What We Studied

After the epic birthday party weekend, we decided to have a very chill week. We went minimal places and didn’t go so heavy on the schoolwork. It was nice to have a bit of a break from everything. We still managed to get some work and lots of reading done.

Literature and Poetry

We finished The Wild Robot Escapes (oh so good) and paused before our next read aloud choice. We have been reading a collection of scary stories before bed each night.

• The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown

• Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry

• In the Beginning by Virginia Hamilton

• Poetry for Young People: Robert Frost

• The Cabinet of Curiosities

Quentin focused on reading animal stories from around the world. I’m trying to line them up with our continents as we move across the world. We wrapped up South America. We also started and finished the first book in the My Father’s Dragon series. Q really liked it, so we plan on reading the next two volumes over the next two weeks.

• Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry

• A World Full of Animal Stories by Angela McAllister

• Around the World in 80 Days by Saviour Pirotta

• My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett

• Fox at Night by Corey R. Tabor (Q reads)

• Captain Cat Goes to Mars by Emma J. Virján (Q reads)

• Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss (Q reads)

• Bunny Will Not Jump! by Jason Tharp (Q Reads)

• Bunny Will Not Smile by Jason Tharp (Q Reads)

Math

For both boys, we have scheduled math for three days a week. One day is focused on logic, games, puzzles, and special projects. The two other days are focused on covering the main math curriculum (Singapore 4A and 4B for Arthur and Singapore 1A and 1B for Quentin). We played a lot of math packet catch-up this week. We had been pushing hard and it was nice to slow down a bit and work on mastery of skills.

• Logic Liftoff (Arthur)

• Singapore 4A

• Lollipop Logic Book 2 (Quentin)

Social Studies

Arthur continued his large study of United States history using a combination of Build Your Library Level 5 and History Quest United States History. We paused on the larger history timeline to finish reading a historical fiction book about the founding of James Town.

• A Kid’s Guide to Native American History by Yvonne Wakim Dennis

• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

• Turtle Island: The Story of North America’s First People by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger

• What the Eagle Sees: Indigenous Stories of Rebellion and Renewal by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger

• We were There Too by Philip Hoose

• History Quest: U.S. History

• DK American History Visual Encyclopedia

• Blood on the Water: James Town 1607 by Elisa Carbone

Quentin continued his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. We finished our study of South America. Next up is Europe.

• Nat Geo Beginner’s World Atlas

• DK Countries of the World

• DK Children Just Like Me

• DK Children Just Like Me; A School Like Mine

• Mia’s Story by Michael Foreman

• Ada's Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay by Susan Hood

• The Magic Bean Tree: A Legend from Argentina by Nancy Van Laan

• Abuelo by Arthur Dorros

Arthur Independent Time

We are working on following a checklist in a planner for weekly independent work. There’s usually some math workbook pages, an ELA packet, weekly writing prompts (1-2 times a week), independent reading time, and a special creative project. There has been many drawing projects lately.

Science

Arthur is focusing on Physics this year. We are covering the text and related videos at home and then joining friends for experiments and extra projects. We covered the sections about levers and made a few levers.

• RSO Physics

• The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way by Joy Hakim

• Levers by Sally M. Walker

Quentin will be focusing on animal science with BYL Level 0. We talked a lot about the southern part of South America and the animals who live there. We also continued reading our true book about wild animals.

• Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas

• DK Animal

• Lonely Planet: The Animal Book

• The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

STEAM Coop

The older class continued their telecommunications theme. They finally learned about the internet and wireless communication. Quentin’s class focused on the structure of our government. They got to vote on some issues and see democracy in action.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking

We’re planning one doing on art project and one cooking project each week as well as picking a composer or musician to listen to and enjoy. This week music just didn’t happen. But that’s okay. Arthur’s continued with the Outschool drawing class. This week they made a picture of a gazelle. He even decided to trace over the lines in marker and then color it a bit afterward. Love it!

Field Trip

None this week for us

High

• The quiet time was nice

Low

• Sad to miss out on the homeschool fall dance on Thursday, but the boys really were not feeling it. Hopefully the organizer does it again in spring. We would definitely attend!

Next Week

• Starting Howl’s Moving Castle (A)

• Moving to the Pilgrims for US History (A)

• Finishing levers for Physics (A)

• Introducing Europe for social studies and science (Q)

• Continuing to read the My Father’s Dragon series (Q)

• Traveling to Nebraska City for Arbor Day Farm field trip

• Getting out to Vala’s (with J) at least once this week

• Covering telecommunications, one last class, (A) and government (Q) for coop

Next up on the TBR pile: