BookShark

BookShark is a homeschool curriculum that its publisher describes as complete and literature-based, fully planned, with 36-week, 4-day schedules, and as secular and faith-neutral. It is sold by age-based level from Pre-K through Level J, plus World History, U.S. History and Government & Economics packages. In our assessment its draw is a fully planned program that arrives with its materials, and its main cost is the price: the publisher's single-level All-Subject Packages for Levels A to I (not counting its condensed and Level D Advanced packages) sell for $958.67 to $1,085.89, retrieved October 2026 (each product page is linked in the cost section).

Last updated: 2026-10-15 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Literature-based: the publisher's company page calls BookShark a complete, literature-based homeschool curriculum
Worldview	Secular and faith-neutral, in the publisher's words: its FAQ says BookShark does not espouse or oppose any faith, and its secular curriculum page calls it a secular homeschool curriculum
Grades	Age-based levels rather than grades: Pre-K (ages 4 to 5 on the publisher's browse page), Levels A to I (ages 5 to 15) and Level J (ages 14 to 18) per its Reading with History page, plus World History, U.S. History and Government & Economics high school packages
Formats	Print: physical books and printed Instructor's Guides assembled in a D-ring binder. The publisher also sells an online platform, BookShark Virtual, that can be added to a package, and says physical items like books are still necessary with it
Cost tier	Premium (our classification). Selling prices on the publisher's product pages, retrieved October 2026: single-level All-Subject Packages for Levels A to I (not counting the condensed and Level D Advanced packages) $958.67 to $1,085.89, Level J $918.24, Pre-K $355.80, World History, U.S. History and Government & Economics All-Subject Packages $1,272.46 to $1,504.90; each is listed in the cost section below
Parent intensity	4 (our rating, on a 1 to 5 scale where 1 is self-directed for the student and 5 is teacher-intensive). The publisher says parent preparation is very little and gives daily parent time of 1.5 to 2 hours for the Level B+C All-Subject Package and 2 to 3 hours per day for the Reading with History D+E Package
ESA-common	The publisher's ESA page lists nine states in which it says BookShark is an approved ESA vendor and tells readers to confirm approved-provider status with their state; details below
Accredited	No. The FAQ says accreditation applies to institutions of learning, not curriculum, and that BookShark, as a curriculum provider and not a school, cannot be accredited
Established	2014: a guest on the publisher's own podcast gives June 1, 2014 as BookShark's first day
Website	bookshark.com

Our scoreboard (1-5)

The scores and reasons below are Every Homeschool's own judgment, based on what the publisher describes on its public pages. We did not review the Instructor's Guide samples or the full book lists, so the content, rigor and design scores reflect the publisher's public descriptions only.

Criterion	Score	Notes
Academic rigor	4	Our judgment of a literature-forward program; the publisher says its history guides add discussion questions, vocabulary, mapping topics and timeline suggestions and describes the program as challenging, which is its own claim
Ease of teaching	4	The publisher says it provides daily lesson plans that detail what to read, work on and discuss and that parent preparation is very little
Content quality	4	Our judgment of the book selection the publisher describes: 30 to 50 books a year in the All-Subject Packages per its For Parents page; we did not review the full book lists
Flexibility	3	The publisher says All-Subject Packages are customizable (Reader and Language Arts levels in Levels A to C, the math program, and opting out of Required Resources you already own). In our judgment the guides are built around a scheduled set of read-alouds and readers on a four-day week, so the program works best as designed
Value for money	3	Premium prices, but the publisher says All-Subject Packages include Reading with History, Language Arts, Science and Math, the Required Resources and, per its For Parents page, all books, organization tools, resources and kits
Worldview scope	4	The publisher says it does not espouse or oppose any faith and leaves the teaching of the origins of life and matters of spirituality to parents; our score reflects a broad fit for families who want to handle those topics themselves
Visual/design	4	Our judgment of the publisher's public pages and product listings; we did not open the guides or samples
Support resources	4	Phone (9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mountain Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday), text and email, per the Contact page, plus a free call with an advisor to help place a child

Who the publisher is

BookShark's Terms of Use name Bookshark, LLC as the owner of the copyright, and its Contact page gives its corporate headquarters as Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

On when it began, a podcast transcript on the publisher's site has the host say BookShark has been around since 2014, and a guest say that the first day was June 1, 2014. The publisher's For Parents page refers to BookShark's 12+ years of guiding homeschool families and says BookShark is based on a literature-based program that has guided homeschool parents for 25 years.

