Homeschool W22: Two Great Weeks of School and Activities

What We Studied

This post actually covers a Flex Week and a regular week. Right now, we are actually ahead of schedule for some of our curriculum and it’s really giving me life. I don’t want to push too hard, but I love having some wriggle room for more activities, games, and documentaries.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur finished a complete read aloud during Flex Week, covered another during the regular week, and even started a third. We are on a roll. Beyond the actual literature, we are working on some basic grammar skills. We continued the first Reading Explorer book which focuses on reading comprehension. He also continued his Super Secret Notebook from Blossom & Root.

• The Water Horse by Dick King-Smith
• Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
• My America poem collection
• Reading Explorer 1
• The Witches by Roald Dahl
• Ramayana: Divine Loophole by Sanjay Patel

Quentin finished a collection of stories from the Odyssey, completed a short read aloud, and started another in his favorite series. We are pushing our Blossom and Root lessons out another week. He also worked on some basic grammar.

• Sing a Song of Seasons
• Tales from the Odyssey Part Two by Mary Pope Osborne
• Ramayana: Divine Loophole by Sanjay Patel
• Zoey and Sassafras: Grumplets and Pests by Asia Citro
• 365 Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental

Math

Arthur continued with a unit on Decimals. Most of it was review, but it was a good review for him. We’re flying through the lessons. We also dove into the Grade 4 Financial Literacy book and covered a few units.

• Singapore Common Core 5B
• Orbiting with Logic
• Evan Moor Financial Literacy G4

Quentin continued Singapore 2A with a big review of numbers to 1000. We also continued our logic book.

• Lollipop Logic Book 3
• Singapore Common Core 2A
• Addition on the Menu by Kirsty Holmes
• Place Value Prize by Kirsty Holmes
• Groups in the Garden by Kirsty Holmes

Social Studies

Arthur covered the 1920s from Boom to Bust and into the Great Depression. We covered all the high points. We even found a way to include a few documentaries.

• DK American History
• We were There Too! Young People in US History
• Words that Build a Nation
• Heart and Soul
• Nat Geo Our Country’s Presidents
• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States
• A Different Mirror for Young People
• This is Our Land: A History of American Immigration
• DK Timelines of Everything
• DK History
• Cobblestone: Hollywood and the Rise of Motion Pictures
• The Roaring Twenties by Marcia Amidon Lusted
• Children of the Great Depression by Russell Freedman
• Dorothea’s Eyes by Barb Rosenstock
• Thanks to Frances Perkins: Fighter for Workers’ Rights by Deborah Hopkinson
• The Only Woman in the Photo: Frances Perkins and Her New Deal for America by Kathleen Krull

Quentin finished the chapters on Ancient Greece and then moved onto the chapters on Ancient India. We found a good balance of videos, textbooks, and small readings.

• History Quest Early Times
• DK When on Earth?
• Human Wold
• DK History
• DK Timelines of Everything
• DK A Child Through Time
• A History of Western Art
• DK Science Year by Year
• DK Myths, Legends, and Sacred Stories
• Find the Journeys Around the World by David Long
• Blast Back! Ancient Greece by Nancy Ohlin Pg. 1-31
• Ancient Worlds
• Ancient Greece by Sandra Newman
• DK Eyewitness Ancient Greece
• Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece by Danielle Smith-Llera
• A Child’s Introduction to Greek Mythology Heather Alexander
• Ancient Greek Art by Susie Hodge
• A Journey Through Art by Aaron Rosen

Science

We were back at Chemistry class two weeks. I taught them all about liquids and density and we even attempted to make oobleck. This past week was a chemistry flex week, so we had a little break. But we made sure to read another couple of chapters in our Story of Science book.

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

Quentin got back into the RSO Life curriculum moving into the unit on Human Anatomy. We covered the circulatory and respiratory systems.

• RSO Life
• DK Oversimple Biology
• DK Human Body
• Know and Glow Human Body
• DK Eyewitness: Human Body
• iDiscover The Body by Carolyn Scrace
• The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers: A Tour of Your Useless Parts, Flaws and Other Weird Bits by Rachel Poliquin
• Click: The Inner You
• Parts of a Heart by Kirsty Holmes
• Lay Out the Lungs by Kirsty Holmes

STEAM Coop

Arthur covered geometry and art with two lessons featuring perspective and line drawing He got to play with compasses and rulers. Quentin’s class was all about magnets. He really got into the lessons these two weeks which just makes my heart happy.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

We covered a bit of art and music and managed to watch a few documentaries. Arthur got on an aviation history kick watching one about the Wright Brothers, one about the Red Baron, and one about the Great Air Race of 1924. He also chose a Modern Marvels episode about the building the Panama Canal. Quentin watched a documentary about Archimedes of Ancient Greece..

• DK Music and How it Works
• DK The Arts
• DK Art and How It Works
• Modern Art Adventures by Maja Pitamic and Jill Laidlaw
• 13 American Artists Children Should Know
• A Child’s Introduction to Art
• Women in Art by Rachel Ignotofsky
• Iconic Composers by Nicholas Csicsko & Emi Ferguson
• 13 Art Movements Children Should Know
• 13 Artists Children Should Know
• 13 Modern Artists Children Should Know
• The Story of Paintings by Mick Manning & Brita Granström
• Why is Art Full of Naked People? by Susie Hodge

Field Trip

We didn’t have any field trips these week. But we did accomplish two nature hikes and two park playdates with friends. The weather was beautiful this past week and we took advantage of it!

High

We finally bought a membership and made it down to the Luminarium, the new local hands-on science museum. We spent a few hour after coop exploring with some friends. Even being there for a few hours, we didn’t actually get to see everything! We will definitely be back soon.

Low

Nothing. We had a great two weeks!

Next Week

• Continuing our current read alouds
• Hopefully starting and finishing the coop book club selection
• Moving through the 1930s for history, focusing on the Dust Bowl
• Continuing our math units
• Exploring some new concepts about the periodic table
• Diving into Ancient Rome for science
• Hopefully heading outside for a nature walk

Next up on the TBR pile: