When we first began our homeschool journey I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t know where to find secular curriculum – I didn’t know about boxed curriculum. Fast forward four years, and I don’t think I would still be homeschooling without using boxed curriculum. But how do you know if boxed curriculum is right for your family?
Is a Boxed Curriculum Right for Your Homeschool?
*This post is part of my brand ambassadorship with BookShark. This post contains links to BookShark, and there are affiliate links. See my my disclosure policy for more information.*
With three children homeschooling this year, boxed curriculum has been a great time and sanity saver for our homeschool.
Boxed Curriculum Provides Ease of Use
Boxed curriculum might be for you if you don’t feel comfortable to plan lessons on your own and you don’t want spend hours and hours of prep work. Searching for curriculum takes a lot of time and energy!
Boxed curriculum is open and go. There is very little prep work for the homeschool parent to do ahead of time for the lessons. BookShark includes Instructor Guides, lesson plans and for some subjects such as science, the manipulatives for experiments.
Simply choose which subjects you need, and have it all shipped to your door. Essentially it is school in a box. You get everything in one box and don’t have to shop around. You will still need to buy typical school supplies like pencils, paper, binders, etc. of course.
Boxed Curriculum Works for Multiple Ages
BookShark for example has ages specified on their subject levels. For example, Science Level 2 is ages 7-9— perfect for teaching your children together despite an age difference. Teaching all your children together regardless of their age and makes it more fun to do projects or experiments together.
Learning more subjects together means less one-on-one instruction time is needed with mom. There is also the benefit of spending time together as a family.
Boxed Curriculum is Best …
- for your first years of homeschooling
- if you have multiple children
- if you like structure
- if you are confused and overwhelmed by an eclectic approach
Many of the books you get in a boxed curriculum like BookShark’s literature based curriculum can be used again, and the bonus is that you are building your home library.