The publisher's history levels name their source books on the product pages: Level G uses the first two volumes of The Story of the World, Level H the final two, Level I is based on the series A History of US by Joy Hakim, and Level J uses Joy Hakim's The Story of Science as the spine of its History & Geography program. The FAQ says BookShark is a vendor for many homeschool-supportive charter schools.

BookShark sorts its programs by age range, not grade. Ages for Levels A to J are as the publisher gives them on its Reading with History page; ages for Pre-K and the high school packages are from its browse page and product pages. The history themes are the names on the browse page.

Level	Ages	History theme (publisher's name), or program type
Pre-K	4 to 5	Exploring the World
Level A	5 to 7	World Cultures
Level B	6 to 8	World History 1
Level C	7 to 9	World History 2
Level D	8 to 11	American History 1
Level E	9 to 12	American History 2
Level F	10 to 13	Eastern Cultures
Level G	11 to 13	World History 1
Level H	12 to 14	World History 2
Level I	13 to 15	American History
Level J	14 to 18	History of Science
World History & Literature	14 to 18	High school package
U.S. History & Literature	14 to 18	High school package
Government, Economics & Modern Literature	15 to 18 (grades 9 to 12)	High school package

The publisher also sells condensed programs, Level B+C and Level D+E, and a Level D Advanced history package. Its pages do not always agree on ages. For example, the Pre-K All-Subject page's title says ages 4 to 5 while its age field says 4 to 7, and the Level A Reading with History page says ages 6 to 8 where the Reading with History page says 5 to 7. The browse page's All-Subject block lists Level J and the World History and U.S. History packages at ages 14 to 16, while its Reading with History block and the product pages say 14 to 18. Check the product page for the item you are buying.

On worldview, the publisher's FAQ answers the question "Is BookShark secular?" by saying BookShark does not espouse or oppose any faith, in other words is faith-neutral. It says its Science and History programs do not teach evolution, creationism, or intelligent design theory, and that it leaves the teaching of the origins of life and matters of spirituality to parents. Its secular curriculum page says BookShark is a secular homeschool curriculum, that religion plays a role in the study of history, and that students learn history from multiple perspectives. We found no statement of faith or denomination on the pages we read.

The core pedagogy

The publisher's company page says BookShark's curriculum uses literary fiction and nonfiction, biographies, illustrations and hands-on experiments to deliver an education that extends beyond textbook memorization, and that its History, Science and Language Arts programs are its own, combined with a choice of math programs including Math-U-See, Saxon, Singapore and RightStart.

History. Each Reading with History program includes a History Instructor's Guide, Read-Alouds (the page says Levels A to H have read-alouds), Readers and Required Resources. The company page says that starting in Level D, history, geography, Read-Alouds and Readers coordinate with the same-level Language Arts program. The Level J page says Level J is the first year in which students no longer do Read-Alouds with their parents. The publisher gives three figures for books per year: roughly 50 on its home page, 30 to 50 on its For Parents page, and 35 to 50 on its Reading with History page.

Language Arts. Per the company page, Language Arts teaches reading, phonics, spelling, copywork, creative expression and writing mechanics, with weekly overviews, teacher scripts and rubrics.

Science. The company page says students read from a collection of science books through the week and then apply what they read in a weekly experiment. The FAQ says Science packages include all science kits. The Science page says its Science Packages A to I cover students from approximately ages 5 to 15 and that Science J is a lab-focused course for high school students.

Math, handwriting and spelling. The FAQ says All-Subject Packages include Math, Handwriting for Levels A through D and Spelling for Levels D through H; the choosing guide says Spelling You See is included for Levels D to G. The Level D page lists the Math-U-See Gamma Universal Set as included and offers Saxon or Singapore through the customize tab. Optional Hands-On History kits can be added, for example on the Level B All-Subject page.

Guides and schedule. Per the Instructor's Guide assembly page, each guide has a 36-week schedule with daily notes and teaching instructions, activity sheets and answer keys for Language Arts and Science, a full book list, and a scope and sequence. The company page says every program is scheduled for four days a week; the FAQ says day five is left open for co-ops, enrichment or catching up, and that families may stretch the assignments to a fifth day. The company page says children within three years of age can share one Reading with History program while Math and Language Arts are customized for each child.

How a week works

The publisher describes the structure of the week as follows:

• The FAQ says the publisher provides detailed lesson plans that include a weekly schedule, so you know what to expect at the start of each week, followed by daily lesson plans that detail what to read, work on and discuss each day.
• For history, the Reading with History page says you follow the daily schedule, read, discuss, and do the map and timeline work.
• The For Parents page says Language Arts provides teacher scripts and rubrics, and that Science references resource books and concludes each week with experiments and activities.
• The secular homeschooling blog post says all the materials come in one big box.

The publisher states daily time on only some of the product pages that we read:

Program	Child	Parent
Level B+C All-Subject Package	2 to 3 hours	1.5 to 2 hours
Reading with History D+E Package	3.5 to 4.5 hours per day	2 to 3 hours per day

We found no daily time stated on the other product pages we read.

What they do exceptionally well

Planning and materials arrive together. The FAQ says All-Subject Packages include all the Required Resources needed to use the program, and the For Parents page says all books, organization tools, resources and kits are included. In our assessment, that removes two jobs a family would otherwise do itself: sourcing the books and building the schedule.

Daily plans that spell out the steps. The publisher's FAQ describes daily lesson plans that say what to read, work on and discuss, and says parent preparation is very little. In our assessment, a parent with little planning time can start a year from the guide as written.

Combining children. The company page says children within three years of age can share one Reading with History program with Math and Language Arts customized for each child. In our assessment, that is a practical feature for families with children of different ages.

A clear stated position on faith and origins. The publisher says in its FAQ that its Science and History programs do not teach evolution, creationism, or intelligent design theory and that it leaves origins to parents. In our assessment, stating that plainly lets a family judge fit before buying.

Listed support channels. The Contact page lists phone, text and email with stated hours, and the publisher's placement tests page offers a free call with an advisor to help place a child.

What they do poorly

Price. In our assessment, price is the main barrier. The publisher's single-level All-Subject Packages for Levels A to I (not counting its condensed and Level D Advanced packages) sell for $958.67 to $1,085.89 and its World History, U.S. History and Government & Economics All-Subject Packages for $1,272.46 to $1,504.90 (prices below, retrieved October 2026). The packages include math, science kits and Required Resources (FAQ, For Parents page), so they cover more than a history-and-literature program, but they are a large single payment, and the publisher says it no longer offers its payment plan (see the cost section).

Some details differ between the publisher's own pages. The Shipping page and product pages give a free-shipping threshold of $150 for the lower 48 states while the FAQ says $300, and some age ranges differ, as noted above. In our assessment, buyers should rely on the product page for the item they are ordering.

Physical books required. The Virtual page says BookShark's physical books will never go away and that books are still necessary with the online platform, and the publisher's podcast says it does not sell digital books. Families who want a digital-only program will not find one here.

A four-day schedule and no school services. The company page says every program is scheduled for four days a week, and the FAQ says BookShark is a curriculum provider with no enrollment process that does not monitor progress. In our assessment, families who want a published five-day schedule or an enrolled, accredited school will need to look elsewhere.

Returns void the package discount. The return policy says that if you return any item from a package, the package discount becomes void and all items in the package are charged at full retail price, and that shipping costs are nonrefundable.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick BookShark if (our judgment, using the publisher's own descriptions): you want a literature-based program that its publisher calls secular and faith-neutral; you want the planning and materials supplied, with the publisher saying the packages include the Required Resources; you can work with a four-day, 36-week schedule; you want to teach faith and origins yourself, since the publisher says it leaves those to parents; and you have budget for the prices listed below.
• Skip BookShark if: you want a particular faith perspective or the origin of life taught within the curriculum, since the publisher says it does neither; you want digital-only materials; you want a published five-day schedule; you want an accredited school with enrollment; or you need a program priced below the publisher's package prices listed below.

Cost honest assessment

These are the publisher's current selling prices from its product pages, retrieved October 2026, with Required Resources set to Yes on the pages that have that switch; choosing No lowers them (for example, Level A All-Subject from $958.67 to $881.88). The Reading with History prices for Levels A, B, C and B+C are for the lowest-priced Reader level on each page (Level K on A, Level 1 on B, Level 3 on C and B+C); the pages offer other Reader levels at higher prices and may load on a different one (Level A: $539.51 for Level 1 and $564.03 for Level 2; Level C: $541.86 for Level 2 and $553.81 for Level 4). Add-ons and the customize tab, which we did not test, can change the price further. A dash means we recorded no separate listing for that level.

Level	All-Subject Package	Reading with History	Science
Pre-K	$355.80	-	-
A	$958.67	$465.61	$295.10
B	$970.23	$440.78	$303.26
C	$1,040.94	$525.75	$291.53
B+C (condensed)	$918.63	$422.99	-
D	$1,065.97	$541.96	$322.98
D Advanced	$1,137.08	$617.52	-
E	$1,014.98	$508.84	$302.30
D+E (condensed)	$1,074.04	$571.60	-
F	$1,085.89	$665.97	$270.86
G	$1,017.01	$515.59	$295.09
H	$962.71	$514.79	$297.86
I	$1,053.12	$666.98	$296.03
J	$918.24	$579.12	$156.60
High school: World History	$1,470.48	$793.01	-
High school: U.S. History	$1,272.46	$687.32	-
High school: Government, Economics & Modern Literature	$1,504.90	$769.24	-

The product pages show a 20% package discount on the All-Subject Packages through Level I (10% on Level J and the high school packages, except that the Government, Economics & Modern Literature All-Subject Package shows no discount when Required Resources is Yes), 15% on Reading with History packages through Level I (10% on Level J and the high school ones) and 10% on the Science packages; the choosing guide explains the package discounts. Language Arts Instructor's Guides for Level D, E, F, G and H are listed at $64.00 each. Math is included in the All-Subject Package price, per the FAQ and the Level D page above, and the customize tab lets you choose a different math program.

Shipping and returns. The Shipping page says orders over $150 ship free to the lower 48 states, while the FAQ says orders over $300 receive free FedEx Ground shipping; confirm the threshold at checkout. The return policy gives 30 days from arrival to review the curriculum, with the package-discount rule noted above.

Payment. The publisher's payment plan page says BookShark is no longer offering its Payment Plan program as of April 1, 2025, and offers PayPal Pay in 4 at checkout.

Availability. The publisher's Backorders page and the Science B product page listed some items as backordered when we read them on October 15, 2026; the Science B page gave a mid to late November expected date for its Instructor's Guide. Check availability before ordering.

ESA eligibility notes

The publisher's ESA page lists these states as ones in which it says BookShark is an approved ESA vendor: Arizona (listed with ClassWallet), Florida (StepUp for Students), Idaho, Iowa (Students First Program), Minnesota, Kansas (Merit), Utah (Utah Fits All Scholarship), New Hampshire (Children's Scholarship Fund) and West Virginia (Hope Scholarship Fund). The page is undated. It also tells readers to check with their state's Department of Education or the agency overseeing the ESA program to determine whether BookShark is an approved provider. The publisher has a separate return policy for state-funded purchases page. We did not confirm any approval with a state program.

Verify with your state ESA program or marketplace before purchase.

Alternatives

• Build Your Library. In our judgment, a family comparing literature-based programs would look at Build Your Library, whose home page describes a secular, literature-based homeschool curriculum for levels K to 12. Compare each publisher's scope, book lists and prices on its own pages.
• Sonlight. In our judgment, a family that wants a literature-based program with a Christian framing would look at Sonlight, whose home page describes a complete, literature-based Christian homeschool curriculum and a Christ-centered education.
• Oak Meadow. In our judgment, a family that wants an enrolled, accredited school would look at Oak Meadow, whose home page describes a homeschool curriculum for PreK through grade 12 and an accredited distance learning school; BookShark's FAQ says it is a curriculum provider and cannot be accredited.