What We Studied

After such a long time not getting sick (and avoiding COVID), the boys and I all caught a cold and had some not-so-great days. We managed to finish some school work, but had to skip coop and the coop fiend trip the gardens. Not fun being stuck inside for days on end.

Literature and Poetry

We did manage to finis our current read aloud and work through more poems.

• The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

• I’ve Lost My Hippopotamus

Math

Arthur is finished with the textbook, so we are exploring more math problems and puzzles until August. We pulled out the spring tangrams packet for Tuesday’s lesson.

• Logic Countdown

• The School of Numbers

Social Studies

We covered the Scientific Revolution (focusing on Gutenburg, Copernicus, and Galileo) and the Reformation this week. Arthur got really interested in Copernicus’s journal and wanted to create his own scientific journal.

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• When on Earth

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• Marguerite Makes a Book by Bruce Robertson

• Nicolaus Copernicus: The Earth is a Planet by Dennis Brindell Fradin

• Martin Luther: Here I Stand by Geraldine Elschner

• The Life and Times of Martin Luther by Meike Roth-Beck

• I, Galileo by Bonnie Christensen

• Starry Messenger by Peter Sis

• Recentering the Universe: The Radical Theories of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton by Rob Miller

Arthur Independent Time

To allow for one-on-one time with Quentin, I have added an hour of independent work time for Arthur. Each week, he will have a mix of packet work (mostly grammar and math review), independent reading time, and special projects. Many of his projects will be aligned with our literature selections (some taken from B&R Language Arts curriculum) and history.

Science and STEAM Coop

We had a light week for science. I had planned on focusing on spring and growing to align with coop and our trip to the botanical gardens. But as we had to skip those, part of our science went with it. We did do a mini spring unit with a ton of books. And we wrapped up what we learned from coop last week about bees with some more books and videos.

• The Thing About Bees by Shabazz Larkin

• Give Bees a Chance by Bethany Barton

• Bee and Me by Alison Jay

• The Bee Tree by Stephen Buchmann

• The Secret Life of Bees by Moira Butterfield

• What on Earth? Bees by Andrea Quigley

• Finding Spring by Carin Berger

• Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner

• Mouse Loves Spring by Lauren Thompson

• Hail to Spring by Charles Ghigna

• Weather in Spring by Jenny Fretland VanVoorst

• Trees in Spring by Jenny Fretland VanVoorst

• Birds in Spring by Jenny Fretland VanVoorst

• Spring by Amy Culliford

• Crinkle, Crackle, Crack It's Spring! by Marion Dane Bauer

Art/Music

None this week

Quentin

I have scheduled at least four 1-hour time blocks for one-on-one time with Quentin. I bought Blossom and Root’s Early Years Volume 2 curriculum to use as our base. I love the variety of activities and some of the bigger projects included.

ELA

• Biscuit Takes a Walk by Alyssa Satin Capucilli (Q Reads)

• Biscuit Loves the Library by Alyssa Satin Capucilli (Q Reads)

• Biscuit and the Little Llamas by Alyssa Satin Capucilli (Q Reads)

• Biscuit Feeds the Pets by Alyssa Satin Capucilli (Q reads)

• The Tale of Two Bad Mice by Beatrix Potter

• The Tale of Benjamin Bunny by Beatrix Potter

• The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter

• High Five April 2020

Math

• Lollipop Logic Book 1

• Tinkeractive Math PreK

Other

• Smart Start Beginning Coding Grade 1

• I Spy on the Farm

• Tinkeractive Science PreK

Field Trip

On Monday we met friends at the park for some playtime. It was chilly, but the sun came out and the kids had fun. I enjoyed chatting with some friends.

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies.

Misc. Picture Books Read

• Nerdy Birdy by Aaron Reynolds

• Big Choo by Stephen Shaskan

High

• Getting our chicks on Saturday was so much fun! We are renting two chicks from a family farm program. We are interacting with them and caring for them. We named ours Shadow and Sunshine. The boys are loving this program!

Low

• Getting sick obviously. I had a headache all week and it really affected everyone’s mood and motivation.

Next Week

• Starting a new read aloud (even I haven’t read this one)

• Covering Elizabethan Times for history

• Continuing our math review

• Taking care of our chicks for hands-on science

Next up on the TBR pile: