It is a berry special time of the year! We are talking strawberries, mulberries, blackberries, and blueberries! Yum! Ever since my girls were little, this time of the year has been dedicated to the berry.The first berries ready to harvest in our neck of the woods are Strawberries! Best picked early in the morning when the fruit is still cool, these little blessings from God are packed with vitamin C. After picking quart after quart of strawberries, and making oodles of recipes using our bounty, we would Share our favorite strawberry themed books, draw some pictures, and do a printout or two.

Cook-a-Doodle-Doo by Janet Stevens is about a rooster who, with the help of his farm friends, makes a delicious Strawberry Shortcake from the recipe of his famous great-grandmother, the Little Red Hen. Be sure to make the Strawberry Shortcake with recipe provided.

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, And the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood, the story of a little mouse who is tricked out of his strawberry. My children always had fun with this one!

If you are looking for a fun tale about how the people of Itching Down combat an invasion of wasps by trapping them in a large strawberry-jam sandwich, then The Giant Jam Sandwich by John Vernon Lord might be for you! Here is a peek at the lapbook your children can make!

Next to harvest would be the Mulberries and Blackberries! With a shake of the tree, nice, ripe, plump mulberries fall onto our tarp. Blackberries are a little more painful to harvest, but worth every scratch! You can always tell it’s berry season by our purple-stained hands and jars lining the counter with fresh juice and jams.

We have enjoyed Jamberry by Bruce Degen, about a boy and a rhyme-spouting bear romping through a berry world, looking for berries as they go. Mulberries and/or blackberries can replace any berries in your favorite recipes.

We know it is a sad end to berry season when the last of the sweet Blueberries are harvested. And not a year has gone by that we haven’t read Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey, with little Sal graciously sharing her fresh picked blueberries with a curious bear. And like Sal, we would make blueberry jam and other blueberry goodies.

Our berry picking traditions and the enjoyable books we shared along with them have created some sweet memories for me and my girls. If berries are part of your family’s springtime traditions, what books and activities have your children enjoyed?

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When I think of great books, my mind automatically recalls wonderful historical fiction or exciting adventure stories.  I might think about an interesting biography, or just a good realistic fiction novel.  Rarely, if ever, do I think about math books.  Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland is a different kind of math book, though!  It combines history and adventure to teach math in a fun story that will entertain and educate your children–and provide a good review for you, too!

Cindy Neuschwander’s Sir Cumference books primarily focus on geometry concepts, though not exclusively.  In Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland, young Radius, the son of Sir Cumference and Lady Di of Ameter, is ready for his first quest.  He must use the skills he has learned under the tutelage of Sir D’Grees to find the missing King Lell.  As he moves from task to task, Radius puts his knowledge to the test and ultimately rescues his long-lost neighbor.  Throughout the story, Radius encounters different types of angles and at the end of the story, the concepts are reviewed as Radius explains how he was able to find his way through the difficult maze.

This book is useful no matter where your child is in the study of angles.  Just reading through the story with some brief discussion would be a great introduction to the topic.  If you’re in the middle of learning about angles, you could use this book as a lesson for the day by finding each type of angle mentioned.  You’ve already covered angles?  This would be a much more interesting review than a pencil and paper quiz!  My son is in second grade this year and we read the book as we were learning about angles.  He enjoyed it so much and I have no doubt that we’ll be using it again, probably more than once.   Because it can be used at any point in the learning process, Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland is easy to use with kids of different ages and levels.

The illustrator, Wayne Geehan, has created warm and inviting scenes that have an old feel to them that matches the time period of the books.  Rather than looking at line drawings in a textbook, kids can see the different angles included in the pictures as part of the puzzles Radius must solve to find King Lell.  My son enjoys looking through the Sir Cumference books just for fun because he enjoys the illustrations.

Besides geometry, Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland can be used to teach language arts and social studies.  The entire book is full of puns that even my seven year old could recognize; the few he didn’t know provided a good learning opportunity.  Cindy Neuschwander’s word choice is strong and her vocabulary is colorful.  This isn’t a math book with a watered down story that provides an example of a geometry concept; it’s a bold, exciting adventure with a hero who uses geometry to save the day!  This book would be a great go-along with a unit on knights and castles, too.  The illustrations provide wonderful examples of medieval clothing and buildings.  Make sure to check out the different Homeschool Share ideas for this and other Sir Cumference titles!

Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland is an easy way to liven up your math lessons.  It’s always a great day to go on a math adventure!

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There are almost 20 different kid-friendly themes for you to choose from including Dino Dig, Fairy Tale, Forest Friends, Australian Animals, and many more!

Each kit includes a variety of skill based activities for your 4-6 year old: mazes, simple word finds, classifying animals, creating stories, counting games, measuring, simple addition, and phonics fun.

My son and I enjoyed so many kits this past school year! Some of our favorites were Monster Mash and Deep Blue Sea.

If you have little people in your homeschool, be sure to check them out and include them in your summer or  fall plans!

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Yep. It’s true! We’re offering 100 pages of templates you can type on . . . for FREE!

All you need to do is subscribe via email to the blog, and then you will be able to access the package of templates.  Once you subscribe, it may take a day or so to get your first email. Once you do, just look for the FREE gift.

Note: After you subscribe, you will need to verify your email address in order to get things going. This step is vitally important! 

If you are already subscribed to the HSS blog, you should get the templates in your next email.

Enjoy!

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Meet Angela from Earth Mamas World.  She and her husband live in Florida with their 3 children.

While working through the alphabet, they chose to focus on butterflies for the letter “B”.   Here are the things her son did from the Homeschool Share’s Butterflies lapbook while his younger sister worked on the letter “B”.

Along with their study, they watched a Magic School Bus video on the life cycle of a butterfly and watched some Painted Lady caterpillars turn into butterflies.

Here are the students learning more about symmetry by making their own butterflies.

What a great job, kids!  Your butterflies are beautiful.  I love to study butterflies because it’s so amazing the process they go through to become a beautiful, miraculous creation that we can enjoy.   Get outside and marvel at what God has given to us!

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We have a fabulous Grand Giveaway for May!

A wonderful company, Farmgirl Naturals has graciously donated a lovely gift basket for this month’s Grand Giveaway, for one very blessed momma!

This beautiful and fragrant basket includes 4 wonderful smelling homemade, natural soy candles. The scents include Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Pineapple and one surprise scent! But that’s not all! You’ll also receive 2 bars of homemade, all-natural Oatmeal Soap. This soap is perfect for all skin types! A perfect basket just in time for Mother’s Day.

Don’t they look yummy? Farmgirl Naturals is owned by homeschool mom, Miranda. Miranda has been a friend of Homeschool Share forever and we are thrilled that she wanted to participate in this special Mother’s Day giveaway!

Take a look around Farmgirl Naturals. You’re sure to find all kinds of things to buy for yourself or as a gift for the ladies in your life.

Miranda also blogs her  homeschool journey with her beautiful family over at Memories by Miranda.

I hope you win!

Click here to familiarize yourself with our contest rules.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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May is filled with so many fun days!  May gives us reasons to play with Mr. Potato Head, learn about the Kentucky Derby, read the Wizard of Oz, learn about volcanoes, be a detective, or do some composting . . . choose a few special days from the calendar that your students will enjoy and make your days count!

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How do I make a lapbook?

This is probably Homeschool Share’s most frequently asked question. I will start off by saying that there really isn’t a “wrong” way, and you probably won’t find two homeschoolers who do them exactly the same. We’ve been lapbooking for about 8 years now, and my girls each have their own preferences as to how to complete a lapbook. Last week my 14 year old daughter completed a Movie Lapbook based on the musical “The Music Man” so I asked her to tell y’all how she lapbooks. This is what she had to say:

HOW I MAKE A LAPBOOK IN 6 EASY STEPS

Step #1:

First, I decide what kind of lapbook that I would like to make. What color theme do I have in mind? Do I want it in a file-folder? Do I want it on cardstock? (I personally like cardstock better, since it’s easier and I could add as many pages I want if more room is needed; some other people seem to like file-folders better, but I choose cardstock, so that is what the following instructions will be for.) I try to think all of these things through before I start on the lapbook of my choice.

Step #2:

Then I find all of the supplies that are needed: Scissors, glue sticks, pens and pencils, a hole punch, a 3-ring binder, paper cutter and colored cardstock. After that, I print out all of the lapbook components and possibly some nice clipart to go with my lapbook. When doing the movie lapbook, I also research information on the main actor through books, documentaries, or on the Web, and I collect a few photos to print out and to put on the cover of the lapbook and little pictures of the actors to put on the components marked Character Profile. (I always end up printing out more Character Profiles for every main character I like.)

Step #3:

I then cut out all of the components and clipart, and fold them all as the instructions say to. You may not think that this is an entire step unto itself, but believe me, it is.

Step #4:

Writing time! Now I fill in all of the components. This usually takes a long time, and may take up to a week to fully complete. On the movie lapbook, if I don’t already know the answer to the questions, I research them in books, in movies and documentaries, or on the web as a last resort. I also watch the movie I am doing the lapbook on about 3 times, to catch anything that I might have missed, and I work on different components each time I watch it. For example, I could first study the characters and how they act, and fill out the Character Profiles and other related components, next study the story behind the movie and fill out the Author’s Purpose and What is the Theme? components, etc.

Step #5:

After all the lapbook components are completed, I hole punch a couple pieces of cardstock and lay out the components and clipart the way that I’d like them to look after they’re all glued in. Once I finish laying them out, I start gluing. In the movie lapbook, I always start on gluing in the clipart that goes on the cover, along with a picture depicting the movie box or poster, or maybe both.

Step #6:

Once the components are all glued in to place, I then insert the pages into a 3-ring binder, say ‘Abra-Cadabra!’ and I have made myself a movie lapbook!

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This Homeschool Share unit is packed with all kinds of fun ideas and perfect for your littlest gardener!

In the unit you’ll find gobs of great activities to pick and choose from in the written lessons: grow your child’s name, make a seed necklace, cook up some phonics fun, learn the names of garden tools, grow a cucumber in a bottle, sing garden songs, and so much more!

There are lots of printables in this unit, too!

ABC Sound Matching Game

Patterning Activity

Write a Recipe & Stick Some Soup Together

Here are some additional ideas from around the web:

Table Top Veggie Garden (from His Mercy is New)

Homemade Chia Pets(from Spell Outloud)

Garden Sensory Tub (from Homeschool Creations)

Looking for more preschool garden inspiration?  Try our pin board!

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