What We Studied
While we took time off for Thanksgiving and a bit of a break, we did end up having school Monday and Tuesday, and a bit on Wednesday. The kids benefit from structure and routine, so we kept at time albeit at a relaxed pace.
Literature and Poetry
We finished reading our collections of African folktales before starting our next read aloud, The Wind in the Willows. We also covered a few picture book studies.
A Pride of African Folktales by Donna L. Washington
Dinosaur Dinner (with a Slice of Alligator Pie) by Dennis Lee (poems)
Wake Up House! Rooms Full of Poems by Dee Lillegard
Enemy Pie by Derek Munson
The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Math
We focused on some math puzzles this week. Both boys progressed in the Khan Academy math program. Arthur also did some multiplication and division practice during independent time. And Quentin got to play some math board games.
Singapore Math Common Core Edition 3A
Primarily Logic
Social Studies
None this week
Arthur Independent Time
To allow for one-on-one time with Quentin, I have added an hour of independent work time for Arthur. Each week, he will have a mix of packet work (mostly grammar and math review), independent reading time, and special projects. Many of his projects will be aligned with our literature selections (some taken from B&R Language Arts curriculum) and history. This week, he focused on packet work and some random building projects.
Science and STEAM Coop
Continuing with our Dinosaur unit from Blossom and Root! We covered Pterosaurs, Mesozoic Mammals, and Marine Reptiles.
Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian
Monster Fliers: From the Time of the Dinosaurs by Elizabeth MacLeod
Beyond the Dinosaurs: Monsters of the Air and Sea by Charlotte Lewis Brown
DK Find Out
Life: The First Four Billion Years by Martin Jenkins
Dinosaurium by Chris Wormell and Lily Murray
DK Dinosaur
DK Where in Earth? Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Life
Dinosaur Bones
When the Whales Walked and Other Incredibly Evolutionary Journeys by Dougal Dixon
Giant Sea Reptiles of the Dinosaurs Age by Caroline Arnold
Art/Music
Nothing this week
Quentin
I have scheduled at least four 1-hour time blocks for one-on-one time with Quentin. I bought Blossom and Root’s Early Years Volume 2 curriculum to use as our base. I love the variety of activities and some of the bigger projects included. This week was all about reading and playing games.
ELA
The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
Why Mosquitos Buzz in People’s Ears by Verna Aardema
High Five Magazine
Math
Other
Field Trip
No field trips this week on account of it being Thanksgiving week.
Documentary Selection
I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. We didn’t actually watch anything this week, but made up for it by all the PBS Eons videos for our dinosaur unit.
Misc. - Random picture books read
20 Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street by Mark Lee
The Little Auto by Lois Lenski
Chester’s Masterpiece by Mélanie Watt
The Gold Leaf by Kirsten Hall
Vamos! Let’s Cross the Bridge by Raúl the Third
Go, Go Trucks! by Jennifer Liberts
The Artists by Canles Porta
Monster Trucks by Anika Denise
Dinosaurs in Disguise by Stephen Krensky
The Luckiest Snowball by Elliot Kreloff
High
Arthur spent an entire morning and most of an afternoon creating a solar powered robot.
Low
Too many days off from school has created a bit of a lazy attitude. We need to get back to our routine.
Next Week
Continuing to read The Wind in the Willows
Moving back to Europe for history
Playing more math games and puzzles
Reviewing the alphabet (for Quentin)
Moving forward in time for the Dinosaur Unit
Covering robots and engineering for coop
Next up on the TBR pile:
