BookShark Homeschool Curriculum

Good mood, bad mood, calm or frenzied, there’s a song that can inspire or elevate that feeling for us all. There’s a reason why every great movie has an equally great soundtrack! Singing is something that can be intensely personal but can be experienced with people of all ages and cultures. But what about the mechanics of singing? How can we easily try to fit more music into our family lives without it becoming a painful process or without the rolling of eyes (child and parent) over song choices? Well, we may not be able to fix the rolling eyes but on today’s podcast Janna and her guest Richard Fink, IV chat about music and singing and how to create a space in our lives for musical enrichment.

The thing about homeschooling is that it’s personal, personal to your life, your family, and your children. Your experiences can be unique to you but they can also help others who are struggling or need validation that their journey is similar or they are not alone. That’s the goal of Homeschool Your way to make you feel more comfortable in your homeschool journey and help you find the community and resources you need. Today’s podcast gets personal as our host Janna Koch gets to ask those kinds of questions to her own children, Courtney, Alison, and Ashley. So Join us as Season 3 of Homeschool Your Way winds down with some honesty and laughter from the Koch girls.

Education, it’s about learning little things that translate into big things and how those little things can have the biggest impact on how we view the world or how we live in it. The official start to most of our educational journeys is preschool, where the world starts to expand. But really what is preschool? Ask people and you can get different answers but intentional learning or teaching seems to be a theme. But not everyone, children especially learn at the same pace.

Microschool? Micro School? Micro-School? However you spell it it's all the same, a small group of kiddos of a similar age getting together to learn and explore. Homeschooling is all about choice. What you teach your kids, and how you teach your kids. Join Janna and her guest as they chat about microschooling, why the Henderson family chooses to homeschool, and what that looks like for them.

Math is a subject that inspires so many feelings in both students and teachers. It’s a subject that some seem to automatically excel in and others struggle. One thing that remains universal is there are varied ways to teach math, which is good because kids learn differently. What makes sense to one child may seem like learning quantum physics to another, but a different way of explaining or seeing how to work a problem or understand a concept can make all the difference! Join Janna as she chats with ⁠RightStart ⁠Math VP, Kathleen Cotter Clayton about a different way to understand, look at and teach fractions.

The last frontier, no it's not space but it may feel as vast, is the state of Alaska! With wide open spaces, it can sometimes feel even lonelier when homeschooling. But homeschooling is truly what you make it and in keeping with the premise of Homeschool Your Way today’s podcast covers homeschooling, community, and of course a helpful hack or two. Join Janna and her guest Carol Simpson, an IDEA representative, as they discuss homeschooling options in Alaska and ways to make homeschooling, if not easy may be easier for you.

It’s here, it's actually here!! High School Curriculum! We are so excited about World History & Literature and U.S. History & Literature levels. Today's podcast is for all your questions about books in the levels, how it differs from other levels, why you should consider BookShark’s High School curriculum and more. Janna and her guest Amy R., BookShark’s Curriculum Editor and Designer, discuss the ins and outs of BookShark’s High School Curricula.

Parent and child, each journey into the world of homeschooling differs and that’s okay! But the end of the year in schooling can lead to questions of How did they do? Did they retain the information? Are they among their peers or more advanced? While state to state varies there are ways to test your student beyond the standardized test that you’ve heard of. Join Janna and her guest Marcia Manz, a former high school counselor who currently homeschools her two children and assists homeschool families in finding the best way for them to look back at their year and see what direction to head in the future.

Homeschooling can start in a variety of ways for each family. Sometimes it’s brought on by location, a need for flexibility, circumstances beyond our control, and in the best of times a personal choice because it is what suits you and your child the most. On today's podcast, Janna is joined by Mama (Christal) and Cash. Their homeschool journey has been one of choice and discovery with Christal sharing the loops and turns of homeschooling on social media as they navigate what works and what doesn’t work for them. What started as a way to stay connected has turned into a way to share their journey in an effort to help and support others.

Higher education, like college, can also come with a higher price tag. It’s a daunting expense for the majority of families. An expense that can rapidly creep up on you if you aren’t thinking ahead and even then the price of a two, four, or more-year degree can have you blanching at the thought of writing those checks. Join Janna as she is joined by Brad Baldridge, a financial advisor and creator of Taming the High Cost of College as they discuss getting a handle on the cost of college and ways to make the process a little easier. ABOUT OUR GUEST | Brad Baldrige, creator of Taming the High Cost of College, is a financial planner who helps families plan for college.