What We Studied

Beyond our studies, we had two park playdates this week along with a grocery store visit and a library stop. Park playdates can be tiring for me, but we’re trying to get out more and meet new friends for our fall STEAM coop. Also, I really dropped the ball on taking pictures this week. Oh well.

Literature and Poetry

We finished reading The One and Only Bob for our read aloud. I liked it a little less than The One and Only Ivan, but still a really good book. There’s a lot of serious danger in this one and lots of talk of death. Be cautious.

• The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate

• Rainbow Soup by Brian P. Cleary (poems)

Math

A mishmash of review pages, little projects, and Khan Academy. We covered graphing, fractions, and multiplication with our homemade packets. Plus, we’re almost at the end of Lollipop Logic Book 3. I need to find some harder logic puzzles for both kids.

Social Studies

We finally reached the end of the Revolutionary War. In addition to covering the end, the Articles of Confederation, and the formation of the Constitution, we did biographies on a few African Americans during the war. I loved learning more about Elizabeth Freeman and Phillis Wheatley. I read some of Wheatley’s poetry in college and enjoyed her voice.

• 100 African Americans Who Shaped American History

• Phillis Wheatley: Poet of the Revolutionary Era by Molly Aloian

• Phillis Sings Out Freedom: The Story of George Washington and Phillis Wheatley by Ann Malaspina

• Phillis's Big Test by Catherine Clinton

• America's Black Founders by Nancy Sanders

• Answering the Cry of Freedom by Gretchen Woelfle

• Mumbet's Declaration of Independence by Gretchen Woelfle

• Fight for Freedom by Benson Bobrick

Science

See Unit Theme

Art

Nothing formal, but lots of random drawing.

Music

We covered Pete Seeger on Monday. Arthur loved his songs for kids, but not so much when it came to the adult stuff. From there we did a sampling of music from the 1960s (Joan Baez, The Byrds, Dave Von Ronk, and Janis Ian). Arthur wasn’t really a fan of any of them, but I am. We’ll continue the 1960s next week.

• Stand Up and Sing: Pete Seeger, Folk Music, and the Path to Justice by Susanna Reich

Unit Theme

For Oceans, we focused on rays, dolphins, and whales. How did I not know that orcas are genetically dolphins? I love it when I get to learn something new.

• Rays by Valerie Bodden

• Thomas & Friends: Thomas and the Shark (Arthur read)

• Ocean Anatomy by Julia Rothman

• Nat Geo Ocean Animals

• DK Oceans

• DK Whales and Dolphins

• Dolphins! Strange and Wonderful by Laurence Pringle

• How Do Dolphins Sleep? by Nancy Furstinger

• Nat Geo Absolute Expert Dolphins by Jennifer Swanson

• Ranger Rick: I Wish I was an Orca by Sandra Markle (Arthur Read)

• Wild Orca: The Oldest, Wisest Whale in the World by Brenda Peterson

• Amazing Whales! by Sarah L. Thomson (Arthur read)

• Whales by Grace Hansen

• 10 Reasons to Love a Whale by Catherine Barr

• Blue Whales by Grace Hansen

• How Long is a Whale? by Alison Limentani

Misc. - Random picture books read

• Shawn Loves Sharks by Curtis Manley

• A Surprise for Mrs. Tortoise by Paula Merlan

• Violet and the Eggplant Painting Problem by Cynthia Wylie and Courtney Carbone

• Also an Octopus by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

• Inky's Great Escape: The Incredible (and Mostly True) Story of an Octopus Escape by Casey Lyall

• This is a Seahorse by Cassandra Federman

• Larry Gets Lost Under the Sea by Eric Ode and John Skewes

• Beach by Elisha Cooper

• Deep Underwater by Irene Luxbacher

• Flip & Fin: Super Sharks to the Rescue! by Timothy Gill

• Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea by Jan Peck

• Jurassic World: Danger Dinosaurs

• Dario and the Whale by Cheryl Lawton Malone

• Stories in a Seashell by Alex Nogués Otero

• Dinosaur Tracks by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

Highs

• We got to listen to a few episodes of The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd on our way across the river on Tuesday. All of us really love that show. We’re almost at the end of season six. There are only eight seasons, so we should be done with the series sometime this summer.

Lows

• I’m losing all motivation for school. It’s such a weird month for our family.

Next Week

For the next two weeks, we are on a semi-break. Originally we were going to be traveling to Indiana for family stuff, but that isn’t happening. Instead, we will just be home. But I hope to include more craft projects, art, and games into the next two weeks. We’ll be reading our next selection (Frog and Toad collection by Arnold Lobel), working through various ocean animals, listening to the folk music of the 1960s and 1970s, and doing some basic math review. I might even add a few more outings beyond the already scheduled park playdates.

Next up on the TBR pile: