Why Evan-Moor Workbooks Are a Homeschool Mom’s Secret Weapon (No Prep Required)

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There’s no one more familiar with the struggle of finding high-quality educational workbooks than a homeschool mom, right?! These days, there are so many educational resources available that it can be difficult to weed out the (seemingly few) totally awesome options from the “meh” options.

You see, as a homeschool mom, I don’t want to have my kids complete workbooks that provide the bare minimum. We’re not just about checking off items on our daily to-do list, you know? When I include a workbook in our homeschool lessons, I’m including it for reasons like:

• they come with a proven track record
• they’re easy to use & still provide structured learning opportunities
• they make learning meaningful, memorable, and fun
• they are relevant to our current lessons and/or special interests

You guys…Evan-Moor workbooks check all of those boxes and then some.

Pssst….I really hope you’ll keep reading about how I’ve incorporated Evan-Moor workbooks into our homeschool days but, just in case – there’s a sweet coupon code towards the bottom of this article!

Why Makes Evan-Moor Workbooks are a Great Fit for Everyday Homeschool Life

When I first started homeschooling my kids in 2020, some of the first workbooks I included in our days were from Evan-Moor. Why did I choose those workbooks over others? For a number of reasons!

For one, I remembered using Evan-Moor workbooks when I was teaching in public schools. They were workbooks my students had actually enjoyed using and they helped learning new information to “stick,” you know? Additionally, the Evan-Moor workbooks are pretty budget-friendly so, if I ended up changing the direction of our homeschool schedule in the middle of the year (like so many other homeschool families do!), I wouldn’t be out a ton of money.

Believe it or not, it wasn’t until I started researching for this very article that I realized the Evan-Moor brand has been creating educational resources for over 45 years! Wild, right?

If you figure I started using Evan-Moor workbooks when I was teaching 20 years ago (oof!), I guess you can say I ‘ve been a fan of their resources for quite some time!

Open, Teach, and Move On With Your Day

My friends, I can only handle so many preparations for homeschool lessons. Sure, I’ll grab supplies for an art project and I’ll pick up ingredients so my boys can follow a delicious recipe, but…I will not – I repeat – I will NOT be spending a ton of time cutting out pieces of paper & whatnot in preparation for a paper & pencil activity.

Nope. You know what I mean, right? Our days are jam-packed. Many of us are busy schlepping the kids from activity to activity, squeezing in a dentist appointment, teaching lessons, and doing what we can to get dinner on the table at a reasonable hour. Don’t even get me started on getting work done for an actual job.

This is one of the many reasons I adore the K-8 educational resources from Evan-Moor on Carson Dellosa. With the exception of a few, (like their Literature Pockets & History Pockets) the Evan-Moor workbooks are open-and-go, allowing the kids to take ownership over their education while encouraging independent learning & responsibility!

And, while I’m more than happy to actually sit down and spend the time to teach my kids one-on-one that’s not always possible. If I can incorporate resources that are have been designed to nurture children’s hearts & minds while encouraging a love of learning…by George, count me the heck “in.”

@thathomeschoolfamily Open, learn…done! Evan-Moor workbooks are THE educational resources that have been trusted by teachers & parents alike for 45 years! They make learning meaningful, memorable, and fun by presenting material in an approachable manner that kids actually enjoy! Get 15% off your carsondellosa.com order with the code 15OFF #ad #evanmoor #homeschoolresources #homeschool #carsondellosa @carsondellosaeducation ♬ original sound – Liz | That Homeschool Family

Ways to Incorporate Evan-Moor Workbooks into your Homeschool Routine

I’m sure there are countless ways to include the Evan-Moor workbooks into your homeschool day but, as I see it, there are three “top” ways I’d suggest. Let’s get into it.

A Curriculum Spine

It’s such a strange term, right? “Spine?” While it does sound silly, it actually does make sense. One way to include Evan-Moor resources is to consider them the starting point of a study point. The backbone. The…wait for it…spine.

For example, I am in the process of getting the whole collection of the Evan-Moor “The 7 Continents” workbooks:

• Europe
• Asia
• Antarctica
• North America
• South America
• Africa
• Australia & Oceania

Since each workbook includes activities covering geography literacy, content-area reading practice, reproducible pages & activities (which is AMAZING if you plan on teaching multiple kids – just get one workbook and make copies!), physical & political maps, reviews & assessments, it would be very doable to use the workbooks as spines.

Think about it – the meat & potatoes information comes from the workbook but you could also branch out a bit by including YouTube videos, culinary experiences, visits to museums, library books, and even art projects that correlate to each country & continent.

How’s that for a year of meaningful, memorable, & fun geography lessons?!

A Curriculum Supplement

Maybe you already have a homeschool curriculum you know and love, but you want to add a little extra something-something to the lesson plans? Maybe you need some additional assessments? Or spelling practice?

Sometimes curriculum companies can do a wonderful job providing the actual content information, but fall short on the reading comprehension activities. Sometimes their paper/pencil activities are dry…leaving kids to answer question after question. The information would “stick” better if the kids could complete crossword puzzles, write articles for a pretend newspaper, or even make an informational pocket folder, right?

You know who’s got your back? Mmhmm…that’s right – Evan-Moor!

Sometimes Language Arts curriculum focus more on reading comprehension & grammar (both important), but somehow drop the ball when it comes to spelling. This is one way we’ve used Evan-Moor resources as a curriculum supplement.

My boys have been using their Building Spelling Skills series for years. Not only have these workbooks helped my kids improve their spelling skills, but they’ve also actually looked forward to completing their weekly spelling activities! Evan-Moor makes building spelling skills easy on the parent & child by labelling each set of worksheets by week & by providing activities that are actually fun to complete!

I feel like good spelling resources are hard to find, but Evan-Moor does a great job!

On It’s Own

What if your kids want to learn something all on their own…completely separate from any curriculum? We all have our own special interests and, when it comes to my boys (especially my 12yo), they’re especially eager to learn all things finance. Maybe it’s because my husband works in finance? Maybe it’s because they’ve seen receipts from our grocery shopping? Maybe it’s because they have secret plans to take their mom on a world cruise while bunking in an upgraded stateroom?

While I kind of hope it’s the last “maybe,” I’m more than happy to encourage any and all opportunities for them to increase their financial skills.

Evan-Moor has a number of financial workbooks for kids starting at first grade going up to eighth grade. I’ve had the opportunity to look through their two financial literacy workbooks for the “older kids”: Financial Literacy & Life Skills for Kids ages 12-13 and Financial Literacy Lessons & Activities for Grades 6-8).

If you happen to be in the market for the financial literacy workbooks for the same ages, I would recommend starting with the “ages 12-13” workbook first and then moving to the “grades 6-8” option. Why? Well, the first one helps the kids understand how to add/subtract/multiply/divide dollar amounts (in addition to other financial literacy information) and features full-color pages that making the topic of financial literacy seem fun & exciting!

The second workbook (the “grades 6-8” one) goes even more in depth into financial literacy on pages that are black/white – not deal breaker at all but, if the kids are just starting out, I feel it’s important to really hone the skill of computing dollar amounts first.

Sidenote, financial literacy is not my forte at all so I’m more than happy to let Evan-Moor take care of this for me!

Happy Homeschooling!

And that’s Evan-Moor in a nutshell! I’ve been using their educational resources for years and will continue doing so as they’re appropriate for my boys. After that, I’ll just continue spreading the word about their amazingness.

Before you head out, you should know that Evan-Moor has provided me with a pretty sweet coupon code for you. Just head on over to the Evan-Moor range on carsondellosa.com to check out all of their offerings. Once you’ve added all your goodies to the cart (keep an eye on that free shipping offer! yay!), enter the code 15OFF to score 15% off your order! From time to time, they also offer a free item with a minimum purchase, too, so don’t forget about that!

Enjoy including Evan-Moor into your homeschool days!

Until next time, stay safe, & enjoy quality time with your family,