November 2021 Life Goals

Let’s check in on November goals and my progress.

• Read 15 Books ✓

• Plan a Fall/Halloween Party with Coop People ✓

• October Spooky Movie Month ✓

• Make Tentative Christmas Plans

• Update Christmas Lists

• Week in the Life 2021

Goals:

• Read 15 books, including 5 nonfiction books - Trying to up my nonfiction selections for Nonfiction November

• Make Christmas Plans - Still deciding if we want to go to Indiana

• Update Christmas Lists

• Make 50 Christmas cards - Trying to get back into crafting a bit this season

• Plan out advent activities

• Wrap up Coop Changes

• Make a Homeschool Spring Semester Framework

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W11: A Lovely Week Catching Up

What We Studied

It took a few days, but we caught up with our curriculum. We made a lot of progress in all of our subjects and even had a great field trip with our coop friends.

Literature and Poetry

Continuing with our reading of Race to the Sun. We are about 50 pages from the end, but thankfully I built in a break week from our read aloud. We are going to finish Race to the Sun next week and then move into Japanese Folktales. We also covered a few picture book studies for our fall theme.

• Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

• Plum by Tony Mitton

• Scarecrow by Cynthia Rylant

• Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

• I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll

• Hey, That’s My Monster by Amanda Roll

• Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell

• In November by Cynthia Rylant

• “Robin Hood and His Merry Men” from Favorite Medieval Tales by Mary Pope Osborne

Math

We’re still working through Unit 3 about multiplication and division. We probably have one more week in this unit before we will move on.

• Singapore Math Common Core Edition 3A

• Primarily Logic

Social Studies

This week was all about the Ancient Puebloans and Cahokia. We covered both of these civilizations last year in our first year of U.S. History, but it was nice to cover them again. We found some great videos about each of these groups and the ruins that are left. We hope to visit at least Cahokia in the next few years.

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• When on Earth

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• Journey to Cahokia by Albert Lorenze and Joy Schleh

• Secrets of Mesa Verde by Gail Foy

• Cliff Dwellings: A Hidden World by Kevin Blake

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. This week, he focused on packet work and some random building projects.

Science and STEAM Coop

Continuing with our Dinosaur unit from Blossom and Root! We covered the Carboniferous and Permian periods. We also had a great coop meeting where the kids learned about Big Time and the history of life on earth. Afterward, the kids pretended to be paleontologists and worked on their own fossil digs.

• Everything Awesome About Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Beasts by Mike Lowery

• The Story of Life: Evolution by Katie Scott

• Life: The First Four Billion Years by Martin Jenkins

• When the Whales Walked and Other Incredibly Evolutionary Journeys by Dougal Dixon

• Prehistoric: Before the Dinosaurs by David West

• DK Prehistoric

• DK Where on Earth? Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Life

• DK Find Out! Dinosaurs

• DK Eyewitness Dinosaur

• Dinosaurium by Chris Wormed and Lily Murray Preface

• Prehistoric by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

• Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian

• Dinosaur Feathers by Dennis Nolan

• I am NOT a Dinosaur by Will Lach

Art/Music

Nothing 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. For ELA, we continued our big overview of the alphabet. We covered more counting and some basic math concepts as well as simple map skills. And we had some puzzles to round out the week. We also finished big unit on transportation.

ELA

• Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers

• My “s” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Sammy Skunk’s Super Sniffer by Barbara deRubertis

• My “t” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Tessa Tiger’s Temper Tantrum by Barbara deRubertis

Math

Other

• Let’s Go on a Train by Rosalyn Albert

• Truck and Train by Hannah Stark

• Chugga Chugga Choo Choo by Emma Garcia

• Locomotive by Brian Floca

• Three Grumpy Trucks by Todd Tarpley

• What a Nice Car by Anita Bijsterbosch

• Our Car by J.M. Brum

• Diggersaurus by Michael Whaite

• My Side of the Car by Kate Feiffer

• I Like My Car by Michael Robertson

• Let’s Go on the Plane by Rosalyn Albert

• Let’s Go on a Rocket by Rosalyn Albert

• How Does it Work? Airplanes by Jenny Fretland VanVoorst

• Let’s Go on a Ferry by Rosalyn Albert

• Lightship by Brian Floca

• Boats Speeding! Sailing! Cruising! by Patricia Hubbell

• Let’s Go on a Tractor by Rosalyn Albert

• If I Built a Car by Chris van Dusen

• Red Truck, Yellow Truck by Michelle Robinson

• I Drive a Snowplow by Sarah Bridges

• Race Car Count by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

• Thunder Trucks by Cheryl Klein & Katy Beebe

Field Trip

We headed to Schramm State Park to look for fossils at the geologic site. It was cold and a bit windy, we had a great morning with our friends. We found a ton of crinoids and some coral pieces in the rocks. I love that we we can visit someplace that has exposed rocks from when Nebraska was underwater 350 million years ago.

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. We didn’t actually watch anything this week, but made up for it by all the PBS Eons videos for our dinosaur unit.

Misc. - Random picture books read

• What Kind of Car Does a T. rex Drive? by Mark Lee

• Here we Go Digging for Dinosaur Bones by Susan Lendroth

• Ten Timid Ghosts by Jennifer O’Connell

• Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson

• The Girl and the Dinosaur by Hollie Hughes

• The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming

• Counting on Fall by Lizann Flatt

High

• Looking for fossils was delightful! We will definitely have to revisit Schramm sometime very soon.

Low

• Um… I cannot think of anything right now.

Next Week

• Finishing Race to the Sun and starting Japanese Folktales

• Moving to Asia and the Mongol Empire for history

• Wrapping up multiplication and division

• Finally getting to the Triassic for the Dinosaur Unit

• Covering dinosaurs for coop! (We’re hosting!)

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Trying desperately to finish a few more spooky books before this month is over…

• I really love learning about dinosaurs. So glad that’s the boys’ current obsession.

• Double book club meetings this week. So much book talk!

• Here’s hoping that we get out to the state parks a few more times before the year ends.

• Oh the tv show Foundation is so good. I don’t want the season to end.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool Fall Break: We Caught Up!

What We Studied

Originally I had scheduled our Fall Break week for this past week. I knew we would get behind on curriculum because of sickness or unexpected disruptions. Thankfully it happened because of the second reason not the first. That meant that we ended up taking this week to catch up on some subjects and do a bit of fill in. The kids had no idea that I scrapped their break week. (To be fair, we have had our share of break days throughout the fall.)

Literature and Poetry

Continuing with our reading of Race to the Sun. We are a bit behind due to lots of random things, but we’re really enjoying the story and will finish soon. We also covered a few picture book studies for our fall theme.

• Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

• Hidden City: Poems of Urban Wildlife by Sarah Grace Tuttle

• I and You and Don’t Forget Who: What is a Pronoun by Brian P. Cleary

• When I was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant

• Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini

• The Adventures of Beekle by Dan Santat

Math

We’re still working through Unit 3 about multiplication and division. We’ll be staying here for another few weeks to gain some mastery. We also read a few math related picture books, including starting the Sir Cumference series.

• Singapore Math Common Core Edition 3A

• The Wing Brothers: Carnival de Math by Ethan Long

• Sir Cumference and the First Round Table by

Social Studies

This week was all about the Magna Carta.

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• When on Earth

• DK History

• A Medieval Feast by Aliki

• A Medieval Cathedral by Fiona MacDonald

• The Magna Carta: Cornerstone of the Constitution by Roberta Baxter

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. This week, he focused on packet work and some random building projects.

Science and STEAM Coop

Continuing with our Dinosaur unit from Blossom and Root! We covered the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian Periods.

• Everything Awesome About Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Beasts by Mike Lowery

• The Story of Life: Evolution by Katie Scott

• Life: The First Four Billion Years by Martin Jenkins

• When the Whales Walked and Other Incredibly Evolutionary Journeys by Dougal Dixon

• Prehistoric: Before the Dinosaurs by David West

• DK Prehistoric

• Prehistoric by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

Art/Music

Nothing 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. For ELA, we continued our big overview of the alphabet. We covered more counting and some basic math concepts as well as simple map skills. And we had some puzzles to round out the week. We also continued a big unit on transportation.

ELA

• Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers

• My “q” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Quentin Quokka’s by Barbara deRubertis

• My “r” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Rosie Raccoon’s Rock and Roll Raft by Barbara deRubertis

• The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle

• Quick as a Cricket by Dan and Audrey Woods

Math

Other

• Awesome Ambulances by Tony Mitton

• Flash the Little Fire Engine by Pam Calvert

• Emergency Vehicles by Melissa Abramovitz

• Patrolling Police Cars by Tony Mitton

• Dial 9-1-1! by Charles Ghigna

• A Fire Truck Named Red by Randall de Sève

• Emergency Monster Squad by Dave Horowitz

• Counting Cars

• All Kinds of Cars by Carl Johanson

• The Gingerbread Man Loose on the Fire Truck by Laura Murray

• Bunnies on the Bus by Philip Ardagh

• Let’s Build by Julie M. Fenner

• Diggers by Amy Johnson

• Mighty, Mighty Construction Site by Sherry Dusky Rinker

• Let’s Go on a Digger by Rosalyn Albert

• Trucks Galore by Peter Stein

• The Digger and the Flower by Joseph Kuefler

• The Mixed-Up Truck by Stephen Savage

• Truck, Truck, Goose by Tammi Sauer

Field Trip

One last trip to Vala’s for the season! We arrived right when they opened, met up with friends, and spent 6 1/2 hours there! So much fun. Each of the boys picked one thing that they could not miss (bouncy pillows for Quentin and the corn pit for Arthur). Plus, we grabbed a few pumpkins and some cookies on the way out. Another successful season at one of my favorite places.

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. We didn’t actually watch anything this week, but made up for it by all the PBS Eons videos for our dinosaur unit.

Misc. - Random picture books read

• One Leaf, Two Leaves, Count with Me by John Micklos Jr.

• Yellow Time by Lauren Stringer

• Never Ask a Dinosaur to Dinner by Gareth Edwards

• Leaves by David Ezra Stein

Highs and Low

• We loved our fist trip to Vala’s, but were so sad that it was our last one of the season. I might just buy season passes next year. I just love going and that would allow us to do a few mornings instead of three marathon days. And maybe we could go at night with J one time like on a Wednesday or something.

Next Week

• Continuing to read Race to the Sun

• Moving to Cahokia and the Ancient Puebloans for history

• Mastering multiplication and division

• Moving forward in time for the Dinosaur Unit

• Covering dinosaurs for coop! (We’re hosting!)

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W10: Dinosaurs and Trains are Our Favorites

What We Studied

We managed to cover a lot of ground in a week shortened by two field trips.

Literature and Poetry

We started another read about this week. The original language arts curriculum did not have enough read alouds for how fast we actually read in this house. So I ended up adding about 7 more to the list. This one is one of the Rick Riordan imprints for Disney and features Navajo character and myths. This will fit in nicely with our history unit on Cahokia and the Ancient Puebloans in two weeks.

• Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

• Hidden City: Poems of Urban Wildlife by Sarah Grace Tuttle

• 10 Minutes a Day Spelling

Math

We’re still working through Unit 3 about multiplication and division. We’ll be staying here for another few weeks to gain some mastery.

• Singapore Math Common Core Edition 3A

• Peg + Cat: The Big Dog Problem by Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson

• Peg + Cat: The Pirate Problem by Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson

• Peg + Cat: The Race Car Problem by Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson

Social Studies

We covered The Crusades for world history this week. Not the nicest of topics, but it was important for Medieval History.

