Middle School History with BookShark

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We’ve reached the middle school years in our homeschool journey and have been on the hunt for a middle school history curriculum. We have always been a very eclectic, laid-back homeschooling family for the last 7 years. While we still plan to enjoy the flexibility and freedom that homeschool provides us, we are starting to implement more structure and independence in our homeschool routine. There were a lot of items on our wishlist when we started looking into middle school history programs – well-laid-out lesson plans, opportunities for expansion, engaging activities, and of course, good books. It was obvious that BookShark was once again going to check all those boxes for us. The bonus for our history program this year – there’s a pretty great chance that we will enjoy some sushi while Amelia studies the Eastern Hemisphere!

BookShark has been our go-to curriculum for history, science, and language arts for the last several years. I’ve shared plenty about BookShark Virtual, their newly updated science programs, and how much we love reading the amazing stories together as a family.

We’ve really used BookShark as a way to learn together as a family with both kids at the same level. It has been great to read the stories allowed together in the evenings or have the girls read to one another. But I realize that we can really take middle school history to another level by letting Amelia really dive deep into the people, places, and events that interest her.

BookShark is the perfect vehicle for that, we just have to use it in a different way than we have the last few years. I’m going to share how we are using it for middle school history while still keeping the same flexible schedule and interest-led learning that we love.

Independence with BookShark

Using BookShark for multiple kids at one time means there is a lot of group discussion and reading. We have always learned together as a family while using BookShark (one of the reasons our family loves it!). With Amelia now in middle school though, I felt like it was time to let her spread her wings a little and be more independent with her studies.

BookShark has a fantastic instructor’s guide for each subject (I review the IG in more detail here). It’s not set up, however, for the student to work through on their own. So to give her some freedom and encourage independence, we are still following the BookShark lesson schedule but allowing her to have a little more control over the flow and utilizing BookShark Virtual.

BookShark Virtual allows you to customize your BookShark experience by providing an interactive schedule, a grade book, and even assessments in an electronic format. You can use the platform on any device which makes it easy to homeschool while you’re on the go.

We decided to review the weekly lesson plans on Sunday evenings together. Amelia writes the required reading in her planner for the week. I browse through the lessons and assigned reading so I can prepare any extra activities or plans and can use the Virtual platform to update the week as needed.

We still sometimes will read together, but for the most part, Amelia reads on her own. I’ve found that giving her the freedom to take her books to her room, the porch, or out to the reading swing has really helped keep her focused.

After she finishes her reading, we will discuss what she’s read together. She gives a short verbal summary of some things she learned or things that interested her. Then she can choose to go online or to the bookshelf to dig more into those topics. We also like to use the assessments available in BookShark Virtual as a short review.

The only downside to encouraging more independence with BookShark history is that I’m not reading the stories alongside Amelia and I totally feel like I’m missing out. So I find myself picking up the books when she is finished for the day! The beauty of BookShark is that we can speed up or slow down the schedule to fit the student’s abilities.

Higher Level Discussions

Although I really loved learning with BookShark as a family and including my youngest, the discussions have really become more in-depth when it’s just Amelia and me. Since BookShark includes such a wide variety of readers, there are so many conversations and questions that stem from the reading.

Not only are we able to really encourage Amelia to interpret what she is reading through discussion, but she’s beginning to form her own questions and prompt discussions.

The instructor’s guide provides great discussion questions for each reading assignment – which are also available in BookShark Virtual. We use these as a starting point for our discussion. There are also a lot of great comprehension questions in the guide that we use to ensure she’s understanding the reading each week.

Student Led Research

In the few years that we have been using BookShark, we have pretty much stuck to the suggested schedule, activities, and reading in the instructor’s guide. I tend to add in additional activities and YouTube videos as we go. For middle school history, I really wanted to incorporate study skills, research skills, and project-based learning as much as possible.

Instead of following the suggested schedule week by week, I’ve given Amelia the freedom to slow down the schedule and deep dive into certain topics and events. Not only are we encouraging her to do more research or further investigate on her own, but we’re also actually asking her to expand on what she’s learning in the method of her choice and then bring that back and share with the rest of the family.

Since we aren’t reading and learning together, I thought that asking Amelia to take what she’s learning and share it back with us would be a great way to encourage curiosity and test her comprehension and understanding of the material.

One platform that we have offered as a way to share the material and history with the rest of the family is through recipes and meals. Amelia loves to cook so giving her the opportunity to find, make and share food and meals that correspond with the time period and location that she’s learning about has been a really fun way to enhance the lessons.

BookShark History also includes a lot of interactive learning materials that set it apart from other middle school history curriculums. One of the first things we opened when we received our BookShark History Level F package was the China Kit. This kit includes some amazing hands-on activities that correspond to the lessons.

I love that there are hands-on, engaging activities that I don’t need to plan or purchase materials to complete. Amelia is excited that she has activities to look forward to as she completes each weekly lesson.

Review of BookShark for Middle School History

When thinking about middle school homeschool curriculum, I figured that I would need to change up our programs and venture away from BookShark to find something that was structured, challenging, and engaging. After thinking about the many things we wanted from our middle school history, I soon realized that BookShark covered all those needs plus added a ton of value with the amazing readers.

I’m very pleased with BookShark as a whole family curriculum, but even more excited that it will allow our middle schooler to be independent with her history lessons while still incorporating great stories and books. Be sure to check out BookShark if you’re looking for a curriculum that will: