How BookShark Inspires More (& More) Reading

BookShark, from Level E and up, has your children reading approximately 12 to 16 books independently and 11 to 16 books as read alouds during a school year.  Some parents worry that a child won’t want to read that many books, but having talked to many other BookShark families, I find the opposite is often true. Many children love reading the assigned books so much that they actually read even more books than BookShark schedules. 

BookShark has done the research and carefully chosen novels and non-fiction that will captivate your children and help them learn more about a particular era through living books versus dry textbooks. For many children, the books they read through BookShark serve as a springboard for even more reading.

Reading More by an Author

Jane, homeschool mom of three — all using BookShark — says she’s seen her son become inquisitive about world cultures thanks to Level F Eastern Hemisphere. Robert was mesmerized by the read-aloud Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin.  A few months after reading the book aloud together, Jane discovered that Robert, when assigned to write an essay about his favorite author in his co-op writing class, chose Grace Lin. As part of the assignment, he checked out two more Grace Lin books and read both of them in less than a week.

Without using the BookShark curriculum, Robert probably would not have been exposed to Grace Lin, his new favorite author. Thanks to BookShark, he’s reading even more than what is assigned as part of his schoolwork.

Learning More About a Time Period

In addition to introducing kids to fabulous authors, BookShark also introduces children to historical periods in a way that sparks curiosity to delve deeper.  For instance, one child, when using Level E Intro to American History, enjoyed the read-aloud A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt by C. Coco De Young.  When she went on her weekly trip to the library with her family, she checked out a stack of books on The Great Depression and Roosevelt’s presidency to learn more about this period that fascinated her so much.

Of course, as a homeschooler, you know your child best. Since there are so many BookShark readers and read alouds, if you hit a book that doesn’t resonate with your child, as occasionally happens, you may want to skip it. Just know that most of the assigned books are real gems that pique your child’s curiosity and inspire further learning.

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