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• When on Earth

• DK History

• DK Castles and Knights

• DK Eyewitness Knight

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. This week, he focused on

Science and STEAM Coop

We finally started our big dinosaur unit. I bought the Blossom and Root Prehistoric Unit to give us a basis. From there, we are accelerating a few weeks and slowing down for a few weeks.

• D is for Dinosaur: A Prehistoric Alphabet by Todd Chapman and Lita Judge

• Dinosaurs! by Gail Gibbons

• Dinosaur Tracks by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

• The Street Beneath My Feet by Charlotte Guillain

• Fossils by Ann O. Squire

• Everything Awesome About Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Beasts by Mike Lowery

• The Story of Life: Evolution by Katie Scott

• Life: The First Four Billion Years by Martin Jenkins

• Grandmother Fish: A Child’s First Book of Evolution by Jonathan Tweet

• Annabelle and Aiden in The Story of Life by J.R. Becker

• When the Whales Walked and Other Incredibly Evolutionary Journeys by Dougal Dixon

• Prehistoric: Before the Dinosaurs by David West

• DK Prehistoric

• Prehistoric by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

Art/Music

Nothing 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. For ELA, we continued our big overview of the alphabet. We covered more counting and some basic math concepts as well as simple map skills. And we had some puzzles to round out the week. We also started a big unit on transportation.

ELA

• Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers

• My “o” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Oliver Otter’s Own Office by Barbara deRubertis

• My “p” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Polly Porcupine’s Painting Prizes by Barbara deRubertis

Math

Other

• Let’s Go ABC! Things that Go, from A to Z by Rhonda Gowler Greene

• On the Move

• Fast and Slow by Britta Teckentrup

• Little Kids First Big Book of Things that Go by Karen de Seve

• Calling All Cars by Sue Fliess and Sarah Beise

• Two Tough Trucks Get Lost by Corey Rosen Schwartz

• Muddy, Mud, Bud by Patricia Lakin

• Toot Toot Zoom by Phyllis Root

• Trucks Roll by George Ella Lyon

• Tow Truck Joe by June Sobel

• Trucks Zooming By by Pamela Jane

• Trucks Go by Steve Light

• Go! Go! Go! Stop! by Charise Mericle Harper

• Twinkle Twinkle Little Car by Kate Dopirak

Field Trip

We had two great field trips this week. On Tuesday, we headed to Arbor Day Farm for a guided field trip about animals and the forest. After the guided portion, all the kids had a ton of fun playing and exploring. On Friday, we headed to The Durham Museum for a transportation theme tour. We learned about moving to Omaha, homes throughout the ages, and train travel. The kids loved hanging out the various train cars and learning the various parts.

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. We didn’t actually watch anything this week, but made up for it by all the PBS Eons videos for our dinosaur unit.

Misc. - Random picture books read

• Letter Town by Darren Farrell

• Leif and the Fall by Allison Sweet Grant and Adam Grant

• Nothing Fits a Dinosaur by Jonathan Fenske

• Fall Leaves Fun by Martha E.H. Rustad

• Windows by Julia Denos

• It’s So Quiet by Sherri Duskey Rinker

• Monster Hug by David Ezra Stein

• Ty the Dinosaur and the Substitute Teacher by Marcus Tallberg and Jill C. Faulkner

• There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves by Lucille Colandro

• Gus, the Dinosaur Bus by Julia Liu

• Dinosaur Roar! by Paul Strickland

• Lucky Leaf by Kevin O’Malley

• Leaves! Leaves! Leaves! by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

• Zero is the Leaves on the Tree by Betsy Franco

• Regina is NOT a Little Dinosaur by Andrea Zulli

• In the Leaves by Huy Voun Lee

Highs

• Not exactly a high point as it’s not much fun, but we did get our flu shots taken care of this week. One big thing checked off my list.

Lows

• All of our activities made us so incredibly tired this week.

Next Week

• Continuing to read Race to the Sun

• Covering the Magna Carta and Robin Hood

• Mastering multiplication and division

• Moving forward in time for the Dinosaur Unit

• Visiting Vala’s one last time for the season

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Cooler temperatures are amazing! We’re finally into light sweater weather.

• Looking for a new subscription box for the boys. We just did some theme craft boxes, but I’m thinking more about STEM projects.

• Warm rhubarb pie is just the best.

• One more pumpkin patch visit for the season next weekend. I cannot wait!

• I love spooky movie month!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #8

Reading: Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov. I have finally reached the end of the giant series.

Watching: October is always spooky movie month. I make a list of possible selections and then most nights we pick on to watch. (Usually one of us pick three possibilities and then the other person has to choose one of those.) We’ve started the month with a variety of older movies, either new to me or or rewatches. It’s been fun so far.

Listening: I’m diving back into lots of hard rock as my music choice lately. Apparently fall is for hard rock.

Making: With the cooling temperatures, I’m finally back into making new desserts and trying new recipes.

Feeling: The bookish retreat last week really helped me calm my brain and recharge. I’m feeling a lot better right now.

Planning: My homeschool coop has decided to have a Halloween Party in a few weeks. Of course, I’m helping to plan the party. It’s what I do.

Loving: We picked up a gallon of apple cider at the grocery and it was the best decision of the week.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W8-9: Two Light Weeks Create a Strange Schedule

What We Studied

Between my retreat and a lot of field trips, we ended up having two weeks of part-time homeschool. Thank goodness I built in a break week for mid-October. We aren’t going to take that break, but use it to catch up on some parts of schedule.

Literature and Poetry

We covered a variety of Arthurian Tales for week 8 and then moved on to American Trickster Tales for week 9. I really enjoyed reading multiple different versions of the same style of stories.

