What We Studied

I love Halloween! So, we embraced the spooky season with our activities this week.

Literature and Poetry

We started The Magician’s Nephew, the first book of the Chronicles of Narnia. I’ve never actually read this one. We’re halfway through and I’m loving this one! It answers so many questions about Narnia and the White Witch. Excited to finish this one next week! For poetry, we read a collection of spooky nursery rhymes.

The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis
Mother Ghost by Rachel Kolar

Math

We finished the last unit in Singapore Math 1B. The unit was about money. Mostly a review for Arthur. In reviewing our math curriculum so far, I’ve identified a few areas to review and increase fluency. We are going to take a break before starting 2A. We’re going to do a big review filled with puzzles and math games. Plus, I’m thinking of adding a small coding unit to start Arthur on coding lessons.

Social Studies

We covered ancient Persia, the Hebrews, and Phoenicians for world history this week. I had a hard time finding elementary-appropriate info about those groups that didn’t cross the line in a racist approach or a Judeo-Christian centered approach. I ended up doing shorter lessons on these and focused on their accomplishments.

Ancient Persia by Don Nardo
Eyewitness: Bible Lands by Jonathan N. Tubb

Science

Our week was a bit of catch-up and getting a start on a new unit. We did a mini lesson on living things, dissected an owl pellet, and did a pumpkin investigation. On Friday, we started out Blossom and Root Book Seed about John Muir. Next week we are going to do a National Parks research project, so today’s lesson was all about doing sone introduction. We also started the first episode of the PBS documentary: National Parks (by Ken Burns). We’ll be sprinkling the documentary in hour segments throughout next week. (It’s perfect viewing for when I’m on the treadmill.)

John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall by Julie Danneberg
M is for Majestic by David Domeniconi
The 12 Most Amazing American Natural Wonders by Rebecca Rowell

Art

We covered two famous artist this week: Hokusai and Claude Monet. I found a great short video from Christie’s on YouTube about how Hokusai created The Great Wave. Arthur loved seeing a modern artist create a woodblock picture. For Monet, we review his paintings and his life and talked about our favorites. Arthur really loved the Haystacks series.

Hokusai: The Man Who Painted a Mountain by Deborah Kogan Ray
Hokusai: Genius of the Japanese Ukiyo-e by Seiji Nagata (adult art book; we flipped through to highlight the art)
Monet Paints a Day by Julie Dannenberg
Claude Monet Biography by Alix Wood
If Monet Paints a Monster by Amy Newbold

Music

Our composer was Igor Stravinsky. I like Stravinsky’s unusual sound. Arthur wasn’t the biggest fan.

Nature Play Day

None this week as our friends were sick. And we are probably stopping this as a few circumstances have changed.

Unit Theme

It’s Halloween week! Of course our book stack and activities were all Halloween themed. I love this season so much! We also did a science experiment with dissolving candy corn and tried to build a candy corn tower.

Seven Orange Pumpkins by Stephen Savage
Bats at the Beach by Brian Lies
The 12 Days of Halloween by Jenna Lettice
The Bake Shop Ghost by Jacqueline K. Ogburn
Ghost Cat by Eve Bunting
The Halloween Tree by Susan Montanari
Pumpkin Orange, Pumpkin Round by Rosanna Battigelli
Ready, Steady, Ghost by Elizabeth Baguley
Only a Witch Can Fly by Alison McGhee
Pumpkin Countdown by Joan Holub
The 13 Days of Halloween by Carol Greene
J is for Jack-O-Lantern by Denise Brennan-Nelson
The Witch with a Twitch by Layn Marlow
Trick or Treat by Debbie Leppanen
Black Cat Creeping by Teddy Slater
Teeny Tiny Ghost by Rachel Matson
The Too-Scary Story by Bethanie Deeney Murguia
Lost Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes
Black Cat, White Cat by Silvia Borando
Frankencrayon by Michael Hall
Trick-or-Treat by Debbie Leppanen
Halloween Hats by Elizabeth Winthrop
Pug & Pig Trick-or-Treat by Sue Lowell Gallion
T. Rex Trick-or-Treats by Lois G. Grambling
Turkey Trick or Treat by Wendi Silvano
Runaway Pumpkins by Teresa Bateman
Boo Haiku by Deanna Caswell and Bob Shea
How to Scare a Ghost by Jean Reagan
I am a Witch’s Cat by Harriet Muncaster

Misc. - Random picture books read - Non as they all related to a subject or Halloween.

Highs

I love spooky season!
We got our hands dirty for science and it was fun.
I loved all our Halloween picture books. We found some great ones to read.

Lows

Our schedule was very wonky this week with HVAC install, grocery, and various appointments. Too much!
Sad that we have to discontinue our nature play day with friends.

Next Week

We’re switching back to U.S. History to cover the early English colonies as well as Native groups of the Southeast. We’ll continue our study of the National Parks and our read-aloud.

Next up on the TBR pile: