What We Studied

We ended up taking a bit of a break for W24. All three of us were a bit burned out and needed to scale back our school work to reenergize. For W25, we were back to normal. All throughout, we focused on reading our read alouds and enjoying our activities.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur dove into another read aloud and enjoyed the time. We have just a little bit left to finish this week and then move into a new 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.

• My America poem collection

• Reading Explorer 1

• Sweep by Jonathan Auxier

Quentin started and finished another read aloud. And then we started our newest read aloud. He is very excited to read another Roald Dahl book. He also worked on some basic grammar with some fun books.

• Sing a Song of Seasons

• Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Math

Arthur moved onto a few lessons about finding volume of rectangles. We’re flying through the lessons. We also continued the Grade 4 Financial Literacy book. We have one more lesson to finish in there.

• Singapore Common Core 5B

• Orbiting with Logic

• Evan Moor Financial Literacy G4

Quentin continued Singapore 2A with a unit on measurements. We also finished our logic book!

• Lollipop Logic Book 3

• Singapore Common Core 2A

Social Studies

Arthur covered the beginning of World War II. We discussed the political and economic situations of various countries in the 1930s and talked about the beginnings of the war. The week ended with Pearl Harbor.

• 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

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK History

• The Great Depression and World War II by Susan E. Hamen

• Dorothy the Brave by Meghan P. Browne

Quentin continued with Rome moving into the Empire. We found a good balance of videos, textbooks, and small readings.

• 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

• Ancient Worlds

• A Journey Through Art by Aaron Rosen

• Ancient Rome by Peter Chrisp

• The Ancient Romans Cohn

• DK Eyewitness: Ancient Rome

• Stephen Biesty's Ancient World

• The Genius of the Romans

• Cleopatra by Diane Stanley

• Pompeii: Lost and Found by Mary Pope Osborne

• Pompeii... Buried Alive! by Edith Kunhardt

Science

We covered the next few lessons in chemistry. This week is a break and then we will move onto acids and bases. We made sure to read more chapters in our Story of Science book.

• 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 moving into the unit on Human Anatomy. We covered the nervous system this week.

• RSO Life

• DK Oversimple Biology

• DK Human Body

• Know and Glow Human Body

• DK Eyewitness: Human Body

• iDiscover The Body by Carolyn Scrace

• The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers: A Tour of Your Useless Parts, Flaws and Other Weird Bits by Rachel Poliquin

• Click: The Inner You

• Build a Brain by Kirsty Holmes

• The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses by Joanna Cole

STEAM Coop

Arthur continued his unit on spring growth. Their big project this week was creating a mini biome in a plastic bottle. Quentin learned about deserts and then about Emily Roebling, architect of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

We managed to fit in a few documentaries to complement our book work. Arthur watched one about the mystery of the Hindenburg. Quentin watched one about the mystery of Roman catacombs and one about the eruption of Vesuvius.

• 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

Field Trip

For my birthday day, we ventured to the zoo. I really wanted to see the new baby elephant, but he was still sequestered in the back. We did get to the see the other four babies. And we enjoyed the jungle, aquarium, giraffes, and butterfly and insect building.

High

We managed to fit in a few nature hikes. Getting outside and enjoying the signs of spring was exactly what I needed to uplift my spirits.

Low

The weather took some wild swings these last two weeks. I am not a fan.

Next Week

• Finishing our current read aloud and starting some new ones

• Moving through World War II

• Continuing our math units

• Exploring some new concepts about the periodic table

• Learning more about Ancient Rome

• Wrapping up human anatomy for science

• Traveling to Des Moines for a group field trip and visit to the arcade

Next up on the TBR pile: