What We Studied

After the whirlwind that was August, September, and October, we hit November and everything slowed down. So so helpful for us. We grabbed a few minutes to breath before diving back into curriculum. (The fact that the election was this week really solidified the need to slow down and take a breath.) As such, I didn’t take many photos this week. We focused on our pace and tried to incorporate our usual activities.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We started our new read aloud that is an intriguing fantasy. I cannot wait to see where this story goes. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

• Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg

• The Goblin’s Puzzle by Andrew Chilton

Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. Monday we wrapped up our spooky season reading with a collection of books about an imaginary monster. On Tuesday, we moved onto a classic read.

• Poetry: The Alligator's Smile and Other Poems by Jane Yolen

• How I Met My Monster by Amanda Noll

• Hey, That's My Monster by Amanda Noll

• I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll

• The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

• Write Shop B

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. Arthur finished a chapter on rates, ready to move onto percents. We also finished the Financial Literacy G5 boo.

• Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

• EM Financial Literacy G5

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. He started with the lessons in 2B. I imagine that we will be slowing working through that this semester. Q started the last chapter in 2B, a chapter on geometry. We’re slowing working through it and will finish next week.

• Primarily Logic

• Singapore Primary Common Core 2B

• EM Financial Literacy G2

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We covered the section on Natives and Colonists in North America. Most of this chapter was a review for Arthur, but it was good to review and learn about it from a different perspective.

• Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK A Child Through Time

• Brave Wolf and the Thunderbird: Tales of the People by Joseph Medicine Crow

• The People Shall Continue by Simon J Ortiz

• Spanish Missions (A True Book) by John Perritano

• Samuel de Champlain by Liz Sonneborn

• Explore with Samuel de Champlain by Cynthia O'Brien

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 supporting. We moved onto a chapter covering the ancient Khmer Empire.

• History Quest Middle Times

• DK When on Earth?

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK A Child Through Time

• Kingfisher Atlas of the Medieval World

• DK Explorers

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall semester course, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. Arthur covered the nervous system during co-op. We supplemented with some extra materials at home. Specifically we covered Blossom and Root’s Bookseed about Gregor Mendel. We finished watching the documentary series One Strange Rock. We all really enjoyed this series.

• RSO Biology 1

• The Smallest Spot of a Dot: The Little Ways We're Different, The Big Ways We're the Same by Lindsey Davis and Michael Tyler

• Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas by Cheryl Bardoe

• Remembering Rosalind Franklin by Tanya Lee Stone

• The Code of Life: All About Genes, DNA, Genetic Engineering, and Why You are the Way You Are by Carla Hafner

• Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. Q covered earthquakes and volcanoes. We are ready to switch gears slightly to tackle Blossom and Root’s Prehistory Unit.

• RSO Earth and Environment

• DK First Earth Encyclopedia

• Earth by Quinn M. Arnold

• From a Super Continent to Seven: The Pangaea and the Continental Drift

• First Earth Encyclopedia 18-19

• Plate Tectonics Lab 3: Forces that Shape Earth - Earthquakes

• Fault Lines and Tectonic Plates by Kathleen M. Reilly

• Geo Detectives: Volcanoes and Earthquakes by Anita Ganeri

• Danger! Earthquakes by Seymour Simon

• The Magic School Bus Presents Volcanoes and Earthquakes

• Zhang Heng and the Incredible Earthquake Detector by Randel McGee

• Nat Geo Kids Volcanoes

• Volcanoes by Gail Gibbons

• The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top by Joanna Cole

• Danger! Volcanoes by Seymour Simon

• Muse Magazine: Eruption

• When Plant Earth was New by James Gladstone

Academic Co-op

For math, Arthur covered equivalent fractions. They even got to make trail mix for a practical application. In biology, they covered the nervous system. In civics, we covered the election results and the electoral college. And the kids continued their election project.

Art and Music

Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. And I will incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies. We covered a Harbor + Sprout module about Art in Nature.

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. We got back to music covering Jimi Hendrix. He wasn’t their favorite, but it was an interesting exploration.

• Music Lab: We Rock!

• DK Music and How it Works

• DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

On Friday, we traveled to Lincoln to visit Morrill Hall for exploration and a presentation. Q’s group (the younger kids) saw a show about the Sun, Earth, and Moon system. Arthur’s group saw a show about how light enters our eyes. So an astronomy focus and a biology focus for the day. In between and opposite of the showings, we explored the museum. It was a very cold and rainy day, but perfect one to be inside a museum.

High

Wednesday was such a tough day in our house. I did force us to get outside and enjoy the sunshine just a bit. And we met up with some friends at the park, so extra perk.

Low

The election results really really brought us down.

Next Week

• Continuing our read alouds

• Finishing our next math chapters, Q finishing 2B

• Potentially Q starting an online language arts supplement

• Completing our homework (A) from co-op

• Learning about Britain and Ireland (A) and prehistory (Q) for history

• Listening to Pink Floyd and more for music

• Visiting Joslyn for some art time

Next up on the TBR pile: