What We Studied

This is actually a recap of two weeks: one normal week and one flex week. But, I’m really asking myself, What happened to my weeks? Everything seemed to just go off the rails these past two weeks and I wanted to get back on track. School work was all over the place. Everyone was stupid exhausted. And scheduled kept changing everyday. Not a fan. Here’s hoping we can get it together for this week.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur wrapped up the unit on Langston Hughes with lots more poetry and a new picture book. We also started reading Tristan Strong Destroys the World. It’s number two in the series. B&R has the first book in its curriculum for grade 4, but we’ve already read it. So I’m just adapting. Unfortunately, we didn’t get very far at all. Her'e’s hoping we make some progress next week. 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.

Poetry for Young People: American Poetry
Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes
Reading Explorer: Intro
Tristan Strong Destroys the World by Kwame Mbalia
There was a Party for Langston: King O' Letters by Jason Reynolds

Quentin first covered a unit theme about owls for his reading. We then moved onto starting B&R Level 1 Language Arts. We introduced the concept of fairy tales and covered two different themes. He also worked on some basic grammar.

Sing a Song of Seasons
Where I Live: Poems About My Home, My Street, and My Town
Owls by Gail Gibbons
Berkeley’s Barn Owl Dance by Tera Johnson and Tania Howells
Whobert, Whoever Owl Detective by Jason Gallaher
Knight Owl by Christopher Denise
Little Owl Lost by Chris Haughton
Hooray for Today by Brian Won
The Happy Owls by Celestino Piatti
Owl Sees Owl by Laura Godwin and Rob Dunlavey
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
Whoo-ku Haiku by Maria Gianferrari
Otto the Owl Who Loved Poetry by Vern Kousky
Good Luck Baby Owls by Giles and Alexandra Milton
Owls are Good at Keeping Secrets by Sara O’Leary
The Owl and Other Night Creatures
Owls by Valerie Bodden
Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
Happy Owl-Oween by Laura Gehl
Knight Owls by Eric Setlzer
A Haunted Ghost Tour in Nebraska by Louise Martin
The Turnip by Jan Brett
The Gigantic Turnip by Aleksei Tolstoy
The Giant Carrot by Jan Peck
It Could Always Be Worse by Margot Zemach

Math

Arthur continued to dive into Singapore 5A. We are definitely going to slow down our math lessons a bit to make sure that Arthur achieves mastery. These past weeks, the units were very much a review of decimals and fractions. We also continued our next logic book.

Singapore Common Core 5A
Orbiting with Logic

Quentin finished Singapore 1B with a unit on math to 120.We will be taking a short break between levels to do a Tinkeractive Book and finish our math packets.. We also continued our logic book.

Lollipop Logic Book 3
Singapore Common Core 1B

Social Studies

Arthur continued through the passage of time with a few weeks on the Transcontinental Railroad and conflicts with the Native Americans.

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
Which Way to the Wild West by Steve Sheinkin
In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse by Joseph M. Marshall III
The Transcontinental Railroad by John Perritano
Ten Mile Day and the Building of the Transcontinental Railroad by Mary Ann Fraser

Quentin dove into Egypt. We will be sticking to that civilization for the next few weeks also. So much to learn and explore!

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
Mummies, Pyramids, and Pharaohs by Gail Gibbons
Nat Geo Investigates: Ancient Egypt by Jill Rubalcaba
Egypt in Spectacular Cross Section
Ancient Worlds by Miranda Smith
Ancient Egypt by Jinny Johnson
DK Eyewitness Ancient Egypt
DK Eyewitness Pyramid
20 Fun Facts About the Great Pyramid by Kristen Rajczak
Pyramids of Ancient Egypt by Christopher Forest
What Did the Ancient Egyptians Do for Me? by Patrick Catel
Nat Geo Investigates: Ancient Egypt by Jill Rubalcaba
Who Built the Pyramid? by Meredith Hooper
Mummy Cat by Marcus Ewert
The Mummy Makers of Egypt by Tamara Bower

Science

Arthur explored more of the periodic table and atom basics. We also covered another chapter in our Story of Science. At chemistry class, they built elements and learned about how changing the combination of elements changes the outcome.

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

Quentin ended up not covering any units from RSO Life these two weeks. He did get some great clouds and weather lessons from coop, so that’s okay. We’ll catch up soon.

RSO Life
DK Oversimple Biology

Quentin’s Turnip Stories, Poetry, and Math

STEAM Coop

Arthur finished art mediums with two weeks spent exploring watercolors. He really got excited by the projects. Quentin covered clouds and weather. His favorite part was making a glittery red tornado bottle. .

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

And I continued not fitting in these subjects. I just could’t seem to get it to fit in our schedueles. I suspect this will be an issue until November, but hoping we can slide it in at least half of the weeks.

DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts
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
We are Artists by Kari Herbert

Arthur’s ELA and Math featuring Langston Hughes Unit

Field Trip

We did a fun free exploration day at Arbor Day Farm with coop friends. We really love it there. The kids enjoy the nature classroom and treehouses. Unfortunately, the trampoline had been taken down. I assume that it needed to be replaced. Just annoyed that the website didn’t notate that. The kids very disappointed about running full out to the treehouses and realizing that the trampoline wasn’t there.

High

We finished our season of visits at Vala’s. Our total for September and October was eight visits. Many rides were ridden and ciders were drunk. We had tons of fun. Until next year Vala’s.