Rochelle, we so appreciate this amazingly thorough look at Kindergarten plus your opinions at the end. Thank you! It's gratifying to know that you find the price tag (even with that hefty shipping cost to Canada-sorry!) to be worth it. Seeing that look of engagement in their eyes is such a reward, isn't it?
It truly is! It's a mother's confirmation that it's "working". Thank you so much for the kind feedback and for providing such an accessible academic book-based program.
This is amazing! I am getting ready to start and am feeling that new homeschool mom anxiety - just watching this, I am feeling much calmer! Thank you for such a complete description and review of this curriculum!!
Hi Bonnie! I have so been there - it's a lot to take on! It takes a bit to settle in but then you'll get into a rhythm of it all. I hope it goes amazingly well for you :)
Thank you for your review Rochelle! It is so nice to hear a review (so far) of the Bookshark Level K. To my surprise, there is not much out there for Bookshark Level K. I really thought I would find a ton of videos! It makes me want to do my own review - just so there are more out there for other parents. I tend to agree on your point with HWT - it will depend on your child. My son loves the Explode to Code books but he truly loves anything that involves worksheets. He is also very tactical so he did enjoy HWT but not as much as ETC. He is 9 years old and still gets excited when he sees a workbook at the store. However, my daughter gets bored rather quickly with any kind of worksheet and would much rather use HWT. It's great to have both methods of learning available through Bookshark, so you can see or start to see which method will work best for your child.
What a fantastic overview! It looks like your son is going to have a great year once he gets more comfortable with the new schedule. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for providing such a thorough review. I'd love to hear how the school year went for you, now that it's nearly summer. I'm not sure when you're finishing up, but I will subscribe, just so I don't miss it when you do it.
Looking forward to your updated review. If you don’t mind answering, how are you liking Horizons for math since it isn’t secular? I’m going to be using BookShark for my kindergartener next year and have heard great things about Horizons for math, but I’m a little worried about it not being secular.
sincerelyerika we ADORE Horizons. It's been such a good fit for us. It's moves quickly (so no boredom) but there's tons of review so there's little stress about whether my son "got" it all the first time around. It all seems to sink in as we review. In regards to it not being secular - there has not been one single religious reference so far. And we're 3/4's done. (I was fully expecting to have to skirt around them but no! Maybe in the older grades? At least with math I feel that if a reference does come up, it should be easy to skip. Science would be an entirely different ballgame).
Just saw you are doing BookShark too, I also have a 3 year old riding along with us and he even likes it! Tfs your thoughts! We have been enjoying Kindergarten too.
Hello! I just stumbled across your video while doing some research on Bookshark. I absolutely love how planned out each day is and just hearing this makes me A LOT less nervous about taking this step. I see that they go up to Grade 7 for the complete sets -- what happens after that when it's time for high school? This question is for anyone reading! Great video and very motivating for me.
HI Virginia! Thank you so much for your kind words! I think Bookshark is SUCH a good place for new homeschool moms to start (I truly don't think I would have had the confidence to try homeschooling without it). it gave me a full, rich platform to use until I better understood my son's learning style. In regards to high school - I'm not sure where we'll be at homeschool/curriculum wise by that point so I haven't looked that far down the road yet (good for you for thinking ahead :). I would suggest joining some Bookshark Facebook groups for more info on the later years :)
What school supplies did you purchase to go along with the curriculum? Do you need notebooks or just pencils, etc? Did you get the optional art book? Have you done anything for music?
I checked out the common core for NJ, I'm in the US, and the only things missing were arts, pe and health, technology, 2nd language and prep for life in the 21st century and careers. So I was curious if you've added some of these subjects as electives.
Hi Sara! It didn't require a notebook but yes pencils. Only the Science curriculum/component required extra supplies (but they supply A LOT - they even included tape for example). I'd have to supply things like a piece of cardboard or empty pop bottle). I didn't get that additional art book though I wish I would've because art is not infused throughout.
Sara Anger I ended up adding in my own composer and art studies (just s casual focus of one artist and compose a month. Very light since it's only kindergarten ((for example I'd have a Bach CD playing in the background throughout the month and we'd take out kids books on Bach from the library). I won't be focusing on a second language until grade 1. I hope that's helpful! :)
Rochelle Garrison Cocomello That's nice, I was thinking the same thing. I am very excited about all of the options for when they're older. You'll be doing grade 1 this year? I hope you will consider continuing to do videos on this subject :)
Rochelle Garrison Cocomello I looked up the art books online and they have updated versions - thought I'd share :) artisticpursuits.com/which-book-which-edition
Found you when I looked up Bookshark reviews. I have an almost 3 year old I'll be homeschooling, along with a "due in December" coming up right behind him. I am so excited to start using this curriculum. Could you please fill me in on where your son was academically when you started? I'm trying to decide where to start my son and when. Right now, four months shy of 3, he has mastered letter recognition and is starting to memorize sight words. Can you offer any insight?
Hi! Congrats on your second baby-to-be! Ok for my son did not really know any letters when he started. And Bookshark assumes that. But then their LA moves VERY quickly (they schedule reading simple books by week 10). I would look at Bookshark's reading assessment page to get a better idea of what's a good fit: www.bookshark.com/quick-reading-assessment The History portion of this curriculum is definitely geared towards the older age range 6-7 I'd say. The read alouds were perfect for my 5 year old but the History didn't hold his attention as this age. My son easily "gets" math and Horizons K seems almost a grade level about our public school curriculum so that was a good fit for him. Hopefully this helps :)
Hi Britni! I noticed that Bookshark doesn't list Horizons as an option anymore (they did when I ordered it). It's worth a call/email to them. Otherwise you an order Horizons from other sources online (that's what did for Horizons Level 1) :)
I’m starting the kinder program. I’m worried because the read alouds don’t have pictures? I can’t see right now how a child of ages 5 and 6 listens to a book with no pictures. What are your thoughts?
Hi Sheena! So some of the read alouds do include light illustrations but what I did (which worked really well for us), was read to the kids at the table while they were eating lunch. Their hands are busy eating so there’s no squirming. And almost all of the books held their attention. Even without a lot of pictures.
