What We Studied
We love our coop. I love the creation of a community and the opportunities we have with them. But... there have been a few hiccups lately that have really thrown me. Despite delegating and appointing others to certain roles, balls are being dropped and I have to scramble to pick them up. Hopefully a few conversations this week will fix it. On the flip side, the kids are having a ton of fun learning about a variety of topics. Arthur’s group is creating board games this cycle and I cannot wait to see what they come up with!
Arthur’s ELA, Math, and History
Literature and Poetry
Arthur finished 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. I have the third one (last in the trilogy) coming and we might read that over Christmas break. I really want to see how the story ends. 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
Reading Explorer: Intro
Tristan Strong Destroys the World by Kwame Mbalia
Quentin got back into the Blossom & Root curriculum with two tales and their variations. I’m really enjoying the format for this year. He also worked on some basic grammar.
Sing a Song of Seasons
Pumpkin Butterfly: Poems from the Other Side of Nature by Heidi Mordhorst
Fairy Tales Collection
The Other Side of the Story
The Magic Fish by Freya Littledale
Luba and the Wren by Patricia Polacco
The Fisherman and His Wife by Rachel Isadora
Tortoise Races Home by Jill Atkins and Beccy Blake (Q read)
Hare and Tortoise by Alison Murray
The Tortoise and the Hare by Jerry Pinkney
The Fastest Tortoise in Town by Howard Calvert
The Great Race by Kevin O'Malley
When Turtle Grew Feathers by Tim Tangle
The Hare and the Tortoise by Ranjit Bolt
The Tortoise and the Jackrabbit by Susan Lowell
Quentin’s ELA and Math
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. We’ve moved onto new skills dealing with multiplying and dividing fractions. Time for me to relearn some math! We also continued our next logic book.
Singapore Common Core 5A
Orbiting with Logic
Quentin finished the Tinkeractive Math Book. We’re all about review right now. I don’t anticipate starting Singapore 2A until January. We also continued our logic book.
Lollipop Logic Book 3
Tinkeractive Math Grade 1
Quentin’s Math, ELA, History, and Science
Social Studies
Arthur covered industrialization and more about immigration with an aside about the San Francisco Earthquake. He also finished reading his historical fiction read aloud, Prairie Lotus
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
Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake, 1906 by Lauren Tarshis
What was the San Francisco Earthquake by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler
Quentin learned about the Andes Mountain cultures of the Chavin, Moche, and Nazca. Short chapter, but an important one.
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
Arthur’s ELA and Math
Science
Arthur review Periodic Groups this week with an experiment featuring the effects of baking powder. We also caught back up with our Story of Science chapters.
RSO Chemistry
DK Super Simple Chemistry
Story of Science Vol. 2: Newton at the Center by Joy Hakim
DK The Elements
Quentin covered the last of the invertebrates with crustaceans.
RSO Life
DK Oversimple Biology
Hermit Crabs by Ellen Lawrence
About Crustaceans by Cathryn Sill
Crayfish by Deborah Coldiron
Mantis Shrimp by Josh Plattner
A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle
STEAM Coop
Arthur continued his exploration of board games. By the end of the six weeks, the kids will have created their own board games. We learned about the various types of games and played some as examples. Quentin’s class started their exploration of Native Americans.
Pirate Putt Time!
Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary
We got back into it covering two artists (Leonardo da Vinci and Jan Vermeer) and one composter (Cecile Chaminade). I’m working these subjects in as we can, but proud of our progress so far. They are always the first on the chopping block if we run out of time during the week.
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
Neo Leo: The Ageless Ideas of Leonardo Da Vinci by Gene Barretta
Steal Back the Mona Lisa by Meghan McCarthy
If da Vinci Painted a Dinosaur by Amy Newbold
Fly, Kite, Fly: A Story of Leonardo and a Bird Catcher by John Winch
Jan Vermeer by Mike Venezia
Quentin’s ELA
Field Trip
No field trip this week. The kids had dentist appointments and we did lots of errands.
Nature Walk
High
The boys had an old fashioned playmate on Wednesday morning. Every once in a while, it’s great to have some free play with friends. As an added bonus, I got to talk to my friend for a few hours without kids interrupting us.
Low
Coop problems…
Boys cannot take a serious photo
Next Week
Starting a new read aloud
Covering more classic tales
Reviewing multiplying and dividing fractions (A)
Lots of math review (Q)
Move to Mesoamerica for Q’s History
More about industrialization for A’s History
Covering specific elements on the Periodic table
Next up on the TBR pile:
