What We Studied

We’re back to a routine and easy back into homeschooling. Thankfully the weather was gorgeous this week for our field tip and for coop.

Literature and Poetry

We started reading our Trickster Tales collection with the section on Europe. The Blossom and Root Language Arts curriculum only has us reading 1-2 tales per section, but we are a big reading family. Instead of 1-2, we read the entire section over the course of the week. Really that’s only like 6 stories and less than 30 pages of reading. It was nice to cover more stories and talk about the variety. We also added in more read aloud selections to our history study.

• Trickster Tales Retold by Josepha Sherman

• 10 Minutes a Day Spelling

Math

We started Unit 3 in math with focuses on multiplication and division. Arthur already understands the concepts, so we are going to focus on mastery. I imagine that we will be in this unit of study for a few weeks. I want. to really hammer down before moving on to other topics.

• Singapore Math Common Core Edition 3A

Social Studies

We covered the Norse and the Vikings this week in medieval history. Our road trip unintentionally fit right in with. a visit to a Norse longhouse recreation and the Norwegian-American museum in Decorah. Along with the history text, we watched a few really good NOVA episodes about the Vikings and read some myths and stories from the culture. Arthur got excited to learn about the differences between the actual myths and the Marvel iterations of the characters.

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everyone: Leif Erikson

• When on Earth?

• Myths, Legends and Sacred Stories

• Kingfisher Atlas of Medieval World

• Thor Speaks! A Guide to the Realms of the Norse God of Thunder by Vicky Alvear Shecter

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. He mostly focused. on packet work and LEGO creations this week.

Science and STEAM Coop

Art/Music

Our music study was cut this week. We just ran out of time and other things got prioritized.

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. For ELA, we continued our big overview of the alphabet. We are getting through the alphabet two letters per week and have made it to the letter J. Beyond ELA, we have worked on a variety of math concepts (heavy and light, same and different, bi and small) as well as started on the next Khan Academy unit. We also did a mini science experiment unit on sink or float. Arthur acted as an assistant and record keeper. To follow-up, we watched a great Magic School Bus episode about the topic.

ELA

• Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers

• Izzy Impala’s Imaginary Illnesses by Barbara deRubertis

• My “i” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

• Jeremy Jackrabbit’s Jumpin Journey by Barbara deRubertis

• My “j” Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure

Math

Other

• Poetry selections from Mother Goose

• Packet about My World

Field Trip

We missed the first week our coop theme about bridges, but made it home in time for a field trip to the Bob Kerry Bridge . The kids walked all the way across it to Iowa, checked out the plaza there, and walked all the way back. They then proceeded to roll down the hills at the Nebraska plaza. Great fun was had by everyone and we got in a great walk on a beautiful day. Afterward, I treated the kids to a stop at Hollywood Candy before we headed home.

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. This week, we watched two episodes about the Vikings.

• NOVA S43 E9: Vikings Unearthed

• NOVA S46 E10: Lost Viking Army

• NOVA S46 E17: Why Bridges Collapse

Misc. - Random picture books read

• A Little Book About Colors by Leo Lionni

• Ducks Run Amok! by J.E. Morris

• Mary Wrightly, So Politely by Shirin Him Bridges

• Wordy Birdy by Tammi Sauer

• Fall Pumpkin Fun by Martha E.H. Rustad

• Iggy Iguanodon: Bath Time and Bedtime by Maryann Macdonald

Highs

• The weather was absolutely gorgeous. The temps were a bit cooler, but it was still nice and sunny. Perfect for our field trip to the river and for our coop meeting.

Lows

• Nothing really… We had a good week overall.

Next Week

• Reading Arthurian Tales

• Continuing Unit 3 in Math

• Moving on to Camping for Coop

• But following up on bridges for Science

• Learning about the British Isles and 1066 for history

Next up on the TBR pile: