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Level A All-Subject Package
Ships for FREE with fast, trackable shipping (lower 48 states).
- Description
- What's Included
- Samples
- Consumables
- Customize
- FAQs
A complete Full Year program in one simple order.
Included in this package:
- The 20% off package pricing
- Instructor’s Guides
- History & Geography
- Read-Alouds
- Readers
- Language Arts
- Handwriting
- Math
- Science
- Required Resources
All you need for your child’s first year.
Here’s an in depth look at what you’ll receive and learn.
Instructor’s Guides |
Includes a 36-Week, 4-Day kindergarten homeschool schedule designed to save one day a week for co-ops, music lessons, sports, field trips or other extra-curricular activities. Includes discussion questions and answers as well as background notes to help you get the most from the time you spend with your child. kindergarten homeschool schedule
Virtual |
An optional online platform that enables students to access their reading schedules, take assessments, and receive instant auto-grading results. Parents can track and review student work, customize assessments, and message students directly from a computer or mobile device. A Virtual course includes 1 student + 1 parent/teacher account.
If purchased in April, May or June of this year, access to Virtual can start as early as July 1st. You will be able to start on the date of your choice up to 6 months of purchase date. Virtual courses MUST be started within 6 months of purchase. You will have 12 months from the time of your start date to complete the course.
History & Geography │ Intro to the World: Cultures
Start down BookShark's bold academic path by introducing your child to new and interesting people as you travel to distant lands and long-ago times. Study Ancient Egypt, Rome, knights and castles, geography, climates and much more. Engage your child with conversation as we equip you with questions to connect him or her to the various people and places you will discover.
The OPTIONAL Hands-On History: World Cultures Kit can be added to this package under the Customize Tab above and is scheduled in the Instructor's Guide for your convenience.
Read-Alouds
Reading aloud to your children builds their vocabulary, listening skills and imagination. Read-Alouds also help build your children's congnitive development and gives them a passion to learn. Cuddle-up and read 23 Read-Aloud classics like Dr. Dolittle and The Boxcar Children.
Readers
After your children learn just 8 letters of the alphabet they will read real stories in the Fun Tales series. If you are unsure which reading level is right for your child please check out our Quick Reading Assessment.
Language Arts
The Instructor’s Guide includes Weekly Overviews to summarize lessons, skills and activities for each week, Instructions (Prompts) to help you teach a particular skill and present specific information to your children and Rubrics to help you evaluate assignments and measure progress quickly and easily. Also includes assignments and activities to teach phonics, spelling, creative expression, and writing mechanics.
The following OPTIONAL supplement Explode the Code A, B, C Set is scheduled in the guide for your convenience but not required. (Not included in the All-Subject package)
Handwriting Without Tears │ Letters & Numbers for Me
This program offers extremely basic exercises in figure-ground discrimination and top-to-bottom, left-to-right sequencing. When it comes to forming letters it begins with all capitals. Why? Because, unlike the lower-case letters p, q, b, and d, the capital letters are all very easy to distinguish so your children don't mix them up!
Science
This engaging, new Science course combines BookShark’s signature, literature-based approach with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Through captivating literature and experiments, our highly academic program utilizes NGSS crosscutting concepts to unify the study of science and engineering through common application.
Science A students will learn about wildlife and ecosystems; weather patterns and the purpose of weather forecasting; and simple machines and physics. The experiments will develop critical thinking skills by students go through the scientific process of Prediction, Investigation, and Conclusion. Science A experiments include building an ant tunnel, making chocolate from cocoa, designing a boat, and more!
The literature includes eleven engaging, easy to read or follow books, with vivid, full-color illustrations about life, weather, and an introduction into engineering.
Math
The Math-U-See Primer Universal Set comes with this All-Subject Package. You may also choose from other math programs such as Saxon, Singapore and RightStart using the customize tab. To find out if your student is ready for Primer take the Primer Readiness Assessment.
Required Resources
A few essential resources make your learning extra rich this year. Includes The Timeline Book, Markable Map & Markers and a 3” Binder with Tabs to organize your Instructor’s Guides.
Daily Time Requirements:
Child: 1.5 - 2 hrs; Parent: 1 - 1.5 hrs
- History A Instructor's Guide (B-AHB)
- Mary On Horseback (B-AA23)
- Johnny Appleseed: the Story of a Legend (B-AA24)
- Create-a-Calendar (B-AE01)
- Wild Places (B-AH01)
- Living Long Ago (B-AH02)
- Usborne Internet-Linked Children's Encyclopedia (B-AH04)
- The Story of Exploration (B-AH07)
- Out of Darkness (B-AH08)
- Timeline Figures - A (B-AHB1)
- The House At Pooh Corner (B-AA01)
- The Story of Dr. Dolittle (B-AA02)
- The Arnold Lobel Book of Mother Goose (B-AA04)
- The Llama Who Had No Pajama (B-AA05)
- Richard Scarry's Please and Thank You Book (B-AA06)
- My Father's Dragon (B-AA09)
- Dolphin Adventure (B-AA10)
- The Light At Tern Rock (B-AA11)
- A Grain of Rice (B-AA14)
- The Hundred Dresses (B-AA15)
- Twenty and Ten (B-AA16)
- The Boxcar Children (B-AA17)
- James Herriot's Treasury for Children (B-AA21)
- Dolphin Treasure (B-AA22)
- Here's a Penny (B-AA27)
- Little House in the Big Woods (B-AA29)
- Beezus and Ramona (B-AA30)
- Anna Hibiscus (B-KA01)
- Heartwood Hotel: A True Home (B-KA18)
One Set of Consumables is included with the package. To add consumables for another student please click here.
When should I start my child in Level A?
Our Level A packages are designed for students from ages 5-7. If your child is in that age range, they may be ready for BookShark's Level A program!
Young children are natural learners (it is one of the reasons they ask so many questions), but academic work requires a different set of skills than the ones your child has been building. We expect the Level A work to take about 1.5-2 hours for you and your child. Before you buy, please consider whether or not they are ready to:
- Listen and pay attention when you read chapter books out loud
- Answer questions about what they hear and see
- Sit still for short periods of time
- Follow simple instructions
- Work with you to complete worksheets and activities
We strongly encourage you to wait if you have concerns about your child's readiness for academic work - even if they are the “appropriate” age - and consider using our Pre-K All-Subject Package instead!
Is BookShark a History or a Reading program?
BookShark is both! We are a literature-based program that teaches History through reading and listening. In Levels A-C, the focus of our program is on developing and strengthening reading ability. This is why we offer multiple Reader levels for the early packages. Beginning in Level D, however, the focus shifts from strengthening the reading ability to building reading comprehension. From Level D up, we integrate the Reading, Read-Alouds, and Language Arts assignments with the History readings. Instead of learning to read, your children will be reading to learn!
My child already knows how to read, can I still use the Level A program?
Yes, you can! If your child is reading comfortably at a 1st Grade (or higher) reading level, customize your Level A program with Level 1 Readers & Language Arts, or Level 2 Readers & Language Arts. To change the Reader level in your package, select the correct level from the “Select a Reading Level” drop-down menu on the “Customize” tab.
What books are included in the Level 1 Readers?
Level 1 Readers are equivalent to a 1st Grade reading level and include the following:
What books are included in the Level 2 Readers?
Level 2 Regular Readers are equivalent to a 2nd Grade reading level and include the following:
Which Readers/Language Arts should I choose?
We offer multiple Readers/Language Arts levels for our Level A-C packages to accommodate advanced and struggling learners. Choosing a Readers/Language Arts level that is appropriate for your child will help ensure that there are no gaps in their knowledge.
If you are unsure which Readers level would be best for your child, please have them take our Quick Reading Assessment. It is very important to match the Readers level to your child’s reading ability, and the assessment will help you find the most comfortable fit for them. We encourage you to be sure that they are reading fluidly, not just decoding the words. Our goal is to help you instill a love of reading and learning in your child. If they are working too hard to decode the words, they may not enjoy the stories and the reading may become frustrating.
Please note that many young students read at a higher level than their Language Arts ability. We recommend that you look through the Scope & Sequence and the 3-Week Samples for our Language Arts Instructor's Guides before you make a final decision on which level will be best for your child.
Feel free to use the assignments in the samples as a way to test which Language Arts level will match your student's skills. If your student's Language Arts skill is slightly behind their Reading levels, you may want to consider choosing your Readers based on your student's Language Arts ability. Our Readers are engaging and fun for students of all levels!
Do the Readers integrate with the History reading?
We offer multiple Reader levels for our Level A-C programs, so the Readers are not tied with the History reading for this package. In Levels A-C, the focus of our program is on developing and strengthening reading ability. The Readers are integrated with the History program beginning in Level D.
Can I use this package for both of my children?
Yes, you can use the All-Subject Package with two or more students!
If your children are within three years of age, we recommend that you put them in the same BookShark All-Subject Package. Your children will be able to share most of the resources in the All-Subject package, including Read-Alouds, Science, and History books. They can also share the Timeline Book and Timeline Figures, but you will need duplicates of some of the Activity Sheets. You may also need additional Math resources. Please look at the “Consumables” tab to see a full list of the consumable materials in this package.
Please remember that Reading & Language Arts and Math are skill-based subjects. Even though your students are in the same age range, they may not have the same skill levels. Use the assessments on our Resources page to help you pick the correct Reading and Math option for each of your children.
Once you know the correct Reader and Math levels, customize the All-Subject Package to fit one of your student’s needs. Then, supplement the package with an additional Reading & Language Arts and a Math program that fits your other students.
Not sure if this is the right fit? Please review the options below to find a package that will work for both of your children:
- Ages 6-8 | Level B All-Subject Package
- Ages 7-9 | Level C All-Subject Package
If there is more than a three year age difference between your children, we recommend that you purchase a separate package for each student. Our Level F All-Subject Package (for ages 10-13) is a good pairing with our Level A package as it provides an overview of Eastern Hemisphere History and Geography.
Can my students share the Science Supplies Kit?
Yes! If your students are willing to work together as lab partners, they can share the resources in the Science Supplies Kit A. You may want a second kit if you prefer that each student perform every experiment, or if you have more than two scientists sharing the Science package.
Which Math program/level will be best for my child?
Math, like reading, is a skill-based subject. It is important to pick a program and a level that fits with your child’s learning style and ability. Please take a look at our Resources page for a comparison of our different math options. We also have placement tests to help you figure out the appropriate starting point for your child.
Can I purchase the package without Math?
Our All-Subject Packages are built to include everything you need for your school year: History, Reading, Language Arts, Science, and Math. We love our packages so much that we discount them 20% off retail price. You can purchase the elements of the All-Subject package without purchasing math, but you will not receive our 20% off package discount.
If you are certain none of our math options will work for you, please add the following products to your cart individually:
- Reading with History A (this package is discounted 15% off the retail price)
- Language Arts K (if you chose Kindergarten Readers for Reading with History) OR Language Arts 1 (if you chose Level 1 Readers for Reading with History)
- Science A (be sure to select that you purchased the Usborne Children’s Encyclopedia with your History program)
What are the “Required Resources” and why are they required?
The Required Resources includes a big binder with 36 week tabs for your Instructor’s Guides, The Timeline Book, a reusable Markable Map, and a set of wet-erase markers. These resources will be reused in almost every level of our History program and can be shared by multiple students. You will be given the option to purchase these items every time you buy an All-Subject or Reading with History Package, but you only need to buy it once.
For more information on BookShark, please see our FAQs page.
The decision to homeschool our daughter, Alexa, was an easy one. Choosing a curriculum that worked well with her goals and schedule was a little more difficult.
Jenna Henning