Homeschool W26: We Had a Week...

What We Studied

So… we had a week. Overall, it was that exciting, but we made it through the week with a few fun outings.

Literature and Poetry

We started a new read aloud and do a few literature studies this week. A fairly normal week when it came to language.

• City of the Plague God by Sarwat Chadda
• Poetry for Young People: Robert Frost by Gary D. Schmidt
• Me… Jane by Patrick McDinnell
• Sally Jean, Bicycle Queen by Cari Best
• Superworm by Julia Donaldson
• Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens

Math

Arthur covered Unit 11: Data Analysis for math. It was a short unit,. but we worked through all the problems.

• Logic Countdown

Social Studies

This chapter of History Quest focused on the Renaissance. We covered a lot of the art and architecture and compared to the earlier Medieval period. Arthur was very focused on Brunelleshi’s cathedral in Florence.

• DK Timelines of Everyone
• When on Earth
• DK History
• DK Timelines of Everything
• Human World
• Leonardo da Vinci by Stephen Krensky
• Leonardo da Vinci by Mary Pope Osborne
• Renaissance by Alison Cole

Arthur Independent Time

To allow for one-on-one time with Quentin, I have added an hour of independent work time for Arthur. Each week, he will have a mix of packet work (mostly grammar and math review), independent reading time, and special projects. Many of his projects will be aligned with our literature selections (some taken from B&R Language Arts curriculum) and history.

Science and STEAM Coop

For coop, we talked about first responders and had talk from a local wildlife rescue group. I learned a lot, but the boys were a bit more interested in the crafts we did. Beyond that, we did read some other books and chatted about a variety of first responders.

• Show Me Community Helpers by Clint Edwards
• Helping Hospital by Lindsay Ward
• Real Superheroes by Julia Seal
• First Responders by Allan B. Cobb
• Itty Bitty Kitty Firehouse Fun by Joan Holub

Art/Music

None this week

Quentin

I have scheduled at least four 1-hour time blocks for one-on-one time with Quentin. I bought Blossom and Root’s Early Years Volume 2 curriculum to use as our base. I love the variety of activities and some of the bigger projects included. Q finished Sh, Ch, and Th digraphs and started moving into Level 1 readers. We kept working on math skills and pencil control.

ELA

• Song of the Wild: A First Book of Animals by Nicola Davies
• Biscuit Feeds the Pets by Alyssia Satin Capucilli (Q reads)
• A Snowy Day in Bugland by David A. Carter (Q reads)
• Summer Story by Jill Barklem
• Autumn Story by Jill Barklem
• High Five April 2018
• High Five September 2018
• Farming by Gail Gibbons
• Night on the Farm
• In! Over! and On! (The Farm) by Ethan Long
• Spring on the Farm by MJ York
• Go to Sleep, Little Farm by Mary Lyn Ray
• On the Farm by David Elliott
• Poo on the Farm by Emilie Dufresne
• On the Farm, At the Market by G. Brian Karas
• Old MacDonald had a Farm by Jane Cabrera

Math

• Lollipop Logic Book 1

Other

• I Spy Learn and Go
• Smart Start Beginning Coding Grade 1

Field Trip

On Monday we took the morning for errands and also hit the park for about an hour or so. It was a bit chilly, but not bad at all. The boys really needed some time to run.

Wednesday was a nature hike at Schramm with some coop friends. We did the 3 mile loop, had a picnic, played at the playground, and looked for fossils. It was a glorious 4 1/2 hours out in nature.

Documentary Selection

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

Misc. Picture Books Read

• Turtle Pond by James Gladstone
• The Little Piggy Went Dancing by Margaret Wild
• Cecil the Pet Glacier by Matthea Harvey and Giselle Potter
• 15 Things NOT to Do with a Puppy by Margaret McAllister
• Anzu the Great Kaiju by Benson Shum

High

• The hike through the woods on Wednesday was absolutely amazing! The boys had a great time with friends and so did I!

Low

• We didn’t get around to our earth science lesson this week and now we’re slightly behind. I don’t like being behind. Thankfully, we have a “break week” next week. I have very glad that I built in breaks in our scheduled lessons to catch up when we get behind.

Next Week

• Starting 3B Unit 12 for geometry
• Continuing reading City of the Plague God
• Finishing up first responders for coop
• Diving into rocks and minerals for science
• Covering the Kiev Russia for history
• Taking Thursday off after coop
• Looking forward to a nature hike on Friday

Next up on the TBR pile: