Written by Founder Sara Edgar
Photo by Yan Krukau
Disclaimer: This blog post contains affiliate links, which means that I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through these links. The commission comes at no additional cost to you and helps support the maintenance of this blog. I only recommend products or services that I have personally used and genuinely believe will provide value to my readers. Your trust and satisfaction are of utmost importance to me.
The Beginnings of the Homeschool Journey
When we started the homeschool journey 4 years ago we really didn't know what we were doing. It has been trial and error, a lot of research, and hard work that have gotten us to where we are now. We tried so many websites, resources, and workbooks (and even did our entire first year of homeschool for absolutely free) but there has only been one workbook thus far that we have stuck with year after year and it has now become a huge part of our cornerstone in what we use to supplement our homeschool education. So, it was a no brainer when the idea came up to share it with you!
Get You a Book You Can Rely On
Now, as I mentioned, we tried so many different books and worksheets and what works for us may not work for you. THAT is the beauty of homeschool. It isn't one size fits all so what one may struggle in the other may find it a strength (that's the case with my kids). Now, you may be wondering what the criteria was in order for us to settle on this workbook and the reality is that it had to fit the standards but also be culturally representational and not old school in it's teaching ways. Your criteria may be different from ours so make sure you decide what that looks like before you set out looking for the right book or curriculum for you and your family.
The Nitty Gritty
When we started homeschool, the most important thing to me was that we were meeting all of our states standards, unfortunately, the state we were living in didn't have as high of standards as some other states so when doing our curriculum, I made sure that our homeschool work exceeded state and national standards. That is what drew me to the Brain Quest Workbooks as they align with national and state standards and are reviewed by award-winning teachers.
The best part about this book is that they literally just updated it. It now has a technology section that introduces computer science, coding, and logic along with all the other core subjects it already had.
What I most appreciated is that they updated their content and revised the activities and illustrations to reflect the diversity of all children, their families, and experiences.
What makes it even better are the supports they have added in for parents with section openers that preview the upcoming content and provide directions and suggestions to help make learning easier and more enjoyable.
What the kids enjoy are the fun progress stickers and a completion certificate that helps children celebrate their accomplishments.
They also have mini smart card question and answer decks in each book to help students practice important concepts more frequently.
The price point on these books are fantastic with them ranging between $10-$12 a book. They currently only have books for Pre K - 6th grade. But they also have Summer Bridge books and Brain Quest Decks which are their version of flashcards (these items are new so we have not tried either of these items yet).
Conclusion
The last thing I want to share is that even though this book is so great with all it offers, it is important to understand that you should not rely solely on this workbook for your homeschool curriculum. It is great to help create a framework and it does provide a lot of relevant educational pieces but it should be used in conjuncture with other reliable and loved resources and books to help guide your homeschool journey and learning experiences. If you haven't already make sure you check out all that the Brain Quest series has to offer and give one of them a try!