Homeschool Help

The BookShark Homeschool Blog offers inspiration, guidance, and practical tips for families on their homeschooling journey. From curriculum advice and organization strategies to encouragement and success stories, the blog supports parents in creating a rich, literature-based learning experience at home. Alongside the blog, the Homeschool Your Way podcast provides even more valuable insights with weekly episodes featuring real homeschool parents, education experts, and thought leaders. Together, the blog and podcast give families the tools, confidence, and community they need to homeschool their way—with flexibility, support, and joy.

4 Ways a Boxed Homeschool Curriculum Is Great for Boys

Don’t give up the ease of laid out lesson plans which a boxed homeschool curriculum provides because you have active boys. Here are four ways that a boxed curriculum turns out to be a very boy-friendly option. 1. Hands-On Activities There is no one size fits all solution for boys. However, one thing most young boys have

4 Ways a Boxed Homeschool Curriculum Is Great for Boys

Homeschooling Your Highly Sensitive Child

I have a sensitive child. There are no tags on any of their clothes. When she needs new clothes, we spend hours in dressing rooms trying to find ones that are comfortable. Deeply intuitive, in need of quiet downtime, challenged by change, a perfectionist, she is not alone. There are, in fact, two people in

Homeschooling Your Highly Sensitive Child

Copywork: A Natural Way to Teach Language Arts

Do you remember what it was like when your sweet little babies began to utter their first sounds? Did you run to get a textbook so you could teach them how to speak? Of course not! You certainly didn’t freak out thinking there was no way you would be able to teach them how to

Copywork: A Natural Way to Teach Language Arts

The Lowdown on Independent Learning for Homeschooled Kids

As homeschoolers, the idea of having children who can complete school lessons, projects, and assignments on their own can be enticing. Mom, who usually bears the burden of the homeschool planning and teaching, gets a break, and children take responsibility for their own education. Sounds like a win for both parties, right? Yes, but let’s

The Lowdown on Independent Learning for Homeschooled Kids

How to Homeschool (Well) as a Disorganized Mess

Have you ever heard the myth that homeschool parents need to be extremely organized to successfully homeschool? Maybe you tell someone you homeschool and their reaction is, “Oh! You must be so organized!” Or you attend a homeschool convention and hear speaker after speaker talking about planners, schedules, calendars, and organizational systems as if those are more

How to Homeschool (Well) as a Disorganized Mess

Let’s Define Secular Homeschooling & Secular Curriculum

Purchasing a secular kindergarten program when I started teaching my first child, I thought I had a full grasp of the definition of secular homeschool curriculum. That was 19 years ago. I’ve since learned that the meanings of secular homeschooling and secular curriculum are not as straightforward as I may have thought. Here are some considerations to help you dissect

Let’s Define Secular Homeschooling & Secular Curriculum

Helping With Executive Function

EPISODE 145 SEASON 4 | What makes a successful student or person? While there are a LOT of items on that checklist, there are a set of skills that can make it a great deal easier to be successful. This skill set is called executive functioning. It is a broad group of mental skills that enable

Helping With Executive Function

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

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

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

Help! My Child Doesn’t Like to Read

Choosing a Homeschool Program for Gifted Students

My son rolled under the table in the back of the preschool room while his teacher read a book to the group, and I watched on in mild embarrassment. Why couldn’t he focus like the other kids? Why wasn’t he sitting and taking in the story as raptly as the others were? He’s just a

Choosing a Homeschool Program for Gifted Students