Homeschool: Spring Break Edition

What We Studied

The past two weeks were our spring break. We didn’t leave the house much, but tried to slow our schooling pace and engage in some school field trips. We even met a new friend and hope to have more outdoor playtimes.

Literature and Poetry

We read Peter Pan over break and I forgot how muddled the writing is. I had to do a lot of editing on the fly and even skipped some sections here and there. We won’t be revisiting that one.

• Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
• Snowmen at Night by Carolyn Buehner (literature study)
• A Crankenstein’s Valentine by Samantha Berger (literature study)
• The Popcorn Astronaut by Deborah Ruddell (poems)

Math

We did our daily (or almost daily) math pages, but also engaged in math games and fun projects. We also continued with our Lollipop Logic and a few sessions of Khan Academy.

• Double the Ducks by Stuart J. Murphy
• 3 x 4 by Ivan Burnetti

Social Studies

We sorta celebrated St. Patrick’s day with some books and a few crafts.

• The Littlest Leprechaun by Brandi Dougherty
• The Leprechaun Who Lost His Rainbow by Sean Callahan
• There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover by Lucille Colandro
• The Gingerbread Man and the Leprechaun Loose at School by Laura Murray
• The Leprechaun Under the Bed by Teresa Bateman

Science

Instead of a formal science study, we got out into nature with some field trips. We got a free library pass to Fontenelle Forest and had a lovely hike through the forest. We will definitely be checking out that pass more often and tracking how the forest changes. On Thursday, we traveled to Lincoln to visit Morrill Hall and the natural history museum. The museum was fun even if parking was a bit of a nightmare. Afterward we had a fun picnic at a park and then stopped at the candy outlet on the way home. We also had a few park days and a trip to the zoo.

Art

Instead of a formal art unit, Arthur completed daily LEGO challenges. We had a mix of challenges and design ideas. I loved the low-key nature of the project and Arthur loved creating all kinds of fun constructions.

Music

As we were skill covering space, we studied Gustav Holst’s The Planets. Arthur liked Mars and Jupiter best. I am partial to Saturn.

Unit Theme

All about space! We continued our study of space. Lots of great library books were read! We also watched a few more NOVA episodes about various subjects including Saturn, the Ice Worlds, and Apollo 8. We did some fun free-form art projects including making a constellation poster. Finally, we had a box of fun space themed crafts

• Mars’ First Friends by Susanna Leonard Hill and Elisa Paganelli
• A Trip into Space by Lori Haskins Hour
• Sadie Sprocket Builds a Rocket by Sue Fliess
• Pluto Gets the Call by Adam Rex
• Goodnight Astronaut by Scott Kelly
• Moon by Britta Teckentrup
• What Miss Michelle Saw by Hayley Barrett
• My Rainy Day Rocket Ship by Markelle Sheppard
• DK Space
• Once Upon a Starry Night by Jacqueline Mitton and Christina Balit
• What We See in the Stars by Kelsey Oseid
• A is for Astronaut by Clayton Anderson
• Professor Astro Cat’s Space Rockets by Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman
• The Stellar Story fo Space Travel
• Space Visual Catalog
• The Complete Guide to Space Exploration by Ben Hubbard
• The First Men Who Went to the Moon by Rhonda Gowler Greene
• Daring Dozen: The Twelve Who Walked on the Moon by Suzanne Slade
• Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca
• Margaret and the Moon: How Margaret Hamilton Saved the First Lunar Landing by Dean Robbins
• To the Stars by Carmella Van Vleet and Kathy Sullivan
• Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed
• Space Heroes by Hannah Dolan
• You Should Meet Mae Jemison by Laurie Calkhoven
• Rockets and Spaceships by Karen Wallace
• The 100 Year Starship by Mae Jemison
• She Caught the Light: Williamina Stavens Fleming Astronomer by Kathryn Lasky
• Mars! Earthlings Welcome by Stacy McAnulty
• Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet by Curtis Manley

Misc. - Random picture books read

• Share Some Kindness, Bring Some Light by Apryl Stott
• Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood: Daniel Learns to Ride a Bike
• Paw Patrol: Mission Paw
• The Magic School Bus Rides Again: Deep-Sea Dive
• Porcupine Cupid by Jason June
• Spy Guy by Jessica Young
• The Owl Who Asks Why by Michelle Garcia Anderson
• Meet a Baby Zebra by Lisa Ownings
• A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na
• A Thousand White Butterflies by Jessica Betancourt-Perez & Karen Lynn Williams
• Stuck by Oliver Jeffers
• Fowl Play by Travis Nichols
• Duck & Goose: Honk! Quack! Boo! by Tad Hills
• Lego Ninjago Movie: Shark Attack
• Can You Tell a Velociraptor from a Deinonychus? by Buffy Silverman
• Shy Willow by Cat Min
• Rabbids Invasion: Attack of the Zombie Rabbids
• Juno Valentine and the Magical Shoes by Eva Chen
• Let’s All Creep Through Crocodile Creek by Jonny Lambert
• When the Wind Blew by Alison Jackson
• Road Trip by Steve Light
• How Tall was a T Rex? by Alison Limentani

Highs

• I figured out the free library pass to Fontenelle Forest so we had a lovely morning in nature without having to pay. Definitely doing that again and hoping to use to pass for Lauritzen Gardens during their Easter Egg hunting weeks.
• The Raptor Refuge at Fontenelle was a delightful surprise. We got up close to many birds of prey (including the bald eagle pictured). An employee took the time to chat with us and give us much more information than what’s on the signs. Lots of fun!

Lows

• The cold and rainy weather meant less park days than I had wanted.
• Quentin had a random sick day the first Monday of break which meant no outside time that day (and it was gorgeous outside).

Next Week

Back to our regularly scheduled homeschool… We’ll be diving into the following topics:

• The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
• Singapore Math 2B Unit 6 (reviewing mental addition and subtraction)
• Composer John Williams
• Spring Equinox
• Plants and Growing
• Native Groups of the Plains
• The Start of the American Revolution (thru Lexington and Concord)
• Daily Doodling Journal

Next up on the TBR pile: