What We Studied

We only have one more official week for the fall semester and we’re definitely ready for a break. This week was full of random appointments with less schooling worked in. We did cover some reading and math and had our final coop meeting of the fall.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur and I continued our read aloud. The story is really getting good. I’m loving that Arthur has recognized a lot of the folklore and mythological characters. Sometimes he really does pay attention.

• Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry

• In the Beginning by Virginia Hamilton

• Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia

Quentin focused on reading animal stories from around the world. I’m trying to line them up with our continents as we move across the world. We continued Europe and covered stories from Eastern Europe and Russia.

• Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry

• A World Full of Animal Stories by Angela McAllister

• Around the World in 80 Days by Saviour Pirotta

• Pete the Cat's 12 Groovy Days of Christmas by Kimberly and James Dean

• One Wild Christmas by Nicholas Oldland

• Merry Christmas, Dear Dragon by Margaret Hillert

• The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship by Arthur Ransome

• Rechenka's Eggs by Patricia Polacco

Math

For both boys, we have scheduled math for three days a week. One day is focused on logic, games, puzzles, and special projects. The two other days are focused on covering the main math curriculum (Singapore 4A and 4B for Arthur and Singapore 1A and 1B for Quentin). Arthur’s plugging along learning about decimals currently.

• Logic Liftoff (Arthur)

• Singapore 4B

• Lollipop Logic Book 2 (Quentin)

• Smart Start Math Grade 1

Social Studies

Arthur continued his large study of United States history using a combination of Build Your Library Level 5 and History Quest United States History. We’ve continued the section covering the Revolutionary War. I’m loving one of our read aloud resources.

• A Kid’s Guide to Native American History by Yvonne Wakim Dennis

• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

• We were There Too by Philip Hoose

• Words that Built a Nation

• History Quest: U.S. History

• A Different Mirror

• DK American History Visual Encyclopedia

• King George: What was His Problem? How to Start a Revolution

• Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

• Map Skills for Today Grade 3

Quentin continued his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. We moved onto studying Eastern Europe and Russia.

• Nat Geo Beginner’s World Atlas

• DK Countries of the World

• DK Children Just Like Me

• DK Children Just Like Me: A School Like Mine

Arthur Independent Time

We are working on following a checklist in a planner for weekly independent work. There’s usually some math workbook pages, an ELA packet, weekly writing prompts (1-2 times a week), independent reading time, and a special creative project. There has been many drawing projects lately.

Science

Arthur is focusing on Physics this year. We are covering the text and related videos at home and then joining friends for experiments and extra projects. We’re back to our RSO with a unit on air and air pressure. The boys really enjoyed trying to prove that air takes up space and has matter. Great experiments this week!

• RSO Physics

• The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way by Joy Hakim

• The Way Things Work Now

Quentin will be focusing on animal science with BYL Level 0.

• Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas

• DK Animal

• Lonely Planet: The Animal Book

• The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

STEAM Coop

One last week for the fall semester. Arthur finished the genetics unit learning a little bit about CRISPR. I had to emergency teach mental health to the middle class. I led the kids on some mindfulness exercises before we made emotional regulation charts and did some animal themed yoga. I pulled out that lesson in 15 minutes and felt really good about the results. Sometimes we just have to quickly pivot and get the job done.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking

We’re planning one doing on art project and one cooking project each week as well as picking a composer or musician to listen to and enjoy. This week music just didn’t happen. But that’s okay. Hopefully we can pick up the animal drawing class in January.

Field Trip

No field trip, but we did host board game morning on Tuesday. Lots of kids came and played board games. They even did it fairly independently!

On Sunday, we had our book club discussion for The Girl Who Drank the Moon. While discussing, the kids drew their own versions of Glerk and Fyrian and all the rest of the characters. Not all of the kids liked the book, but we had a great discussion of why. They are really starting to get how to talk about books. I’m so excited for spring!

High

• I hosted coop happy hour for the coop parents on Tuesday. We had a lovely evening chatting without kid interruptions. Will definitely have to do it again in the spring.

Low

• All the doctor appointments! The boys had their well-check visits on Monday so school was a wash. And then I had an appointment on Wednesday morning and one on Friday morning. Lots of poking prodding this week.

Next Week

• Finishing our read aloud and maybe starting the coop book club selection (A)

• Learning more about the Revolutionary War for US History (A)

• Moving forward with 4B for Math (A)

• Wrapping up air and air pressure for physics (A)

• Finishing Europe for social studies and science (Q)

• Celebrating the season with all our coop friends at the Christmas party!

Next up on the TBR pile: