What We Studied

A fairly normal week for us. We covered a decent amount of work, and had an outing between it got really cold again.

Literature and Poetry

We continued our new read aloud. There’s a dragon, a journey, and a collection of folklore stories. I’m digging it. After a rocky first few chapters, Arthur become invested when the dragon appeared.

• The New Kid on the Block by Jack Prelutsky

• Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

• Fact vs. Opinions vs. Robots by Michael Rex

Math

Arthur worked through the end of 3B Unit 7 about capacity. And we covered Unit 8 about money. Basic addition and subtraction. Both boys also begged to do some Khan Academy math, so we covered that

• Logic Liftoff

Social Studies

This chapter of History Quest focused on the Yuan and Ming Dynasties in China. We already covered Marco Polo’s travels a few chapters ago, but we remet him again and his involvement with Kublai Khan.

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• When on Earth

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• Kublai Khan, The Emperor of Everything by Kathleen Krull

• No Year of the Cat by Mary Dodson Wade

• Ancient China by Brian Williams

Arthur Independent Time

To allow for one-on-one time with Quentin, I have added an hour of independent work time for Arthur. Each week, he will have a mix of packet work (mostly grammar and math review), independent reading time, and special projects. Many of his projects will be aligned with our literature selections (some taken from B&R Language Arts curriculum) and history.

Science and STEAM Coop

For science, we did a bit more of a weather unit and kept tracking the weather throughout the week. In coop, I taught the older kids about climate change. We made greenhouse gas molecules out of gumdrops and toothpicks and talked about ways that we could combat climate change.

• Climate Change and Rising Temperatures by Kevin Kurtz

• The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge by Joanna Cole

• Stand Up! Speak Out! A Story Inspired by the Climate Change Revolution by Andrew Joyner

We also covered more about emotions and various socio-emotional states and strategies. We’ll be finishing this unit next week.

• Rock n Roll Soul by Susan Verde

• Good People Everywhere by Lynea Gillen

• What Does It Mean to Be Present? by Rana DiOrio

• Try a Little Kindness by Henry Cole

• Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller

• Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson

• Incredible You! by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

• What Were You Thinking? by Bryan Smith

• You Get What You Get by Julie Gassman

Art/Music

None this week

Quentin

I have scheduled at least four 1-hour time blocks for one-on-one time with Quentin. I bought Blossom and Root’s Early Years Volume 2 curriculum to use as our base. I love the variety of activities and some of the bigger projects included. Q finished Sh, Ch, and Th digraphs and started moving into Level 1 readers. We kept working on math skills and pencil control.

ELA

• Biscuit Phonics Books

• Saturday by Oge Mora

• Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña

Math

• Lollipop Logic Book 1

Other

• Big and Little: A Story of Opposites by Cheryl Pilgrim

• When the Snow is Deeper Than My Boots are Tall by Jean Reidy

• Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner

Field Trip

On Monday we took a walk at the OPPD Arboretum. We invited our coop friends, but no one could actually make it. Still, we had a lovely walk enjoying the park in wintertime. Another hour for our 1000 Hour Outside challenge!

On Tuesday, we had a virtual field trip with the National Weather Service. The presenter did a great job teaching the kiddos and dealing with all the interruptions that come from smaller children on zoom. The presentation covered a lot of the information we covered in coop last week and there was time for questions.

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. We watched two different documentaries this week. For history, we watch NOVA S44 E15 Secrets of the Forbidden City. For science, we watched NOVA S49 E5 Arctic Sinkholes.

Misc. Picture Books Read

• Oops Pounce Quick Run! An Alphabet Caper by Mike Twohy

• Except Antarctica by Todd Sturgell

• A House that Once Was by Julia Fogliano

• The Smart Cookie by Jory John

• Seeds Move by Robin Page

High

• Another outdoor walk really helped all our moods. No one else joined us, but we still enjoyed a lovely hour at the OPPD Arboretum. It was nice to see the park in the winter as last time we were there it was 95 degrees and late summer.

Low

• By the end of the week, attitudes has taken a downward trajectory. I don’t think the boys are getting enough sleep. We’re trying to push up their bedtime, but they are resisting…

Next Week

• Starting 3B Unit 9 for math

• Finishing reading Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

• Changing our plans to have Black History theme for coop at our house.

• Covering the Age of Exploration for history

• Getting acquainted with Renoir for art (didn’t get to it this past week)

• Working on phonics for Quentin

• Hoping to spend more hours outside

Next up on the TBR pile: