What We Studied
Literature and Poetry
Our read aloud this week was Home Price by Robert McCloskey. I had never read it, but the collection of stories appeared on many a First Grade reading list. Overall we really liked the six stories of Homer’s adventures in and around Centerburg, Ohio. I liked the story about doughnuts the best.
For poetry, we read I am Someone Else: Poems About Pretending
Homer Price by Robert McCloskey
I am Someone Else: Poems About Pretending collected by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Math
Arthur officially finished Singapore Math 1A this week. It was mostly a big review for him, but review is always a good idea before moving forward. We are going to do some math projects next week before starting 1B. I also bought 2A and 2B as I imagine that 1B will not last for the rest of the year. On Friday we read a fun measuring book and made a poster.
Me and the Measure of Things by Joan Sweeney
Social Studies
I rearranged our schedule a bit and we covered History Quest Ch. 3 Civilizations Begin and Ch. 4 Sumer this week instead of breaking it into two different weeks. So we covered Mesopotamia and Sumer including cuneiform, King Sargon, ziggurats, and the Epic of Gilgamesh. For our night reading, we read Lugalbanda retold by Kathy Henderson which is a translated and retold version of an ancient story. Arthur loved making a cuneiform tablet and a ziggurat out of Legos.
Technology of the Ancients: The Mesopotamians by Wil Mara
Picturing the Past Mesopotamia Iraq in Ancient Times by Peter Chrisp
Ancients in Their Own Words Mesopotamians by Michael Kerrigan
Lugalbanda retold by Kathy Henderson
Hands-on History Mesopotamia by Lorna Oakes
Lost Cities by Neil Morris
Sunset of the Sabertooth by Mary Pope Osborne (Magic Tree House night reading selection)
Science
We did some free exploration early in the week. We also did a bit of review of animal classifications. On Friday, we did a mini unit on growing food in the cities using Heroes of the Environment Ch. 1 . Arthur is now convinced that we need to create an entire backyard garden. First we need to replace the deck and re-landscape the backyard. Maybe in two years…
Watch Me Grow by Deborah Hodge
Grow! Raise! Catch! How We Get Our Food by Shelley Rotner
The Children’s Garden by Carole Lexa Schaefer
Art
Beyond doing some projects relating to our nature play, we did a mini study of Leonardo da Vinci on Friday. We read some books about him, looked at his works, modernized the Mona Lisa, and watched a few NOVA episodes about his works (S39E4 and S46E21 in case you were wondering). Arthur decided to recreate the painting in question from the NOVA episode. He drew and colored then cut it out, pasted to a cream piece of cardstock, and then added it to a yellow paper “frame.” Very inventive!
Neo Leo: The Ageless Ideas of Leonardo da Vinci by Gene Barretta
Leonardo da Vinci biography by Mike Venezia
Steal Back the Mona Lisa by Meghan McCarthy
If da Vinci Painted a Dinosaur by Amy Newbold
Fly Kite Fly: A Story of Leonardo and a Bird Catcher by John Winch
Music
Our Classics for Kids composer for the week was Johannes Brahms. Arthur liked his music, but prefers Beethoven. There were only four Brahms episodes, so on Friday we read a book about musical instruments and the orchestra.
The Story of the Incredibly Orchestra by Bruce Koscielniak
Nature Play Day
We had another fun nature play day with our friends. We made some cotton swab paintings, baking soda and vinegar creations, a large collaborative drawing, and sun prints outdoors. We also created some animals tracks in the play sand and read a few books about animal tracks. We wrapped up our morning with a few Doreen Cronin books and an epic snack lunch!
Step by Step by Loreen Leedy
Unit Theme
We picked author Doreen Cronin for our weekly theme. We checked out almost all of her books and read them throughout the day. I found some fun little puzzle pages to go with some and some ELA pages to go with others. Arthur’s favorite was Diary of a Worm.
Duck for President
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type
Click, Clack, Moo: I Love You!
Click, Clack, Ho, Ho, Ho
Click, Clack, Surprise!
Click, Clack, Quack to School
Giggle, Giggle, Quack
Dooby Dooby Moo
Duck Stays in the Truck
Pool Party
Click, Clack, Boo!
Diary of a Worm
Diary of a Spider
Diary of a Fly
Boom Snot Twitty
Click, Clack, Peep!
Click, Clack, ABC
Smick!
Rescue Bunnies
Bloom
Bounce
Stretch
Wiggle
Misc. - Random picture books read
P is for Pterodactyl by Raji Haldar and Christ Carpenter
Maybe Something Beautiful by F. Isabel Campoy
Finding Shortest and Longest by Amy Rauen
Bug in a Vacuum by Melanie Watt
Ol’ Mama Squirrel by David Ezra Stein
Over and Under the Pond by Kate Messner
Highs
Finished The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd S1 podcast and started S2. Arthur is really enjoying this old-style radio play.
Arthur requested multiple NOVA episodes to watch throughout this week. We watched one on the Secrets of Stonehenge, one about an Ice Age Death Trap, one about the last extinction (ice age), and two about Leonardo Da Vinci and his works.
Lows
Grocery store weeks really throw off our schedule. Because of COVID, I don’t take the kids to the store with me. Which means that I need to leave with J and he needs to be somewhat available to monitor the kids. So mornings are my only real option. I rush out and hit multiple stores to stock up for two weeks. Add in that we don’t get takeout that often and I make three meals a day plus snacks, I’m buying a lot of food each trip. This takes up the entire morning, meaning no real school work is done. Arthur is not independent enough to do things without me monitoring…
Next Week
We are going to read Encyclopedia Brown next week (the first volume). I’m certain Arthur is going to love the mysteries. We are going to spend a week doing math projects instead of starting the next textbook. For history, we are going to switch gears and start A River of Voices (U.S. History) and then do a continent study for Africa. Our science unit includes starting the Blossom and Root Book Seed: Mary Anning. I foresee some dinosaur and fossil related activities for the next two weeks. Our weekly theme will be apples. I can’t wait!
Next up on the TBR pile:
