What We Studied

Beyond our usual school work, we had multiple outings this week. We started with a park playdate with potential coop families. Monday was a windy but warm and sunny day to be at the park. We found a new-to-us park that wasn’t busy (until right at noon) and has a variety of playground structures.

On Tuesday, we joined a friend and visited the animals at a farm. It was cold and windy, but the animals were fun to meet. We got up close and personal with goats, chickens (and chicks!), horses, donkeys, a llama, and two baby sheep. One of the employees gave us some important farm lessons and even got a chick out for us to pet. The boys loved feeding the baby sheep and playing in the nature classroom. We are going back in a few weeks to see the piglets and baby ducks they are getting!

Wednesday afternoon, we braved the chilly weather to go find all the easter eggs scattered about Lauritzen Gardens. We walked down almost every path and even traveled all the way to the back gate. I didn’t even know they had a back gate. I’ve never been back that far… After finding all the eggs, we explored the fantastical fairy lands in the indoor greenhouses. I loved looking at all the fairy houses.

On Friday, I (and J) got the first COVID vaccine. Someday we might actually get to have friends over for a cookout.

Literature and Poetry

We have almost finished The One and Only Ivan. I am actually really enjoying the story. Can’t wait to see how it ends next week.

• The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Math

For math we covered Unit 7 which was multiplying and dividing by 4, 5, and 10. We also did some random math review throughout the week.

Social Studies

We went to ancient China for this week’s history lessons. Lots of great information and videos pertaining to Ancient China. Even I learned some things.

• D is for Dancing Dragon by Carol Crane

• Ancient China by Mel Friedman

• 20 Fun Facts About the Great Wall of China by Therese Shea

• Secrets of the Terracotta Army by Michael Capek

• The Ancient Chinese by Jane Shuter

Science

We counted our farm visit and garden visit as impromptu science lessons for the week.

Art

Nothing formal

Music

Our composer was Danny Elfman. I really enjoy his scores (Edward Scissorhands might be my favorite), and we listened to a few good ones for Arthur. He loved The Nightmare Before Christmas, but that’s about it. I don’t think Arthur was into appreciating music compositions this week.

Unit Theme

Instead of a unit theme this week, we just focused on Easter activities on Saturday. We colored eggs, had an egg hunt, decorated cookies, and did some games and puzzles. My favorite part was the jelly bean math. Arthur guessed that the bad held 50 jelly beans. When we counted, we found 185 jelly beans in the bag!

• Easter by Elaine Landau

• Turkey’s Eggcellent Easter by Wendi Silvano

• Here Comes the Easter Cat by Deborah Underwood

• The Littlest Easter Bunny by Brandi Doughtry

• There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick by Lucille Colandro

• How to Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace

Misc. - Random picture books read

• Bloom by Deborah Diesen

• The Best Pet of All by David LaRochelle

• 999 Frogs Wake Up by Ken Kimura

• Spring Hare by Eugene Yelchin

• Rabbit’s Spring Gift by Anita Loughrey

• The Little Gardener by Emily Hughes

• Raindrops Fall All Around by Charles Ghigna

• Hail to Spring by Charles Ghigna

• Lola Plants a Garden by Anna McQuinn

• There’s a Monster in Your Book by Tom Fletcher

• And Then It’s Spring by Julia Fogliano

• Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

• My Spring Robin by Anne Rockwell

• Good Morning, Neighbor by Davide Call

Highs

• I can’t decided between the park, the farm, and the gardens. We had so much fun during this very busy week!

Lows

• Thursday’s dental appointment took me out of commission for the day. We wasted a whole day…

Next Week

We’re back to more of a normal schedule. We do have a park playdate on Tuesday and a library visit on Thursday, but that’s it for outings. We will be studying the Byzantine Empire, Australia, rainbows, gardening, and libraries (It’s Library Week!). We will be finished The One and Only Ivan and Unit 8 in math.

Next up on the TBR pile: