What We Studied

Another week, another instance of me over-scheduling events and exhausting myself. The kids seem okay. I’m just so tired after last week…

Literature and Poetry

Arthur kept reading Echo Mountain. This is a gem of a book, but be forewarned, there are lots of big topics discussed. I’m really enjoying a book that I’ve never read before. 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
Poetry for Young People: African American Poetry
Reading Explorer: Intro
Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk

Quentin finished our current Zoey and Sassafras book. I decided to mini theme unit about fall and apples to celebrate the season. So we spent our extra time reading picture books about those topics instead of diving into a new big read aloud. He also worked on some basic grammar.

Sing a Song of Seasons
Zoey and Sassafras 4: Caterflies and Ice by Asia Citro
Where I Live: Poems About My Home, My Street, and My Town
Apple Picking Day by Candice Ransom
My Autumn Book by Wong Herbert Yee
Fall Weather Fun by Martha E.H. Rustad
Leaf by Leaf: Autumn Poems
Hello Autumn Shelley Rotner
The Apple Orchard Riddle by Margaret McNamara
A is for Autumn by Robert Maass
Apples by Gail Gibbons
Kit and Kaboodle Visit the Farm by Michelle Portice
Enough Apples by Kim Kane and Lucia Masciullo
Apples A to Z by Margaret McNamara
Apples to Applesauce by Inez Snyder
It's Fall by Celeste Bishop
Amelia Bedelia's First Apple Pie by Herman Parish
Apples by Jacqueline Farmer
Fall Apple Fun by Marta E.H. Rustad
Fall Mixed Up by Bob Raczka
Leaves by David Ezra Stein

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 also continued our next logic book.

Singapore Common Core 5A
Orbiting with Logic

Quentin continued working toward the end of Singapore 1B with a unit on math to 120. I’m still debating if we should take a small review break after finishing 1B and before beginning 2A. We also continued our logic book.

Lollipop Logic Book 3
Singapore Common Core 1B

Social Studies

Arthur jumped back into BYL 6 and History Quest: US History with Reconstruction. We covered the time period and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. Our curriculum also had us take a step back to reconnect with Native Americans before and during the Civil War. We will be continuing with that storyline next week.

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
Red Cloud: A Lakota Story of War and Surrender by S.D. Nelson

Quentin covered the invention of writing with a focus on cuneiform. We took it easy and didn’t immediately jump into the next unit. We will get there.

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
The Genius of the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages by Izzi Howell
Mesopotamia by Sunita Apte

Science

Arthur is embarking upon RSO Chemistry this year. We will be doing the experiment portions with a group of coop friends. This week’s class focused on reviewing atoms and elements and taking a look at the first ten Elements on the periodic table. The experiments this week were not anything exciting, but the kids did get to play Periodic Table Battleship. We also covered two chapters in our Story of Science all about Galileo.

RSO Chemistry
DK Super Simple Chemistry
Story of Science Vol. 2: Newton at the Center by Joy Hakim
STEMQuest: Astonishing Atoms and Matter Mayhem
DK The Elements

Quentin caught back up for science with mini units on cnidaria and earthworms.

RSO Life
DK Oversimple Biology
Jellyfish by Kristen Rajczak
Jellyfish by Mari Schuh
Jellyfish by Grace Hansen
How Old is a Whale? Animal Life Spans from the Mayfly to the Immortal Jellyfish by Lily Murray
Wiggling Worms at Work by Wendy Pfeffer
This is a Book to Read with a Worm by Jodi Wheeler-Toppen
Earthworms by Lisa J. Amstutz
Thank You, Earthworms by Emma Huddleston
Le's Look at Earthworms by Suzanne Paul Dell'Oro

STEAM Coop

Arthur’s class finished out their 2-week dive into drawing with another great lesson on shading and shapes. He was so excited to take home the sketchbook and writing tools. Quentin’s class was taught by me and we focused on leaves and art. I had the kids make a chalk pastels silhouette of a leaf. We then scoured the park for treasures and made our own leaf men a la Lois Ehlert’s classic book. I’m very excited to not teach for the next weeks as we transition to our winter building and I prep for my board game unit starting in November.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

And I continued not fitting in these subjects. I just could’t seem to get it to fit in our schedueles. I suspect this will be an issue until November, but hoping we can slide it in at least half of the weeks.

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

Field Trip

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent at Vala’s enjoying the pumpkin patch. It was Quentin’s birthday on Tuesday and he picked the patch. For his birthday dinner, he chose the Chinese buffet. Very yummy all around!

High

Thursday night, Arthur attended his first homeschool dance. A member of our HS community started organizing three yearly dances last school year. Thankfully she has continued it. The kids (6-18) get to have a safe space to hang out and dance the night away. As Arthur is 9, I got to drop him off for his two hour dance period. I popped down the street to the cider house to read and enjoy a spiced apple cider before having to pick him up. He loved it! And he even won one of the raffles collecting a 2 liter bottle of root beer. He was in heaven!

Low

Friday morning we were supposed to do our usual nature hike. I drove all the way before realizing that I had forgotten my wallet home. We had to turn around and drive all the way home. No nature hike for us. Pretty disappointing and threw off our whole day.