Summer Bucket List Update #2

Another season, another summer bucket list. In our town, it’s been feeling like summer for weeks now. I sat down with the kids the other day and they helped me come up with a list of activities for this season.

1. Complete the Library Reading Program ✓

2. Tour of Midwest Zoos ✓

3. Ice Cream Tour of Omaha

4. Louisville SRA ✓

5. Durham Dinosaur Exhibit - We’re going on Monday.

6. Trip to Indiana, Iowa, Illinois ✓

7. Cookout with Friends ✓ - We had a great cookout with coop friends.

8. Lincoln Day

9. Medieval, Pirate, and Prehistoric Putt - In progress. The boys went with J to Medieval Putt while I was gone at the end of June.

10. Redo the Playroom ✓

11. Bird Watching Hike

12. Pam Nelson Farm

13. Lauritzen Gardens

14. 5 Splash Pad Visits ✓

15. 3 Movies at the Theater - 2 done

16. 3 Omaha Zoo Visits ✓

17. Craft/Art Day ✓ - We went to The Makery for a free crafting day.

18. Read 50 Books

19. July Movie Month!

20. Clear Out My Library Cart - In progress

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W2: Goodness, I am Tired!

What We Studied

We reached the end of our second week of regular homeschooling routine and I am exhausted. Seriously, by Friday afternoon, I could barely keep my eyes open. And we didn’t do that much! I think it’s a combination of the heat and the mental load of keeping all the plates in the air that has me so tired. The kids are fairing better, but they also get a lot more breaks and free time…

Literature and Poetry

Arthur continued Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll for his ELA read aloud. To go along with the text itself, Blossom and Root Grade 3 Language Arts gives us a ton of activities and creative projects to go along with the text. We will be reading this for one more week. He also has a weekly poetry selection. We also started our Myths and Maps extra curriculum from B&R. We began covering creation stories from around the world. One last item, we started reading The Beast of Buckingham Palace for our next coop book club selection.

• Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

• Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry

• In the Beginning by Virginia Hamilton

• The Beast of Buckingham Palace by David Walliam

Quentin started a big read aloud as his main focus. I timed the read aloud to coincide with the area of the world that we are studying. The Very Very Far North seemed perfect for starting with the Arctic. He also did a day study of the Stone Soup story. We read a traditional European telling and then grabbed multiple others for variety. We did a bit of compare and contrast with the stories. I enjoyed it!

• High Five Intro Issue

• Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry

• The Very Very Far North by Dan Bar-El

• Stone Soup by Marcia Brown

• Quill Soup by Alan Durant

• Fandango Stew by David Davis

• Bone Soup by Alissa Satin Capucilli

• Some Friends to Feed: The Story of Stone Soup by Pete Seeger and Paul DeBois Jacobs

• The Real Story of Stone Soup by Ying Chang Compestine

• We All Play by Julie Flett

Playing Arthur’s homemade game, Lord of the Book

Math

For both boys, we have scheduled math for three days a week. One day is focused on logic, games, puzzles, and special projects. The two other days are focused on covering the main math curriculum (Singapore 4A and 4B for Arthur and Singapore 1A and 1B for Quentin). This week Arthur and I played a monster themed multiplication game. I also found a fun packet of logic puzzles based on Alice in Wonderland. We will be spreading these out over our reading of the text.

• Logic Liftoff (Arthur)

• Singapore 4A

• Tinkeractive Math Kindergarten

• Lollipop Logic Book 2 (Quentin)

• Numbers Everywhere by Linda Leopold Strauss

• Everyone Counts by Judy Sierra

Social Studies

Arthur started his large study of United States history using a combination of Build Your Library Level 5 and History Quest United States History. We did a bit more introduction and then started learning about the native nations of the northeast. Last minute, I found a great Outschool class called “What are Native Americans?” This is a two week class focusing on introducing students to Native Americans and doing a bit of geography and history. It’s being taught by Kelly Tudor, who is Lipan Apache. (I’ve tagged her other classes for future reference. She has one about Indigenous Peoples’ Day that I hope works out for us time-wise.)

• A Kid’s Guide to Native American History by Yvonne Wakim Dennis

• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

• The Earth Under Sky Bear’s Feet: Native American Poems of the Land by Joseph Bruchac

• Turtle Island: The Story of North America’s First People by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger

• What the Eagle Sees: Indigenous Stories of Rebellion and Renewal by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger

• What was the Ice Age? by Nico Medina

• Prehistorical Animals: Prehistoric Mammals by David West

Quentin began his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. We covered the basics of the world with a close look at maps the globe. We took this week to do some more big overview of the world and talk about the different types of climates and geography throughout the world.

• Nat Geo Beginner’s World Atlas

• DK Countries of the World

• DK First Earth Encyclopedia

• DK Children Just Like Me

• DK Children Just Like Me; A School Like Mine

• On Earth by G. Brian Karas

Finding fossils at Schramm

Arthur Independent Time

We are working on following a checklist in a planner for weekly independent work. There’s usually some math workbook pages, an ELA packet, weekly writing prompts (1-2 times a week), independent reading time, and a special creative project. Beyond the paperwork, Arthur focused on his game he’s been making (Lord of the Book) and some random side creative projects.

Q missed his friend

Science

Arthur is focusing on Physics this year. We are covering the text and related videos at home and then joining friends for experiments and extra projects. This week the boys learned about water displacement and density. They had a long experiment session that culminated in a challenge to construct a boat that would hold 30 pennies. Lots of fun there! For our history section, Arthur learned about various cultures keeping time throughout history. Talks about calendars and time-keeping.

• RSO Physics

• The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way by Joy Hakim

Quentin will be focusing on animal science with BYL Level 0. We talked about ecosystems and sorted some animals into their ecosystems.

• Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas

• DK Animal

• Lonely Planet: The Animal Book

• Many Biomes, One Earth by Sneed B. Collard III

• Earth: Extreme Facts by Steffi Cavell-Clarke

STEAM Coop

Coop continued with a slightly smaller group (thank goodness). We had a great week where the older kids learned about plate tectonics and the younger groups learned about rocks and minerals. The older kids really enjoyed demonstrating the different types of plate boundaries using frosting and graham crackers. Probably helps that they got to it their creations afterward. Lots of fun there! Afterwards, we had three more families official join the coop. We are growing, but hopefully not too much more so we can fit in peoples’ houses for winter.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking

We’re planning one doing on art project and one cooking project each week as well as picking a composer or musician to listen to and enjoy. This week, art and music just didn’t happen. But that’s okay. This is why I have built in flex weeks to catch up on some of the things that get pushed aside during a normal week.

Coop art class was canceled due to illness.

Field Trip

We had a great field trip to Schramm with a guided tour of the geologic site. The kids got to dig for fossils and some free play at the rocks. We had a lovely picnic by the fish hatcheries and ended our visit back at the nature center. The boys were excited that all the imaginary play items were back out.

High

• Science on Wednesday was delightful. While Arthur worked with his friend on some experiments, I sat in the other room with Quentin and did some of his packet work. I think we used our time wisely this week.

Waddling like a duck

Low

• So tired!

Next Week

• Finishing Alice in Wonderland (A)

• Figuring out more logic puzzles (A)

• Learning about Native American cultures of the East Coast (A)

• Moving on to Newton’s Laws for Physics (A)

• Reading some animal stories (Q)

• Continuing The Very Very Far North (Q)

• Covering the Arctic and Canada (Q)

• Covering geology (A) and amphibians and retiles (Q) for coop

• Introducing the art of John Singleton Copley?

• Moving through The Beast of Buckingham Palace for coop book club

• Listening to Bach

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #14

Reading: Hide by Kiersten White - I totally figured out the weirdness within the first third of this book, but I’m still loving it. Almost finished.

Watching: We started The Sandman and it’s amazing! I loved the comics and the television is a beautiful adaptation of the comics.

Listening: We have a few field trips coming up and have been listening to back episodes of Eons podcast.

Making: For this week’s coop lesson, the younger groups are going to be covering rocks and minerals (biggest kids are doing plate tectonics). I’m making the rock cycle out of starburst. It is a bit time-consuming, but a very easy way to explain the rock cycle.

Feeling: The temps cooled off just a tad and I feel so much better. I can do mid-80s, I am not a fan of mid-90s.

Planning: We scrapped our bit fall family road trip (we had one in May anyway) in favor of me taking the kids for a long weekend to Des Moines. We’re going for a living history event on Friday and then staying to explore the area.

Loving: The bakery inside Baker’s makes these amazing brown butter caramel cookies, but I don’t love paying the price they are marked. Lucky me that I keep finding them on the bakery clearance rack! 50% is totally my price point for these delicious cookies.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W1: We're Back at It!

What We Studied

We dove into our third year of homeschooling with Arthur entering 3rd grade and Quentin entire kindergarten. This first week was all about attempting to figure out our weekly schedule. We have to work in coop on Thursday morning, art class on Thursday afternoon, physics with friends on Wednesday afternoon, and a weekly field trip. I’m attempting to decide if we will be doing art class and field trips weekly or on a different schedule. I’m still thinking about that. As for the curriculum itself, we dove right in and accomplished a ton this week.

Attempting to make a paper hole to step through a la Alice

Literature and Poetry

Arthur started Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll for his ELA read aloud. To go along with the text itself, Blossom and Root Grade 3 Language Arts gives us a ton of activities and creative projects to go along with the text. We will be reading this for two more weeks. He also has a weekly poetry selection. We also started our Myths and Maps extra curriculum from B&R. We began covering creation stories from around the world. One last item, we finished reading The Penderwicks in time for coop book club on Thursday evening. Only one other family joined us, but we chatted about the book for awhile before the kids scampered off to the playground.

• Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

• Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry

• In the Beginning by Virginia Hamilton

• The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

Quentin has a mixed week. We started with a few books related to traveling the world (preview of our social studies curriculum). He also covered the Blossom and Root Kindergarten Language Arts week dealing with names and the importance of identity.

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

• Johnny Appleseed: A Tall Tall retold by Stephen Kellogg

• Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal

• Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow

• The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi

• Me and My Family Tree by Joan Sweeney

• High Five Intro Issue

• Rocket Finds an Egg by Tad Hills (Quentin read)

• Rocket’s Very Fine Day by Tad Hills (Quentin read)

• Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry

Math

For both boys, we have scheduled math for three days a week. One day is focused on logic, games, puzzles, and special projects. The two other days are focused on covering the main math curriculum (Singapore 4A and 4B for Arthur and Singapore 1A and 1B for Quentin). This week Arthur and I played a Pirate themed place value game. I also found a fun packet of logic puzzles based on Alice in Wonderland. We will be spreading these out over our reading of the text.

• Logic Liftoff (Arthur)

• Singapore 4A

• Tyrannosaurus Math by Michelle Markel

• Tinkeractive Math Kindergarten

Social Studies

Arthur started his large study of United States history using a combination of Build Your Library Level 5 and History Quest United States History. We covered an introduction to Native American history and a general geography review. We also started some great resources for stories from Native American societies. Arthur did a short research project about the Omaha and Ponca tribes as we live on their ancestral land.

• If America were a Village by David J. Smith

• The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller

• A Kid’s Guide to Native American History by Yvonne Wakim Dennis

• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

• The Earth Under Sky Bear’s Feet: Native American Poems of the Land by Joseph Bruchac

• Turtle Island: The Story of North America’s First People by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger

• What the Eagle Sees: Indigenous Stories of Rebellion and Renewal by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger

Quentin began his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. We covered the basics of the world with a close look at maps the globe. He worked through some activities and completed most of the introduction box from Atlas Crate. He also prepped his world passport for our studies.

• The World is Waiting for You by Barbara Kerley

• Our Earth by Anne rockwell

• Exploring by Alain Gree

• Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney

• Nat Geo Beginner’s World Atlas

• DK Countries of the World

• DK First Earth Encyclopedia

• DK Children Just Like Me

• DK Children Just Like Me; A School Like Mine

• My Bed: Enchanting Ways to Fall Asleep Around the World by Rebecca Bond

Arthur Independent Time

We are working on following a checklist in a planner for weekly independent work. There’s usually some math workbook pages, an ELA packet, weekly writing prompts (1-2 times a week), independent reading time, and a special creative project. Beyond the paperwork, Arthur made an Alice puppet and worked on his board game. .

Science

Arthur is focusing on Physics this year. We are covering the text and related videos at home and then joining friends for experiments and extra projects. The first week was an introduction to the realm of physics and a review of the scientific method. We also started The Study of Science, which we will be slowing moving through the first book over the entire year. We wrapped up the week with a documentary about our human ancestors (NOVA S36 E15 Becoming Human Episode 3: Last Human Standing).

• Where Did We Come From by Chris Ferrie

• RSO Physics

• The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way by Joy Hakim

Quentin will be focusing on animal science with BYL Level 0. We did a small introduction of animals across the world. Next week we will dive in more.

• Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas

• DK Animal

• Lonely Planet: The Animal Book

• The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

STEAM Coop

Coop started with a crowd! Seriously,, we had about 43 kids come to the first meeting of the semester. The oldest group (4th-8th grade) had 20 kids by itself! All three groups learned a bit about the layers of the Earth (more in-depth for the oldest kids obviously) and then make models of the layers of the Earth using Model Magic Clay. Some of the kids really got into adding their green continents as accurately as possible. I loved the attention to detail! Of the 8 new families that came, 2 have already officially joined us! Next week, we will be continuing with the geology theme.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking

We’re planning one doing on art project and one cooking project each week as well as picking a composer or musician to listen to and enjoy. This first week we scrapped the intended craft project of making a carved apple doll for an apple taste test and scientific observation. I just knew that I would end be be the one doing the entire apple doll and wanted to give the kids something hands on. While doing our apple taste test, we enjoyed listening to a variety of composition from Beethoven. We even went on a Fifth Symphony deep dive and listened to about 20 different variations of the piece. I really liked the Bossa Nova version. Arthur liked the organ version, and Quentin like the marching band version. Lots of fun with that one! My goal is definitely to keep this light and fun.

At coop art class, the boys learned about landscapes featuring a background, middle ground, and foreground. They then created their own versions. A nice low-key art class was just what we needed.

Field Trip

None this week due to my Monday afternoon to Tuesday morning migraine.

High

• We loved getting back with our coop friends for a fun session (and art class and book club). We missed them so much on our mini summer break.

Low

• I overloaded the curriculum a bit this week. I knew the first week would be a bit rough in terms of the schedule. Hopefully next week will be better balanced.

Next Week

• Continuing to read Alice in Wonderland (A)

• Figuring out more logic puzzles (A)

• Learning about Native American cultures (A)

• Moving on to Density and Water Displacement for Physics (A)

• Reading some animal stories (Q)

• Starting The Very Very Far North (Q)

• Covering Biomes and Ecosystems of the World (Q)

• Covering geology for coop

• Introducing the art of John Singleton Copley

• Starting The Beast of Buckingham Palace for coop book club

• Listening to Bach or Mozart - haven’t decided which exactly

Ice cream to wrap up the week: Blue Moon for Quentin, Blood Orange sorbet for me, German Chocolate for Arthur

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• A bit nervous about today’s coop meeting. We are going to have 47 children!

• Deep into my current read and it’s giving me The Magicians vibes but with a faster moving plot.

• My Bachelorette predictions: Gabby will end up picking Nate and Rachel will end up picking TIno.

• I feel the urge to make a fun dessert this week, but do I have the energy?

• Currently looking at the giant stack of books for homeschooling week 2. It’s really a lot…

Next up on the TBR pile:

August 2022 Life Goals

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

• Read 15 Books ✓

• Finish prepping curriculum for 2022-2023 school year ✓

• Visit Indiana (and on-the-way states) ✓

• Finish prepping for fall coop semester ✓

• Redo the Playroom ✓

• Put a pause on my library holds for second half of July-August ✓

August Goals: Sticking with just a few goals for the month as I know it’s going to be a busy one.

• Read 18 Books

• Kick off the Coop for the Fall Semester

• Make 4 Recipes for Our 52 Desserts

• Visit the zoo once

• Visit two state parks

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #13

Reading: I’m about halfway through A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham. It’s a murder mystery thriller that’s not really my jam, but It was a book club pick. I’m really scared that there’s going to be some big silly twist coming soon.

Watching: While at my mom’s house, I discovered that there was another Below Deck variation that I didn’t know about. This one is set in the waters off of Australia. I most definitely added the series and started watching it. Now I have two different Below Decks to watch during lunch.

Listening: Arthur has zoo camp this week and is gone from 9am-3:30pm every day. Already Quentin has taken the opportunity to be a little chatterbox with Arthur away. So many silly conversations with him!

Making: With the start of the new coop semester and the new homeschooling year, I’ve been making a ton of Facebook events.

Feeling: I’m being stretched mentally as well as physically. I’ve got a ton of plates to juggle to get the coop started off right. And my scar tissue has been acting up leading to more stretching and uncomfortable nights.

Planning: I’m almost got everything prepped for our first Homeschool week. I still need to gather some random supplies and make the day piles, but the rest is ready to go.

Loving: With the terrible high temperatures, it was nice to have a few days of lower temperatures. More exciting was the cloud cover. It really helped to not feel like we are on the surface of the sun.

Next up on the TBR pile:

We're Homeschooling - Year 3! Planning and Schedule

Our Schedule

So now I have the supplies, it’s time to start planning and gathering everything I want to do. I’m a Type A planner that always feels better with a good plan going in. I’m always up for flexibility and change in the spur of the moment, but I need a plan to reference when things change. I started with making a simple list of of the various curriculum we will be using.

I’m a big fan of time blocking, but we have multiple events outside of our house to account for. This coming year, we have our STEAM coop, coop art class, and science with a friend family.. My first pass at scheduling our day began with the outside items. From there, I came up with this basic schedule:

Next, I broke the week schedule down into days to better see if everything would fit. Arthur’s schedule is set and I am still tweaking Quentin’s schedule. I primarily use Roam to accomplish my day to day planning.

My next step was to create an overview calendar with our big themes. I used index cards cut into smaller pieces laid out on my desk so I could see everything at once and move things around. Very low tech solution, but sometimes paper really is better.

I was having trouble remembering if I was including all the pieces, so I created this weekly checklist to make sure. I’m certain that I will be tweaking this as the semester progressed. Right now this is what I have… (after taking this picture, I added Cooking and Q STEM to the checklist).

My last big planning step is to create very detailed lesson plans including videos, books, and details. This will be my second year using a special note talking app called Roam. I’ve been actively using Roam to collect all my notes, lesson plans, scheduling, and other miscellaneous items. (Also, you can see from the sidebar that I use Roam for a wide range of projects, not just homeschooling.) I’m still exploring the various tools on Roam and I’m sure that my planning with get more advanced and efficient as this year goes on. This screenshot is the start of our first week.

And that’s it! My planning and scheduling process seems very complicate but most of it is prep work before the year begins. Once we start, I mainly use the paper planner as reference and work inside Roam for the day-to-day planning. As usual, I tweak the process as I go along but this is my starting place.

We’re officially starting our homeschool adventure the first week of August. Starting August 8th, I’ll post a weekly wrap-up. I hope to do weekly updates highlighting our highs and lows on this journey.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Summer Bucket List Update #1

Another season, another summer bucket list. In our town, it’s been feeling like summer for weeks now. I sat down with the kids the other day and they helped me come up with a list of activities for this season.

1. Complete the Library Reading Program ✓

2. Tour of Midwest Zoos ✓ - We saw four zoos in Illinois and Indiana on our trip last week.

3. Ice Cream Tour of Omaha

4. Louisville SRA ✓ - We’ve been there twice so far this summer.

5. Durham Dinosaur Exhibit

6. Trip to Indiana, Iowa, Illinois ✓

7. Cookout with Friends

8. Lincoln Day

9. Medieval, Pirate, and Prehistoric Putt - In progress. The boys went with J to Medieval Putt while I was gone at the end of June.

10. Redo the Playroom

11. Bird Watching Hike

12. Pam Nelson Farm

13. Lauritzen Gardens

14. 5 Splash Pad Visits - 3 done

15. 3 Movies at the Theater - 2 done

16. 3 Omaha Zoo Visits - 1 visit done

17. Craft/Art Day - Not yet, but we are going to The Makery tomorrow with coop friends.

18. Read 50 Books

19. July Movie Month!

20. Clear Out My Library Cart

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• We’re back home and I’ve got a huge list of things to accomplish before August 1st.

• Arthur’s got zoo camp next week and I need to make him lunches every day.

• So sad that we didn’t get to add any bald eagles to our summer count.

• But we did visit four different zoos on our trip.

• Coming home is always nice, but I do not love the laundry piles afterward.

Next up on the TBR pile:

We're Homeschooling - Year 3! Our Curriculum 3rd Grade

Two years of homeschooling under my belt, and I feel like I’ve really found my groove. It wasn’t hard to pick curriculum for this coming year. I knew that we wanted to be literature heavy so Build Your Library and Blossom and Root were obviously choices for us overall. Once I started looking into things, I went on a shopping spree and got my ducks in order. The hard part this coming year will be to balance each child’s individual needs and levels. Arthur will be in 3rd grade and Quentin will be in Kindergarten. I am working on creating a schedule that works for everyone while allowing for flexibility.

As a reminder, we are a pretty eclectic household with a strong literature base. My criteria when looking for curriculum:

• secular

• rigorous

• wide world perspective

• not necessarily all-in-one

• at least some physical items, not all online

• cheap (not necessarily the cheapest, but not expensive)

Let’s take a look at what I have for curriculum for next year!

Arthur - 3rd Grade

Math

We will be continuing with Singapore Math Common Core Edition as our base curriculum. Arthur will be starting with 4A and push through 4B. Beyond the basic text, we will be supplementing with Khan Academy, lots of math games, and random workbooks and packets. We will also be continuing with our logic puzzles.

• Singapore Math 4A and 4B

• Multiplication and Division G3-4

• Random Target Workbook

• Scholastic Math Tests G4

• Scholastic Math G4

• Sylvan Super Math Success G4

• Kumon Geometry and Measurement G4

• Logic Liftoff

• 50 Logic Puzzles

• The Math Book by Clifford A. Pickover

• Five Below Random Workbooks

Language Arts

This is Arthur’s grammar workbook selections for this year. We don’t do every page and question, but bounce around between some of them.

• Evan Moor Daily Summer Activities 3rd to 4th Grade

• Brainquest Summer 3&4

• Brainiest 3rd Grade

• Grade 3 Complete Curriculum

• Evan Moor Daily Language Review 3rd Grade

• Scholastic Grammar 3rd Grade

• Scholastic Writing 3rd Grade

• Scholastic Reading Comprehension 3rd Grade

• Scholastic Grammar 4th Grade

• Scholastic Writing 4th Grade

• Scholastic Reading Comprehension 4th Grade

• Five Below Workbooks

• Grade 3 Readiness

Arthur’s readers will be a mix of Blossom and Root’s Grade 3 Language Arts, Build Your Library 5, and our home library selections.

• Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia

• The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

• The Beast of Buckingham Palace by David Walliams (coop book club selection)

• The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (coop book club selection)

• Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert O’Brien

• Tristan Strong Destroys the World by Kwame Mbalia

• Wildwood by Colin Meloy

• Winterhouse by Ben Guterson

• The Secrets of Winterhouse by Ben Guterson

• The Winterhouse Mysteries by Ben Guterson

• Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate

• The Secret Garden by France Hodgson Burnett

• Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

• Insignificant Events int he Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

• Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Readers continued…

• El Deafo by Cece Bell

• Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

• The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

• Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

• Hollowpox: The Hunt of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

• The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

• The Penderwicks at Last by Jeanne Birdsall

• Midsummer Mayhem by Rajani LaRocca

• My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

• The Strangers by Margaret Peterson Haddix

• Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland

• Iggy Peck and the Mysterious Mansion by Andrea Beaty

• Word of Mouse by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein (coop book club selection)

Our language arts selections also include a mini unit on Native America stories and one on Shakespeare. I found some interesting resources for those.

• In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World by Virginia Hamilton

• One World, Many Religions by Mary Pope Osborne

• Bravo Mr. William Shakespeare by Marcia Williams

• Tales from Shakespeare by Marica Williams

• Shakespeare for Kids by Colleen Aagesen

• A Child’s Introduction to Poetry by Michael Driscoll

• Between Earth and Sky: Legends of Native American Sacred Places by Joseph Bruchac

• The Earth Under Sky Bear’s Feet: Native American Poems of the Land by Joseph Bruchac

• They Dance in the Sky: Native American Star Myths by Jean Guard Monroe

• Pushing Up the Sky: Seven Native American Plays for Children by Joseph Bruchac

And of course we have a stack of poetry selections.

• My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States by Lee Bennett Hopkins

• Poetry for Young People: American Poetry

• Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg

• Writing Down the Days by Lorraine Dahlstrom

• Poetry for Young People: Walt Whitman

• Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson

• Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes

• Poetry for Young People: Edgar Allan Poe

Social Studies

Arthur’s social studies will focus on the United States to coincide with our history selection.

• Map Skills for Today Grade 3

• License Plates Across the America

• Nat Geo Kids U.S. Road Trip Atlas

• The Geography Book

• Map Skills for Today Grade 4

• Evan Moor Geography Skill Sharpeners Grade 5

• Target U.S. Workbook

• Nat Geo Kids United States Atlas

• The 50 States Activity Book

As our history base, Arthur is using Build Your Library Level 5 (U.S. History) combined with History Quest’s new U.S. History release.

• DK American History

• DK When on Earth?

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK History

• Don’t Know Much About The Presidents by Kenneth C. Davis

• DK Timeline of Everything

• Nat Geo Our Country’s Presidents

• Words that Build a Nation by Marilyn Miller

• What Color is My World? The Lost History of African American Investors by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

• The Declaration of Independence by Rod Gragg

• Inventing America: The Life of Benjamin Franklin by Mark Regan Essig

• Remember the Ladies: 100 Great American Women by Cheryl Harness

• Evan Moor Native Americans History Pockets

• A Kid’s Guide to Native American History by Yvonne Wakim Dennis

• Lewis and Clark for Kids by

• Target U.S. Presidents Workbook

• The American Revolution for Kids

• A Kid’s Guide to African American History by Nancy I. Sanders

• Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson

• The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton

• Trickster: Native American Tales by Matt Dembicki

Our history curriculum has a ton of extra readers. I’m very excited to get to all of these.

• King George: What was His Problem? by Steve Sheinkin

• Which Way to the Wild West by Steve Sheinkin

• Two Miserable Presidents by Steve Sheinkin

• Day of Tears by Julius Lester

• Sarah Journey’s West by Nikki Shannon Smith

• Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

• Chains by Laurie Halse Andreson

• Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson

• Ashes by Laurie Halse Anderson

• In the Shadow of Liberty by Kenneth C. Davis

• Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

• A Different Mirror for Young People by Ronald Takaki

• Pocahontas by Josephy Bruchac

• The Winter People by Joseph Bruchac

• Morning Girl by Michael Dorris

• A Young People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn

• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

• Sunnie Press Maps

Science

Our science is going to be a combination of Build Your Library Level 8 (history of science), Level 4 (Physics), and RSO Physics. Lots of interesting combinations.

• Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia

• DK Science Year by Year

• The Way Things Work Now by David Macaulay

• Build This Book by David Eckhold

• Astronomy for All Ages by Philip Harrington

• The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way by Joy Hakim

• The Handy Science Answer Guide

• A History of Earth in 100 Groundbreaking Discoveries by Douglas Palmer

• Six Easy Pieces by Richard P. Feynman

• The Annotated Flatland by Ian Stewart

• Five Equations that Changed the World by Michael Guillen

• Introducing Quantum Theory

• Nick and Tesla’s High Voltage Danger Lab by Bob Pfluffelder

• Flatterland by Ian Stewart

In addition to our formal science curriculum, we will be doing a variety of nature science lessons. We still have a ton of leftover lessons and resources from last year.

Art

This is actually all the art books for Quentin and Arthur. I took just one picture. Each one of their Build Your Library levels has a related art book to dip in and out of. Arthur’s selection is Great American Artists for Kids book to go along with U.S. History. Beyond that book, I imagine that we will occasionally do a art lesson on other people and styles. Plus, coop is supposed to be starting an art class. Very excited about this possibility.

• A Journey Through Art: A Global History by Aaron Rosen

• Storybook Art by MaryAnn F. Kohl

• The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola

• The Story of Paintings by Mick Manning

• Great American Artists for Kids by MaryAnn F. Kohl

• Global Art by MaryAnn F. Kohl

• Frida Kahlo: The Artist Painted Herself by Margaret Frith

Currently #12

Reading: I finally started reading Katherine May’s The Electricity of Every Living Thing. I absolutely loved Wintering, but am not sure how I feel about this one quite yet.

Watching: We finally started Stranger Things S4 after the Fourth of July and I just want to binge it all. We didn’t quite finish before I left for Indiana, but I may finish while there.

Listening: I loaded up a few audiobooks for my driving day. After a few podcast episodes, I started listening to The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory.

Making: I brought my Memory Planner pages to work on this week. Hoping to knock out April, May, and part of June.

Feeling: Travel always makes me feel a bit out of place. Staying at my mom’s house also makes me feel this way. We’re excited to be here, but it’s also a weird feeling.

Planning: Still working on planning curriculum for the next school year. Obviously I’m not home, so my planning is limited, but I do have a few tasks.

Loving: The boys and I had a bit driving day yesterday, but today we’re in Michigan City visiting the Indiana Dunes and the Washington Park Zoo. Loving the adventures that I have lined up for the boys and myself.

Next up on the TBR pile:

We're Homeschooling - Year 3! Our Curriculum Kindergarten

Two years of homeschooling under my belt, and I feel like I’ve really found my groove. It wasn’t hard to pick curriculum for this coming year. I knew that we wanted to be literature heavy so Build Your Library and Blossom and Root were obviously choices for us overall. Once I started looking into things, I went on a shopping spree and got my ducks in order. The hard part this coming year will be to balance each child’s individual needs and levels. Arthur will be in 3rd grade and Quentin will be in Kindergarten. I am working on creating a schedule that works for everyone while allowing for flexibility.

As a reminder, we are a pretty eclectic household with a strong literature base. My criteria when looking for curriculum:

• secular

• rigorous

• wide world perspective

• not necessarily all-in-one

• at least some physical items, not all online

• cheap (not necessarily the cheapest, but not expensive)

Let’s take a look at what I have for curriculum for next year!

Quentin - Kindergarten

Primarily Quentin will be using Blossom & Root’s Kindergarten Language Arts curriculum and Build Your Library Level 0. B&R is focused on expanding literacy through lots of picture book studies and literature activities. I ultimately decided against using the entire B&R Kindergarten curriculum and just focus on the Language Arts. BYL 0 is a tour of the world including lots of literature, animal science, art, and poetry. Hopefully by combining these two curriculums, we will get to the amount of reading the we accomplish normally.

Language Arts

Blossom and Root and Build Your Library has some basic language lessons and activities, but my kids both seem to love workbook style for grammar lessons and such. We will be starting with the Kindergarten tagged workbooks and then move into the G1 books eventually. We use these as supplemental material. I create little weekly packets that I help the kids work through. Quentin is not good at working independently yet, but we will get there.

• Super Smart Kindergarten (we also have Super Smart First Grade if we need to crack it open)

• Beginning Phonics G1-2

• Phonics G1-2

• Preschool Handwriting Workbook

• Phonics for First Grade

• Smart Start Read and Write G1

• Scholastic Writing G1

• Sylvan Jumbo Language Arts Success G1

• BrainQuest K

• Smart Start Read and Write Kindergarten

• Tinkeractive English PreK (we didn’t get to this last year mostly because of the handwriting components; we will be starting with this book in August)

• Tinkeractive English K

Literature

This will be Quentin’s first year where we are going to try to read longer chapter books. I curated this collection from the Build Your Library and Blossom & Root curriculums and our own bookshelves.

• My Father’s Dragon Collection by Ruth Stiles Gannett

• One Day in the Tropical Rain Forest by Jean Craighead George

• James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

• The Bears on Hemlock Mountain by Alice Dagliesh

• Audrey of the Outback by Christine Harris

• The Very Very Far North by Dan Bar-el

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

• Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

• Heartwood Hotel Trilogy by Kallie George

• Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne

• Now We are Six by AA Milne

• The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin

• The Witches by Roald Dahl (accidentally included this one in Q’s picture; this is actually for Arthur)

• The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren

• Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard Atwater

• The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

This picture includes more of our literature this year. BYL includes a great collection of animal tales from around the world to go with our country study. It also has a giant list of picture books to read with specific countries. Most of those picture books will be checked out from the library, but I did end up buying a few the library doesn’t have and a few that were included in a big curriculum box.

