Bookshark Science, Level H: Conservation, Robotics, and Technology

Last year the kids and I faced a huge realization...we were completely burnt out with homeschooling. We started looking into making some changes. Big changes. And that was when we found Bookshark Science.

We had always been a classical education family on the surface. That was what we told ourselves. But we also really love to delve into other interests along the way, stop for unit studies that intrigue us, and take our time when we need to.

All of those things were geting harder and harder to do with the curriculum we were using. It felt so fast paced that it was causing a lot of anxiety and stress to keep up and stay up on the material and our grades. We just felt that we didn't have time to do everything. Especially science.

With Emma wanting to become a vet and a very techinically minded Cal, I knew we needed something stronger for science. Something that would challenge us but also be so exciting that we actually WANTED to do it.

Thank goodness we found Bookshark Science! This year we are working through their level H Program (formerly called their level 8): Conservation, Robotics, and Technology.

Here are some things we have loved about the program:

Ready to Go Worksheets

I love that the children have worksheets of questions and activities for each day of lessons. I don't have to come up with questions for them and the answers are provided. I don't even have to download them, print them off, or anything! The worksheets come with the science kit, in color on gorgeous paper, ready to go.

Depending on how our day has gone, how much time we have for science that day I can alter how many questions the kids do. Most times we do all of the questions, sometimes we do some of the questions. And sometimes we don't do any questions at all. The questions do not build on one another so it is okay to pick and choose what to skip. Bookshark fully allows me to be the teachers and knows I am awesome at knowing my kids. Also, I can alter the questions the kids do based on the child. Sometimes Emma will do all of the questions while I excuse Cal on days he's exhausted with fine motor skill. I can be flexible.

Intriguing Information

The books range in such variety and information that I have been amazed at the amount of content we are learning. Not sure what is in the magic mix but each day the children are fascinated to learn new things in their lessons. I am loving this because while I do try to vary their studies quite a bit, these are topics I would never be able to teach about in length, much less be able to know as many fascinating things as we have learned.

4-Day Week

We have Mondays set aside for us to do some "adventuring"...hiking, field trips, scrubbing the floor, whatever moves us that week.

Bookshark is created for your week to have a day off from the program. So if you are part of band camp, a co-op, or something else super cool, you can still do that with Bookshark and maintain the schedule.

Or if you have a 5 day week you could have a "catch-up day" for worksheet questions, or watch some videos the program suggests. The possibilities are endless!

Career Conversations

Our son is autistic. If you don't know, a lot of times kids on the spectrum have a difficult time thinking ALL the way to adulthood. The question of "what do you want to do when you grow up" has never been one he's been able to fathom well.

But with Bookshark we've been able to open the door to so many career conversations. Did you know that designing bridges is something you could do? Isn't that robot neat? You could do that when you are older...you could do that now!

This science program has gently opened the door for us to be able to have some laid back discussions and to see what genuinely interests our boy. It's been a joy.

So those are some things we've loved about the program. I'm sure you will find us throughout the rest of the year on the gram doing the experiments and gushing over the program in general. I recommend the program! It's been so much fun and we can't wait to see what the upcoming weeks bring.

Have you tried Bookshark too? I'd love to know your thoughts, so please, comment below! Want to see all that Bookshark has to offer? Make sure to click this link and check out their incredible products. Happy Homeschooling!