What We Studied

We settled into a calm and relaxed week of school. We didn’t run around everywhere, but focused on a few activities with our coop friends

Literature and Poetry

We finished Howl’s Moving Castle as our main read aloud. We even watched the movie version for family movie night on Friday. Arthur really enjoyed the book and the movie. We finished our current book club book just in time to join in the meeting. The kids had a lovely evening chatting about the book. We also started the next book club selection.

Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry
In the Beginning by Virginia Hamilton
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

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 continued Europe and covered stories from the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry
A World Full of Animal Stories by Angela McAllister
Around the World in 80 Days by Saviour Pirotta
Fox the Tiger by Corey R. Tabor (Quentin Reads)
Fox Versus Winter by Corey R. Tabor (Quentin reads)
Nat Geo Kids Halloween by Laura Marsh
The Littlest Mummy by Brandi Dougherty
The Littlest Witch by Brandi Dougherty
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams
Ten Timid Ghosts by Jennifer O'Connell
Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
Trick or Treat Crankenstein by Samantha Berger
Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola
Bonaparte Falls Apart by Margery Cuyler
Miss Turie's Magic Creatures by Joy Keller
Frankenslime by Joy Keller
Back to School with Bigfoot by Samantha Berger
Jamie O'Rourke and the Pooka by Tomie dePaola
Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato by Tomie dePaola
Fiona's Lace by Patricia Polacco
Finn McCoul by Brian Gleeson
The Irish Cinderlad by Shirley Climo
Ronan and the Mermaid by Marianne McShane
An Illustrated Treasury of Scottish Mythical Creatures
Katie in London by James Mayhew
The Teeny-Tiny Woman by Paul Galdone
Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow by Robert D. San Souci
The Great Smelly, Slobbery, Small-Tooth Dog by Margaret Read MacDonald
The Woman Who Flummoxed the Fairies by Heather Forest
The Black Bull of Norroway by Charlotte Huck
An Illustrated Treasury of Scottish Mythical Creatures by Theresa Breslin
An Illustrated Treasury of Scottish Fairy Tales by Theresa Breslin
An Illustrated Treasury of Scottish Castle Legends by Theresa Breslin

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). Arthur officially finished 4A. We we probably take a small break before starting in on 4B. To celebrate Halloween, we graphed out our category into a variety of categories. The boys had fun.

Logic Liftoff (Arthur)
Singapore 4A
Lollipop Logic Book 2 (Quentin)
Smart Start Math Grade 1

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 covered the founding of the rest of the English colonies.

A Kid’s Guide to Native American History by Yvonne Wakim Dennis
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
We were There Too by Philip Hoose
Words that Built a Nation
History Quest: U.S. History
DK American History Visual Encyclopedia

Quentin continued his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. We moved onto studying England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

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
S is for Shamrock: An Ireland Alphabet by Eve Bunting
Follow Me Around: Ireland by Wiley Blevins
Whole Wide World: Big Ben by Kristine Spanier
Follow Me Around: United Kingdom by Wiley Blevins
Edinburgh Castle by Grace Hansen

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 rest of wheels and axles.

RSO Physics
The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way by Joy Hakim
The Way Things Work Now

Quentin will be focusing on animal science with BYL Level 0. We did just a little overview of the animals of Europe.

Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas
DK Animal
Lonely Planet: The Animal Book
The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

STEAM Coop

We’re back to coop after our absence week. Arthur caught up with genetics and Quentin studied anatomy. We had our last 70 degree day of the year (probably), so we had a great meeting at the park. We probably won’t be back out until late spring.

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’s animal was a panther.

Field Trip

We didn’t have a field trip this week Instead, we had other activities to occupy our time. On Monday, we had the Coop Halloween Party at the park. The kids got to trick or treat and make some crafts. On Tuesday evening, we had coop book club. Many of the families had not finished the book, but we still ha da good discussion. We also picked our selections for the next six months.