What We Studied
It was a simple normal week. Nothing too out of the ordinary or special. But sometimes, that’s exactly what we need. We need the routine and the ordinary.
Literature and Poetry
We finally started the coop book club selection. It’s not exactly a favorite, but we’ll keep plugging along.
Argos by Ralph Hardy
We continued with our read aloud and will finish early next week. This has not been my favorite of our read aloud, but it has been an interesting read. I need to decide on our next one before we move on to Shakespeare.
Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry
One World, Many Religions by Mary Pope Osborne
Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson: Letters to the World by Jeanette Winter
The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis
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 started the next in the Pooh series and will be sprinkling in the stories when we don’t have a country specific book.
Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry
A World Full of Animal Stories by Angela McAllister
Around the World in 80 Days by Saviour Pirotta
The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne
Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban
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 finished 4B this week. We will be taking a break and doing a review course before moving onto 5A.
Logic Liftoff (Arthur)
Singapore 4B
Lollipop Logic Book 2 (Quentin)
Singapore 1A
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 moved onto James Monroe and John Quincy Adams. We’ll be moving onto Andrew Jackson and Indian Removal.
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
A Different Mirror
DK American History Visual Encyclopedia
Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson
Nat Geo Our Country’s Presidents
What the Eagle Sees
A is for Abigail: F for First Ladies
Smart About the First Ladies
James Monroe by Mike Venezia
Quentin continued his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. We’re continuing with our Asian country study. We covered more of Asia and moved into the Middle East. We wrapped up Asia with this week.
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
Riding a Donkey Backwards: Wise and Foolish Tales of Mulla Nasruddin retold by Sean Taylor
What About Me? by Ed Young
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. Continuing our physic study with lessons on atoms and sensors. We talked electrical circuits this week.
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 started watching a new documentary series called Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It’s a behind the scenes look at caring for the animals at the park. Each episode is less than 30 minutes, so it’s a perfect length for Q.
Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas
DK Animal
Lonely Planet: The Animal Book
The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George
STEAM Coop
Both groups started the Engineering Challenge. The big kids made houses out of various materials while the littles made bridges out of straws. The oldest group will be doing a different challenge each week.
Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary
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.
Field Trip
We had a zoo day with a few friends. We hit our favorite places and even got to see the baby elephants. The third elephant calf was born two days after our visit.
High
Friday we had lovely 3 mile hike at Schramm with some friends. It was strenuous, but it felt nice to get outside for a few hours.
Low
We attempted a mini golfing and things were very difficult. The boys were not interested in listening to my instructions or advance but kept getting frustrated by not making their shots. It was a trying afternoon.
Next Week
Finishing a new read aloud (A)
Starting a math review workbook (A)
Covering our next unit for physics
Moving to Jackson and Indian Removal for US History
Maybe planning a random outing
Joining the first Nature Explorers meeting
Next up on the TBR pile:
