TrainingGrace Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 The charter school we are going to be going through offers three curriculums. Calvert, Little Lincoln and BookShark. Our homeschooling style is somewhere between Charlotte Mason inspired to TJEd inspired. I am thinking of choosing BookShark because I have heard and read many good things about Sonlight. If you use one of these curriculums what do you like about it, what do you dislike? Has anyone us both and if so why did you switch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coloradomomof5 Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 First, let me say, you are one lucky girl!! We have used Calvert and BookShark. I currently use both. I like Calvert for science and lit study. It has solid grammar and math--we use Hake and Saxon. Calvert has lots of busy work that has to be sifted through. BookShark has amazing book lists. We love the read alouds. The questions are not as deep. My kids prefer to learn a little about each science topic each year rather than one or two topics a year. That being said, I don't think you can go wrong either way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrainingGrace Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 Yes, I feel so blessed for having a choice through a charter school! I chose to go with Book Shark with Horizons Math and Explode the Code. The explode the code is a supplement to the BkSK language arts program. They also said that if Horizons math is not available, I would be able to get Saxon math instead. Both are on the book shark website but for some reason the chart said horizons might not be available? I was not able to combine companies for anything but math. I was hoping to used Calvert for language arts and everything else from book shark. Hopefully the addition of explode the code and handwriting without tears (both at k although my son is in 1st) will help him catch up to the point where I feel he is ready for reading readers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cake and Pi Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 We got BkSk from our homeschool charter too! We really like the history and literature so far. The science is fine but we don't consistently use it because the kids love Mystery Science so much. I'm kind of "meh" on the language arts. It seems to be a lot like WWE with copywork moving into dictations, which was tried and failed with my dysgraphic 3rd grader, so we're using other things for LA right now. But the history-lit and reading lists have been super fun and get us all cuddled up on the couch together. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaquitita Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 We got BkSk from our homeschool charter too! We really like the history and literature so far. The science is fine but we don't consistently use it because the kids love Mystery Science so much. I'm kind of "meh" on the language arts. It seems to be a lot like WWE with copywork moving into dictations, which was tried and failed with my dysgraphic 3rd grader, so we're using other things for LA right now. But the history-lit and reading lists have been super fun and get us all cuddled up on the couch together. The bookshark LA is a lot like WWE? Does it cover grammar too? I'm tempted to try bookshark in a couple years, when it's time for my oldest to do his own thing. But I can't figure out what the LA is like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cake and Pi Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 The bookshark LA is a lot like WWE? Does it cover grammar too? I'm tempted to try bookshark in a couple years, when it's time for my oldest to do his own thing. But I can't figure out what the LA is like. Yes, BkSk LA covers grammar too. Level 2's LA has copywork, copywork "applications" that seem to be where they're putting grammar and things like homophones/similes/whatnot, guided creative writing (where the parent is expected to scribe for the child), spelling rules and word lists, readers (the same as in BkSk history), and sort of phonics (they tell you to do specific pages in ETC) and handwriting (tell you to do certain pages in HWOT). We just have level 2, but I did a quick flip through the TM for level 5 because our charter had a sample. It had dictations, more writing (but now expected to be done by the student), grammar seemed to be somewhat outsourced to Keys to Good Language but there were still grammar and mechanics instructions in the TM and exercises on the student worksheets. I couldn't tell you if they ever get to diagramming though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrainingGrace Posted January 21, 2017 Author Share Posted January 21, 2017 Thank you Lace for your replies! It is good to know another fan of The Well Trained Mind has been using Book Shark. Do you use the same core with your two Book Shark sons? What are their ages and do you feel the curriculum is adequate for spanning multiple grades with one core? I am a bit bummed that math had to be a separate company. How do you incorporate your math instructors guides into your routine? I have a feeling we will be saving it for last in the day or putting it off because it is not in our big binder. Since math and science are his favorites, I am not too worried about him letting me out math off too long. I just signed up for the free week of Mystery Science and the first couple were boring to my son. The light and shadow one we basically did on our own when we tried making sundials this summer. Hopefully ones with new concepts will be fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stibalfamily Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 I am using BookShark kindergarten right now with my son. I have to say that I don't like it. The Science and History moves so quick. One day your learning about seasons, the next planets. Their kindergarten is an overview so look at the scope and sequence of History and Science. Maybe its no big deal for you, but if you want to spend time on a subject, like unit study style, its not for you. Don't plan on more then a few days on each topic, some are longer but some are a day or two. I am not sure how appropriate the science worksheets are either, I ask the questions and fill them out. I think Evan Moore has better science workbooks for Kindergarten. In regards to History, why does a kindergartener need to learn about the conquistadors or the Tudors? I mean really? They cover so much, nothing is retained. The read alouds were a big jump from picture books for us and it was a battle with my son. I will say that the read alouds are much easier now and I am glad we pushed through. My son was already writing when we started K because we did pre-k, so we skip most of the language arts activities. We added the explode the code 1,2 and 3 and I love this program. We use it along with our AAR1. However I am not sorry I tried it out. I wanted to see if I liked a structured curriculum that makes it easy, open and go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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