• A World Full of Animal Stories by Angela McAllister

• Around the World in 80 Tales by Saviour Pirotta

• A Boy Called Slow by Joseph Bruchac

• Nat Geo Animal Poetry

• Katie in London by James Mayhew

• The Random House Book of Poetry for Children

• The Random House Book of Fairy Tales

• Linnea in Monet’s Garden by Christina Bjork

• Snow in Jerusalem by Deborah Da Costa

• The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka

Social Studies

Social studies is coming straight from the Build Your Library Level 0 curriculum. I love the idea of doing a tour of the world. We are going to focus on the larger picture while zooming in to specific countries.

• Nat Geo Kids Beginner’s World Atlas

• Nat Geo Kids World Atlas

• Atlas of the World Sticker Book

• Map Skills for Today G1

• Skill Sharpeners Geography K

• Nat Geo Kids Little Kids First Big Book of the World

• DK Flags Around the World Sticker Book

• Around the World Sticker Book

• Maps Activity Book

• Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney

• DK Children Just Like Me

• DK Children Just Like Me: A School Like Mine

• Carson Crosses Canada by Linda Bailey

• Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema

• Africa is Not a Country by Margy Burns Knight

• Cooking Class: Global Feast by Deanna F. Cook

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

• Scranimals by Jack Pretutsky

• Johnny Appleseed by Steven Kellogg

• Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales

Science

The Build Your Library science for Kindergarten is all about animals! We’re pairing animal studies with our tour of the world. The main bulk of the curriculum is animals.

• DK Animal

• Nat Geo Wild Vet Adventures

• Lonely Planet The Animal Book

• Nat Geo Kids Wild Animal Atlas

• African Critters by Robert B. Haas

• Nat Geo On Safari Sticker Book

• Nat Geo Ferocious Animals Sticker Book

• Random Target workbook

• Usborne Animal World

The curriculum also has some selected topics in Earth Science sprinkled throughout the year. And we will be doing nature science when the weather is nice. The coop topics will also be in the mix.

• Tree of Life: The World of the African Boabab by Barbara Bash

• On the Same Day in March by Marilyn Singer

• A Drop Around the World by Barbara Shaw McKinney

• DK First Earth Encyclopedia

• Archaeologists Dig for Clues by Kate Duke

• Tinkeractive Science K

• DK First Space Encyclopedia

Math

Math is definitely an issue in this house as both boys are at least one grade advanced in math. I am always trying to scramble to find the best choices for them. Quentin is going to be starting out with actual Kindergarten leveled books and quickly moving to G1 books. We will also be adding in some math board games and Khan academy. Looks like a lot, but Quentin loves math, so this looks just about right to me.

• Singapore Math 1A and 1B

• Lollipop Logic Book 2 and Book 3

• Highlights Thinking and Reasoning K

• Sylvan Basic Math Success G1

• Sylvan Page a Day Math G1 (this is basically the same as a portion of the other Sylvan book, so we are going to pass it along to a friend)

• Random Target workbook finds

• Time, Money and Fractions G1-2

• Tinkeractive Math K

• Smart Start Math G1

• Growing Patterns by Sarah C. Campbell

• Money Play Set (Target Dollar Spot find)

Art

This is actually all the art books for Quentin and Arthur. I took just one picture. Each one of their Build Your Library levels has a related art book to dip in and out of. Q’s is the Global Art book to go along with the tour of the world. Beyond that book, I imagine that we will occasionally do a art lesson on other people and styles. Plus, coop is supposed to be starting an art class. Very excited about this possibility.

• A Journey Through Art: A Global History by Aaron Rosen

• Storybook Art by MaryAnn F. Kohl

• The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola

• The Story of Paintings by Mick Manning

• Great American Artists for Kids by MaryAnn F. Kohl

• Global Art by MaryAnn F. Kohl

• Frida Kahlo: The Artist Painted Herself by Margaret Frith

Misc.

• Back issues of High Five magazine - We read through a ton of these last year, but still have a few to go.

• Highlights Magazine

• Highlights Amazing Mazes

• Highlight Amazing Mazes

• I Can Draw Book

• Sunnie Press Maps - I’ve been collecting these for awhile now. Each one details a location that will pair perfectly with our Around the World tour for social studies.

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• I downloaded multiple books for my travel next week. I’m hoping one of them is good.

• Speeding through my current book (like I knew I would) and I cannot wait to see how it all comes together.

• Taking the boys to the library book sale tomorrow to redeem their coupons. I’m excited to get some new books, because you know, I don’t have any books in my house…

• Maybe I won’t take too many snacks on the road trip. I feel like I might fail at this.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W36: Two Abbreviated and One Full Week. We're Done!

What We Studied

Arthur was supposed to have camp through Metro, but unfortunately he and Quentin both caught a cold. So we took it pretty easy for that week. The second week was very abbreviated as I left on Thursday for my weekend retreat. Only this past week was the only full week and it ended up as our last week of the academic year.

Literature and Poetry

We started and finished a read aloud and started a new one. For these two read aloud, we just enjoyed reading them. I didn’t make any worksheets to go along with them. Beyond the read aloud, the boys have been completing their ELA and Math packets for the summer. We’ll be continuing these through July.

• Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman

• Wishtree by Katherine Applegate

• Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems selected by Paul Janeczko

Math

We’ve been doing math review through our BrainQuest summer bridge.

Social Studies

Nothing formal

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.

Science and STEAM Coop

Nothing formal

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.

ELA

• Rocket Loves Hide-and-Seek by Tad Hills

• Rocket the Brave by Tad Hills

• R is for Rocket by Tad Hills

• How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills

• Rocket’s Christmas Surprise by Tad Hills

• Where is the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s First Spring

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s First Summer

• The Bill Martin Jr. Big Book of Poetry

• Ick and Crud: Ick’s Bleh Day by Wiley Blevins

• Doozers have Green Thumbs

• Pigs are Prepared by Hans Wilhelm

Math

• Using Math Outdoors

Other

Field Trip

We didn’t have formal field trips, but we had a ton of outings. We visited multiple splash parks (Cimarron, Eagle Ridge, and The Grove). I took the kids to see the new Jurassic World movie and then to a Pirate Orienteering class at the library. We also went to the lake for a day of swimming.

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies.

Misc. Picture Books Read

• Lift, Mix, Fling! Machines Can Do Anything by Lola M. Schaefer

• Bird Watch by Christie Matheson

• All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon

• Maiasaura by Susan H. Gray

• Leonard’s Beard by Nancy Cote

High

• We had a great day swimming at the lake. I was hesitant to take both boys by myself, but it ended up being a great experience. We’re planning on going back very soon.

Low

• A week of sickness really derailed our plans. It was terrible timing.

Next Week

Nothing! We are officially done with this year’s curriculum.

Next up on the TBR pile:

July 2022 Life Goals

I have somehow not done one of these posts since March. How have I just fallen off on this? Oh well. I’m back at it this month. But first…

Let’s check in on March’s goals and my progress. Wow! I actually ended up meeting all my goals for this month.

• Read 15 Books ✓

• Two Zoo Visits ✓

• Four Park Visits ✓

• Organize the Rest of the Homeschool Read Alouds ✓

• Plan a Two-Day Spring Trip ✓ - This turned into a 5 day family trip to Kansas, but was great!

July Goals:

• Read 18 Books

• Finish prepping curriculum for 2022-2023 school year

• Visit Indiana (and on-the-way states)

• Finish prepping for fall coop semester

• Redo the Playroom

• Put a pause on my library holds for second half of July-August

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #11

Reading: I finally started reading A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. So far this has been slow-going, but I’m in it until at least the end.

Watching: We started Loot starring Maya Rudolph and it is delightful. I’m totally here for this show.

Listening: While driving to and from the retreat, I enjoyed listening to multiple episodes of 99PI. I really need to listen to that podcast more often. I always enjoy the series.

Making: Currently I’m working on a puzzle that might be worth $1 million. It’s probably a $1 puzzle, but there’s always the chance. The puzzle is a giant QR code and was labeled as medium difficulty, but it’s proving to be harder than I thought it would be.

Feeling: Rested. I really needed those few days off.

Planning: Now that the retreat is done, I’m deep into planning for our July Indiana trip.

Loving: Thinking back to the bookish retreat and loving all the great memories.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• I’m away on retreat right now! Four glorious days where I only need to take care of myself. Tonight, we are all going to relax, but tomorrow we are going to a few bookstores and have cocktail hour. Very excited for all the bookish fun.

• Speaking of books, I’ve had a run of not amazing books this week. Really hoping to pull up my star ratings with my retreat selections.

• Took the kids to two splash pads, two libraries, and one movie this week to tire them out. I may have overdone it a bit.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Summer Bucket List

Another season, another summer bucket list. In our town, it’s been feeling like summer for weeks now. I sat down with the kids the other day and they helped me come up with a list of activities for this season.

1. Complete the Library Reading Program

2. Tour of Midwest Zoos

3. Ice Cream Tour of Omaha

4. Louisville SRA

5. Durham Dinosaur Exhibit

6. Trip to Indiana, Iowa, Illinois

7. Cookout with Friends

8. Lincoln Day

9. Medieval, Pirate, and Prehistoric Putt

10. Redo the Playroom

11. Bird Watching Hike

12. Pam Nelson Farm

13. Lauritzen Gardens

14. 5 Splash Pad Visits

15. 3 Movies at the Theater

16. 3 Omaha Zoo Visits

17. Craft/Art Day

18. Read 50 Books

19. July Movie Month!

20. Clear Out My Library Cart

Spring Bucket List Finish Line

After taking a bit of a break from bucket lists in 2021 (seriously, that year was a trash fire), I’m back this year. We have a variety of projects that we want to accomplish this coming year and I want to make some intentions for each season. For spring:

1. Check off 150 hours of our 1000 hours outside project ✓ - We’re currently sitting at 154 hours for the year.

2. Two Lincoln Excursion Days - We only made it to Lincoln once so far. But we will definitely schedule another day for laster this summer.

3. Three State park Visits - We hit Schramm a few weeks back.

4. Read 50 books ✓

5. Day trip to Des Moines

6. At least 6 zoo visits (4/6)

7. Design board for future kitchen renovation

8. Monthly bingo/trivia nights ✓

9. Do a donation drop

10. Take the kids bowling or mini golfing

11. Log 50 miles on the treadmill

12. Make homemade cinnamon rolls

13. Plan out curriculum for next year ✓

14. Plan out the Bookish Retreat! ✓

15. Plan an Indiana trip for summer complete with Indianapolis mini trip ✓

16. Weekend trip to Kansas ✓

17. Plan a redo for our homeschool space / playroom - in progress

18. Do a Closet Cleanout for Me

19. Do a Closet Cleanup for the Kids

20. Work on a Craft Project ✓

Up Next on the TBR: