What We Studied

We had a schedule with a few field trips, but those changed due to the weather. After last weekend’s storm, the temperatures dropped dramatically and didn’t recover. It was cold and the wind made it even colder.

Literature and Poetry

Finally finished Aru Shah this week and concluded our American Tall Tales unit. I really enjoyed both and I think Arthur did also.

• Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

• Poetry Outside Your Window by Nicola Davies

• When Green Becomes Tomatoes by Julie Fogliano

• American Tall Tales by Mary Pope Osborne

• The 12 Most Amazing American Myths and Legends by Anita Yasuda

• Casey Jones by Stephen Krensky

• Mike Fink by Steven Kellogg

• Pecos Bill Tames a Colossal Cyclone by Eric Braun

• Pecos Bill by Stephen Krensky

• Pecos Bill, Monster Wrangler by Benjamin Harper

• Pecos Bill Colossal Cowboy by Sean Tulien

• John Henry Vs. the Mighty Steam Drill by Carl Meister

• John Henry: An American Legend by Ezra Jack Keats

• Ain't Nothing but a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry by Scott Reynolds Nelson

• John Henry by Stephen Krensky

• John Henry, Steel-Drivin' Elf by Benjamin Harper

• Paul Bunyan by Steven Kellogg

• The Tall Tale of Paul Bunyan by Martin Powell

• The Bunyans by Audrey Wood

• Paul Bunyan's Sweetheart by Marybeth Lorbiecki

• Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Whale by Penelope Gruber

• Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox: The Great Pancake Adventure by Matt Luckhurst

• Paul Bunyan vs. Hals Halson: The Great Lumberjack Challenge! by Teresa Bateman

Math

We sped through Unit 10 about time. Really it was a big review while ago doing some more adding and subtracting time.

• Logic Countdown

Social Studies

We ended up not actually doing our history unit this week. No big deal, we’ll just push it a week. This is why I add in “break” weeks to our schedule. Gives us a lot of flexibility.

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

We didn’t have coop this week due to our scheduled break week. We’ll be back next week with our First Responders theme.

For science, we started our big Earth Science unit focusing on geography, geology, and volcanoes and earthquakes.

• When Planet Earth was New by James Gladstone

• Earth by Quinn M. Arnold

• Home on the Earth by Laura Purdie Salas

• Dirtmeister's Nitty Gritty Planet Earth by Steve Tomecek

• Stickmen's Guide to Mountains and Valleys in Layers by Catherine Chambers

• The Magic School Buss Inside the Earth by Joanna Cole

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. Quentin started his next unit on the farm. Basically that means a ton of farm themed books, some themed ELA and math pages, and a few mini crafts and projects.

ELA

• Winter Story by Jill Barklem

• On a Farm by Alexa Andrews (Q reads)

• Life on a Farm

• Farmyard Beat by Lindsey Craig

• Biscuit's Snow Day Race by Alyssa Satin Capucilli (Q reads)

• Farm by Rebecca Pettiford

• My Farm Friends by Wendell Minor

• Going to a Farm by Rebecca Rissman

• Dinosaur Farm by Penny Dale

• Busy Bug Builds a Fort by David A. Carter (Q reads)

• Song of the Wild: A First Book of Animals by Nicola Davies

• Old MicMickey Had a Farm

• I Like the Farm by Shelley Rotner

• The Farmer by Ximo Abadia

• Amara's Farm by JaNay Brown-Wood

Math

• Lollipop Logic Book 1

• Smart Start Beginning Coding Grade 1

Other

• High Five January 2018

Field Trip

The weather was not cooperating with us this week. We again got below zero a few of the days. We did venture out to the zoo on Wednesday. It was chilly, but we got to visit the elephant babies (and they were right up front!) and warm up in the jungle and the desert dome. We also had a park day on the one slightly warmer day. The boys had fun, but more importantly, I had a lovely conversation with two coop moms. (The boys also had their dentist appointments this week.)

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies.

Misc. Picture Books Read

• Letters from Bear by Gauthier David

• Snickerdoodle Takes the Cake by Ethan Long

• A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers

• The Paperboy by Dav Pilkey

• A New Green Day by Antoinette Portis

• How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers

• In the Half Room by Carson Ellis

• If I Were the Sunshine by Julie Fogliano

• The Boy with Big, Big Feelings by Britney Winn Lee

High

• Getting out to the zoo on Wednesday was delightful. We got to spend 15 minutes observing the new elephant babies. They are incredibly adorable.

Low

• Super cold temps cancelled our planned hike on Friday. I was looking forward to getting out into nature more. Thankfully, we have rescheduled for Wednesday.

Next Week

• Starting 3B Unit 11 (Data Analysis) for math

• Beginning City of the Plague God for our read aloud

• Analyzing a few picture books for literature

• Covering the Renaissance for history

• Getting acquainted with the paintings of Rosa Bonheur

• Continuing with our farm unit for Quentin

• Exploring rocks and minerals for science

Next up on the TBR pile: