Spring Bucket List Update #2

Another season, another bucket list. Our main goal is to get out in nature weekly.

1. Read 45 Books (38/45)

2. Movie Month - We scrapped this one for now.

3. Go on 12 Hikes (8/12)

4. Have an Indoor Picnic

5. Check Off 50 Hours Outside - We’re getting there…

6. Visit the Zoo 3 Times

7. Monthly Bingo/Trivia Nights (1/3)

8. Use the GetOut Pass 3 Times (1/3)

9. Make Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

10. Make a New Dessert

11. Have an Ice Cream Sundae Night

12. Two Lincoln Excursion Days 

13. Three State Park Visits (2/3)

14. Day trip to Des Moines

15. Plan out curriculum for next year - Working on this

16. Plan an Indiana trip for summer complete with mini trip - Working on this

Next Up on the TBR Pile:

Currently #9

Reading: A Tempest at Sea by Sherry Thomas - I finally got the next Lady Sherlock book and am absolutely loving it!

Watching: The Great S3 dropped and we are slowly making our way through it. I absolutely love how unhinged this show is.

Listening: Going all the way back into my podcast archives and I finally started listening to What Roman Mars Can Learn About Con Law. So far I’ve listening to the first five episodes and while I haven’t learned much, the episodes have been enjoyable.

Making: For Sunday’s brunch I made apple cinnamon muffins and they were epic. Time consuming to make, but oh so good to eat.

Feeling: I have a few plates up in the air right now and trying to make sure they don’t fall. It’s making me a bit anxious this week. I just want to set the plates down soon.

Planning: In connection with how I’m feeling, I’m dealing with some logistics this week. I’ve got coop plans and retreat plans to solidify. Hopefully I can get this done by Saturday.

Loving: Really loving the prompt responses that I get from most people when I put a call out for anything. I don’t mean immediate responses (although those are nice too), but responses that are done within a reasonable time period. I really dislike having to track people down to get them to respond. Ugh!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W32: Our Year is Winding Down!

What We Studied

As we hit May, our school curriculum plan starts to wind down a bit. We are schooling through the summer, but I ease up our big curriculum and focus on smaller units and special activities. This helps us stay on top of a school mindset without the summer slump. But it always allows me to catchup a bit and relax during the summer.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur and I finished our coop book selection. We really enjoyed the book, but didn’t quite realize that this was going to be a series. Hopefully the second book will get realized soon.

• Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry

• Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson

• The Last Shadow Warrior by Sam Subity

Quentin finished our Australia read aloud selection and started on our Antarctica read aloud selection. He’s not sure about how he feels about Mr. Popper’s Penguins, but has gotten better about listening to our read aloud.

• Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry

• A World Full of Animal Stories by Angela McAllister

• Around the World in 80 Days by Saviour Pirotta

• Audrey of the Outback by Christine Harris

• Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

• Evan Moor Smart Start Read and Write K

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). We finished our financial literacy unit. We’ve been doing a ton of review and leftover lessons this past week.

• Singapore 1B

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’re so close to the Civil War! One more week of US History before we take a break for the summer. I decided to run us up all the way to secession before stopping.

• 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

• Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson

• Nat Geo Our Country’s Presidents

• Smart About the First Ladies

• Two Miserable Presidents by Steve Sheinkin

Quentin continued his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. Quentin finished with the last continent, Antarctica this week. We’ll be doing a week of review and wrap-up to officially finish BYL Level 0.

• 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

• Sophie Scott Goes South by Alison Lester

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 quantum weirdness with some thought experiments.

• RSO Physics

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

• The Way Things Work Now

• My First Book of Quantum Physics by Sheddad Kaid Salah Ferron and Eduard Altarriba

Quentin will be focusing on animal science with BYL Level 0. We finished out our animal science-lite curriculum with the Great Barrier Reef and the ocean around Antarctica.

• Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas

• DK Animal

• Lonely Planet: The Animal Book

• The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

• Keepers of the Reef by Sharon Wismer

• Getting to Know Our Planet: Great Barrier Reef by Vicky Franchino

• Great Barrier Reef by Martha London

STEAM Coop

The oldest group has moved on to their last theme of the year: Math + Art in Science. The kids played with color and focused on a few projects based on Mondrian’s works. The littles focused on domesticated animals. I actually stepped in to teach the middle kids about the species of animals that we domesticated through history.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

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. We started watched Into the West, the mini series from early 2000s. I really like how it follows two main families from the 1820s all the way to the 1870s. We get to see how the west changes in that 50 years hitting all the big events. We’ll be continuing for the next few weeks.

Field Trip

Tuesday we visited the farm to learn about the animals. We learned a ton of facts about the animals that Gifford has on its farm. Our favorite part was getting to pet all the animals. I definitely wanted to take home the baby goats.

High and Low

• A cascading failure happened at coop this week. The middles teacher went out sick, then the assistant/substitute, and then the oldest teacher. So we were down two teachers in one week. A friend took over the oldest group and pulled out a great lesson on Mondrian. I stepped in and taught the middles about domestication of animals. All of this happened within 15 hours before coop. It was a few nerve-wracking hours for me trying to make sure that everyone and everything was in place. We pulled it out and the kids had great lessons for the week. But I definitely have some ideas of how we (really me) can avoid the stress next year.

Next Week

• Continuing our current read alouds

• Finally getting to the Civil War (before stopping)

• Wrapping up physics

• Review the world for social studies

• Watching another episode or two of Into the West

• Catching up with our math and language arts packets and random pages

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Thankful that the weather is holding out this week so we can still get outside for our events.

• Sometimes what I really need is a chocolate brownie.

• Feeling like I should see what new music releases are in my music app.

• Working on next year’s curriculum has invigorated me to finish this year’s curriculum. We’re so close!

• Need to set up a few ice cream meetups for coop friends this summer.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W31: We had a Spring Walk in the Rain

What We Studied

A smallish week in terms of school work, but a full week full of activities and errands.

Literature and Poetry

J continued reading the Bromeliad trilogy to the boys at bedtime. They are very near finishing the third book.

We knocked out a chunk of our current read aloud (the coop book club selection). We will finish that one sometime last week.

• Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry

• Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson

• The Last Shadow Warrior by Sam Subity

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. He’s gotten more into Audrey, but it’s definitely not his favorite (or mine).

• Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry

• A World Full of Animal Stories by Angela McAllister

• Around the World in 80 Days by Saviour Pirotta

• Audrey of the Outback by Christine Harris

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). We continued our financial literacy unit. Quentin has very small lessons. Arthur is going more in depth. We’re taking it slow, but continuing with the unit.

• Financial Literacy Grade 3

• Singapore 1B

• A Penny's Worth by Kimberly Wilson

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’re inching closer to the Civil War, but won’t cover the actual war this school year..

• 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

• Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson

• Nat Geo Our Country’s Presidents

• Smart About the First Ladies

• Which Way to the Wild West by Steve Sheinkin

• The Oregon Trail: The Road to Oregon City by Jesse Wiley

Quentin continued his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. Moved on to our last inhabited by humans continent of Australia and Oceania. We covered Oceania this week. That means that we are finished with 6 of the 7 continents. We will move on to Antarctica next week and then do a wrap-up week to finish the curriculum.

• 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 met to do optics, but the boys decided to create an entire fort in my living room instead. Oh well. We’ll get to the experiments next 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. We continued watching a new documentary series called Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It’s a behind the scenes look at caring for the animals at the park. Each episode is less than 30 minutes, so it’s a perfect length for Q. We also covered animals from Australia.

• Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas

• DK Animal

• Lonely Planet: The Animal Book

• The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

STEAM Coop

The oldest group has moved on to their last theme of the year: Math + Art in Science. This week, I taught them how to figure out the approximate age and height of the tree using math. Lots of fun! From there, they received a notebook and we explored nature drawing for awhile. The littles did some printmaking crafts. Only two more weeks of coop left for the year!

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

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. We started watched Into the West, the mini series from early 2000s. I really like how it follows two main families from the 1820s all the way to the 1870s. We get to see how the west changes in that 50 years hitting all the big events. We’ll be continuing for the next few weeks.

Field Trip

No coop field trip this week, but we did have a great Nature Explorers meeting on Friday. We completed the 3 mile hike at Schramm in between lots of rain. We were cold and wet by the end, but everyone was in good spirits after the hike. The kids found a trove of snails and basically adopted one for the rest of the hike. The boys convinced me to look into getting a snail as a pet. I could actually do a snail…

High

• Tuesday was a fun free playdate at the park. We stayed for hours! It was windy and chilly, but the kids had so much fun playing. We spent the rest of that afternoon doing all the errands, but it was worth it.

Low

• We got a little behind on our bookwork. Not a big deal, but I’m slightly annoyed by this. I’m sure we can catchup soon.

Next Week

• Finishing our current read alouds

• Finishing a financial literacy unit (both kids)

• Covering light and optics for physics

• Moving on to Antarctica for social studies

• Watching another episode or two of Into the West

• Catching up with our math and language arts packets and random pages

Next up on the TBR pile:

May 2023 Life Goals

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

• Read 18 Books - A rare miss for me… oh well.

• Make a Summer Bucket List ✓

• Knock Out My Brain Dump List ✓

• Plan for Coop Wrap for the Year ✓

May Goals:

• Read 18 Books

• Execute Coop Field Day

• Plan Out July Indiana/Ohio Trip

• Finalize Retreat Plans and Packing

• Knock Out 5 Items on the Summer Bucket List

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #8

Reading: After a disappointing historical romance, I wanted something a bit more fun. I’ve picked up When in Rome by Sarah Adams and so far, it’s hitting the spot.

Watching: J and I started watching Citadel and we’re sorta intrigued. We’re going to give it 3-4 episodes to really grab our attention.

Listening: I went on a big podcast backlist kick and listened a ton of Revolutions (S3 Haitian Revolution) and 99PI episodes.

Making: The boys and I worked on our summer bucket list (started yesterday) and I decided to make a scrapbook for them. I did something similar years ago for the twins and tried to recreate. Arthur was delighted when I showed him yesterday. I even left space for pictures they take.

Feeling: I had a terrible pain flare last week. Feeling better, but my body was so angry. I’m still recovering.

Planning: With that summer bucket list, I’m filling out the rest of our schedule for summer.

Loving: Today a friend set up a park playdate. I was just thinking that we had nothing on the schedule for today and a friend stepped in and fixed the problem. We love having free morning with friends.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W30: Pain Flares Disrupt the Schedule

What We Studied

This wrap up is another one with a Flex Week and a regular week all wrapped into one. Unfortunately, I had a massive pain flare during the regular week that disrupted our schedule and put me out of commission for a few days. We missed a few events we were looking forward to.

Literature and Poetry

J continued reading the Bromeliad trilogy to the boys at bedtime. They finished the second book and immediately had to read the third one. Nearing the end of that one already.

So, I switched around our read alouds and had Arthur start on the next coop book club book during the day. We’re liking this modern day Viking story.

• Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry

• Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson

• The Last Shadow Warrior by Sam Subity

• How to Write a Poem by Kwame Alexander

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 took a side trip to read the start of a new series. I thought he didn’t really like it, but last library visit he independently found the second one. He was disappointed when I said we were reading something else. But we’ll be done soon and then we can read his chosen series.

• Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry

• A World Full of Animal Stories by Angela McAllister

• Around the World in 80 Days by Saviour Pirotta

• Zooey and Sassafras: Dragons and Marshmallows by Asia Citro

• Audrey of the Outback by Christine Harris

• This is the Planet Where I Live by KL Going

• The Pirates are Coming by John Condon

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). We continued our financial literacy unit. Quentin has very small lessons. Arthur is going more in depth. We’re taking it slow, but continuing with the unit.

• Financial Literacy Grade 3

• Singapore 1B

• Lots and Lots of Coins by Margarette S. Reid

• Give Save Spend with the Three Little Pigs by Clint Greenleaf

• One Proud Penny by Randy Siegel

• 10 Fascinating About Dollar Bills by Chris Jozefowicz

• What is Money? by Rebecca Rissman

• Paper Money by Dana Meachen Rau

• Counting Money by Julie Dalton

• Making Change at the Fair by Julie Dalton

• What Can You Do with Money? by Jennifer S. Larson

• Save It! by Cinders McLeod

• Spend It! by Cinders McLeod

• How Many Pennies Make a Dollar? by Rebecca Wingard-Nelson

• I Can Count Money by Rebecca Wingard-Nelson

• I Can Name Bills and Coins by Rebecca Wingard-Nelson

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 are on to the Oregon Trail and the Gold Rush.

• 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

• Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson

• Nat Geo Our Country’s Presidents

• Smart About the First Ladies

• Which Way to the Wild West by Steve Sheinkin

• The Oregon Trail by Mel Friedman

• The Oregon Trail: Danger at the Haunted Gate by Jesse Wiley

• The Oregon Trail: The Search for Snake River by Jesse Wiley

• The Oregon Trail: The Road to Oregon City by Jesse Wiley

• Hazardous Tales: Donner Dinner Party

• What Was the Gold Rush? By Joan Holub

• Gold! Gold from the American River! by Don Brown

• Life During the California Gold Rush by Bethany Onsgard

• John Sutter and The California Gold Rush (Graphic History) by Matt Doeden and Charles Barnett III

• The California Gold Rush by Mel Friedman

• Mark Twain and the Queens of the Mississippi by Cheryl Harness

Quentin continued his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. Moved on to our last inhabited by humans continent of Australia and Oceania. We covered Australia and New Zealand this past week.

• 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

• D is for Down Under by Devin Scillian

• Living In Australia by Chloe Perkins

• Australia by Madeline Donaldson

• Australia ABCs by Sarah Heiman

• Wombat Walkabout by Carol Diggory Shields

• Birrarung Wilam by Aunty Joy Murphy

• Under the Southern Cross by Frané Lessac

• Wombat Said Come In by Carmen Agra Deedy

• Sun Mother Wakes the World by Diane Wolkstein

• Magic Beach by Alison Lester

• Possum Magic by Mem Fox

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. The boys finished their model engines. I have to admit, they look pretty neat. We did the textbook readings about light, but my pain flare canceled our experiment class. We’ll get to it next week.

• RSO Physics

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

• The Way Things Work Now

• A Ray of Light by Walter Wick

Quentin will be focusing on animal science with BYL Level 0. We continued watching a new documentary series called Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It’s a behind the scenes look at caring for the animals at the park. Each episode is less than 30 minutes, so it’s a perfect length for Q. We also covered animals from Australia.

• Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas

• DK Animal

• Lonely Planet: The Animal Book

• The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

• Watching Kangaroos in Australia by Louise and Richard Spilsbury

• Do You Really Want to Meet a Kangaroo? by Cari Meister

• Bilby: Secrets of an Australian Marsupial by Edel Wignell

STEAM Coop

The oldest group has moved on to their last theme of the year: Math + Art in Science. During Flex Week, they worked on tessellation and repeating patterns. The littles focused on planting their own bean plants. The next week, the bigs learned about orienteering by using a compass to hid and then find an object at the park. They are all terrible cartographers, but we’re trying. The littles made paper.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

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. We started watched Into the West, the mini series from early 2000s. I really like how it follows two main families from the 1820s all the way to the 1870s. We get to see how the west changes in that 50 years hitting all the big events. We’ll be continuing for the next few weeks.

We also had our coop Earth Day party at a park on the perfect day. Along with lots of playground playtime, the kids played bingo and made painted pots, sun catchers, and moss balls. They had a blast. We are definitely continuing these holiday parties next year.

Field Trip

Our field trip was a guided lesson at Arbor Day Farm. The farm is one of our favorite places to visit. It was created on the site of J. Sterling Morton’s original orchard. He was the creator of Arbor Day. After a lesson about bees and pollination, the kids spent hours exploring and playing. The tree house and trampolines are amazing. We always plan on spending the entire day there when we visit.

Dentist appointments - they did amazingly!

High

• Besides our Arbor Day Farm trip, we had a lovely walk with friends at Heron Haven. We’ve loved to see how the seasons change the landscape. We spotted birds, but no frogs this time. I bet they are out now. We’ll definitely be back soon.

Low

• My brain bees got very angry after having coop in my house during Flex Week (it was raining all day). I just wanted to throw everything in the house out the windows and start over. Instead. I focused on the playroom and breakfast nook. We sorted everything and reorganized our bookcases and cubbies. I got rid of a ton of stuff (mostly early education aids that we gave to friends) and threw away a bag of trash. We also took down the Baker’s Rack and I must say that the breakfast nook is so much nicer. No cluttered corner distracting my focus. Now to need to work on my office…

Doing the bee dance

Next Week

• Finishing our current read alouds

• Continuing a financial literacy unit (both kids)

• Covering light and optics for physics

• Moving on to Oceania for social studies

• Watching another episode or two of Into the West

• Catching up with our math and language arts packets and random pages

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Yesterday my entire body hurt. Scar tissues was very angry and radiated pain throughout my body. No fun at all.

• Being in bed half the day meant that I did read almost 2/3 of my current novel.

• Today I have to get back it with coop and errands. Still not feeling 100%, but need to push through.

• A little over a month to the bookish retreat. And I really need the break! I’m anticipating it so much.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Spring Bucket List Update #1

Another season, another bucket list. Our main goal is to get out in nature weekly.

1. Read 45 Books (20/45)

2. Movie Month - We scrapped this one for now.

3. Go on 12 Hikes (5/12)

4. Have an Indoor Picnic

5. Check Off 50 Hours Outside - We’re getting there…

6. Visit the Zoo 3 Times

7. Monthly Bingo/Trivia Nights (1/3)

8. Use the GetOut Pass 3 Times

9. Make Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

10. Make a New Dessert

11. Have an Ice Cream Sundae Night

12. Two Lincoln Excursion Days 

13. Three State Park Visits

14. Day trip to Des Moines

15. Plan out curriculum for next year - Working on this

16. Plan an Indiana trip for summer complete with mini trip - Working on this

Next Up on the TBR Pile:

Currently #7

Reading: Tackling The Library of the Unwritten by AJ Hackwith for next month’s book club selection. It’s an interesting fantasy novel, but I’ve been moving slowly through it. I’ve been very distracted when it comes to my reading this week.

Watching: After finally starting Misfits, we’re now in season three. It’s just so good!

Listening: Still working my way through Revolutions S3 podcast. The topic is the French Revolution and we’re coming to the end, but not quite there yet.

Making: Definitely need to make a batch of gazpacho for this week’s lunches. Sounded better last week with temps in the 80s. The weather has turned, but I’m still going to make it.

Feeling: After a busy weekend of stuff and tasks, I’m feeling much more relaxed.

Planning: Right now, I’m working on planning two summer trips. The boys and I are going to travel west to the Grand Island-Kearney area for a few days before my reading retreat. In July, we are going to Indiana to visit family and afterward, we’re going to drive over to Dayton to see some museums and zoos.

Loving: I made chocolate chip cookies last night and forgot just how much I love them. Warm and gooey cookies are just the best.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W29: So Much Outside Time!

What We Studied

On the schoolwork front, we had a normal week. Outside of the table work, we spent a lot of time outside. It was great to take advantage of the great weather especially as this week’s forecast is calling for a ton of wind, rain, and lower temps.

Literature and Poetry

Instead of starting the next coop book club selection, J continued reading the Bromeliad trilogy to the boys.

We finished Midsummer’s Mayhem and it was utterly delightful. We loved how it puts a new spin on the classic Shakespeare story.

• Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry

• Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson

• On the Wings of Words: The Extraordinary Life of Emily Dickinson by Jennifer Berne

• Midsummer’s Mayhem by Rajani LaRocca

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 finished the second book in the Heartwood Hotel series. I imagine that we will read the third book soon.

• Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry

• Heartwood Hotel: The Greatest Gift by Kallie George

• A World Full of Animal Stories by Angela McAllister

• Around the World in 80 Days by Saviour Pirotta

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). We continued our financial literacy unit. Quentin has very small lessons. Arthur is going more in depth. I had him quickly work through the Financial Literacy books for grade 1 and 2. We didn’t do the big activities, instead we just worked through the concepts and questions.

• Evan Moor Financial Literacy Grade 1

• Evan Moor Financial Literacy Grade 2

• A Penny's Worth by Kimberly Wilson

• Follow the Money by Loreen Leedy

• What is Money? by Kate Marsico

• Nat Geo Kids: Not-So-Common Cents by Sarah Wassner Flynn

• Singapore 1B

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 Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark, and the independence of Texas.

• 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

• Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson

• Nat Geo Our Country’s Presidents

• Smart About the First Ladies

• Which Way to the Wild West by Steve Sheinkin

• Lewis and Clark: A Prairie Dog for the President by Shirley Raye Redmond

Quentin continued his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. We finished our study of Africa with a focus on South African countries.

• 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

• Africa is Not a Country by Margy Burns Knight and Mark Melnicove

• Jaha and Jamil Went Down the Hill by Virginia Kroll

• Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales

• Misoso: Once Upon a Time Tales from Africa by Verna Aardema

• Nubiah’s Well by Donna W. Guthrie

• Honey Honey Lion by Jan Brett

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. The boys didn’t quite finish their model engines this week, so we are going to take one more week to finish those before moving on to optics.

• 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 continued watching a new documentary series called Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It’s a behind the scenes look at caring for the animals at the park. Each episode is less than 30 minutes, so it’s a perfect length for Q. We also covered more animals from Africa.

• Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas

• DK Animal

• Lonely Planet: The Animal Book

• The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

• African Acrostics: A Word in Edgeways by Avis Harley

• African Critters by Robert B. Haas

• Life-Size Anaimals by Rita Mabel Schiavo

• Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema

• Grasslands by Laura Purdie Salas

• Over in the Grasslands by Marianne Berkes

• Here is the African Savanna by Madeleine Dunphy

• Hippopotamuses by Kari Schuetz

• Meerkats, Moles, and Voles: Animals of the Underground by Jody Sullivan Rake

• Meerkats by Jody Sullivan Rake

• Zebras by Amelie von Zumbusch

• Lake of the Big Snake by Isaac Olaleye

• Rumble in the Jungle by Giles Andreae

• Draw by Raul Colon

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

STEAM Coop

The oldest group has moved on to their last theme of the year: Math + Art in Science. This week, there was a bit of a mix-up, but they ended up making art from found nature objects and a shelter with tree branches. Q’s group started on a gardening theme focusing on how bean plants grow.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

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.

Field Trip

On Tuesday, we had a guided field trip to Lauritzen Gardens. The older group walked the entire gardens observing signs of spring along the way. We then identified trees and learned about various species. Thankfully the weather was perfect for our visit to the gardens. We even got to have a picnic on the patio afterwards.

We also had book club on Saturday morning. I didn’t actually have to lead the meeting this month. A friend brought a great cipher activity to add to our discussion.

High

Friday’s spring hike at Fontenelle Forest was just delightful. We got out into the woods, saw some turkeys, and generally enjoyed the perfect weather. After our hike, we visited Raptor Rescue to check out all the birds. While there, I spied a garter snake. A worked caught it and gave us an impromptu lesson about snakes in the area. Turns out that snakes were this particular guy’s specialty. I love it when we get unexpected lessons while out and about.

Low

Nothing really. We had a good week.

Next Week

• Starting two new read alouds

• Continuing a financial literacy unit (both kids)

• Finishing building engines for physics

• Taking a break from social studies (Q)

• Catching up with our math and language arts packets and random pages

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• This season of Ted Lasso is killing me. So many emotions!

• A weird reading slump this week… I’m just not feeling the books that I’m reading.

• I’m still on the lookout for some comfy pajamas that don’t make me hot.

• Very thankful that coop is finally outside for our meetings. Here’s hoping the weather holds for the next five weeks.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W28: Distracted By Our Foster Chicks

What We Studied

With our foster chickens, our school time was greatly decreased. They were just too entertaining to hang out with. Plus we had to farm/nature walks and our usual science and coop classes. We’ll catch back up, I’m not concerned. Some weeks we focus less on book work and more on experiences.

Literature and Poetry

We still reading the coop book club selection. I’m interested in the overall mystery, but the pacing is very slow. We finally finished the book this week, but our club meeting isn’t for another week.

• The Strangers by Margaret Peterson Haddix

To follow up after the previous week’s Shakespeare unit, our literature selection is a retelling of Midsummer Night’s Dream. I’m very into this book and Arthur has also been enjoying it.

• Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry

• Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson

• Midsummer’s Mayhem by Rajani LaRocca

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 with the second book in the Heartwood Hotel series. Quentin likes the gentle nature of these books.

• Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry

• Heartwood Hotel: The Greatest Gift by Kallie George

• A World Full of Animal Stories by Angela McAllister

• Around the World in 80 Days by Saviour Pirotta

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). We started our financial literacy unit. Quentin has very small lessons. Arthur is going more in depth.

• Kumon Geometry and Measurement Grade 4 WB

• Lots and Lots of Coins by Margarette S. Reid (A)

• The Invention of Money by Nicolas Brasch (A)

• The History of Money: From Bartering to Banking by Martin Jenkins (A)

• Nat Geo Kids: Not-So-Common Cents by Sarah Wassner Flynn (A)

• DK Eyewitness: Money (A)

• One Proud Penny by Randy Siegel (A)

• What is Money? by Katie Marsico (A)

• Paper Money by Dana Meachen Rau (A)

• 10 Fascinating Facts About Dollar Bills by Chris Jozefowicz (A)

• Singapore 1B

• Froggy's Lemonade Stand by Jonathan London (Q)

• A Kids Book About Money by Adam Stramwasser (Q)

• Let's Explore Needs and Wants by Laura Hamilton Waxman (Q)

• Needs and Wants by Nadia Higgins (Q)

• Lemonade in Winter: A Book About Two Kids Counting Money by Emily Jenkins & G. Brian Karas (Q)

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 lives of Irish immigrants and mill workers in the early 1800s.

• 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

• Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson

• Nat Geo Our Country’s Presidents

• What the Eagle Sees

• A is for Abigail: F for First Ladies

• Smart About the First Ladies

Quentin continued his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. We continued our study of Africa with a focus on East African countries.

• 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

• Africa is Not a Country by Margy Burns Knight and Mark Melnicove

• Jaha and Jamil Went Down the Hill by Virginia Kroll

• Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales

• Misoso: Once Upon a Time Tales from Africa by Verna Aardema

• The Perfect Orange by Frank P. Araujo

• The Best Beekeeper in Lalibela by Cristina Kessler

• Only a Pigeon by Jane and Christopher Kurtz

• Fire on the Mountain by Jane Kurtz

• For You are a Kenyan Child by Kelly Cunnane

• Wangari's Trees of Peace by Jeanette Winter

• Mama Panya's Pancakes by Mary and Rich Chamberlin

• My Rows and Piles of Coins by Tololwa M. Mollel

• We All Went on Safari by Laurie Krebs

Making model engines

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.

A took the zip line gondola and made an entire station with a queue

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’ll be spending the next week finishing building model engines.

• 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 continued watching a new documentary series called Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It’s a behind the scenes look at caring for the animals at the park. Each episode is less than 30 minutes, so it’s a perfect length for Q.

• Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas

• DK Animal

• Lonely Planet: The Animal Book

• The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

• African Acrostics: A Word in Edgeways by Avis Harley

• African Critters by Robert B. Haas

STEAM Coop

I finished teaching the oldest kids the Engineering Challenge unit. We wrapped up with creating zip line gondolas. I think the kids had fun. Now we are going to move on to Math and Art in Science for the oldest kids. Q’s group covered telescopes and microscopes. They will move on to gardening next cycle.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

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.

Field Trip

We had a visit to the Gifford Farm to see all the baby animals that have arrived. A couple of coop friends joined us for a lovely morning. We’ll be back later this month for two different guided field trips.

We had another Nature Explorers meeting. This time we traveled over to Iowa to the Hitchcock Center. We walked the ridge trail (about 1 1/2 miles) and got to see some great views. The kids really enjoyed exploring. Afterward, we had to stop at the playground there to play and eat a snack lunch.

High

• For the second year, we rented two chickens for the week. We pick up 3-day old chickens and take care of them for the week. The boys were begging to do it again. And we spent a lot of time playing with them and devising things for them to explore. We’ll be doing this again next year.

Low

• We have gotten a bit behind on our curriculum due to our multiple excursions this week and the distraction of the chicks.

Next Week

• Finishing a Midsummer Night’s Dream retelling novel and Heartwood Hotel

• Continuing a financial literacy unit (both kids)

• Finishing building engines for physics

• Moving to South Africa (our final selection)

• Fitting in animal science for Q (hopefully!)

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #6

Reading: The Night Ship by Jess Kidd - I’m actually reading a book off of my Unread Shelf. It’s interesting, but a bit sad and slow.

Watching: We finally started watching The Misfits and it is absolutely amazing! We sped through S1 and are onto S2.

Listening: Fall Out Boy’s new album is great. Didn’t realize that I needed some new music from another emo band.

Making: Working on ideas for our summer bucket list. I may do one or throw it out in preview of a summer excursion notebook.

Feeling: I’ve been feeling a bit stretched thin lately. Making some plans for the summer and fall to help myself out.

Planning: Instead of a big family road trip, I’m going to take the kids for a mini trip to Kearney and Grand Island. Getting the details worked out now.

Loving: We are fostering to baby chicks this week and they have been a delight, if not much feistier than the ones we got last year.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W27: Finally Spring has Come!

What We Studied

The temperature finally went above 60 degrees for a great day out and about. We took off the rest of Thursday in favor of joining friends at the park. As such, the school bookwork was lighter this week. And I apparently didn’t take many photos at all…

Literature and Poetry

We still reading the coop book club selection. I’m interested in the overall mystery, but the pacing is very slow.

• The Strangers by Margaret Peterson Haddix

To follow up after the previous week’s Shakespeare unit, our literature selection is a retelling of Midsummer Night’s Dream. I’m very into this book and Arthur has also been enjoying it.

• Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry

• Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson

• Emily Writes: Emily Dickinson and Her Poetic Beginnings by Jane Yolen

• Midsummer’s Mayhem by Rajani LaRocca

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 started the second book in the Heartwood Hotel series. Quentin likes the gentle nature of these books.

• Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry

• Heartwood Hotel: The Greatest Gift by Kallie George

• A World Full of Animal Stories by Angela McAllister

• Around the World in 80 Days by Saviour Pirotta

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 been working on a review workbook before we move onto a Personal Finance unit. Quentin is moving through 1B now.

• Kumon Geometry and Measurement Grade 4 WB

• Singapore 1B

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 harsh reality of slavery in America and learned more about Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass.

• 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

• Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson

• Nat Geo Our Country’s Presidents

• What the Eagle Sees

• A is for Abigail: F for First Ladies

• Smart About the First Ladies

• Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson

• An Apple for Harriet Tubman by Glennette Tilley Turner

• Follow the Drinking Gourd by Cari Meister

• Two Friends by Dean Robbins

• Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass by Lesa Cline-Ransome

Quentin continued his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. We continued our study of Africa with a focus on Central African nations.

• 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

• Africa is Not a Country by Margy Burns Knight and Mark Melnicove

• Jaha and Jamil Went Down the Hill by Virginia Kroll

• Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales

• Misoso: Once Upon a Time Tales from Africa by Verna Aardema

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 finally got back together of science and the boys make a force field engine. We’ll be spending the next week (or two) building model engines. On the other side, we finished reading The Story of Science Vol. 1. Arthur wants us to immediately continue to volume two. I’m still thinking on. it.

• 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 continued watching a new documentary series called Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It’s a behind the scenes look at caring for the animals at the park. Each episode is less than 30 minutes, so it’s a perfect length for Q.

• Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas

• DK Animal

• Lonely Planet: The Animal Book

• The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

• African Acrostics: A Word in Edgeways by Avis Harley

• African Critters by Robert B. Haas

STEAM Coop

The little kids focused on telescopes this week, making their own simple telescope. The big kids had to create crash test dummy cars. Each pair of students had to ram their car into the wall with a raw egg passenger. Amazingly, all six eggs survived their ordeal! The kids really got into this project.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

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.

Field Trip

No field trip this week

High

• We spent many hours outside this week. Thursday afternoon was all about a park playdate with lots of friends. Friday, we walked the trail around Walnut Creek Lake (about 3 miles) with lots of friends. I’m so proud of all of the kids for making it all the way around the lake. They even had energy for the island play area and the playground.

Low

• Little school work - I don’t regret spending the time outside, but had hoped to get to school work Friday afternoon. It just didn’t happen. Oh well. I’m not too upset, but it does add more for next week.

We are renting chicks again this year.

Next Week

• Continuing a Midsummer Night’s Dream retelling novel, the coop book club selection, and Heartwood Hotel

• Starting a financial literacy unit (both kids)

• Building engines for physics

• Moving to East Africa

• Fitting in animal science for Q

Next up on the TBR pile:

April 2023 Life Goals

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

• Read 18 Books ✓

• Make Progress on Planning the Retreat ✓

• Make a Watch List for TV and Movies ✓

• Preliminary Planning on a Family Weekend Trip ✓ - This has turned into a 3-day trip with just me and the kids, but still it’s happening in June.

April Goals:

• Read 18 Books

• Make a Summer Bucket List

• Knock Out My Brain Dump List

• Plan for Coop Wrap for the Year

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• One more week of my teaching a coop cycle. It’s been a long 6 weeks… I’ll be ready to hand over the duties to someone else for a couple of weeks. I have enough admin work to get done before I teach again.

• I think we’ve decided on doing a space and scifi movie and television month for April. So many good choices that we keep forgetting about. Just need to make a list of options to work from.

• I have a couple of big projects with smaller tasks that I need to accomplish. First up is the reading retreat grocery list.

• Definitely mixed feelings about the ending of this season’s The Bachelor.

• Do I think we can fit in a grocery run after our playground playdate today? Hmmm… maybe?

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W26: The Wind Chill Killed Our Winter Hike

What We Studied

We had a Flex Week (so needed this time around) and a normal week in the past two weeks. Beyond the actual teaching, I’ve been thinking about and planning for next year. Things are not going to radically change. I think we’ve hit onto a good system. Just needs some tweaks here and there.

Literature and Poetry

We picked up the next selection and thankfully it is so much better right away.

• The Strangers by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Arthur tackled his first Shakespeare with A Midsummer Night’s Dream. We covered some about Shakespeare himself the time period he lived in before reading a few version of Midsummer. We worked up to the actual Shakespeare at the end of the week and capped off our study with a movie version. We also found some great videos including three episodes from Crash Course Theater specifically about Shakespeare’s plays. The plan is to cover one Shakespeare play a year from now on. Next year I’m planning on having him read a complete scene. Not sure which play yet though.

• Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry

• Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson

• Shakespeare’s Seasons by Miriam Weiner

• William Shakespeare and the Globe by Aliki

• Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare by Diane Stanley

• Will's Words: How William Shakespeare Changed the Way You Talk by Jane Sutcliffe

• William Shakespeare: Scenes from the Life of the World's Greatest Writer by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom

• A Midsummer Night's Dream retold by Georghia Ellinas

• A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories by Angela McAllister

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 started the next in the Pooh series and will be sprinkling in the stories when we don’t have a country specific book. He also read me the entire Little Bear book. Getting much better as reading aloud!

• Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry

• A World Full of Animal Stories by Angela McAllister

• Around the World in 80 Days by Saviour Pirotta

• The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

• Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik

• Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring by Kenard Pak

• Penny and Her Marble by Kevin Henkes

• Penny and Her Sled by Kevin Hanks

Pasta Bridge - Their bridge collapsed almost immediately, but good try!

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 been working on a review workbook before we move onto a Personal Finance unit. Quentin is moving through 1B now. Both boys finished their logic books this past week. We might take a break and pull out a games book instead of the next logic books.

• Logic Liftoff (Arthur)

• Kumon Geometry and Measurement Grade 4 WB

• Lollipop Logic Book 2 (Quentin)

• Singapore 1B

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 Martin Van Buren, indigenous lives, and the Trail of Tears. Hard week to discuss, but so important.

• 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

• Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson

• Nat Geo Our Country’s Presidents

• What the Eagle Sees

• A is for Abigail: F for First Ladies

• Smart About the First Ladies

Quentin continued his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. We continued our study of Africa with a focus on West African nations.

• 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

• Africa is Not a Country by Margy Burns Knight and Mark Melnicove

• Jaha and Jamil Went Down the Hill by Virginia Kroll

• Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales

• Ananse and the Lizard by Pat Cummings

• The Hatseller and the Monkeys by Baba Wagué Diakité

• Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah by Laurie Ann Thompson & Sean Qualls

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. Our joint science class was cancelled due to sickness with the other family. We’ll hopefully get back at it this week. We did read about engines and watch a great Modern Marvels episode about Engines.

• 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 continued watching a new documentary series called Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It’s a behind the scenes look at caring for the animals at the park. Each episode is less than 30 minutes, so it’s a perfect length for Q.

• Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas

• DK Animal

• Lonely Planet: The Animal Book

• The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

• A Zeal of Zebras: Animal Groups on an African Safari by Alex Kuskowski

• Safari, So Good! All About African Wildlife by Bonnie Worth

• African Acrostics: A Word in Edgeways by Avis Harley

• African Critters by Robert B. Haas

• Elephants of Africa by Gail Gibbons

• Nat Geo Kids Elephants by Avery Elizabeth Hurt

Rare sighting of the bobcat

STEAM Coop

The big kids have continued their engineering challenge making land sailboats and pasta bridges. Quentin did a study of time and seasons with a few fun little projects.

Land sail boats

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

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.

Field Trip

We took a coop trip to see The Stink Cheese Man at The Rose Theater. Very fun production! We had lots of laughs watching the show. And the school rate tickets are only $5 a piece!

High

• We had a lovely Nature Explorers meeting at Chalco this past Friday. The kids got to explore the beach area by the water and the woods. We even walked the southwest portion around the lake. Not a great lake to walk in summer as there’s no shade, but it was great in March.

Low

• We tried to do a winter hike at Neale Woods two Fridays ago, but it was a terrible idea. It was a cold day, but that usually doesn’t stop us. I didn’t realize just how high up Neale Woods is on the bluffs. The wind chill was terrible! We bailed about 15 minutes in and went to the zoo instead. Unfortunately many of the districts had spring break so the zoo was packed. We still managed to see the desert, aquarium, giraffes, and elephants. In fact, the giraffes had a new baby and the elephants had a new baby just a few days after we were there. Can't wait to the see the babies next time we go.

Next Week

• Starting a Midsummer Night’s Dream retelling novel

• Playing some logic games

• Hopefully covering engines for physics

• Moving to Central Africa

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #5

Reading: I picked up The Drift by CJ Tudor after a recommendation from my favorite book podcast. It is definitely a thrill ride!

Watching: J and I finally started the documentary series McMillion$ about the McDonald’s Monopoly fraud scandal. It just took a very serious turn and we are floored.

Listening: I went back to the beginning of 99PI (over 10 years ago) and started listening to the very old episodes. The oldest ones are around 5 minutes each, so I knocked out a ton this weekend. It’s easy to throw in a few while making dinner and picking up the house.

Making: I made a meal plan for this week and into next’s and now I’m just not feeling the meals I put on there. Scrapping it and making new plans this week.

Feeling: Not sure why, but I’m feeling really strung out and at my limit this week. I should probably take a few minutes today to figure out why.

Planning: I’ve moved on to starting the basic planning for next year’s homeschool curriculum. My favorite companies had their spring sales this month so I grabbed some things I knew we would use. Now I’m working on our literature lists.

Loving: We’ve been on a library hold tear this month. So many books! But I love going and getting a new bag of books to check out and work through.

Next up on the TBR pile: