings, or the one your friends recommend, instead, think about your year end goals and think about what you need to get there. We use workbooks, being Canadian we use The Complete Canadian Curriculum ones. Not Canadian? No problem, we’ve used the Comprehensive Curriculum workbooks too when we first started out.

Be Involved in a lot of Activities

Too many activities is going to burn you and your child out. Pick one, maybe two. Pick something your child is honestly interested in. My girls are in gymnastics, and that is that. Austin is hoping to start guitar lessons shortly but I’m not pushing it.

 

Similar posts that you may be interested in:

7 essential homeschooling items

7 Essential Homeschooling Items

 

10 Podcasts for Homeschoolers

10 Podcasts for Homeschoolers

how we homeschool on a budget

How We Homeschool on A Budget

We’re Using BookShark Curriculum

by

If you are are a secular homeschooler then chances are you have heard of BookShark curriculum. They are a secular homeschool curriculum resource, with a book based approached… and if you have followed along with us on our homeschool journey you know that we are big book fans here, so I think this is going to be a great fit.

BookShark Curriculum

Curriculum We’re Using this Year – BookShark

*This is a sponsored posted. I received curriculum in exchange for BookShark reviews. All opinions are 100% my own, the good and the bad.*

You can find our 2018-2019 choices here. Hint, there’s more BookShark.

When you open a box of BookShark the first thing(s) you see are books. As a literature based curriculum this is to be expected. We received Reading with History 1 and it includes a huge pile of books! Plus the books that go along with Science 1.

If looking at the pile of books that we received in one box wasn’t enough to make me happy then the weekly planner was more enough to put me over the top.

How We Do Read Aloud in Your Homeschool

They have a four day, one day “leftover” a week for sports, field trips or other extracurricular activities, or in our case, for taking a day off in the middle of the week.

The weekly schedule is laid out with printable worksheets to do, and when to do them, when to read which stories and such. This makes my wanna be planner, routine heart leap for joy. Even if I struggle to stick to a routine. Who knows, maybe this will be the year we follow a plan and routine.

BookShark tells you that you aren’t stuck to their schedule, make things work for you, think of the schedule as a guide, the instructor guide if you will.

BookShark Package

I am going to admit that I just want to dig into the work right now. In fact, just this morning I was going looking through the parent binder, just itching to get started.

My girls (and Gauge too) have been openly enjoying the books that came with the Reading with History 1 books. Keeping books away from my kids is impossible, I would have to hide them, and I just can’t do that.

BookShark Curriculum Offers:

All Subjects Packages

All-Subject Packages are for those aged 4 through to 14. Though not all levels have all of those, it depending on the level you choose.  What can be include:

  • History
  • Read-Alouds
  • Readers
  • Language Arts
  • Science
  • Math
  • Handwriting.

Secular History

There are nine different history options for those aged 5-16. There is:

Intro to the World: Cultures
Intro to the World: Year 1 &2
Intro to American History Year 1 & 2
Eastern Hemisphere
World History Year 1 & 2
History of Science
History & Literature

BookShark Curriculum – Secular Language Arts

There are eight different language arts that you can chose from, from ages 5-13. There are also three different level 2 options: Regular, Intermediate, and Advanced.

Sign up to join my Resource Library mailing list and you’ll be among the first to know about new items in the FREE resource library, new posts, and more!

BookShark Math Options

There are multiple math program options to choose from through BookShark, including Math U See, Saxon Math, Spinapore Math, and Teaching Textbooks.

Basically BookShark have everything you could want or are looking for to teach your child up until about the age of 14. With the different options that they have, what more could you want in a secular homeschool site?

Similar posts that you may be interested in:

BookShark is Secular Homeschool Curriculum

BookShark is Secular Homeschool Curriculum

Unboxing BookShark Not Getting overwhelmed

Unboxing BookShark Not Getting overwhelmed

Our 2018-2019 Homeschool Curriculum Picks: Grades K, 2, and 4

Our 2018-2019 Homeschool Curriculum Picks: Grades K, 2, and 4

Different Homeschooling Approaches

by

There are a number of different types of homeschooling approaches. If you’re not a homeschooler, or are new to it, it can be very confusing. When I started looking homeschooling halfway through Austin’s Kindergarten year, I was still searching for answers months later with a cloud of confusing following me. 

Homeschooling Approaches

Homeschooling Approaches

*This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.*

And I was just looking to see what type of learning and teaching style would best fit us, before I started looking for the actual curriculum or materials that we were going to be using.

What did we end up figuring out? That we are eclectic homeschooler. We learn based on the seasons, kids interest, their desire to sit and do book work occasionally.

Here are seven homeschooling approaches to get you started as you start your homeschooling journey, or maybe to help you clarity what they you are.

Eclectic

Eclectic or relaxed homeschooling is the method used most often by homeschoolers. Basically, eclectic homeschoolers use a little of this and a little of that, using workbooks for math, reading, and spelling, and taking an unschooling approach for the other subjects.

Contraction Clip Cards – 66 Contraction Cards – ELA Center

$4.00
Shop now

Unschooling

Unschooling is also known as interest driven, child-led, natural, organic, eclectic, or self-directed learning. The term “unschooling” has come to be associated with the type of homeschooling that doesn’t use a fixed curriculum.

This does not mean there is no learning. It is very interest based. As the homeschool parent you might leave books on different topics about for them to look at/read. Maybe you buy the materials for them to make something without forcing them to do it.

You are just providing them with the materials to learn, based on what you would like to see them learn and/or by what they are interested in. Cooking and baking is great for reading and math in particular, as well as science.

Charlotte Mason

Charlotte Mason is based on Charlotte’s firm belief that the child is a person and we must educate that whole person, not just his mind. So a Charlotte Mason education is three-pronged: in her words, “Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life.”

Unit Studies

Unit studies is approaching a theme topic from several angles, encouraging activity and love of learning. Units work best when the main topic is studied in all areas of education.

Sign up for our newsletter for access to freebies including a unit study to plan your own unit study!
Homeschooling Approaches

Box Curriculum

Boxed curriculum is just as it sounds, it is the structured approach of a traditional school-in-a-box curriculum. They include teacher’s guides which provide lists of required materials for student lessons, activities, experiments, and more.

Distance Education (School at Home)

Distance Education you enroll in a school and they send you all required resources to teach your child, the books and materials, often you will then send the completed work back for “marking”, and record keeping. This usually isn’t considered actual homeschooling by some, but I’m not here to judge.

There are a number of different ways to do distance school now, we have lived in areas where it was an option, free of charge, but we have also lived in others where you have to pay for each course for higher grades.

Multiplication Booklets 2-12

$7.00
Shop now

Classical

Classical homeschooling is an approach that depends on a three-part process of training the mind. The early years of school are spent in absorbing facts, systematically laying the foundations for advanced study. In the middle grades, students learn to think through arguments. In the high school years, they learn to express themselves. You can learn more here.

You just may realize that your homeschool includes a number of different methods of learning based on how your children learn. Next year I’ll have a kindergartner and she seems to love book work, right now that is. We’ll see how long that lasts… and if she continues to love it and learn that way, then GREAT.

Waldorf

Waldorf education, also known as Steiner education, is based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. Its pedagogy emphasizes the role of imagination in learning, striving to integrate holistically the intellectual, practical, and artistic development of pupils.

Montessori

Montessori is an individualized approach to education for children from toddler through high school that helps each child reach full potential in all areas of life. It is a student-centered approach that encourages creativity and curiosity and leads children to ask questions, explore, investigate and think for themselves as they acquire skills.

Similar posts that you may be interested in:

Homeschooling in Canada
Homeschooling in Canada