bookshark Archives - Look! We're Learning!

How to Plan a Science Summer with Your Kids

April 8, 2019 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Science is one of those homeschool subjects that I always end up putting off.

When I first started homeschooling, I would push it towards the end of the day when we’d finished all of our other subjects.

Science takes a while, because you have to gather up your supplies, set up any experiments, conduct them (which takes a considerable amount of time with kids), and then discuss what you learned.

After a few years, though, I really wised up and started saving science until after the homeschool year ended. So, instead of having school from August to May, we became year-round homeschoolers and planned a science summer with the kids.

I love saving science for summer, because I don’t have to worry about rushing through it after we’ve done our other subjects.

And what’s more, we have more time in the summer to explore the kids’ scientific interests with summer camps, field trips, and outdoor experiments.

Read on to see how you can plan a science summer with the kids this year!

Disclosure: I am a BookShark brand ambassador and am receiving free curriculum as part of my role.

Images c/o: Wavebreakmedia & pressmaster / depositphotos

How to Plan a Science Summer

Choose simple science experiments to try.

Is anyone else out there a chronic overplanner? I am. I can spend countless hours trying to research experiments for the kids to try and then run out of steam right when it’s time to actually do them.

That’s why I love BookShark. All of the science experiments are already planned for you. And what’s even better is that the experiments are age-appropriate, so you won’t have to test it and see if it’s too advanced for your child.

Plus, the experiment instructions are on DVD and you can see the experiment performed, which will give you an idea of what to expect after it’s done. A great way to avoid unexpected messes!

Schedule your experiments by week or concept.

Once you’ve chosen your simple science experiments, it’s good to plan how many you want to do each week or how many you want to for each scientific concept.

The BookShark InquisiKids science curriculum (for Level 1) has 100 different science experiments for kids to try, which is a LOT. So we’ll be narrowing down our choices to about 25 or so.

That way, we can conduct two science experiments per week of our science summer.

Do a science experiment supply check.

Now that you have all of your science experiments planned, you’ll need to do a quick supply check. It’s always better to have your supplies set aside now than try to do it right before you conduct an experiment.

Trust me on this. I’ve had to shelve several science activities over the years because I *thought* I had something that turned out to be missing.

With BookShark, you receive the needed supplies for your experiments along with your science curriculum, which is super handy.

But if you’re using a different program or your own experiment ideas, make a quick list of your needed supplies and head to the store before you get started. You’ll thank yourself later.

Ready to tackle a science summer with your kids? Take a look at BookShark’s complete curriculum options, including science, to make summer science planning a snap!

Don’t miss these other science learning ideas for the kids!

And see even more ways to make science fun on my It’s Science Pinterest board!

Simple Green Eggs and Ham Inspired Poetry Activity

February 4, 2019 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Since we’ve been working through BookShark Level 1 with our youngest, we’ve gotten to read plenty of wonderful stories. When I looked at the bookshelf and noticed we had yet to read Green Eggs and Ham, though, I wanted to jump for joy.

As a child, I read The Cat In the Hat first. But Green Eggs and Ham is, by far, my favorite Dr. Seuss book. I love it so much.

With the help of our BookShark program, we turned this classic story into a simple Green Eggs and Ham poetry activity. My first grader loved it!

Take a look at how we extended this story into a super easy creative writing lesson! And for more practice with ELA, don’t miss our printable Construction Contractions Language Arts lesson!

Disclosure: I am a BookShark brand ambassador and am receiving free curriculum as part of my role.

Easy Green Eggs and Ham Poetry Activity for Kids

To do this simple Green Eggs and Ham poetry activity, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Green printer paper
Black marker
White Posterboard or Giant Wipe Off Index Card
Dry Erase Marker (only needed if you’re using the wipe off index card)

We began by reading Green Eggs and Ham. Our little one read it to me while I sat and looked on. She found the story and the illustrations hilarious.

At one point, after Sam-I-am offered the green eggs and ham again, she actually said “He just told you he doesn’t like it!”

In our BookShark Level 1 lesson, the curriculum guide encouraged us to work on writing our own poem based on a food that we would not like to eat.

So I pulled out our giant laminated index card and started a couple of sentences. Then it was up to our first grader to fill in the blanks with her own ideas for yucky food and where she wouldn’t eat it.

Then I thought it would be a little more fun to let her write her answers on some “green eggs” of our own. So I just cut out some wiggly shapes from green paper.

She started by choosing a strange food color – “gold”. Then the food she added was noodles. Incidentally, she’d just had noodles for lunch that day. It’s entirely possible she was trying to tell me something.

When we started thinking of words that rhymed with noodles, she got to “doodles” and decided that would work.

Then it was time to think of a place she wouldn’t like to eat her strange food. She choose “at home”.

Which definitely made me think she was trying to tell me something.

And, naturally, if you won’t eat them at home, then you won’t eat them with a gnome either.

And her rhyme was done!

I asked her what she thought the lesson of the story was. She said “Don’t say you don’t like something just because it looks weird. You should try it.”

Score! Now let’s see if she remembers that little lesson the next time I serve dinner.

This Green Eggs and Ham poetry activity was just one of the activities in BookShark Level 1 for this book. Take a look at BookShark’s curriculum to see more ways you can use it to bring stories to life with your kids!

Check out these other reading activities for children!

And see more ways to make story time fun on my Reading for Kids Pinterest board!

Learning about Animal Diets with Kids

January 14, 2019 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

My kids, like almost all kids, love learning about animals. We’ve studied animal habitats, animals who are nocturnal and diurnal, and animals who hibernate already.

With our youngest, though, it was time to learn about animal diets: which animal eats what. And nothing makes that concept more real than a field trip to interact with actual animals.

Oh – and our animal diets lesson from BookShark was a huge help too!

Read on to see how we learned about herbivores and carnivores with our small students!

And for more hands-on ways to study animal science, don’t miss our Sharks Food Chain Game for kids!

Disclosure: I am a BookShark brand ambassador and am receiving free curriculum as part of my role.

Studying Animal Diets with Kids

We started our lesson with a section in BookShark’s Level 1 animal science curriculum. BookShark uses a book-based approach to learning and science is no different.

In the Usborne Book of Animals, we examined how different animals eat different things. Some eat plants and seeds (herbivores), while some eat other animals (carnivores).

Interestingly, you can usually tell which animal eats what by looking at the shape of their mouths and the shape of their teeth. That is, if you can get close enough to one to actually check that out.

After a bit of reviewing, our first grader learned how to distinguish the carnivores and herbivores.

But, there’s nothing like seeing animals firsthand to help kids remember what they learned!

So we took a trip to a nearby wildlife refuge to see some herbivores and carnivores up close!

We saw bison. (herbivores)

We met chickens. (herbivores)

This positively regal turkey was quite a sight. (herbivore)

The tropical birds were gorgeous, but incredibly loud too. (herbivores)

The kids even got a chance to feed deer by hand. (herbivores)

From far away, we spotted a white tiger. (carnivore)

As you can see, you can also tell what eats what by how close you’re allowed to get to the animal. 🙂

A very friendly zebra came up to the fence to meet us. (herbivore)

This sweet donkey was docile enough to be petted. (herbivore)

Finally, we met a grizzly bear, which we learned eats both plants and met (primarily fish). So we had a chat about the animals who aren’t really herbivores or carnivores – they’re omnivores.

Which is what most humans identify as too. I think my kids might be dessert-ivores, though.

If you want to get a closer look at how you can learn about animal diets with the kids, take a look at BookShark’s curriculum to see how the program covers animals for early learners!

Stop by to see these other ideas for studying animals!

And get more ideas for learning animal science on my It’s Science Pinterest board!