SCAIHS

What’s one homeschool purchase you were SURE you had to have… and then barely used? 👀

📚 SCAIHS Bookstore Update!

Our SCAIHS Bookstore is temporarily closed and will reopen:

📅 Tuesday, September 8, 2026
⏰ 9:30 AM

While the bookstore is closed, our SCAIHS counselors and office staff are still working normal business hours and are available to assist our families as usual. 💛

Need curriculum in the meantime? You don’t have to wait! You can shop the SCAIHS Bookstore online 24/7 at schomeschooling.com⁠.

Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to welcoming you back to the bookstore next Tuesday!

Have a senior this year? College application season is here!

Fall is a great time to start getting organized before application and scholarship deadlines begin approaching.

If college is part of your senior’s plan, now is the time to:

🎓 Research colleges your student is considering
📅 Make note of application and scholarship deadlines
📝 Check for any additional application requirements
💻 See whether their schools accept the Common App, which may allow your student to use one application for multiple colleges

SCAIHS families can also visit the Senior section of the Middle School/High School Information HUB in Central for helpful information and resources throughout senior year.

And most importantly—you don't have to figure it all out alone! 💛 Your SCAIHS counselor is here to help with questions about applications, deadlines, scholarships, and everything that comes with navigating senior year.

A little organization now can make the college application process feel much more manageable later!

Parents of graduates: What’s one piece of advice you’d give families heading into college application season? 👇

What’s one homeschool purchase you’d make again in a heartbeat?

📚🎧 Do audiobooks “count” as reading?

It's a question homeschool parents ask often—especially when we want our children spending plenty of time with actual books.

The answer is a little more nuanced than a simple yes or no.

Audiobooks don't develop every skill that comes from reading print—children still need opportunities to practice decoding and reading words independently. But listening develops important language and comprehension skills and can be a wonderful addition to a child's reading life, particularly for struggling or reluctant readers.

And newer research gives parents even more reason to embrace them!

According to the National Literacy Trust's 2026 research on children and audio:
🎧 36.6% of audiobook listeners said listening got them interested in reading.
📖 30.1% sometimes read along while listening.
💛 50.3% said listening to an audiobook feels like reading.

Previous large-scale research has also found that listening can help children understand stories and subjects, engage their imaginations, and access books that may be beyond their current independent reading level.

So instead of thinking print OR audio, consider thinking:
Print + audio.

Read the book. Listen in the car. Follow along with the audiobook. Put on a great story during lunch. Let a struggling reader enjoy literature above their current decoding level while continuing to work on reading skills separately.

One of the joys of homeschooling is having the flexibility to use different tools in different ways. 💛

👇 We'd love to hear from you: When does your family listen to audiobooks—car rides, quiet time, lunch, bedtime, or somewhere else?

Many assumptions are made about what causes student success.
This new nationwide homeschool study found that student achievement was generally not associated with family income, parent education levels, or whether the teaching parent held state teacher certification.
Read the full study here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0161956X.2025.2605901

As a new homeschool year begins, remember: you don’t have to have the perfect routine figured out on day one. 💛

Ease back into your schedule, keep your plans simple, make room for movement and fun, and give your family time to find a rhythm that works for you.

And for a little August challenge—choose ONE healthy habit to practice this month. Maybe it’s reading every day, getting to bed on time, keeping your homeschool space tidy, or simply starting the day with a positive attitude.

Small habits can make a big difference over time!

💬 What’s one habit your family wants to work on this month?

📚 Spiral vs. Mastery - what's the difference?

If you've spent any time researching homeschool curriculum, you've probably seen these two words. But what do they actually mean?

The difference is simpler than it sounds!

🌀 SPIRAL: A concept is introduced, then the curriculum moves on to other skills while regularly coming back to review and build on what was previously learned.

Think: Learn it → move on → come back to it → build on it

🎯 MASTERY: A child spends more concentrated time on one concept, building understanding and proficiency before moving on to the next.

Think: Learn it → practice it → understand it → move on

And here's the important part: one isn't automatically better than the other.

Some children thrive with the frequent review and variety of a spiral approach. Others do better when they can stay focused on one concept until they feel confident before moving forward. Some curricula even combine elements of both!

One of the benefits of homeschooling is having the flexibility to consider **how your child learns best** when choosing curriculum. 💛

Does your child seem to prefer spiral or mastery learning? We'd love to hear your experience in the comments!

What did the first nationwide homeschool achievement study in 15 years find?
Researchers found that homeschool students scored substantially above the norm group across every core academic subject:
• Reading: +29 percentile points
• Language: +25
• Math: +25
• Social Studies: +26
• Science: +27
Read the full study here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0161956X.2025.2605901