• Young Arthur by Robert D. San Souci

• Excalibur by Hudson Talbott

• The Kitchen Knight: A Tale of King Arthur by Margaret Hodges

• Favorite Medieval Tales by Mary Pope Osborne

• Trickster Tales by Josepha Sherman

• A Ring of Tricksters by Virginia Hamilton

• 10 Minutes a Day Spelling

Math

We’re deep into Unit 3 focused on multiplication and division. I imagine that we are going to stay on this unit for awhile. I would really like Arthur to attain some mastery of multiplication and division before we move on.

• Singapore Math Common Core Edition 3A

• Primarily Logic

Social Studies

For history we covered the British Isles during the early medieval period. This was a great connection to our Arthurian tales.

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK History

• The Duke and the Peasant: Life in the Middle Ages by Sister Wendy Beckett

• DK Eyewitness: Knight

• DK Castles and Knights

• The Hawk of the Castle: A Story of Medieval Falconry by Danna Smith

• Magic the Margins: A Medieval Tale of Bookmaking by W. Nikola-Lisa

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. This week, he focused on some story writing prompts and packet work.

Science and STEAM Coop

Our theme for these two weeks was camping. We ended up canceling our first week due to a medical emergency and unpredictable weather. Our second week happened, but was a bit abbreviated. The park that we chose was infested with bees. Our lesson was cut a bit short, but we still talked about camping and made a craft project before going and playing at the playground.

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. For ELA, we continued our big overview of the alphabet with the letters K, L, M, and N. We read multiple nursery rhymes and did some math activities.

ELA

• Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers

• My “k” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Kylie Kangaroo’s Karate Kickers by Barbara deRubertis

• My “l” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Lana Llama’s Little Lamb by Barbara deRubertis

• My “m” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Maxwell Moose’s Mountain Monster by Barbara deRubertis

• My “n” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Nina Nandu’s Nervous Noggin by Barbara deRubertis

• If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

• If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff

• If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff

Math

Other

• High Five magazine volume

• Smart Start STEM PreK

Field Trip

Multiple field trips these two weeks! We visited Vala’s twice! I love getting as much fall festival visits in that I can. We took advantage of their homeschool days to pick some apples and enjoy all the activities. We also visited Platte River State Park to walk the waterfall trail and play at the playground.

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. We didn’t end up watching anything this week.

Misc. - Random picture books read

• Nick and Nack Put on a Puppet Show by Brandon Budzi

• The Legend of King Arthur-a-tops by Mo O’Hara

• Duck and Goose: A Gift for Goose by Tad Hills

• King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson by Kenneth Kraegel

• 100 Cats by Michael Whaite

• The Little Blue Bridge by Brenda Maier

• Never Follow a Dinosaur by Alex Latimer

• How to Potty Train a Dinosaur by Alycia Pace

• Crunch, the Shy Dinosaur by Cirocco Dunlap

• Here Comes the Tooth Fairy Cat by Deborah Underwood

• The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss

• Firefighter Duckies by Frank W. Dormer

• My Leaf Book by Monica Wellington

Highs

• While it isn’t really to do with homeschooling, I did really enjoy a personal break from everything for the bookish retreat.

Lows

• Our days got a bit out of whack. I’m not loving how off schedule we are right now.

Next Week

• Starting a new chapter book

• Covering the Crusades and the Magna Carta

• Learning about transportation for preschool and coop

• Embarking on a big dinosaur unit

• Continuing multiplication and division

Next up on the TBR pile:

October 2021 Life Goals

Let’s check in on September’s goals and my progress.

• Read 15 books ✓

• Keep Homeschool and Coop Momentum Up ✓

• Have a Fun Family Road Trip ✓

• Relax at the Book Retreat ✓ - I’m there right now and I’m sure I’m relaxing.

Goals:

• Read 15 Books

• Plan a Fall/Halloween Party with Coop People

• October Spooky Movie Month

• Make Tentative Christmas Plans (including travel, advent activities, and goals)

• Update Christmas Lists

• Week in the Life 2021 - Document and get album started

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W7: Lovely Weather for a Walk!

What We Studied

We’re back to a routine and easy back into homeschooling. Thankfully the weather was gorgeous this week for our field tip and for coop.

Literature and Poetry

We started reading our Trickster Tales collection with the section on Europe. The Blossom and Root Language Arts curriculum only has us reading 1-2 tales per section, but we are a big reading family. Instead of 1-2, we read the entire section over the course of the week. Really that’s only like 6 stories and less than 30 pages of reading. It was nice to cover more stories and talk about the variety. We also added in more read aloud selections to our history study.

• Trickster Tales Retold by Josepha Sherman

• 10 Minutes a Day Spelling

Math

We started Unit 3 in math with focuses on multiplication and division. Arthur already understands the concepts, so we are going to focus on mastery. I imagine that we will be in this unit of study for a few weeks. I want. to really hammer down before moving on to other topics.

• Singapore Math Common Core Edition 3A

Social Studies

We covered the Norse and the Vikings this week in medieval history. Our road trip unintentionally fit right in with. a visit to a Norse longhouse recreation and the Norwegian-American museum in Decorah. Along with the history text, we watched a few really good NOVA episodes about the Vikings and read some myths and stories from the culture. Arthur got excited to learn about the differences between the actual myths and the Marvel iterations of the characters.

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everyone: Leif Erikson

• When on Earth?

• Myths, Legends and Sacred Stories

• Kingfisher Atlas of Medieval World

• Thor Speaks! A Guide to the Realms of the Norse God of Thunder by Vicky Alvear Shecter

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. He mostly focused. on packet work and LEGO creations this week.

Science and STEAM Coop

Art/Music

Our music study was cut this week. We just ran out of time and other things got prioritized.

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. For ELA, we continued our big overview of the alphabet. We are getting through the alphabet two letters per week and have made it to the letter J. Beyond ELA, we have worked on a variety of math concepts (heavy and light, same and different, bi and small) as well as started on the next Khan Academy unit. We also did a mini science experiment unit on sink or float. Arthur acted as an assistant and record keeper. To follow-up, we watched a great Magic School Bus episode about the topic.

ELA

• Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers

• Izzy Impala’s Imaginary Illnesses by Barbara deRubertis

• My “i” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Jeremy Jackrabbit’s Jumpin Journey by Barbara deRubertis

• My “j” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

Math

Other

• Poetry selections from Mother Goose

• Packet about My World

Field Trip

We missed the first week our coop theme about bridges, but made it home in time for a field trip to the Bob Kerry Bridge . The kids walked all the way across it to Iowa, checked out the plaza there, and walked all the way back. They then proceeded to roll down the hills at the Nebraska plaza. Great fun was had by everyone and we got in a great walk on a beautiful day. Afterward, I treated the kids to a stop at Hollywood Candy before we headed home.

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. This week, we watched two episodes about the Vikings.

• NOVA S43 E9: Vikings Unearthed

• NOVA S46 E10: Lost Viking Army

• NOVA S46 E17: Why Bridges Collapse

Misc. - Random picture books read

• A Little Book About Colors by Leo Lionni

• Ducks Run Amok! by J.E. Morris

• Mary Wrightly, So Politely by Shirin Him Bridges

• Wordy Birdy by Tammi Sauer

• Fall Pumpkin Fun by Martha E.H. Rustad

• Iggy Iguanodon: Bath Time and Bedtime by Maryann Macdonald

Highs

• The weather was absolutely gorgeous. The temps were a bit cooler, but it was still nice and sunny. Perfect for our field trip to the river and for our coop meeting.

Lows

• Nothing really… We had a good week overall.

Next Week

• Reading Arthurian Tales

• Continuing Unit 3 in Math

• Moving on to Camping for Coop

• But following up on bridges for Science

• Learning about the British Isles and 1066 for history

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #7

Reading: In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren. I finally picked it up off the library stack and dug right in.

Watching: I need to catch up with the antics on Bachelor in Paradise. I cannot wait!

Listening: We started listening to the Magic 2.0 series from Scott Meyer on our road trip. We finished the first book, Off to Be the Wizard, and have almost finished the second book, Spell or High Water.

Making: October is traditionally our spooky movie month. I usually make a list of options that we choose from each day. I’m making that list this week and I’m really excited for some of the entries.

Feeling: I love our family road trips, but it’s just so good to be home…

Planning: I’m less than 2 weeks away from the bookish retreat so I’m planning my packing lists. I have good to pack, food to buy on the way, personal items to pack, alcohol to pack, crafts. to pack, and all the miscellaneous stuff.

Loving: After a week sleeping in hotels, I’m so excited to sleep in my own bed. My back thanks me for being back.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• We’re away on our much delayed road trip this week. I am loving just being out of my house.

• It’s been so incredibly nice to not cook multiple times every day.

• Getting a bit of renewed energy when it comes to planning out the coop.

• Focusing on light and fun reads for the rest of September in anticipation of spooky books for October.

• Getting a bit nervous about the all the tasks I have to prep for the retreat the end of the month.

• So much to do!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W6: We Found Our Groove!

What We Studied

I finally planned out a week and didn’t overload us or leave a ton of activities on the table! I think we have found our groove, just in time to leave for our road trip…

Literature and Poetry

We continued reading The Hobbit. We’re almost at the end of the story. We’ll finish it at the beginning of our road trip. Arthur is loving the action sequences. I’m really enjoying the spelling curriculum that I bought from The Moffatt Girls on Teachers Pay Teachers. And Arthur has taken to doing one spelling list spread out over the course of the week.

• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

• In Aunt Giraffe’s Green Garden by Jack Prelutsky

Math

The usual for Arthur. We did add in a Khan Academy day and worked on multiplication and division strategies. The next two units are on those topics and are pretty meaty. We will probably take it slow and stretch them out for September and part of October. I don’t want to push Arthur too fast. We need to focus on mastery before moving on.

• Singapore Math Common Core Edition 3A

Social Studies

This week’s unit was about Tang and Song Dynasty China. We made some good connections to our ancient times studies and did a study of the Silk Road.

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK History

• DK When on Earth

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. This week, he focused on some packet work and creating LEGO creations.

Science and STEAM Coop

Photos were taken; not by me as I was teaching. Unfortunately the pictures all had pictures of other people’s kids so I can’t post them on here.

We finished our study of mammals this week at coop. I didn’t have to teach and it was lovely to just participate this week.

• DK Eyewitness: Mammal

• DK Animal

• DK Did You Know?

• Stink Fights, Earwax, and Other Marvelous Mammal Adaptations by Laura Perdew

Art/Music

Our music study was cut 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. For ELA, we covered the letters F, G and H. We covered counting and some basic addition for math. Q also demanded to do math on the computer so we completed a few unit in Khan Academy.

ELA

• My “f” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Frances Frog’s Forever Friend by Barbara deRubertis

• Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers

• My “g” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Gertie Gorilla’s Glorious Gift by Barbara deRubertis

• After the Fall by Dan Santat

• My “h” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

Math

• Where’s the Pair? by Britta Teckentrup

Other

• High Five magazine volume

• Summer Song by Kevin Henkes

• The Great Big Green by Peggy Gifford

• Summer by Ann Herriges

Field Trip

This week our field trip was a guided tour of a working farm. We had a personal tour from the farmer herself and learned a lot about the various animals she keeps. Seriously, all of the adults were very excited to learn at the farm. The kids got to feed a baby calf, help with the mama goat, switch the irrigation hoses, and petted a ton of animals. The baby goats were so adorable!

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. We didn’t watch a documentary this week.

Misc. - Random picture books read

• Be a Friend by Salina Yoon

• Owls are Good at Keeping Secrets: An Unusual Alphabet by Sara O’Leary

• Construction Countdown by KC Olson

Highs

• We took off Friday morning for a park visit and then haircuts and bathtime. We still got our work done that day, but eased into the morning. Loved it!

Lows

• Nothing. Really, it was a good week.

Next Week

• Road trip!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W5: Our Busiest Week Yet!

What We Studied

Oof. This week was a killer. We had something every single day of the week that took out of the house. It was absolutely exhausting. Consequently, we didn’t accomplish as much as I would have liked when it comes to our schoolwork.

Literature and Poetry

We continued reading The Hobbit. The story has really picked up and has gotten really good. Arthur is loving the action sequences. I’m really enjoying the spelling curriculum that I bought from The Moffatt Girls on Teachers Pay Teachers. And Arthur has taken to doing one spelling list spread out over the course of the week.

• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

• In Aunt Giraffe’s Green Garden by Jack Prelutsky

Math

Moving onto the next unit in math.

• Singapore Math Common Core Edition 3A

Social Studies

We covered Western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire this week.

• The Kingfisher Atlas of the Medieval World

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK History

• Medieval Tales

• The Medieval World by Rebecca Stefoff

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. This week, he focused on some packet work and finished up his Geography of Home project..

Science and STEAM Coop

Photos were taken this week of all our fun. Unfortunately the pictures all had pictures of other people’s kids so I can’t post them on here.

This week was our first week of the mammals theme. And it was the first week that I didn’t have to teach. It was nice to sit back a bit and just jump in and help when help was needed. I hung out with the young group and we did a stuffed animal show and tell, learned about coyotes and badgers, and did some animal races.

• DK Did You Know?

• A Mammal is an Animal by Lizzy Rockwell

• Why Do Mammals Have Fur? by Pat Jacobs

• DK Mammals

• Whose Tracks are These? A Clue Book of Families Forest Animals by Jim Nail

Art/Music

Our music study was cut this week. We just ran out of time and other things got prioritized.

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. For ELA, we covered the letters A through E. We covered counting and some basic addition for math. Q also demanded to do math on the computer so we completed a few unit in Khan Academy.

ELA

• Alpha Boats by Samantha R. Vamos

• Corky Cub’s Crazy Caps by Barbara deRubertis

• My “c” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers

• My “d” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

• My “e” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Eddie Elephant’s Exciting Egg-Sitting by Barbara deRubertis

• Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran

Math

• 7 Ate 9 by Tara Lazar

• Teddy Bear Subtraction by Barbara Barbieri McGrath

• Where’s the Baby? by Britta Teckentrup

Other

• High Five magazine volume

• Follow the Line Around the World by Laura Ljungkvist

• Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni

Field Trip

We headed to the zoo specifically to see the newly renovated Gorilla Valley. It was great to see these majestic creatures up close again. The kids really enjoyed the interactive exhibits. We had some friends join us and it was a great morning at the zoo. After the gorillas, we stopped at the sea lions and the jungle building.

Documentary Selection

None this week

Misc. - Random picture books read

• Unbeatable Beaks by Stephen R. Swinburne

• Otto Blotter Bird Spotter by Graham Carter

• How to Find a Bird by Jennifer Ward

Highs

• I didn’t love all the appointments, but we did knock a ton of things off our big to do list I am loving the flexibility of homeschooling.

Lows

• Between a dentist appointment and a super long eye appointment (Arthur’s getting glasses!), we lost a ton of time this week. This next week will hopefully be less full and busy.

• No one showed for board games morning at the park. The boys were disappointed.

Next Week

• Continuing The Hobbit

• Finishing Unit 3 in math.

• Continuing with our mammal theme for coop

• Heading to China for history

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• The cooler temperatures this week have been amazing! Going to the zoo and not sweating buckets was great.

• Really getting a bit annoyed by people who keep avoiding my messages and un-RSVPing right before events. Blergh!

• So incredibly excited about our road trip and then my retreat. September is jam packed!

• Need to step up my dessert game this month.

Next up on the TBR pile:

September 2021 Life Goals

Let’s check in on August goals and my progress.

• Read 15 books ✓

• Kick off our 2nd year of homeschooling ✓

• Kick off our STEAM coop ✓

• Make 3-4 desserts for our food project - Fail. I keep missing this mark.

Goals: We’re taking it easy as far as goals for September as we have two large events happening.

• Read 15 books

• Keep Homeschool and Coop Momentum Up

• Have a Fun Family Road Trip

• Relax at Book Retreat

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W4: All About Birds!

What We Studied

A much more normal week for us! We had some fun field trip adventures and focused on our studies.

Literature and Poetry

We started reading The Hobbit! I haven’t read it for years, so it was nice to revisit. We’ve moved our daily read aloud time back and forth from morning to right before bed. I am liking the flexibility. Reading before bed gives us more than 30 minutes back into our “school day,” but it’s definitely not an everyday switch.

• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

• In Aunt Giraffe’s Green Garden by Jack Prelutsky

• 10 Minutes a Day Spelling

Math

We started Singapore Math Common Core 3A this week. We’re shooting for one unit every week or so. Unit 1 is complete!

• Singapore Math Common Core Edition 3A

Social Studies

This week’s History Quest focus was on the Fall of the Byzantine Empire. Arthur actually remembered some things from last year’s study of the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the rise of the Byzantine Empire. So yeah for remembering!

• DK History

• DK When on Earth?

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. This week, he focused on mostly packet work and did a few tasks for his creative project: Geography of Home book.

Science and STEAM Coop

Photos were taken; not by me as I was teaching. Unfortunately the pictures all had pictures of other people’s kids so I can’t post them on here.

We finished our bird theme this week. For the bigger kids, I had them complete the bird beak adaptation lab and then they made bird feeders with the little kids. Simple and easy but the lab was a lot of fun.

• Birds by Paul McEvoy

• DK Animal

• The Big Book of Birds by Yuval Zommer

• Nature All Around: Birds by Pamela Hickman

• The Egg by Britta Teckentrup

• DK Eyewitness Bird

• Bird Watch by Christie Matheson

• Bird Builds a Nest by Martin Jenkins

• Birds by Kevin Henkes

Art/Music

Our music study was cut this week again. We just ran out of time and other things got prioritized. I need to figure out how to add this back in easily.

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. For ELA, we continued our big overview of the alphabet. Q really wanted to do math on the computer, so we jumped on Khan Academy and he finished the entire first unit. (He really likes math!) For an extra science lesson, we talked about animal classifications.

ELA

• Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers

• My “b” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Bobby Baboon’s Banana Be-Bop by Barbara deRubertis

• Feathers for Lunch by Eric Carle

Math

• The Odd One Out by Britta Teckentrup

• Mother Goose: Numbers on the Loose by Leo and Diane Dillon

Other

• High Five magazine volume

• Our Earth by Anne Rockwell

• Many Creatures by Laura Purdie Salas

• Feathers and Hair: What Animals Wear by Jennifer Ward

Field Trip

We visited Fontenelle Forest and learned all about the birds housed at the Raptor Rescue. We arrived right at feeding time completely on accident. The worker was great about engaging the kiddos and talking about each bird as he fed them. We even got to see him give an owl eye drops for a detached retina. My favorite was seeing him interact with Charlotte the Peregrine Falcon. She is just gorgeous! We had intended to walk the trails afterward, but the kids ended just spending almost an hour and a half playing at the nature classroom. After, we and another family had a picnic lunch. It was a beautiful field trip.

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. This week, we watched an episode about birds, specifically peregrine falcons.

• NOVA S45 E16: World’s Fastest Animal

Misc. - Random picture books read

Highs

• Our one-two punch of Raptor Rescue trip and coop on Thursday really breathed some life into me this week. We are loving our group of coop friends. I’m excited that next week I don’t have to teach.

Lows

• I had a dentist appointment that messed up our Wednesday. In fact, we have dentist appointments for the next two weeks. I don’t love that they are spread out right now. Hoping next time, the boys’s appointments are together at least.

Next Week

• Continuing The Hobbit

• Moving on to Unit 2 in math.

• Starting Mammals for science

• Western Europe is up next for history

• Hoping to add in some music study (or at least listening while working)

• Board game morning with coop friends!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W3: Lots of Outdoor Fun

What We Studied

I really need to find our groove this fall. I cut back even more to allow for more flexibility. We’ll see how it goes going forward.

Literature and Poetry

We finished reading The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum in alignment the Blossom and Root 2nd Grade Language Arts curriculum. The curriculum doesn’t actual start with The Wizard of Oz, but I reordered everything to align closer to our history this year. I’m really enjoying the spelling curriculum that I bought from The Moffatt Girls on Teachers Pay Teachers. And Arthur has taken to doing one spelling list spread out over the course of the week.

• The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

• The Road to Oz: Twists, Turns, Bumps, and Triumphs int he Life of L. Frank Baum by Kathleen Krull

• I Invited a Dragon to Dinner

Math

We started Singapore Math Common Core 3A this week. We’re shooting for one unit every week or so. Unit 1 is complete!

• Singapore Math Common Core Edition 3A

• Millions, Billions, and trillions: Understanding Big Numbers by David A. Adler

• Mind-Boggling Numbers by Michael J. Rosen

Social Studies

We started History Quest Middle Times this week with Ch. 1 Islamic Innovations. I really loved this chapter. I even learned some things.

• OMAR Finds a Home

• DK Eyewitness: Islam

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• The Arab World Thought of It by Saima S. Hussain

• Looking Back: The World of Islam Before 1700 by Hazel Mary Martell

• Islamic Art & Culture by Nicola Barber

• The Arabian Nights

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. This week, he focused on some packet work and started his next creative project: Geography of Home book.

Science and STEAM Coop

Photos were taken; not by me as I was teaching. Unfortunately the pictures all had pictures of other people’s kids so I can’t post them on here.

We started our bird theme this week and I taught the older kids. We talked about birds in general and birds of prey specifically. Then we joined the younger kids and dissected owl pellets. I was so proud of the older kids as they assisted the younger kids in their dissection. This week really solidified the idea of mixing up the age groups some weeks. Next week we are continuing the birds theme with beaks and feathers.

• Bird Count by Susan Edwards Richmond

• Robin Where are You? by Harriet Ziefert

• Animal School: What Class are You? by Michael Garland

• The Animal Book by Steve Jenkins

• Nature Files: Animal Groupings by Anita Ganeri

• Carl Linnaeus: Genius of Classification by Margaret J. Anderson

Art/Music

Our music study was cut this week. We just ran out of time and other things got prioritized.

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. For ELA, we continued our big overview of the alphabet. We covered more counting and some basic math concepts as well as simple map skills. And we had some puzzles to round out the week.

ELA

• Ten Apples Up on Top by Theo LeSieg

• Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers

• The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall

• The Wheels on the Bus

• Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman

Math

• One is Not a Pair by Britta Teckentrup

• No Two Alike by Keith Baker

• Know Your Numbers: Food by Mary Elizabeth Salzmann

• Know Your Numbers: Nature by Mary Elizabeth Salzmann

• Know Your Numbers: Animals by Mary Elizabeth Salzmann

• Know Your Numbers: Toys by Mary Elizabeth Salzmann

Other

• High Five magazine volume

Field Trip

We had a great two event day on Tuesday with our coop friends. In the morning, we visited Heron Haven and explored nature. We saw turtles, frogs, fish, birds, butterflies, and caterpillars. We loved it and will definitely go back soon. In the afternoon, we met some coop friends at the park for playground time and board games. My kids really loved playing with someone else. We’re aiming to schedule two board games days a month.

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. This week, we watched a great episode about math.

• NOVA S42 E7: The Great Math Mystery

Misc. - Random picture books read

• Vivi Loves Science by Kimberly Derting

Highs

• Tuesday was so much fun! The boys loved the nature walk and especially loved the board games afternoon.

Lows

• Some things fell by the wayside this week. I’m reconfiguring our schedule for next week to help this out.

Next Week

• Starting The Hobbit

• Moving on to Unit 2 in math.

• Continuing with our birds theme for coop

• Fall of the Byzantine Empire is up next for history.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• I am so hot all the time. The temps really need to get cooler now.

• Making my way through the Foundation series. I’ve got a bit of momentum now.

• Coop has been great so far. We’re loving our new friends.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W2: I'm So Tired...

What We Studied

Two weeks of fairly intense field trips has left me extremely tired. While we are loving the fun, we need to better structure our weeks to allow for time to recharge. I am extremely tired going into our third week. We did tackle some great lessons this week and made progress on our projects.

Working on character traits with his emerald glasses

Literature and Poetry

We continued reading The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum in alignment the Blossom and Root 2nd Grade Language Arts curriculum. The curriculum doesn’t actual start with The Wizard of Oz, but I reordered everything to align closer to our history this year. I’m really enjoying the spelling curriculum that I bought from The Moffatt Girls on Teachers Pay Teachers. And Arthur has taken to doing one spelling list spread out over the course of the week.

• The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

• I Invited a Dragon to Dinner

Math

We spent the week doing a bit of math review and math games. And we started our new logic book: Primarily Logic. I am liking the different type of logic problems from our previous series, Lollipop Logic.

• Millions, Billions, and trillions: Understanding Big Numbers by David A. Adler

• Mind-Boggling Numbers by Michael J. Rosen

Social Studies

We continued with our map skills and did a review of our last year’s study of ancient history.

• Got Geography! poems

• If Maps Could Talk by Erika L. Shores

• How I Learned Geography by Uri Shulevitz

• It’s a Round, Round World by Ellie Peterson

• Archaeologists Dig for Clues by Kate Duke

Dinosaur scene in LEGOs

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. This week, he focused on some packet work and a creative project. He made emerald glasses with which to visit the Emerald City of Oz.

Science and STEAM Coop

No photos as I was busy teaching…

The second week of our Math in Nature theme. We had a bit of a hiccup with the older kids leader calling in sick the day before. Totally understandable! But it meant that I had to scramble for a new plan Instead of teaching the littles group, I switched to the older group and found another member to teach the littles. In the older group, we covered symmetry and tessellation. I was proud of my quick thinking and ability to be flexible.

• Nature Math by Penny Dowdy

• Math Art + Drawing Games for Kids by Karyn Tripp

• STEM Quest: Fabulous Figure and Cool Calculations by Colin Stuart

• Shapes in Math, Science, and Nature by Catherine Sheldrick Ross

• Math Lab for Kids by Rebecca Rapoprt and J.A. Yoder

• Math Everywhere Get in Shape: Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional Shapes by Rob Colson

Art/Music

We started our music study this year with Fanny Mendelssohn. Our actual lesson was mostly just listening to her work, but we did find a good biography video to watch.

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. For ELA, we continued our big overview of the alphabet. We covered more counting and some basic math concepts as well as simple map skills. And we had some puzzles to round out the week.

ELA

• Creature ABC by Andrew Zuckerman

• LMNO Peas by Keith Baker

• LMNO Pea-quel by Keith Baker

• Llamas with Lemonade by Ariana Koultourides

• I Spy A to Z by Jean Marzollo

Math

• 10 Little Rubber Ducks

• Animal Numbers by Christopher Silas Neal

• Chicka Chicka 123 by Bill Martin Jr.

• Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh

• Patterns by Joanna Brundle

• Shapes Around Us by Daniel Nunn

• Shapes by Joanna Brundle

• Shaping Up Summer by Lizann Flatt

Other

• High Five magazine volume

• Follow that Map: A First Book of Mapping Skills by Scot Ritchie

Field Trip

Our field trip this week was our first with the STEAM coop. It was a terribly hot day, but we did spend a bit over an hour at the OPPD Arboretum exploring nature and reminding ourselves of various shapes in nature. Wednesday was Zoo Member Appreciation Day so we had to stop in to get our ride tickets and special events. It was very hot, but we still enjoyed many animals, carousel, tram, stingray beach, and the splash pad.

Fossil hunting at the Arboretum

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. This week, we watched the second of the series about A to Z. This episode focused on book making and specifically the advent of the Guttenburg printing press.

• NOVA S47 E12: A to Z

Nature hike

Misc. - Random picture books read

• Beyond the Dinosaurs: Monsters of the Air and Sea by Charlotte Lewis Brown

• Heavy Equipment: Cranes by David Armentrout

• Infinity and Me by Kate Hosford

• Nick and Nack Float a Boat by Brandon Budzi

• N is for Nebraska: A Cornhusker State ABC Primer by Christin Farley

• Omaha ABCs by Ashlee Coffey

• Snappsy the Alligator by Julie Falatko

• Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci by Joseph D’Agnese

Highs

• Although it was very warm, I loved our visit to the OPPD Arboretum. We will definitely go back. Maybe in the fall when the colors start changing?

Lows

• I’m still figuring out the scheduling aspect. How much is too much to aim for getting done in a day. It’s different from last year in that Q is in the mix and we have weekly activities and field trips (with coop). I overestimated this week…

We spotted three wobbegong sharks at the zoo! (one is not pictured here) We thought there was only one.

Next Week

• Finishing The Wizard of Oz

• Starting birds for coop and science

• Listening to Beethoven for music

• Covering A and B for Quentin’s letter work

• Diving into the Middle Ages with the Islamic Empire

Hello Lion!

Next up on the TBR pile: