Life Right Now #1

Right now I am: Mentally preparing myself for book club later today. One last activity for the week!

On my bedside table: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt; Come as You Are by Jess Hardy

On my tv this week: J and I watched some episodes of Avenue 5, Leverage: Redemption, Mythic Quest, and the Bad Education Reunion Special.

Listening to: I’ve been trying to catch up with some podcasts, but people keep making more! It’s a never ending battle.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Leftovers/Takeout

• Tuesday - Balsamic Pork Roast

• Wednesday - BBQ Cheddar Meatloaf

• Thursday - Black Bean Soup, Chicken Ranch Tacos

• Friday - Asian Takeout Night

• Saturday - Chicken Parmesan

• Sunday - Blackened Salmon

On my to do list: Nothing much.

Happening this week: It’s surgery week! Minor outpatient surgery, but it will put me down for awhile. I am not planning on doing much of anything this week. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow.

What I am creating: Nothing much, although I did print some photos from my 2022 December Daily album. I really want to get that finished by the end of the month.

My simple pleasures: Chatting with friends, chocolate cookies, the anticipation of less pain

Looking around the house: Since I hosted a homeschool meeting yesterday, the house is looking pretty good right now. I want to do a pick up sweep later in anticipation of not doing much next week.

From the camera: We went on a very cold, but fun hike on Friday morning. Loved seeing the pond partially iced over.

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Our first coop of the spring semester! It promises to be controlled chaos per usual.

• I may have overdone it this past few days. And I think my anxiety is getting to me.

• Thankfully, my minor surgery is on Monday. I should be on the road to less pain.

• Thinking about our To Watch list. I need to make a new one and maybe one for February Movie Month.

• Excited for my new sneakers.

Next up on the TBR pile:

2023 Goals and Resolutions

Checking in with my 2022 Goals and Resolutions -

House Goals/Resolutions

• Finish One Home Renovation Project - Haha! This was just all over the place and nothing really happened.

• Finish Organizing My Craft Room/Library ✓ - At one point, this was organized. Now, it’s a mess again, but it’s a constant reorganization.

Life Goals/Resolutions

• Get Back into My Treadmill Goals - Nope, but we did spend much more time outside this past year.

• 1000 Hours Outside - There’s not way that we will ever reach 1000 hours. We managed about 400 hours this past year. I call that a big win for us, especially as I do not love being outdoors in the heat.

Reading Goals/Resolutions

• Read 200 Books / 60,000 Pages ✓

• Decrease my UnRead Shelf by 50 Books - Fail.

Craft Goals/Resolutions

• Get Back into Crafting! - Nope.

• Finish 2021 Memory Planner ✓

• Keep Up with 2022 Memory Planner ✓

And now on to 2023…

House Goals/Resolutions

• Organize My Craft Room/Library - Trying to find that floor again. I should also do a bit of cleanout with regards to my craft supplies.

• Make Progress with One Home Project - We need to remove the deck and hopefully replace it this year. I also want to redo our homeschool corner.

Life Goals/Resolutions

• Complete 52 Hikes - Instead of 1000 Hours, we’re going to focus on weekly nature hikes. I think that will help get us out and moving.

• Add More Vegetarian Dishes to Our Rotation - With the price of groceries right now, we’re cutting back on some things. Trying to up my vegetarian and even vegan game.

• Take Care of My Medical Issues - I will be having surgery for one thing on Monday. But I’m still hoping to take care of some other issues this winter/spring. Hoping for a less painful year overall.

Reading Goals/Resolutions

• Read 200 Books/60,000 Books

• Clear Off 50 Books from My UnRead Shelf

• Skip at Least 50% of BOTM Months

Homeschool Goals/Resolutions

• Create a Long-Term Plan for Homeschool Curriculum - I started a scope and sequence last year, but want to beef that up. I also have to get some options in mind for future curriculum (e.g. what to do after Singapore 5B?).

• Continue to Organize the Coop, But Also Delegate for Growth - We’re into our second full year of the coop and it’s been amazing. But I have some ideas about growing our membership. I also want to focus a bit on delegating more tasks to others to allow for some breathing room for me.

Next up on the TBR pile:

January 2023 Life Goals

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

• Read 18 Books ✓

January Goals:

• Read 18 Books

• Make All the Appointments! (Medical related)

• Plan Out Curriculum and Coop for Spring

• Execute a Homeschool Seminar

• Clean and Organize My Office!

• Take it Easy after a Minor Surgery

Next up on the TBR pile:

Winter Bucket List

Entering into another winter bucket list.

1. Go Sledding

2. Read 45 Books

3. Bake Some Bread

4. Make Winter Crafts

5. Movie Month February

6. Make Valentines

7. Go on 5 Winter Hikes

8. Have an Indoor Picnic

9. Make a Snow Globe

10. Complete 3 Puzzles

11. Buy Some New Cozy Pajamas

12. Check Off 50 Hours Outside

13. Have a Birthday Day Out

14. Visit the Zoo 3 Times

15. Monthly Bingo/Trivia Nights

16. Take the Kids Bowling

17. Make Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

18. Make a New Dessert

19. Make a Bird Feeder

20. Have an Ice Cream Sundae Night

Next Up on the TBR Pile:

Christmas Bucket List Final

Another Christmas season is upon us! Time for another bucket list: We ended up not getting to everything, but I think we had a great Christmas season this year!

Read 10 Holiday Romances (10/10) ✓

• Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison

• The Christmas Clash by Suzanna Park

• The Highlander’s Christmas Bride by Vanessa Kelly

• The Highlander’s Holiday Wife by Vanessa Kelly

• You’re a Mean One, Matthew Prince by Timothy Janovsky

• Whiteout by Various Authors

• Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey

• Just Like Magic by Sarah Hogle

• All I Want for Christmas by Maggie Know

• A Magical New York Christmas by Anita Hughes

• The Christmas Swap by Melody Carlson

• Fake It for Christmas by Layla Valentine

• Stuck Together for Christmas by Layla Valentine

• Bad Boy for Christmas by Layla Valentine

• The Trouble with Mistletoe by Jill Shalvis

• One Snowy Night by Jill Shalvis

Coop Christmas Party! ✓

Decorate the Mini Tree ✓

Letter to Santa ✓

Christmas Movies x3 ✓

Make Paper Snowflakes

Go See Santa at Cabela’s ✓ (and The Durham Museum)

Go See Werner Park Lights ✓

Hot Chocolate Bar ✓

Meet the Reindeer ✓

Go for a Winter Hike ✓

Puzzle Day ✓

Make Gingerbread Cookies

Visit Lauritzen Gardens ✓

Decorate Gingerbread Ninjas

Drive around and see the lights ✓

Fantasy of Lights ✓

Dinner at Coney Island and Visit to Santa Lights ✓

Christmas music dance party

Watch The Grinch ✓

Make Peppermint Bark

Christmas Advent Books ✓

• Christmas Mouse by Anne Mortimer

• The Twelve Days of Christmas Dogs by Carolyn Conahan

• The Three Bears’ Christmas by Kathy Duval

• The Dinosaurs’ Night Before Christmas by Anne Muercke

• It’s Christmas by Tracey Corderoy

• The 12 Sleighs of Christmas by Sherry Duskey Rinker

• Just Right for Christmas by Birdie Black & Rosalind Beardshaw

• The Twelve Day sod Christmas illustrated by Emma Randall

• Christmas at the Toy Museum by David Lucas

• One Cozy Christmas by M. Christina Butler

• Merry Christmas, Squirrels! by Nancy Rose

• The Last Christmas Tree by Stephen Krensky

• A Day So Gray by Marie Lamba

• Coming Home by Michael Morpurgo

• Christmas with the Mousekins by Maggie Smith

• The Bear Who Didn’t Want to Miss Christmas by Marie Tibi

• A Pirate’s Twelve Days of Christmas by Philip Yates

• Madeline’s Christmas by Ludwig Bemelmans

• How Santa Got His Job by Stephen Krensky

• Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear by Audrey Wood and Don Wood

• Mouse’s Night Before Christmas by Tracey Corderoy

• Christmas is Here! by Charles M. Schulz

• Scooby’s Scary Christmas

• Dino-Christmas by Lisa Wheeler

• The Unicorns Who Saved Christmas by Mary Winn Heider

• How to Catch a Reindeer by Adam Wallace

• How to Catch an Elf by Adam Wallace

• The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

• Little Bear’s Special Friend by Claire Freedman

• If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff

• The Biggest Christmas Tree Ever by Steven Kroll

• Merry Christmas Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt

• Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry

• What the Dinosaurs Did the Night Before Christmas by Refe Tuma and Susan Tuma

Find a New Christmas Album

Have a Candy Cane Hunt

Go Sledding ✓

Send out Christmas cards

Take a photo of all four boys together

Finish 2021’s December Daily album ✓

Try a new holiday drink

Next Up on the TBR Pile:

Homeschool W17: It's Christmas Break!

What We Studied

We’ve officially finished the fall semester! It had its ups and downs, just like every semester, but I feel really good about what we accomplished. We’re on to three full weeks of break. We’ll be traveling, so that will definitely occupy our time.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur and I continued our read aloud. We have just a few chapters left to finish early next week. We have to see how the story ends.

• Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry

• In the Beginning by Virginia Hamilton

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

Quentin focused on reading animal stories from around the world. I’m trying to line them up with our continents as we move across the world. We continued Europe and covered stories from Eastern Europe and Russia.

• Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry

• A World Full of Animal Stories by Angela McAllister

• Around the World in 80 Days by Saviour Pirotta

• Milo's Christmas Parade by Jennie Palmer

• Pete the Cat Saves Christmas by James Dean

• The Christmas Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood

• The Christmas Book Flood by Emily Kilgore

• Merry Christmas from The Very Hungry Caterpillar

• How to Catch a Turkey by Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton

• Werewolf? There Wolf? by Kyle Sullivan

• Where Does a Pirate Go Potty? by Dawn Babb Prochovnic

• Storybots: The Best Christmas Gift

• Winter, Winter, Cold and Snow by Sharon Gibson Palermo

• Merry Christmas, Gus by Chris Chatterton

• The Christmas Extravaganza Hotel by Tracey Corderoy

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). Arthur’s plugging along learning about decimals currently.

• Logic Liftoff (Arthur)

• Singapore 4B

• Lollipop Logic Book 2 (Quentin)

• Smart Start Math Grade 1 - Finished!

Social Studies

Arthur continued his large study of United States history using a combination of Build Your Library Level 5 and History Quest United States History. We’ve continued the section covering the Revolutionary War. I’m loving one of our read aloud resources.

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

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

• We were There Too by Philip Hoose

• Words that Built a Nation

• History Quest: U.S. History

• A Different Mirror

• DK American History Visual Encyclopedia

• King George: What was His Problem? How to Start a Revolution

• Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

Quentin continued his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. We moved onto studying the Balkans and the rest of southeast Europe.

• Nat Geo Beginner’s World Atlas

• DK Countries of the World

• DK Children Just Like Me

• DK Children Just Like Me: A School Like Mine

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. There has been many drawing projects lately.

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. Science with a friend got canceled due to a dental emergency (not mine), so we just covered flight and planes on our own this week.

• RSO Physics

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

• The Way Things Work Now

Quentin will be focusing on animal science with BYL Level 0.

• Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas

• DK Animal

• Lonely Planet: The Animal Book

• The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

STEAM Coop

None

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 music just didn’t happen. But that’s okay. Hopefully we can pick up the animal drawing class in January.

Field Trip

On Monday, we did a winter hike at Fontenelle Forest. It ended up just being us, but it was a lovely morning out in nature. Afterwards, we stopped at Mulhall’s to meet the reindeer. I even picked up a few gifts for my mom.

Tuesday night we visit Lauritzen Botanical Gardens (with J!) for their Bright Nights color and lights display. The gardens were all lit up and included some fun surprises.

Thursday night we finally made it to Werner Park for the Santa Rock n Lights. We now go every year. It’s the perfect cozy way to enjoy a big light display.

On Friday, we snuck in a visit to The Durham Museum. We got to see Santa and search for the elves hidden throughout the museum. I got to see the Downtown Abbey costume exhibit (totally forgot it was there, a pleasant surprise). And we even read some informational signs that we have never read. We learn a little something everything we go.

High

• Thursday we had our Coop Christmas Party! Almost the entire coop came for games, treats, and play fun. I even found a local baker who makes GF and Vegan cut-out sugar cookies to decorate. The kids had a blast decorating. For those that couldn’t make it, we delivered goody bags on Friday.

Low

• Nothing. We had a great and very busy week!

Next Week

• Break Time and Travel!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Christmas Bucket List - Update

Another Christmas season is upon us! Time for another bucket list:

1. Read 10 Holiday Romances (6/10)

   • Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison

   • The Christmas Clash by Suzanna Park

   • The Highlander’s Christmas Bride by Vanessa Kelly

   • You’re a Mean One, Matthew Prince by Timothy Janovsky

   • Whiteout by Various Authors

   • Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey

2. Coop Christmas Party! ✓

3. Decorate the Mini Tree ✓

4. Letter to Santa ✓

5. Christmas Movies x3

6. Make Paper Snowflakes

7. Go See Santa at Cabela’s ✓

8. Go See Werner Park Lights ✓

9. Hot Chocolate Bar ✓

10. Meet the Reindeer ✓

11. Go for a Winter Hike ✓

12. Puzzle Day ✓

13. Make Gingerbread Cookies

14. Visit Lauritzen Gardens ✓

15. Decorate Gingerbread Ninjas

16. Drive around and see the lights

17. Fantasy of Lights

18. Dinner at Coney Island and Visit to Santa Lights

19. Christmas music dance party

20. Watch The Grinch

21. Make Peppermint Bark

22. Christmas Advent Books (in progress)

    • Christmas Mouse by Anne Mortimer

    • The Twelve Days of Christmas Dogs by Carolyn Conahan

    • The Three Bears’ Christmas by Kathy Duval

    • The Dinosaurs’ Night Before Christmas by Anne Muercke

    • It’s Christmas by Tracey Corderoy

    • The 12 Sleighs of Christmas by Sherry Duskey Rinker

    • Just Right for Christmas by Birdie Black & Rosalind Beardshaw

    • The Twelve Day sod Christmas illustrated by Emma Randall

    • Christmas at the Toy Museum by David Lucas

    • One Cozy Christmas by M. Christina Butler

    • Merry Christmas, Squirrels! by Nancy Rose

    • The Last Christmas Tree by Stephen Krensky

    • A Day So Gray by Marie Lamba

    • Coming Home by Michael Morpurgo

    • Christmas with the Mousekins by Maggie Smith

    • The Bear Who Didn’t Want to Miss Christmas by Marie Tibi

    • A Pirate’s Twelve Days of Christmas by Philip Yates

    • Madeline’s Christmas by Ludwig Bemelmans

    • How Santa Got His Job by Stephen Krensky

    • Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear by Audrey Wood and Don Wood

    • Mouse’s Night Before Christmas by Tracey Corderoy

    • Christmas is Here! by Charles M. Schulz

    • Scooby’s Scary Christmas

    • Dino-Christmas by Lisa Wheeler

    • The Unicorns Who Saved Christmas by Mary Winn Heider

    • How to Catch a Reindeer by Adam Wallace

    • How to Catch an Elf by Adam Wallace

23. Find a New Christmas Album

24. Have a Candy Cane Hunt

25. Go Sledding (Here’s hoping the weather cooperates)

26. Send out Christmas cards

27. Take a photo of all four boys together

28. Finish 2021’s December Daily album

29. Try a new holiday drink

Next Up on the TBR Pile:

Homeschool W16: Winding Down the Semester

What We Studied

We only have one more official week for the fall semester and we’re definitely ready for a break. This week was full of random appointments with less schooling worked in. We did cover some reading and math and had our final coop meeting of the fall.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur and I continued our read aloud. The story is really getting good. I’m loving that Arthur has recognized a lot of the folklore and mythological characters. Sometimes he really does pay attention.

• Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry

• In the Beginning by Virginia Hamilton

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

Quentin focused on reading animal stories from around the world. I’m trying to line them up with our continents as we move across the world. We continued Europe and covered stories from Eastern Europe and Russia.

• Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry

• A World Full of Animal Stories by Angela McAllister

• Around the World in 80 Days by Saviour Pirotta

• Pete the Cat's 12 Groovy Days of Christmas by Kimberly and James Dean

• One Wild Christmas by Nicholas Oldland

• Merry Christmas, Dear Dragon by Margaret Hillert

• The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship by Arthur Ransome

• Rechenka's Eggs by Patricia Polacco

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). Arthur’s plugging along learning about decimals currently.

• Logic Liftoff (Arthur)

• Singapore 4B

• Lollipop Logic Book 2 (Quentin)

• Smart Start Math Grade 1

Social Studies

Arthur continued his large study of United States history using a combination of Build Your Library Level 5 and History Quest United States History. We’ve continued the section covering the Revolutionary War. I’m loving one of our read aloud resources.

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

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

• We were There Too by Philip Hoose

• Words that Built a Nation

• History Quest: U.S. History

• A Different Mirror

• DK American History Visual Encyclopedia

• King George: What was His Problem? How to Start a Revolution

• Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

• Map Skills for Today Grade 3

Quentin continued his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. We moved onto studying Eastern Europe and Russia.

• Nat Geo Beginner’s World Atlas

• DK Countries of the World

• DK Children Just Like Me

• DK Children Just Like Me: A School Like Mine

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. There has been many drawing projects lately.

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. We’re back to our RSO with a unit on air and air pressure. The boys really enjoyed trying to prove that air takes up space and has matter. Great experiments this week!

• RSO Physics

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

• The Way Things Work Now

Quentin will be focusing on animal science with BYL Level 0.

• Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas

• DK Animal

• Lonely Planet: The Animal Book

• The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

STEAM Coop

One last week for the fall semester. Arthur finished the genetics unit learning a little bit about CRISPR. I had to emergency teach mental health to the middle class. I led the kids on some mindfulness exercises before we made emotional regulation charts and did some animal themed yoga. I pulled out that lesson in 15 minutes and felt really good about the results. Sometimes we just have to quickly pivot and get the job done.

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 music just didn’t happen. But that’s okay. Hopefully we can pick up the animal drawing class in January.

Field Trip

No field trip, but we did host board game morning on Tuesday. Lots of kids came and played board games. They even did it fairly independently!

On Sunday, we had our book club discussion for The Girl Who Drank the Moon. While discussing, the kids drew their own versions of Glerk and Fyrian and all the rest of the characters. Not all of the kids liked the book, but we had a great discussion of why. They are really starting to get how to talk about books. I’m so excited for spring!

High

• I hosted coop happy hour for the coop parents on Tuesday. We had a lovely evening chatting without kid interruptions. Will definitely have to do it again in the spring.

Low

• All the doctor appointments! The boys had their well-check visits on Monday so school was a wash. And then I had an appointment on Wednesday morning and one on Friday morning. Lots of poking prodding this week.

Next Week

• Finishing our read aloud and maybe starting the coop book club selection (A)

• Learning more about the Revolutionary War for US History (A)

• Moving forward with 4B for Math (A)

• Wrapping up air and air pressure for physics (A)

• Finishing Europe for social studies and science (Q)

• Celebrating the season with all our coop friends at the Christmas party!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Today is our last coop meeting of the semester! We’re taking a break for the holidays. As much as I love coop, I’m ready for a little break to recenter.

• White chocolate cranberry cookies (or cake) sounds like a plan for today’s cooking.

• I think I’m going to DNF my current read, or maybe I will suffer through. It’s just not catching my attention.

• Feeling very cozy and comfy this week. The snow today is magical.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #22

Reading: You’re a Mean One, Matthew Prince by Timothy Janovsky. I’m fully into my holiday romances for the month.

Watching: J has me start watching Leverage Redemption S1. We’ve almost finished this season and we’ll start the newly released one soon.

Listening: The boys and I have been listening to Christmas music while doing our advent activities.

Making: Today’s activity is making Christmas flavored cookies. I’m thinking Ginger Molasses and Cranberry White Chocolate.

Feeling: I had my doctor’s appointment last week and we now have a plan to tackle my persistent pain. I’m feeling a little less anxious now.

Planning: I’m nearing the end of planning our spring curriculum. Just a few sections to finish prepping. My floor is looking cleaner now.

Loving: We got new pots and pans this week and I’m very excited about the tea kettle. It’s so pretty!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W15: Turkey Day and the Start of Christmas

What We Studied

We had a break week for Thanksgiving and a normal week. But with the start of December, our activities increased dramatically. The amount of actual schoolwork that we will get done this month will be small.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur and I started our next read aloud. This will take us toward the end of the year. Even a third of the way in, we are really enjoying this one.

• Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry

• In the Beginning by Virginia Hamilton

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

• The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

• Many Lucious Lollipops by Ruth Heller

Quentin focused on reading animal stories from around the world. I’m trying to line them up with our continents as we move across the world. We continued Europe and covered stories from Poland, ___. We also read a ton of random picture books to supplement.

• Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry

• A World Full of Animal Stories by Angela McAllister

• Around the World in 80 Days by Saviour Pirotta

• Four Good Friends by Margaret Hillert (Quentin Reads)

• Beatrice Likes the Dark by April Genevieve Tucholke

• How to Catch a Witch by Alice Walstead and Megan Joyce

• How to Catch a Monster by Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton

• A Spoonful of Frogs by Casey Lyall

• Sir Ladybug and the Queen Bee by Corey R. Tabor

• Fall Leaves by Loretta Holland

• Babushka Baba Yaga by Patricia Polacco

• Sir Ladybug and the Bookworms by Corey R. Tabor

• Wonder Walkers by Micha Archer

• Creepy Crayon by Aaron Reynolds

• Shape Shift by Joyce Hesselberth

• The Cookie House by Margaret Hillert (Quentin Reads)

• The Glass Mountain: Tales from Poland by David Walser

• The Little, Little House by Jessica Souhami

• Luba and the Wren by Patricia Polacco

• The Cats in Krasinski Square by Karen Hesse

• The Mitten by Jan Brett

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). Arthur started 4B this section. I don’t imagine that it’s going to take us all that long to finish.

• Logic Liftoff (Arthur)

• Singapore 4B

• Lollipop Logic Book 2 (Quentin)

• Smart Start Math Grade 1

Social Studies

Arthur continued his large study of United States history using a combination of Build Your Library Level 5 and History Quest United States History. we’ve started the section covering the Revolutionary War. I’m loving one of our read aloud resources.

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

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

• We were There Too by Philip Hoose

• Words that Built a Nation

• History Quest: U.S. History

• A Different Mirror

• DK American History Visual Encyclopedia

• Cobblestone: North American Beaver Fur Trade

• Struggle for a Continent: The French and Indian Wars by Betsy Maestro

• King George: What was His Problem? How to Start a Revolution

• Map Skills for Today Grade 3

Quentin continued his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. We moved onto studying Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, .

• Nat Geo Beginner’s World Atlas

• DK Countries of the World

• DK Children Just Like Me

• DK Children Just Like Me: A School Like Mine

• P is for Poland by Agnieszka Mrówcyzńska & Prodeepta Das

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. There has been many drawing projects lately.

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. We took a bit of a break from Physics to explore paper making and print making. The boys even got to make their own homemade paper. After thinking about it, we’re going to recycle (heehee) that idea for coop for spring.

• RSO Physics

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

• The Way Things Work Now

Quentin will be focusing on animal science with BYL Level 0.

• Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas

• DK Animal

• Lonely Planet: The Animal Book

• The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

STEAM Coop

We are running right up tot he end of the semester Arthur is continuing the genetics unit while Quentin is learning about mental health.

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 music just didn’t happen. But that’s okay. Arthur’s continued with the Outschool drawing class. This week’s animal was a fox and flamingo together. We actually had our last class until probably January Life is just a little hectic right now.

Field Trip

During Thanksgiving week we joined some coop friends at the zoo. We haven’t been the zoo since August. It was nice to get out and the weather was perfect for our excursion.

High

• We had a small get together to work on our service project. The coop chose to make no-tie fleece blankets for the local animal shelter. I only finished two blankets, but we had a great chat while cutting and tying.

Low

• Not much actual schoolwork was finished this past two weeks. That’s okay, but I had hoped to get a little further in our curriculum.

Next Week

• Continuing our new read aloud (A)

• Learning more about the Revolutionary War for US History (A)

• Moving forward with 4B for Math (A)

• Coming back to physics air and air pressure (A)

• Covering more of Eastern Europe for social studies and science (Q)

• Covering genetics, (A) and mental health (Q) for coop - it’s the last coop meeting of the semester!

Next up on the TBR pile:

December 2022 Life Goals

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

• Read 18 Books

• Read 5 from My Unread Shelf

• Have a Friendsgiving

• Plan the Coop Christmas Party

December Goals:

• Read 18 Books

Next up on the TBR pile:

Christmas Bucket List

Another Christmas season is upon us! Time for another bucket list:

1. Read 10 Holiday Romances

2. Coop Christmas Party!

3. Decorate the Mini Tree

4. Letter to Santa

5. Christmas Movies x3

6. Make Paper Snowflakes

7. Go See Santa at Cabela’s

8. Go See Werner Park Lights

9. Hot Chocolate bar

10. Meet the reindeer

11. Go for a winter hike

12. Puzzle Day

13. Make Gingerbread Cookies

14. Visit Lauritzen Gardens

15. Decorate Gingerbread Ninjas

16. Drive around and see the lights

17. Fantasy of Lights

18. Dinner at Coney Island and Visit to Santa Lights

19. Christmas music dance party

20. Watch The Grinch

21. Make Peppermint Bark

22. Christmas Advent Books

23. Find a New Christmas Album

24. Have a Candy Cane Hunt

25. Go Sledding (Here’s hoping the weather cooperates)

26. Send out Christmas cards

27. Take a photo of all four boys together

28. Finish 2021’s December Daily album

29. Try a new holiday drink

Next Up on the TBR Pile:

Fall Bucket List Final

My favorite season of the year. We’re diving into the spooky season and planning on soaking up all the fall fun.

1. Visit Vala’s 5x ✓

2. Celebrate Friendsgiving ✓

3. Read 50 Books (47/50) - So very close!

4. Complete Spooky Movie Month ✓

5. Execute a Halloween Party for Coop ✓

6. Have an Art/Craft Day

7. Two State Park Visists

8. Two Zoo Visits (1/2)

9. Pick Out and Carve Pumpkins ✓

10. Go Trick-or-Treating ✓

11. Jump in a Pile of Leaves

12. Go Through a Corn Maze ✓

13. Make 5 Fall Recipes

14. Make Leaf Art

15. Go Pick Apples ✓

16. Go on a Fall Forest Hike ✓

17. Make 3 Pumpkin Recipes

18. Go Bowling

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #21

Reading: Finishing The Highlander Who Protected Me by Vanessa Kelly. I picked up this series because two out of the five books are Christmas themed. Just about done with the first book. They are utterly predictable, but I’m totally okay with that.

Watching: We chose Spirited as our family movie selection. Very entertaining! So entertaining that we blew past the kids’ bedtime to finish the movie.

Listening: Very much obsessed with Michael Hobbes’ new podcast If Books Could Kill.

Making: Working on twice-baked sweet potatoes for our Thanksgiving. Love that these are easy to make early for Thanksgiving.

Feeling: I have not been sleeping well lately at all. I am tired. It was help if my body would stop waking me up at 7am when I have no where to be.

Planning: I’m hosting the Coop’s Christmas Party again this year. I got a lead on a Vegan GF baker to make us some cut-out sugar cookies. And I’ve ordered dairy-free hot chocolate mix. Now I need to organize the games and crafts.

Loving: The kids have been playing their own animal show most evenings. Basically they play charades but only do animals.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W14: Airplanes, Bingo, and DNA

What We Studied

J left for a work trip from Wednesday to Friday, which always makes our week feel a bit strange. The theme of the week was lazy schooling. We get our usual outings (science and coop), but also spent a ton of time schooling on the couch. Works for me!

Literature and Poetry

Arthur and I finished our current read aloud. He really liked the humor and the friendship bits. I might pick up the sequel for him to read independently.

• Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry

• In the Beginning by Virginia Hamilton

• Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

• The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

Quentin focused on reading animal stories from around the world. I’m trying to line them up with our continents as we move across the world. We continued Europe and covered stories from Portugal, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and Greece. We also finished reading The Children of Noisy Village by the author of Pippi Longstocking. it’s like a collection of vignettes. I don’t think I was a big fan of the book. I don’t think Q really liked it either. The stories were a bit too old-fashioned for us, which makes sense as it was written in 1946.

• Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry

• The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren

• A World Full of Animal Stories by Angela McAllister

• Around the World in 80 Days by Saviour Pirotta

• Fox and the Bike Ride by Corey R. Tabor

• Snail Crossing by Corey R. Tabor (Quentin Read)

• Three Golden Oranges by Alma Flora Ada

• The Key from Spain by Debbie Levy

• Princess Florecita and the Iron Shoes by John Warren Stewing

• The Beautiful Butterfly by Judy Sierra

• Gabriella's Song by Candace Fleming

• Caterina: The Clever Farm Girl by Julienne Peterson

• Priceless Gifts by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss

• Count Silvernose by Eric A. Kimmel

• The Music of Life: Bartolomeo Cristofori and the Invention of the Piano by Elizabeth Rusch

• Tony's Bread by Tomie dePaola

• Papa Gatto by Ruth Sanderson

• Night Circus by Etienne Delessert

• Two Brothers, Four Hands: The Artists Alberto and Diego Giacometti by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan

• A Tale of Two Brothers by Eveline Hasler

• The Orphan: A Cinderella Story from Greece by Anthony L. Manna and Soula Mitakidou

• The Librarian Who measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky

• Greek Myths: Three Heroic Tales by Hugh Lupton and Daniel Morden

Bingo Time!

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). Arthur officially finished 4A, so we’ve been doing some review before we start 4B in December.

• Logic Liftoff (Arthur)

• Lollipop Logic Book 2 (Quentin)

• Smart Start Math Grade 1

Social Studies

Arthur continued his large study of United States history using a combination of Build Your Library Level 5 and History Quest United States History. We ended up not getting to history this past week, which it totally okay. We will catch up next week.

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

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

• We were There Too by Philip Hoose

• Words that Built a Nation

• History Quest: U.S. History

• A Different Mirror

• DK American History Visual Encyclopedia

• Map Skills for Today Grade 3

Quentin continued his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. We moved onto studying Portugal, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and Greece.

• Nat Geo Beginner’s World Atlas

• DK Countries of the World

• DK Children Just Like Me

• DK Children Just Like Me: A School Like Mine

• All Around the World: Spain by Kristine Spanier

• Alcazar Castle by Grace Hansen

• Barcelona City Trails by Moira Butterfield

• Gaudi: Architect of Imagination by Susan B. Katz

• Just Being Dali: The Story of Artist Salvador Dali by Amy Guglielmo

• C is for Ciao: An Italy Alphabet by Elissa D. Grodin and Mario M. Cuomo

• Living in Italy by Chloe Perkins

• Cool Italian Cooking by Lisa Wagner

• Follow Me Around Italy by Wiley Blevins

• Follow Me Around Greece by Anna T. Tabachnik

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. There has been many drawing projects lately.

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. We took a bit of a break from Physics to explore paper making and print making. The boys even got to make their own homemade paper. After thinking about it, we’re going to recycle (heehee) that idea for coop for spring.

• RSO Physics

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

• The Way Things Work Now

Quentin will be focusing on animal science with BYL Level 0. We did a study of the animals of the Alps.

• Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas

• DK Animal

• Lonely Planet: The Animal Book

• The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

STEAM Coop

We’re back to coop after our absence week. Arthur continued with genetics. The kids explored mitosis and extracted DNA from strawberries. Quentin explored renewable energy and made a solar lantern.

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 music just didn’t happen. But that’s okay. Arthur’s continued with the Outschool drawing class. This week’s animal was a dog.

Field Trip

On Monday, we visited the SAC Museum. The kids got a private tour and two lessons (planes and rockets) before free play. Quentin’s paper plane flew the farthest so he won a prize. He was very excited to win something. The kids enjoyed the day the museum with their friends.

High

• I somehow took the kids by myself to Music Bingo on Wednesday night. Except for one little meltdown from Q, we had fun. I won and Arthur won. Q didn’t win, but some random guy gave Q his prize (it was a Mulan coloring set). Overall, we had a good evening at the cafe enjoying 2000s Punk.

Low

• Q and I did not finish the ELA and Math packet. The papers are starting to pile up a bit. Hoping we can catch up a bit next week, before we hit December 1st.

Next Week (and the week after)

• Starting our new read aloud (A)

• Moving to the run-up to the Revolutionary War for US History (A)

• Beginning 4B for Math (A)

• Taking a break from physics to explore bridges(A)

• Covering more of Eastern Europe for social studies and science (Q)

• Covering genetics, (A) and renewable energy (Q) for coop - it’s the last coop meeting of the semester!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W13: Ummm... It was an uneventful week.

What We Studied

It felt like a weird week, but we did manage to get a good chunk of schooling done.

Literature and Poetry

A new read aloud was started this week. Arthur is enjoying the humor and parts about friendships. A plus is that it’s easy to read aloud. I like it when the prose flows.

• Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry

• In the Beginning by Virginia Hamilton

• Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

• The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

• Behind the Mask: A Book About Prepositions by Ruth Heller

Quentin focused on reading animal stories from around the world. I’m trying to line them up with our continents as we move across the world. We continued Europe and covered stories from the France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, and The Netherlands. We also started reading The Children of Noisy Village by the author of Pippi Longstocking. it’s like a collection of vignettes.

• Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry

• The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren

• A World Full of Animal Stories by Angela McAllister

• Around the World in 80 Days by Saviour Pirotta

• Mel Fell by Corey R. Tabor (Quentin Reads)

• How to Become a Knigth by Todd Tarpley

• If You Find a Leaf by Aimee Sicuro

• The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot by Alice and Martin Provensen

• The Cat Who Walked Across France by Katy Banks

• Henri's Scissors by Jeanette Winter

• Up and Away! How Two Brothers Invented the Hot Air Balloon by Jason Henry

• Three Perfect Peaches by Cynthia DeFelice and Mary DeMarsh

• I, Crocodile by Fred Marcellino

• Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

• Adele & Simon by Barbara McClintock

• Mornings with Monet by Barb Rosenstock

• Three Sacks of Truth by Eric A. Kimmel

• The Twelve Dancing Princesses by The Brothers Grimm

• The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Lisbeth Zwerger

• Hansel & Gretel by Holly Hobbie

• The Star Child by The Brothers Grimm

• The Bremen Town Musicians by Doris Orgel

• Mother Holly by Bernadette Watts

• Iron Hans by Stephen Mitchell

German night dinner: bratwurst, sauerkraut, German potato salad, apple strudel

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). Arthur officially finished 4A, so we’ve been doing some review before we start 4B in December.

• Logic Liftoff (Arthur)

• Lollipop Logic Book 2 (Quentin)

• Smart Start Math Grade 1

Social Studies

Arthur continued his large study of United States history using a combination of Build Your Library Level 5 and History Quest United States History. We covered the growth of the English colonies, touched on the other European colonies, and explored the start of slavery.

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

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

• We were There Too by Philip Hoose

• Words that Built a Nation

• History Quest: U.S. History

• A Different Mirror

• DK American History Visual Encyclopedia

• The Winter People by Joseph Bruchac

• Map Skills for Today Grade 3

Quentin continued his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. We moved onto studying France, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Austria.

• Nat Geo Beginner’s World Atlas

• DK Countries of the World

• DK Children Just Like Me

• DK Children Just Like Me: A School Like Mine

• E is for Eiffel Tower by Helen L. Wilbur

• Follow Me Around France by Wiley Blevins

• Linnea in Monet’s Garden by Christina Björk and Lena Anderson

• Pedal Power: How One Community Became the Bicycle Capital of the World by Allan Drummond

• Windmill De Kat by Hyo-mi Park

• Follow Me Around Germany by Wiley Blevins

• Neuschwanstein Castle by Grace Hansen

• Out of the Shadows: How Lotte Reiniger Made the First Animated Fairy Tale Movie by Fiona Robinson

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. There has been many drawing projects lately.

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. We covered pulleys this week. I bought a great construction kit that builds 26 different simple machines.

• RSO Physics

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

• The Way Things Work Now

Quentin will be focusing on animal science with BYL Level 0. We did just a little overview of the animals of Europe.

• Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas

• DK Animal

• Lonely Planet: The Animal Book

• The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

STEAM Coop

We’re back to coop after our absence week. Arthur continued with genetics. The kids learned about genotypes and phenotypes and played with Punnett squares. Quentin explored renewable energy.

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 music just didn’t happen. But that’s okay. Arthur’s continued with the Outschool drawing class. This week’s animal was a koala and its baby.

Field Trip

We didn’t have a field trip this week at all. We did attempt to have a park afternoon, but it started raining pretty much as soon as we got there.

High

• Not school related, but we had a great playdate on Saturday with a friend that we hadn’t seen for awhile. We need to so it again soon.

Low

• There was a general feeling of apathy this week. Not great energy at all.

Next Week

• Continuing our new read aloud (A)

• Moving to the French and Indian War for US History (A)

• Taking a break from physics to explore the printing press and printmaking (A)

• Covering more of Western Europe for social studies and science (Q)

• Covering genetics, (A) and renewable energy (Q) for coop

Next up on the TBR pile:

Fall Bucket List Update #2

My favorite season of the year. We’re diving into the spooky season and planning on soaking up all the fall fun.

1. Visit Vala’s 5x ✓

2. Celebrate Friendsgiving

3. Read 50 Books (36/50)

4. Complete Spooky Movie Month ✓

5. Execute a Halloween Party for Coop ✓

6. Have an Art/Craft Day

7. Two State Park Visists

8. Two Zoo Visits

9. Pick Out and Carve Pumpkins ✓

10. Go Trick-or-Treating ✓

11. Jump in a Pile of Leaves

12. Go Through a Corn Maze ✓

13. Make 5 Fall Recipes ✓

14. Make Leaf Art

15. Go Pick Apples ✓

16. Go on a Fall Forest Hike ✓

17. Make 3 Pumpkin Recipes

18. Go Bowling

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Rereading an old favorite and it’s still so good.

• Thinking about Christmas presents. Not sure which direction to take with the boys.

• We’re officially indoors for coop until probably late March/early April.

• Might need to swing by and get a pick-me-up coffee later after errands. It’s cold and dreary today.

Next up on the TBR pile: