What We Studied

The snow storms finally calmed down and we got back outside for some activities. Unfortunately, coop was cancelled due to a scheduling issue with the city. But we did see friends at other events and got some school work completed.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur has really gotten into our read aloud. It’s led to questions about censorship and increased interest in the other books the text mentions. In fact, our next read aloud is name dropped in the book. Beyond the actual literature, we are working on some basic grammar skills. We continued the first Reading Explorer book which focuses on reading comprehension. He also continued his Super Secret Notebook from Blossom & Root.

• Ban This Book by Alan Gratz

• Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

• My America poem collection

• Reading Explorer 1

Quentin picked up another Zoey and Sassafras book to read this week instead of the scheduled book. That’s fine by me. I’m still really focused on Quentin’s enjoyment when it comes to literature selections. We are pushing our Blossom and Root lessons out another week. He also worked on some basic grammar.

• Sing a Song of Seasons

• Zoey and Sassafras: Unicorns and Germs by Asia Citro

• Little Penguin's New Friend by Tadgh Bentley

Math

Arthur dove into 5B with a unit on Decimals. Most of it was review, but it was a good review for him. We’re flying through the lessons.

• Singapore Common Core 5B

• Orbiting with Logic

Quentin continued Singapore 2A with a big review of numbers to 1000. We also continued our logic book.

• Lollipop Logic Book 3

• Singapore Common Core 2A

Social Studies

Arthur started learning about World War I this week. We did a big overview of the conflict and talked about Woodrow Wilson. Our curriculum only spends one week on the war, but I’m going to expand it out for 2-3 weeks of topics and coverage.

• DK American History

• We were There Too! Young People in US History

• Words that Build a Nation

• Heart and Soul

• Nat Geo Our Country’s Presidents

• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States

• A Different Mirror for Young People

• This is Our Land: A History of American Immigration

Instead of a big chapter on Greece, we started reading the story of The Odyssey to ease into the topic.

• History Quest Early Times

• DK When on Earth?

• Human Wold

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK A Child Through Time

• A History of Western Art

• DK Science Year by Year

• DK Myths, Legends, and Sacred Stories

• Find the Journeys Around the World by David Long

• Tales from the Odyssey Book One by Mary Pope Osborne

Science

We were back at Chemistry class this week. They talked and explored molecules and bonds. Plus we read another chapter in our Story of Science book. This one was about alchemy.

• RSO Chemistry

• DK Super Simple Chemistry

• Story of Science Vol. 2: Newton at the Center by Joy Hakim

• DK The Elements

Quentin got back into the RSO Life curriculum and covered mammals this week.

• RSO Life

• DK Oversimple Biology

• A Mammal is an Animal by Lizzy Rockwell

• Mammals by Ann O. Squire

• About Mammals by Cathryn Sill

STEAM Coop

None this week

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

We didn’t actually cover any art or music this week. But we did manage to watch two documentaries. Arthur and I watched a NOVA episode about aviation during World War I. I learned a ton! Quentin and I were going to watch one about Ancient Greece, but the file was corrupted. Instead, we watched on about The Life of Mammals. The episode focused on marsupials. He actually paid attention to the documentary, so I’m calling it a win!

• DK Music and How it Works

• DK The Arts

• DK Art and How It Works

• Modern Art Adventures by Maja Pitamic and Jill Laidlaw

• 13 American Artists Children Should Know

• A Child's Introduction to Art

• Women in Art by Rachel Ignotofsky

• Iconic Composers by Nicholas Csicsko & Emi Ferguson

• 13 Art Movements Children Should Know

• 13 Artists Children Should Know

• 13 Modern Artists Children Should Know

• The Story of Paintings by Mick Manning & Brita Granström

• Why is Art Full of Naked People? by Susie Hodge

• Andy Warhol: Pop Art Painter by Susan Goldman Rubin

• Andy Warhol Pop Art Painter by Susan Goldman Rubin

• Uncle Andy’s by James Warhola

• Uncle Andy’s Cats by James Warhola

• Fabulous! A Portrait of Andy Warhol by Bonnie Christensen

• Art is Everywhere: A Book About Andy Warhol by Jeff Mack

• Biography Book by Mike Venezia

Field Trip

Not an organized field trip, but we did spend an entire morning at the zoo with some friends. We had actually been since December, and really since October before that, so it was nice to rediscover our favorite displays. Extra fun, there were a ton of docents out and hardly any visitors, so we got to chat with a ton of people about specific animals. The desert dome was a big hit this week. .

High (and Low)

• Coop was cancelled this week due to the city basically overruling our contract and taking the space. Very annoying! We pivoted and spent three hours playing at Backyard Playworld. Sometimes it’s really nice to just let the kids engage in free play while I get to chat with adults.

Next Week

• Finishing our current read aloud

• Continuing our World War I study for history

• Moving forward into new our math units

• Exploring some new concepts about the periodic table

• Easing into Greece with some myths and stories

• Transitioning to human anatomy for science

• Hopefully heading outside for a nature walk and field trip

Next up on the TBR pile: