Homeschool W5: It was Apple Week!

What We Studied

Literature and Poetry

We had fun reading and attempting the cases in Encyclopedia Brown’s first story collection. Arthur enjoyed the stories but was less interested in actually solving the cases. We started a new poem collection filled with fun short poems. We’ll be continuing this collection next week.

• Encyclopedia Brown by Donald Sobol

• Hey You! Poems to Skyscrapers, Mosquitos, and Other Fun Things

Math

As we finished 1A last week, we took this week to play some math games and do some Khan Academy lessons. The favorite part was playing with tannegrams on Monday.

Social Studies

The first part of the week we focused on the Native American tribes of the Northeast before European contact. We read some classic tales, watched some videos, and learned about various tribes and their cultures. On Wednesday, we watched the first episode of the PBS documentary Native America. Although it focused on the cultures of the Southwest and Mesoamerica, we still learned a lot. I can’t wait to watch the rest of the series over the next couple of weeks.

• First Nations of North America: Northeast Indians

• Children of Native America Today

• Skywoman by Joanne Shenandoah

• Rabbit’s Snow Dance by James and Joseph Bruchac

• The Iroquois by Danielle Smith-Llera

• The Iroquois by Emily J. Dolbear

• The Iroquois by KaaVonia Hinton

• Hiawatha Messenger of Peace by Dennis Brindell Fradin

• D is for Drum by Debbie and Michael Shoulders

• Song of the Hermit Thrush by Gloria Dominic

• Bowwow Powwow by Brenda J. Child

The second half of the week we started our continent study. First up: Africa! We learned about the African geography, some traditional stories, and the animals. My favorite part was learning about a few of the natural wonders of the continent.

• Here is the African Savanna by Madeleine Dunphy

• A is for Africa by Ifeoma Onyefulu

• Africa by Mary Lindeen

• African Culture

• Wangari’s Trees of Peace by Jeanette Winter

• The Spider Weaver by Margaret Musgrove

• Anansi the Spider by Gerald McDermott

• Zomo the Rabbit by Gerald McDermott

• The Amazing African Animal Alphabet by Kristina Jones

• The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks by Verna Aardema

• Anansi Does the Impossible by Verna Aardema

Science

We had a bit of a light science week. We started with a study of ecosystems and habitats. Thankfully Magic School Bus had two great episodes about ecosystems and habitats to reinforce our learning. Later in the week we started Blossom and Root’s Book Seed about Mary Anning. I do so love learning about women scientists.

• Mary Annin and the Sea Dragon by Jeannine Atkins

Art

No formal art lessons this week. All of our projects were tied to our unit theme or social studies.

Music

Our composer for the week was Johann Sebastian Bach. Arthur still prefers Beethoven, but I love Bach. Beyond our usual composer podcasts and listening journal, we did a special music lesson on Wednesday. We listened to Camille Saint-Saen’s The Carnival of the Animals and drew the animals we heard in each movement.

• The Carnival of the Animals Jack Prelutsky

Nature Play Day

As it was apple week, most of our nature play activities focused on apples. We did an apple taste, investigated an apple, stamped with apples, made a coffee filter apple, and ____. It was raining on Wednesday so we skipped our outdoor hike.

• Apple Harvest by Jenna Lee Gleisner

• Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss

• The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall

Unit Theme - Apples

I thought the second week of September would be the perfect week to learn about apples. The fresh vs. frozen apples experiment was a lot of fun even if we didn’t actually eat the frozen one. It was disgusting… Beyond the experiment, we read a ton of apple themed books and did a deeper dive into the life of Johnny Appleseed.

• How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman

• The Apple Doll by Elisa Kleven

• From Apple Trees to Cider Please by Felicia Sanzari Chernesky

• Bad Apple by Edward Hemingway

• Our Apple Tree by Gorel Kristina Naslund

• The Apple Orchard Riddle by Margaret McNamara

• The Apple Pie that Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson

• Johnny Appleseed Plants Trees Across the Land by Eric Braun

• 12 Amazing American Myths and Legends

• Johnny Appleseed by Jane Yolen

• A is for Autumn by Robert Maass

Misc. - Random picture books read

• The Piano by Marika Maijala and Juha Virta

• Good Morning City by Pat Kiernan

• Welcome Home Bear by Il Sung Na

• The Ocean in Your Bathtub by Seth Fishman

• Beautiful by Stacy McAnulty

• The Hike by Alison Farrell

• Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg

• Silent Kay and the Dragon by Larry Dane Brimner

• The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt

• Math Fables Too by Greg Tang

Highs

• We listened to great podcasts this week including the end of the Gilgamesh series, WOW in the World, and multiple Dr. Floyd episodes.

• Quentin loves doing his school work! Guess I need to print more.

Lows

• Arthur had a few attitude moments throughout the week. We are working on good attitudes and asking for help when frustrated instead of breaking down.

Next Week

Depending on the situation, we may be taking a few days off this coming week. Things are very much up in the air right now. I do have W6 and W7 already planned out if I need it. We are going to focus on Egypt, Deserts, Fall and Leaves, and the Southwest Native American tribes.

Next up on the TBR pile: