Whenever a birthday shows up on the special days list that goes along with the time period we’re studying, we take the opportunity to study that person, and perhaps bake a cake.

According to the special days listing for April, there are several important people’s birthdays.  https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2014/03/28/special-days-in-april-2/

Last year we learned everything “middle ages”.  And, April was a fantastic birthday month for our studies.  Here’s the links to the April birthday biographies we worked on complete with resource links.

Raphael April 6, 1483  https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/04/06/raphael/

Leonardo da Vinci  April 15, 1452 https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/04/12/leonardo-da-vinci/

William Shakespeare April 23, 1564   https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/04/23/happy-birthday-william-shakespeare/

Our study focus this year is American History.  This means that our birthday studies center around presidents.  These are the presidents that we’ll be learning about during April.

Thomas Jefferson  April 13, 1743

James Buchanan  April 23, 1791

Ulysses S. Grant   April 27, 1822

James Monroe April 28 1758

This link takes you to the resource list of what we use as we learn about a president.  https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2014/02/14/resources-for-presidents-day/

And cake!  Baking and decorating cakes or cupcakes to eat while studying makes lessons delicious.  We like this site for online baking classes.  The 3 cake decorating pdfs are wonderful guides.  http://www.kingarthurflour.com/baking/online-baking-classes.html

Of course everyday is historic and special somehow but we think birthdays are the best!

betty jo