What We Studied

Unfortunately weather caused us a few problems with this week and we had to cancel coop. Instead, we planned a few activities to fill our time. Coupled with a decent amount of school, and we had a good week.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur finished the last bit of our read aloud and started the next one. The new one is feeling very promising. For 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

• Amari and the Night Brothers by BB Alston

Quentin finished another read aloud. He absolutely loved Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Apparently, Dahl’s sense of whimsy and humor really appeals to him. He also worked on some basic grammar with some fun books.

• Sing a Song of Seasons

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Math

Arthur wrapped up his unit on volumes.. We’re flying through the lessons. We also finished the Grade 4 Financial Literacy book.

• Singapore Common Core 5B

• Orbiting with Logic

• Evan Moor Financial Literacy G4

Quentin took a break from Singapore to do some review math packets. I wanted a better mastery of basic arithmetic before we dove into multiplication and division.

• Singapore Common Core 2A

Social Studies

Arthur covered more of World War II. We focused on Japanese Interment and the treatment of African Americans during the war.

• 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

• Write to Me: Letters from Japanese American Children to the Librarian They Left Behind by Cynthia Grady

• Rad American History A-Z by Kate Schatz & Miriam Klein Stahl

• Fred Korematsu Speaks Up

• Chester Nez and the Unbreakable Code: A Navajo Code Talker's Story by Joseph Bruchac

Quentin finished his big unit on Rome. We had to finish out with our favorite episode of NOVA about the colosseum. Even Arthur wanted to rewatch it with us!

• 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

• Whole Wide World: Colosseum by Kristine Spanier

• 20 Fun Facts About the Colosseum by Drew Nelson

Science

We had a break week from chemistry class, so science was light this week. 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 wrapped up RSO Life’s Human Anatomy unit with a section on growth and genetics. We did a bit of big review before putting away those books. The last big section of RSO Life is all about the Plant Kingdom.

• RSO Life

• DK Oversimple Biology

• DK Human Body

• Know and Glow Human Body

• DK Eyewitness: Human Body

• iDiscover The Body by Carolyn Scrace

STEAM Coop

Coop was cancelled due to weather.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

No formal art and music this week.

• 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

On Friday, a fellow homeschooler organized a big group trip the Science Center of Iowa in Des Moines. A group of about 20 kids and parents caravanned to the museum for a few hours of exploration. We had been once about a year ago. It was fun to revisit and re-explore. We even caught a planetarium show. After the museum, most of the families headed back home. I decided to take the kids to the Monsterama Arcade for a few hours of playtime. They have been begging to go back for months. We had dinner at the attached pizza place and played until 7pm before driving back home. It made for a 12+ hour day, but it was worth it!

High

We managed to fit in a nature hike on Tuesday (just us) and an open bounce time at Bounce U on Thursday (with friends). Even with the activities, we had a good school week.

Low

Cancelling of coop created some frustration.

Next Week

• Reading more of our read aloud (A) and starting a new collection of stories (Q)

• Moving through World War II

• Continuing our math units

• Exploring some new concepts about the periodic table

• Learning more Ancient African Kingdoms

• Starting with the plant kingdom for science

• Bringing back some art and music

Next up on the TBR pile: