Homeschool W4: We Went Somewhere Every Day This Week!

What We Studied

We ended up leaving the house every day this week and I very much disliked it. We did managed to cover most of our planned curriculum for the week including a documentary.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur started reading the Percy Jackson series with The Lightning Thief. We kept reading and have really gotten into the story. Beyond the actual literature, we are working on some basic grammar skills and starting our writing journey. He also continued his Super Secret Notebook from Blossom & Root. And finally, we started the next coop book club selection.

• The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
• A Child’s Introduction to Greek Mythology: Intro through Gods Galore
• Poetry for Young People: American Poetry
• Reading Explorer: Intro
• The Last Human by Lee Bacon

Quentin started reading a new selection. I’m not sure how engaged he really is right now. It is a big chapter book and he hasn’t listened to many of them. He also worked on some basic grammar.

• Sing a Song of Seasons
• Be the Bus: The Lost and Profound Wisdom of The Pigeon
• The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
• My Body is a Rainbow: The Color of My Feelings by Mallika Chopra

Math

Arthur continued his math year with some review packets. We will start his next Singapore book next week. We’ll see how that goes. We also continued our next logic book.

• Orbiting with Logic

Quentin continued working toward the end of Singapore 1B with a unit on time. I’m still debating if we should take a small review break after finishing 1B and before beginning 2A. I’m still deciding. We also continued our logic book.

• Lollipop Logic Book 3
• Singapore Common Core 1B

Social Studies

Arthur jumped back into BYL 6 and History Quest: US History starting at the beginning of the Civil War. He covered the rest of 1864 this week. We’ll be sprinkling in various historical fiction readers to reinforce the time periods.

• DK American History
• We were There Too! Young People in US History
• Two Miserable Presidents by Steve Sheinkin
• Words that Build a Nation
• Heart and Soul

Quentin continued a journey through the Ice Age focusing on how animals and humans lived together. We even watched a great NOVA documentary about the time period.

• History Quest Early Times
• DK When on Earth?
• Human Wold
• A Child’s Introduction to Natural History by Heather Alexander
• DK History
• DK Timelines of Everything
• DK A Child Through Time
• A History of Western Art
• DK Science Year by Year

Science

Arthur is embarking upon RSO Chemistry this year. But before we officially start the curriculum, we are covering some basic Chemistry and Science lessons. Once we start the actual book, we will be doing the experiment portions with a group of coop friends. This week we did a bit of review. We also attended an informational meeting about a mousetrap race car project. A close friend organized this large project for our homeschool aquaintances. We chatted about specs and ideas and set some dates. Arthur task for the next few weeks is to brainstorm and make a supply list.

• RSO Chemistry
• DK Super Simple Chemistry
• Story of Science Vol. 2: Newton at the Center by Joy Hakim

Quentin continued RSO Life with a lesson about cells. He will also be engaging in various nature science lessons and explorations throughout the year. We did a fun little experiment looking at a chicken egg and labeling the parts.

• RSO Life
• DK Oversimple Biology
• Many Creatures: A Song About Animal Classifications by Laura Purdie Salas
• A Mammal is an Animal by Lizzy Rockwell
• Animal School: What Class are You? by Michelle Lord
• Animal Classification by Jenny Fretland VanVoorst

STEAM Coop

Quentin covered insects even making his own creative insect and going on a bug hunt. The bug hunt was his favorite part of coop. Arthur’s group learned about water filtration and even made their own systems. It was nice to get back into the groove with all our coop friends.

We had a meeting to discuss renting the Volunteer Firefighter’s Hall during the winter months. They are (probably) willing to rent us the space for $100 per week. It’s a chunk of month, but we can handle it. On Thursday, a coop member brought us another potential rental for half the price. We need to get confirmation, but we might just have a space for the winter months.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

Another week that I actually fit in art and music! I am on a roll! We covered the music of Gabriela Lena Frank, a modern composer, and the art of Jason Lawrence.

• The Science of Song: How and Why We Make Music by Alan Cross, Emme Cross, and Nicole Mortillaro
• A Child’s Introduction to the Orchestra by Robert Levine
• DK Music and How it Works
• DK The Arts
• Modern Art Adventures by Maja Pitamic and Jill Laidlaw
• The Great Migration: A Children’s Story by Jacob Lawrence
• Harriet and the Promised Land by Jacob Lawrence
• Jacob Makes a World: Jacob Lawrence, a Young Artist in Harlem by Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts
• Jacob Lawrence in the City by Susan Goldman Rubin
• 13 American Artists Children Should Know
• A Child’s Introduction to Art

Field Trip

We didn’t do a big field trip this week, but we did make it out for a few events. On Friday, we had a nature hike at Heron Haven. Lots and lots of frogs were spotted in the pond. A’s friends even caught multiple to check out.

High

On Thursday, the boys made a plan with some friends to get boba tea at the mall. The adults agreed and we had a good old-fashioned social time at the mall food court. We grabbed lunch and boba tea. After social hour, I even snuck in about an hour of schoolwork before we headed home.

Low

Leaving the house every single day this week was not my favorite. I was completely drained by Friday, but had to go to coop book club on Saturday morning.

Next Week

• Continuing Percy Jackson
• Continuing The One and Only Ivan
• Getting close to finishing Singapore 1B (Q)
• Starting Singapore 5A (A)
• Moving into the last stages of the Civil War
• Covering the Neolithic Period
• Admiring Alma Thomas’s art
• Listening to Erik Satie’s music
• Exploring survival skills (A) and photography (Q) for coop

Next up on the TBR pile: