Homeschool W15-16: That's a Wrap on the Fall Semest

What We Studied

We wrapped up our fall semester in a great place. We managed to cover a ton of material while engaging in so many activities and fun outings. We are so ready for a bit of a break before diving back in in January.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We finished our next read aloud and moved on. It’s another featured book from Hearth & Story G5. We are really enjoying that program. From there, we started our next read aloud from our own shelves. I had picked up a literature unit about the book to guide our reading. We’ll be taking the book to Indiana to finish. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. We finished our next selection. I really love everything Katherine Applegate has put out and Wishtree is no exception. It’s a quiet story, but one with lots of thinking points and emotion. From there, we picked up another Tim Collins book to read in tandem with our dinosaur unit. We finished that one and then will be diving into a classic.

Poetry: Dinosaur Dinner (with a Slice of Alligator Pie) by Dennis Lee
Poetry: Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian
Wishtree by Katherine Applegate
The Long-Lost Secret Diary of the World’s Worst Dinosaur Hunter by Tim Collins
The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. Arthur finished the first book of the course. We spent some time doing a bit of math review and catching up before starting the next book in January..

Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. I’m not going to start on Singapore 3B until January, so we are focusing on review and mastery until then.

Primarily Logic

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We wrapped up Volume 1. We’ll be starting Volume 2 in January.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 as his main history curriculum. This week we covered a chapter about the Hundred Years’ War.

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Kingfisher Atlas of the Medieval World
DK Explorers
Joan of Arc by Demi

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall and spring semester courses, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. Arthur covered a few body systems at co-op. At home, we read a bit chapter in our Story of Science about...

RSO Biology 1
Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

RSO Earth and Environment
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
DK Dinosaur
DK Where on Earth? Dinosaurs
DK Eyewitness Dinosaur
The Story of Life: Evolution by Katie Scott
Life: The First Four Billions Years by Martin Jenkins
Stones and Bones: Fossils and the Stories They Tell by Rob Wilshaw
When the Whales Walked by Dougal Dixon
Everything Awesome About Dinosaurs an Other Prehistoric Beasts! by Mike Lowery
Dinosaurs: Fact and Fable by Seymour Simon
Prehistoric by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
Nat Geo Kids Dinosaur Atlas
Dinosaurium by Chris Wormell and Lily Murray
The Colorful World of Dinosaurs by Matt Sewell
Barnum's Bones: How Barnum Brown Discovered the Most Famous Dinosaur in the World by Tracey Fern
When Sue Found Sue: Sue Hendrickson Discovers Her T. rex by Toni Buzzeo
Mary Anning and the Sea Dragon by Jeannine Atkins
The Fossil Whisperer: How Wendy Sloboda Discovered a Dinosaur by Helaine Becker
A Dinosaur Named Ruth: How Ruth Mason Discovered Fossils in Her Own Backyard by Julia Lyon
Dragon Bones: The Fantastic Fossil Discoveries of Mary Anning by Sarah Glenn Marsh
Prehistoric: Dinosaurs, Megalodons, and Other Fascinating Creatures of the Deep Past by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

Academic Co-op

We finished the fall semester. For math, the student finished the semester with a personal budget project. It was difficult, but the kids made it through. For biology, they finished their anatomy and physiology section. Next semester, they will be covering evolution and ecology. For civics, the kids presented their active citizenship biographies and posters. We also did a big review of the entire class.

Art and Music

Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. And I will incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies. We covered a Harbor + Sprout module about visual styles.

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. We finished the next section of the book covering Deep Soul. We listened to Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Marvin Gaye, and The Staple Sisters.

Music Lab: We Rock!
DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

We attended our first Homeschool in the Hills session at Hitchcock Hills. The subject was art and nature. It was absolutely freezing on that day, but we powered through. The actual outside section was only about 15 minutes. I thought the program was interesting. Q was not on board. Arthur enjoyed himself. We’re scheduled for their January and March sessions also.

High

We got to see the reindeer at Mulhall’s after a car repair estimate. Seeing actual live reindeers are one of the highlights of the season for me.

Low

The drive to Indiana was not fun. The wind gusts and crazy drivers made it much more stressful.

Next Week - Taking a few weeks off for the holidays.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W14: A play, board games, and lots of schoolwork!

What We Studied

Back to our normally schedule program. We managed to fit in a decent amount of school work along with a few activities with friends. Trying to make the most of the weeks leading up to our Christmas break.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We started another read aloud this week. Only got through part 1, but we’re moving along. It’s another featured book from Hearth & Story G5. We are really enjoying that program. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments. We also finished our main poetry collection.

Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. We started our next selection. I really love everything Katherine Applegate has put out and Wishtree is no exception. It’s a quiet story, but one with lots of thinking points and emotion.

Poetry: Dinosaur Dinner (with a Slice of Alligator Pie) by Dennis Lee
Wishtree by Katherine Applegate

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. Arthur started the chapter on Algebraic Expression. It’s easing us in, in a very systematic way. Loving this curriculum right now.

Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. We finished our Financial Literacy G2 book. I’m not going to start on Singapore 3B until January, so we are focusing on review and mastery until then.

Primarily Logic
EM Financial Literacy G2

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We wrapped up Volume 1 with a section about the Seven Years War. A bit of a review from U.S. History, but we also learned about the Carnatic Wars in India.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Struggle for a Continent: The French and Indian Wars by Betsy Maestro
Now & Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin by Gene Barretta
Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos by Robert Lawson
The Salem Witch Trials: An Interactive History Adventure by Matt Doeden
The Salem Witch Trials: An Unsolved Mystery from History by Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Stample
The Salem Witch Trials (Graphic History) by Michael J. Martin

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 as his main history curriculum. This week we covered a chapter about the Black Death.

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Kingfisher Atlas of the Medieval World
DK Explorers

Science

RSO Biology 1
Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

RSO Earth and Environment
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
DK Dinosaur
DK When on Earth? Dinosaurs
DK Eyewitness Dinosaur
The Story of Life: Evolution by Katie Scott
Life: The First Four Billions Years by Martin Jenkins
Stones and Bones: Fossils and the Stories They Tell by Rob Wilshaw
When the Whales Walked by Dougal Dixon
Everything Awesome About Dinosaurs an Other Prehistoric Beasts! by Mike Lowery
Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian x4
How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum by Jessie Hartland
Dinosaurs by the Numbers by Steve Jenkins
Dinosaur Feathers by Dennis Nolan
Fossil by Fossil: Comparing Dinosaur Bones by Sara Levine
Dinosaurs: Fact and Fable by Seymour Simon
I am NOT a Dinosaur by Will Lach
Bone Wars: The True Story of an Epic Battle to Find Dinosaur Fossils by Jane Kurtz
Prehistoric by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
Nat Geo Kids Dinosaur Atlas
Dinosaurium by Chris Wormell and Lily Murray
The Colorful World of Dinosaurs by Matt Sewell

Academic Co-op

For math, Arthur and the few students there on Thursday took a trip around the world to celebrate the holiday season. They worked together to make purchase decisions for each leg of the trip while staying in budget. For biology, they covered two more body systems. I had to emergency teach civics due to illness and we learned about social movements and collective action. The kids were given an assignment to do a bio and protest sign based on a living activist. Arthur got Greta Thunberg. Only one more week for the fall semester!

Art and Music

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. We moved into the next section of the book covering Deep Soul. We listened to Ray Charles and Solomon Burke.

Music Lab: We Rock!
DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

We got to see A Christmas Story musical at The Rose Theatre on Friday. Love that we can access the student tickets price to see some great live theater. It was a big performance almost 2 1/2 hours long with an intermission, but we loved it.

High

Because I had an errand to get done, a friend took the boys to board game club at Coffee Alley. I met them there after my errand. They got some great socialization time with friends, and so did I. Plus they make good coffee. Loved it!

Low

Nothing really. It was a good week!

Next Week

Completing our read alouds
Reviewing math for Q
Finishing 1A Math book for A
Covering the Hundred Years’ War (Q)
Learning about the Jurassic and Cretaceous Eras (Q)
Wrapping up the fall semester of academic co-op
Seeing Act II of The Nutcracker ballet at the Orpheum (another student ticket show!)

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W13: Lots of Schoolwork and Sickness

What We Studied

A flex week and a regular week all rolled into one post. I took to heart my November goal of Take It Easy. We have continued our activities, but I lessened the frequency of a few to slow everything down. It has definitely helped in the wake of world events this past few weeks. And an extra bonus: when the boys got sick during last week, we didn’t have too much that we had to cancel. We ended up getting ahead in our schoolwork allowing us to take off the entirety of Thanksgiving week.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We finished our current read aloud and moved onto the next one. This book is actually our coop book club selection for November. We needed to finish it by the first week of December, so I switched around our books to accommodate. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg
The Goblin’s Puzzle by Andrew Chilton
A Rover’s Story by Jasmine Warga

Poetry: The Alligator's Smile and Other Poems by Jane Yolen
Poetry: Dinosaur Dinner (with a Slice of Alligator Pie) by Dennis Lee
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Zoey and Sassafras: Gnomes and Sneeze by Asia Citro (Q independent read)
Write Shop B
Eggasaurus by Jennifer Wagh
If Dinosaurs Had Hair by Dan Marvin
The Long Lost Secret Diary of the World's Worst Dinosaur Hunter by Tim Collins (Q independent read)

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. Arthur finished a chapter on percents. We only have one more chapter of 1A left.

Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. He started with the lessons in 2B. He finished the entirety of 2B last week. We switched over to our Financial Literacy G2 book. We should finish that book the week after Thanksgiving.

Primarily Logic
Singapore Primary Common Core 2B
EM Financial Literacy G2

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. Arthur learned about Britain and Ireland focusing on the Glorious Revolution and the Act of Union. We also covered a Culture Corner about John Locke which dovetailed nicely into our co-op civics study. Because we suddenly had more home time because of sickness, we moved onto the next few sections of history. We covered a section about the Ottoman Empire and Russia (focusing on Peter the Great), a section about West Africa and slavery, and a section about the Caribbean including pirates.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
A Pot O’ Gold: A Treasury of Irish Stories, Poetry, Folklore, and (of Course) Blarney by Kathleen Krull
Lives of the Scientists: Experiments, Explosions (and What the Neighbors Thought) by Kathleen Krull
The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Marianna Mayer
Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock, by Eric A. Kimmel
Anansi and the Talking Melon, by Eric A. Kimmel
Anansi and the Magic Stick, by Eric A. Kimmel
Anansi Goes Fishing, by Eric A. Kimmel
Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti by Gerald McDermott
I Lay My Stitches Down: Poems of American Slavery by Cynthia Grady
If You Lived When There Was Slavery in America, by Anne Kamma
Blackbeard the Pirate King, by J. Patrick Lewis
A Pirate’s Life for She: Swashbuckling Women Through the Ages by Laura Sook Duncombe
Sea Queens: Women Pirates Around the World by Jane Yolen
Lives of Pirates: Swashbucklers, Scoundrels (Neighbors Beware!) by Kathleen Krull
The Whydah: A Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked, and Found by Martin W. Sandler
The Golden Age of Pirates: An Interactive History Adventure (You Choose: History) by Bob Temple
Pirate by Gail Gibbons
How to Live Like a Caribbean Pirate by John Farndon

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 as his main history curriculum. This week we covered a chapter about Great Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Kingfisher Atlas of the Medieval World
DK Explorers
Great African Kingdoms by Sean Sheehan
Ancient West African Kingdoms by Mary Quigley
Great Zimbabwe by Mark Bessire

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall semester course, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. Arthur covered the digestive and excretory systems in co-op. Last week had to miss co-op because of sickness. Instead of learning more biology, we caught back up with our Story of Science chapters. We supplemented with some extra materials at home. We also caught back up in our Story of Science, covering multiple chapters about physics and chemistry. And we watched a documentary about Einstein and Quantum Theory.

RSO Biology 1
Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. We switched gears slightly to tackle Blossom and Root’s Prehistory Unit. we covered the first couple of eras and epochs of Earth’s history and did a big picture overview of Big Time. We ended up getting through all the wonder stories the end of the Paleozoic Era. Thus, we dove back into Eons and covered a lot of videos during our documentary time. We also watched a NOVA episode about volcanoes.

RSO Earth and Environment
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
Older Than the Stars by Karen C. Fox
One Million Oysters on Top of the Mountain by Alex Nogues
Out of the Blue: How Animals Evolved from Prehistoric Seas by Elizabeth Shreeve
Fossil by Bill Thomson
Stones and Bones: Fossils and the Stories They Tell by Rob Wilshaw
Fossils by Cynthia Light Brown & Grace Brown
Fossils by Ann O. Squire
DK My Book of Fossils
Fossil Type Sort
DK Eyewitness: Fossil
Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story by Lisa Westberg Peters
Grandmother Fish: A Child's First Book of Evolution by Jonathan Tweet
Annabelle and Aiden in The Story of Life by J.R. Becke
The Story of Life: Evolution by Katie Scott
Life: The First Four Billions Years by Martin Jenkins
Stones and Bones: Fossils and the Stories They Tell by Rob Wilshaw
When the Whales Walked by Dougal Dixon

Academic Co-op

For math, Arthur covered perimeter and area, creating a entire city. In biology, they covered the digestive and excretory systems. In civics, we finished the election project with presentations and a discussion about candidate evaluations.

Art and Music

Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. And I will incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies. We had our monthly Joslyn Art Museum visit and focused on light and shadow. We covered a Harbor + Sprout module about World Art.

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. We covered Pink Floyd (a house favorite), Black Sabbath, Yes, and Cream. Lots of music these past two weeks.

Music Lab: We Rock!
DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

Not a field trip, but we did get in a nature hike at Platte River. I didn’t want to go, but it really did us good to be out in the fresh air and hang out with friends for a few hours.

High

Q and I have been butting heads a bit over basic language arts and math skills. I decided to try a different tactic and signed him up for IXL. He’s engaging with the lessons as supplementary class time, but it’s been going really well. We’re going to continue through the winter and see where it takes us.

Low

The boys both caught a cold (it’s been going around all our friends) and we had to cancel plans this past week including missing the Homeschool Dance. The boys look forward to the dances and I was looking forward to getting a drink with J while they were at the dance. But alas, we ended up staying home to rest and get better.

Next Week - We got so far ahead on school that I decided we would take the entirety of Thanksgiving week off school.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W12: Slowing Down was Helpful

What We Studied

After the whirlwind that was August, September, and October, we hit November and everything slowed down. So so helpful for us. We grabbed a few minutes to breath before diving back into curriculum. (The fact that the election was this week really solidified the need to slow down and take a breath.) As such, I didn’t take many photos this week. We focused on our pace and tried to incorporate our usual activities.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We started our new read aloud that is an intriguing fantasy. I cannot wait to see where this story goes. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg
The Goblin’s Puzzle by Andrew Chilton

Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. Monday we wrapped up our spooky season reading with a collection of books about an imaginary monster. On Tuesday, we moved onto a classic read.

Poetry: The Alligator's Smile and Other Poems by Jane Yolen
How I Met My Monster by Amanda Noll
Hey, That's My Monster by Amanda Noll
I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Write Shop B

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. Arthur finished a chapter on rates, ready to move onto percents. We also finished the Financial Literacy G5 boo.

Math in Focus Course 1 Book A
EM Financial Literacy G5

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. He started with the lessons in 2B. I imagine that we will be slowing working through that this semester. Q started the last chapter in 2B, a chapter on geometry. We’re slowing working through it and will finish next week.

Primarily Logic
Singapore Primary Common Core 2B
EM Financial Literacy G2

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We covered the section on Natives and Colonists in North America. Most of this chapter was a review for Arthur, but it was good to review and learn about it from a different perspective.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Brave Wolf and the Thunderbird: Tales of the People by Joseph Medicine Crow
The People Shall Continue by Simon J Ortiz
Spanish Missions (A True Book) by John Perritano
Samuel de Champlain by Liz Sonneborn
Explore with Samuel de Champlain by Cynthia O'Brien

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 supporting. We moved onto a chapter covering the ancient Khmer Empire.

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Kingfisher Atlas of the Medieval World
DK Explorers

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall semester course, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. Arthur covered the nervous system during co-op. We supplemented with some extra materials at home. Specifically we covered Blossom and Root’s Bookseed about Gregor Mendel. We finished watching the documentary series One Strange Rock. We all really enjoyed this series.

RSO Biology 1
The Smallest Spot of a Dot: The Little Ways We're Different, The Big Ways We're the Same by Lindsey Davis and Michael Tyler
Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas by Cheryl Bardoe
Remembering Rosalind Franklin by Tanya Lee Stone
The Code of Life: All About Genes, DNA, Genetic Engineering, and Why You are the Way You Are by Carla Hafner
Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. Q covered earthquakes and volcanoes. We are ready to switch gears slightly to tackle Blossom and Root’s Prehistory Unit.

RSO Earth and Environment
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
Earth by Quinn M. Arnold
From a Super Continent to Seven: The Pangaea and the Continental Drift
First Earth Encyclopedia 18-19
Plate Tectonics Lab 3: Forces that Shape Earth - Earthquakes
Fault Lines and Tectonic Plates by Kathleen M. Reilly
Geo Detectives: Volcanoes and Earthquakes by Anita Ganeri
Danger! Earthquakes by Seymour Simon
The Magic School Bus Presents Volcanoes and Earthquakes
Zhang Heng and the Incredible Earthquake Detector by Randel McGee
Nat Geo Kids Volcanoes
Volcanoes by Gail Gibbons
The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top by Joanna Cole
Danger! Volcanoes by Seymour Simon
Muse Magazine: Eruption
When Plant Earth was New by James Gladstone

Academic Co-op

For math, Arthur covered equivalent fractions. They even got to make trail mix for a practical application. In biology, they covered the nervous system. In civics, we covered the election results and the electoral college. And the kids continued their election project.

Art and Music

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. We got back to music covering Jimi Hendrix. He wasn’t their favorite, but it was an interesting exploration.

Music Lab: We Rock!
DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

On Friday, we traveled to Lincoln to visit Morrill Hall for exploration and a presentation. Q’s group (the younger kids) saw a show about the Sun, Earth, and Moon system. Arthur’s group saw a show about how light enters our eyes. So an astronomy focus and a biology focus for the day. In between and opposite of the showings, we explored the museum. It was a very cold and rainy day, but perfect one to be inside a museum.

High

Wednesday was such a tough day in our house. I did force us to get outside and enjoy the sunshine just a bit. And we met up with some friends at the park, so extra perk.

Low

The election results really really brought us down.

Next Week

Continuing our read alouds
Finishing our next math chapters, Q finishing 2B
Potentially Q starting an online language arts supplement
Completing our homework (A) from co-op
Learning about Britain and Ireland (A) and prehistory (Q) for history
Listening to Pink Floyd and more for music
Visiting Joslyn for some art time

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W11: Celebrating the Last Autumn Fun

What We Studied

We celebrated the last fun bits of autumn before the weather turned. Two last visits to Vala’s, a fun Halloween night, and more outdoor activities. We even managed to cover a ton of schoolwork in between the events.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We finished our Edgar Allan Poe collection. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

The Complete Stories of Edgar Allan Poe
Poetry for Young People: Edgar Allan Poe
Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg

Poetry: Spectacular Science
Poetry: The Alligator's Smile and Other Poems by Jane Yolen
The Littlest Witch by Brandi Dougherty
The Littlest Mummy by Brandi Dougherty
Bonaparte Falls Apart by Margery Cuyler
Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds
A World Full of Spooky Stories by Angela McAllister
The Little Old Lady Who was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams
Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
In a Dark, Dark Room retold by Alvin Schwartz
Write Shop B

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. Arthur focused on a chapter continuing his review of ratios. I do love how the chapter tied ratios to real-life situations. It wasn’t just random problems.

Math in Focus Court 1 Book A
EM Financial Literacy G5

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. He started with the lessons in 2B. I imagine that we will be slowing working through that this semester. Q continued sped through the chapter on data, getting close to finishing the entire textbook.

Primarily Logic
Singapore Primary Common Core 2B
EM Financial Literacy G2

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We covered the section on East Africa covering Ethiopia and Mutapa and N’dongo.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Kings and Queens by Fiona Macdonald

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 supporting. We moved onto a chapter covering Japan.

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Kingfisher Atlas of the Medieval World

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall semester course, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. Arthur covered inheritance during co-op. We supplemented with some extra materials at home. We continued watching the documentary series One Strange Rock. We will continue watching sporadically throughout the fall. I’m counting this as science for kids.

RSO Biology 1
Genetics by Chrstine Petersen
DNA and Heredity by Casey Rand
The Secret Code Inside You: All About Your DNA by Rajani LaRocca
The Code of Life: All About Genes, DNA, Genetic Engineering, and Why You are the Way You Are by Carla Hafner
Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

RSO Earth and Environment
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
Earth by Quinn M. Arnold
How Mountains are Made by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
Fault Lines and Tectonic Plates by Kathleen M. Reilly

Academic Co-op

For math, Arthur did a Halloween project. Really math is all a review of him, but it’s good practice. In biology, they covered inheritance. In civics, we covered voting. And the kids started their election project.

Art and Music

Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. And I will incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies. We didn’t have a Harbor + Sprout module this week.

Music Lab: We Rock!
DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

I hosted a rock and fossil exploration day at Schramm. I taught a little lesson about rocks and fossils. The kids then got to uncover gems, sort fossils, and explored at the Geologic Site. I think it was a big success! It is a lot to plan, but thankfully I don’t have another until January.

High

We got two more Vala’s visits in before the month ended. The last one was supposed to be our big campfire night. Unfortunately, the burn ban was still in effect so the campfire had to be canceled. We still met up with a group of homeschool friends and spent many hours having fun. It was tiring, but oh so much fun.

Low

Um… Halloween is over?

Next Week

Slowing down to regroup
Starting our new read alouds
Finishing our next math chapters
Completing our homework (A) from co-op
Learning about North America (A) and Khmer Empire (Q) - history
Listening to Jimi Hendrix, and more for music

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W9-10: Too Busy to Make a Weekly Post!

What We Studied

I had to combine two homeschooling weeks into one post. We were just too busy for me to get around to documenting. Fairly last minute, I actually planned the boys’ joint birthday party and that took up a lot of time. In between tasks and now after, we did get some school done. But this month has really been all about the activities and enjoying the fall season.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We finished Coraline last week. In fact, we are attended a stage production of the story on Friday at our local children’s theater. Love that we can get discounted student tickets as a homeschool group. We then moved onto one of my favorite authors, Edgar Allan Poe. We’re sitting with his stories through this week. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
The Complete Stories of Edgar Allan Poe
Poetry for Young People: Edgar Allan Poe
Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg

Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. We finished our current read aloud and changed gears slightly. Instead of a big novel, we’ve been reading spooky stories and one-off Halloween themed books we have laying around the house.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graeme
Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds
Flat Stanley and the Haunted House
Ten Timid Ghosts by Jennifer O’Connell
Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola
Monster School: First Day Frights by Dave Keane
A World Full of Spooky Stories by Angela McAllister
Poetry: Spectacular Science
Write Shop B

Math

Math in Focus Court 1 Book A
EM Financial Literacy G5

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. He started with the lessons in 2B. I imagine that we will be slowing working through that this semester. Q continued the chapter on Money and moved onto Fractions and Time.

Primarily Logic
Singapore Primary Common Core 2B
EM Financial Literacy G2

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We covered a section on the Rise and Fall of Empires featuring the Thirty Years’ War and the Manchi Empire in China. We also moved onto the Question of Kings featuring the English Civil Wars and France’s Sun King. It was a jam packed two weeks of history.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Kings and Queens by Fiona Macdonald

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 supporting. We moved onto a chapter covering Ancestral Puebloans and Cahokia and one covering the Mongol Empire. Somehow we’re fitting in history every week still. I call that I huge win!

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Kingfisher Atlas of the Medieval World
Genghis Khan by Demi

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall semester course, so we will be just supplementing at home. He covered two weeks of biology focusing on animals cells and DNA. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. We continued watching the documentary series One Strange Rock. We will continue watching sporadically throughout the fall. I’m counting this as science for kids.

RSO Biology 1
Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. We skipped book science these two weeks as we adjusted to our new schedules. We watched an episode of One Strange Rock.

RSO Earth and Environment
DK First Earth Encyclopedia

Academic Co-op

Two more weeks of academic co-op completed! We have really begun to work out the kinks and settle into a routine. For math, Arthur did a road trip project and reviewed grocery store math. Really math is all a review of him, but it’s good practice. In biology, they covered animal cells and structure and moved onto DNA and chromosomes. In civics, we covered the responsibilities of citizens one wee and the rights of citizens the other week. The kids really responded to the rights week with lots of good questions and answers.

Art and Music

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. Music just didn’t happen these two weeks. I’m sure that we’re catch up soon. Time just got away from us.

Music Lab: We Rock!
DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

We had our monthly Joslyn Art Explorers trip. This month, we talked about light and shadow and focused on Baroque art in the European galleries. We then compared the Baroque art to Renaissance art from before and Neo-classical art from after. Arthur decided to take one of his characters and create a tableau featuring elements from other paintings we saw.

Last week, we finally made it to a sketchbook hang. Arthur had been wanting to go, but the timing just wasn’t right for us. We made it work and spent a few hours at the coffee shop with friends drawing and socializing.

And this past Friday we traveled downtown to see a production of Coraline and then went south to the Co-op Halloween party. Such a busy day! So busy in fact that I didn’t take a single picture all day.

High

It was time for our bi-annual Arbor Day Farm excursion. We love exploring all the nature play areas and treehouses, but hate doing it with 90 degrees temperatures. Planning a trip in early spring and late fall is the perfect plan. Ourselves and many many homeschool friends all met up for an entire day of play. It was such a lovely visit.

Low

We haven’t managed to get a ton of book work done these two weeks. I knew we go through cycles, but this one is wearing on me. Thankfully November is looking much slower and less full of activities. I’m going to try and keep it that way.

Next Week

Continuing our read alouds
Finishing our next math chapters
Completing our homework (A) from co-op
Learning about East Africa (A) and Japan (Q) - history
Listening to Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, and more for music
Heading to Vala’s two more times for the season!
Exploring rocks, minerals, and fossils

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W8: Big Changes are Happening!

What We Studied

My title sound really scary, but the big changes I am referring are actually great things. We officially started our new Academic Co-op. (More info later in the post.) Otherwise, we had a very normal week.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We finished a spooky mystery read and then started a spooky read. I really love our current read, so much that I have Funko figurines of both Coraline and the Other Mother in my office. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street by Lindsay Currie
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg

Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. We started a new classic for us. Quentin saw a trailer for the new The Wild Robot movie and wanted to bump up the book to read before seeing the movie. I’m always up for that. We ended up finishing that book and starting a new read.

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graeme
Poetry: Cricket in the Thicket by Carol Murray
Write Shop B

Math

Math in Focus Court 1 Book A
EM Financial Literacy G5

Primarily Logic
Singapore Primary Common Core 2B
EM Financial Literacy G2

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We covered an entire section about art and science of the Baroque and Scientific Revolutions periods. This will work perfectly with our Josly Art Explorers this week. We are going to find the Baroque paintings and discuss the use of light and shadow.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 supporting. We stayed in Western Europe and covered the Magna Carta. It was a shorter chapter, but that worked out perfectly for us. We snuck our history in at the end of the week.

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Kingfisher Atlas of the Medieval World
The Magna Carta: Cornerstone of the Constitution by Roberta Baxter

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our coverage will be spotty until October. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall semester course, so we will be just supplementing at home. This week we started our co-op and Arthur covered the first unit in the biology text during class. He has homework for co-op, but we will be waiting until Monday to tackle that (schedule constraints). We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. We read two chapters in the Story of Science. We continued watching the documentary series One Strange Rock. We will continue watching sporadically throughout the fall. I’m counting this as science for kids.

RSO Biology 1
Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. Q covered rocks and minerals. We actually covered a bit chunk of the unit during academic co-op. We also watched an episode of One Strange Rock.

RSO Earth and Environment
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
If You Find a Rock by Peggy Christian
Let's Go Rock Collecting by Roma Gans
Rocks and Minerals by Steve Tomecek
Nat Geo Rocks and Minerals by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
All About Minerals by Cody Crane
Cave of Crystals by Martha London

Academic Co-op

We had our first week of Academic Co-op on Thursday. We meet from 10am-2pm (most weeks, a few are shifted by an hour) and cover Math, Biology, and Civics. After a few small hiccups, we settled in for the day and powered through the classes. For math, we did a project focusing on place value that I partially taught. For biology, they covered the concept of biology and what makes something alive. For civics, I taught the kids some basic definitions and the structure of our government. The kids also learned how to use their planners and act in a more formalized class setting. Afterwards, four of the seven families walked across the street for Boba. Not going o get it every week, but it was a nice treat.

Art and Music

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. We enjoyed listening to Jefferson Airplane (and Jefferson Starship, Hot Tuna, and Starship) and The Byrds.

Music Lab: We Rock!
DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

No real field trips, but we did visit Vala’s and went on a nature walk at Heron Haven.

High

We started our Academic Co-op! Strangely, I was very very nervous before the start, but we made it through. The kids did amazing! Most of the hiccups came from the adults not being present and ready. The kids only had to be gently reminded to stay on task. I am so proud of them.

Low

We were absolutely knackered after co-op on Thursday. I forgot what it was like to basically teach a full day of classes. Even though I’m only supposed to be teaching civics, I taught half of the math class and worked directly with Quentin during the other times. So tiring…

Next Week

Continuing our read alouds
Finishing our next math chapters
Completing our homework (A) from co-op
Learning about failing empires (A) and Cahokia (Q) - history
Listening to Led Zeppelin
Heading to Vala’s, once with J!
Traveling to Nebraska City for our Arbor Day Farm day (I look forward to this all summer)

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W7: Our Usual Routine for Fall

What We Studied

Today’s post actually includes a Flex Week and a normal week. We’re deep in Vala’s season, so our weeks are a bit shorter and bit busier than usual. Still, We accomplished a ton of school and moved all our skills forward. Overall, I’m really happy with our progress so far this fall.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We started reading one of our “spooky” reads for this fall. We haven’t finished it yet, but getting very close to the end. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street by Lindsay Currie
Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg

Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. We started a new classic for us. Quentin saw a trailer for the new The Wild Robot movie and wanted to bump up the book to read before seeing the movie. I’m always up for that.

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
Poetry: Firefly July
Poetry: Cricket in the Thicket by Carol Murray
Write Shop B

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. Arthur focused on a chapter reviewing multiplying and dividing decimals and fractions.

Math in Focus Court 1 Book A
EM Financial Literacy G5

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. He started with the lessons in 2B. I imagine that we will be slowing working through that this semester. Q continued covering the chapter about Multiplication and Division. We then moved on to the chapter on Money.

Primarily Logic
Singapore Primary Common Core 2B
EM Financial Literacy G1

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We covered an entire section about the kingdoms of West Africa.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 supporting. We stayed in Western Europe and covered the British Isles. Our big story was the Norman invasion of 1066. We also covered the chapter about the Crusades. It wasn’t super detailed, but covered the basics. We also watched a documentary, NOVA’s Building the Great Cathedrals.

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Kingfisher Atlas of the Medieval World
DK Eyewitness: Knight
DK Castles and Knights
The Hawk of the Castle: A Story of Medieval Falconry by Danna Smith
Castle by David Macaulay
A Year in the Castle by Rachel Coombs
Ms Frizzle's Adventures: Medieval Castle by Joanna Cole
Knights by Sally Lee
Craco: The Medieval Ghost Town by Lisa Owings
Find the Knights by David Long

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our coverage will be spotty until October. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall semester course, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. We did do a bit of introduction to biology to prep for this week’s Academic Co-op. We read three chapters in the Story of Science, learning about Einstein and his miracle year. We continued watching the documentary series One Strange Rock. We will continue watching sporadically throughout the fall. I’m counting this as science for kids.

RSO Biology 1
Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. Q covered the geosphere and layers of the earth. We also watched a few episodes of One Strange Rock.

RSO Earth and Environment
Earth by the Numbers by Steve Jenkins
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
Planet Earth Inside Out by Gail Gibbons
The Magic School Buss Inside the Earth by Joanna Cole

Enrichment STEAM Co-op

We finished out the 2024 year for the STEAM co-op. I taught Arthur’s class two weeks about cryptography. Quentin’s class learned about watercolor and symmetry. The STEAM Co-op will be on break until early April 2025. This week we will be jumping right into the Academic Co-op for Arthur.

Art and Music

Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. And I will incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies. We continued our Harbor + Sprout Visual Arts modules with one about color theory and one about aspects of art techniques.

Music Lab: We Rock!
DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

No real field trips, but we did visit Vala’s twice and the zoo once. Our Vala’s visits are always a highlight of the fall. We hit all of our favorite attractions. At the zoo, we met some new friends. We went to the aquarium for the first time since spring. We are moving into our fall/winter plan of more buildings.

High

We wrapped up the 2024 mini summer session of the Enrichment STEAM Co-op. This was our fourth “year” and things have gotten easier as the sessions fly by. We will be taking a break over the winter (for academic co-op), but will start our 2025 session in April. Hopefully we will still see all our friends at events throughout the winter.

Low

We had a bit of a shake-up with Academic Co-op that required a member and myself to redo the entire plan for math. We managed to work up a plan fairly quickly, but teaching two classes was not on my plan this fall.

Next Week

Continuing our math lessons
Finishing our read alouds and started new ones
Learning about Art and Science in Europe (A) and the Magna Carta (Q)
Listening to Jefferson Airplane and The Byrds
Exploring rocks and minerals for science (Q)
Heading to Vala’s again
Starting the Academic Co-op!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W6: A Pretty Normal Week

What We Studied

This week is our current normal: a few activities, some days of schoolwork. We got to visit Vala’s for the first time this season and it was amazing. The boys even got to bring two of their friends. A weekly visit to Vala’s will be our new normal through October.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We finished reading our current read aloud about space. Overall, we really enjoyed this journey story featuring a normal American teenager. It definitely sparked some interesting discussions. We continued with our spelling and completed our week 4 list. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

Mars One by Jonathan Maberry
Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg

Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. We finished a space-themed read aloud to align with Arthur’s selection. We moved onto Arthurian stories and Beowulf to align with our history.

Lucy and the Rocket Dog by Will Buckingham
Excalibur by Hudson Talbott
King Arthur and the Round Table by Hudson Talbott
The Hero Beowulf by Eric A. Kimmel
Poetry: Firefly July
Write Shop B

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. We dove back into our textbook to cover most of the chapter about Multiplying and Dividing Fractions and Decimals.

Math in Focus Court 1 Book A
EM Financial Literacy G5

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. He started with the lessons in 2B. I imagine that we will be slowing working through that this semester. We finished our Financial Literacy book and dove back into our main textbook. Q started covering the chapter about Multiplication and Division.

Primarily Logic
Singapore Primary Common Core 2B
EM Financial Literacy G1

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We covered an entire section about the Dutch trading empire and England’s first colonies in North America. For our culture corner, we learned about Johannes Vermeer and his art.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Johannes Vermeer by Alix Wood
The Vermeer Interviews by Bob Raczka
Corpse Talk by Adam & Lisa Murphy (chapter about Guy Fawkes)

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 supporting. We continued history with a chapter about the Norse. We explored some books and videos about the Vikings and their influences on history. We also watched a NOVA documentary about a lost Viking army.

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Kingfisher Atlas of the Medieval World
What Did the Vikings Do for Me? by Elizabeth Raum
DK Eyewitness: Viking
Myths, Legends, & Sacred Stories

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our coverage will be spotty until October. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall semester course, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. We read a chapter in the Story of Science, learning about Max Planck and the discovery of quanta. We continued watching the documentary series One Strange Rock. We will continue watching sporadically throughout the fall. I’m counting this as science for kids.

RSO Biology 1
Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. We didn’t have a formal lesson, but did watch an episode of One Strange Rock. We also covered the Blossom and Root Book Seed Young Water Protectors. We learned about why water is so important and how some people are helping to protect access to water.

RSO Earth and Environment
Earth by the Numbers by Steve Jenkins
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
Young Water Protectors: A Story About Standing Rock by Aslan Tudor

Enrichment STEAM Co-op

We started our last mini session for coop focusing on art and mathematics. Quentin’s class learned about shapes and art. I taught Arthur’s class all about probability.

Art and Music

Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. And I will incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies. We had our fist visit to the Joslyn Museum. Along with a few friends, we explored part of the modern art wing and a few historical art galleries to focus on space and perspective. The boys lasted about two hours before being done. I’m excited by the possibilities for future visits. We are going to love going monthly.

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. This week was all about The Rolling Stones. I fully admit that they are not my favorite, but I do enjoy their early work.

Music Lab: We Rock!
DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

We skipped the field trips that were planned in the social co-op for more school time at home. We did end up visiting the Joslyn on Wednesday, so I’m counting it.

High

Tuesday was our first visit to Vala’s for 2024. The boys got to invite two friends and we ended up spending 5 1/2 hours exploring. The boys rode the new roller coaster and found the newly refurbished attractions. We each grabbed a slice of pie as our treat. I tried the strawberry rhubarb (the special this week) and it was great. The boys got salted caramel apple.

Low

By Friday, I was slightly burned out. We decided to skip the apple orchard excursion to relax at home. We ended up covering more schoolwork and watching some documentaries. I think it was a good call.

Next Week

Starting a new spooky read aloud (A)
Starting a new read aloud featuring a lovable robot Q)
Learning about the British Isles (Q)
Taking a dive into the makeup of the Earth (Q)
Listening to The Supremes and James Brown
Heading to Vala’s again and out for a nature walk

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W5: Meh. I Guess It was a Normal Week.

What We Studied

Oddly this past week just feels very meh for me. We covered a decent amount of schoolwork and had a few activities. But we also had a big car appointment and had to change our Tuesday plans after an unexpected hours change. I ended the week with a big feeling of meh. I think the boys are very much with me on that feeling.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We continued reading our current read aloud about space. We continued with our spelling and completed our week 4 list. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

Mars One by Jonathan Maberry
Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg

Lucy and the Rocket Dog by Will Buckingham
Poetry: Firefly July
Write Shop B

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. We paused our lessons from the textbook in favor of Evan Moor’s Financial Literacy G5 book and random math packets.

Math in Focus Court 1 Book A
EM Financial Literacy G5

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. He started with the lessons in 2B. I imagine that we will be slowing working through that this semester. He also started his next logic book and did some math packets for practice and review. This week was really about math practice and financial literacy.

Primarily Logic
Singapore Primary Common Core 2B
EM Financial Literacy G1

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We covered an entire section learning about Korea and Japan.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 supporting. We continued history with a chapter about the Tang and Song Dynasties of China.

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Kingfisher Atlas of the Medieval World
The Explosive Story of Fireworks by Kama Einhorn
Fireworks and Gunpowder by Phil Amara and Oliver Chin
Liang and the Magic Paintbrush by Demi
Hildegard of Bingen: Scientist, Composer, Healer and Saint by Demi
We're Riding on a Caravan by Laurie Krebs

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our coverage will be spotty until October. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall semester course, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. We did read two chapters in the Story of Science, learning about Marie Curie and her discoveries. We continued watching the documentary series One Strange Rock. We will continue watching sporadically throughout the fall. I’m counting this as science for kids.

RSO Biology 1
Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. We didn’t manage to fit science in this past week. At least we watched one episode of our science documentary.

RSO Earth and Environment
Earth by the Numbers by Steve Jenkins
DK First Earth Encyclopedia

Enrichment STEAM Co-op

We started our last mini session for coop focusing on art and mathematics. I taught Quentin’s class about tangrams and geometry. Arthur’s class explored origami.

Art and Music

Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. (The Joslyn Art Museum is reopening in September after being closed for two years!) And I will incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies. We did cover the second module in our visual arts curriculum. We covered a quick history of art styles and choose a few favorites.

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. This week was all about The Beatles. Always a favorite in our house. We focused a lot on how The Beatles influenced so many other artists. We also did some comparison of original Beatles songs and covers.

Music Lab: We Rock!
DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

Our planned visit to the Luminarium was scrapped as they unexpectedly changed their hours. Unfortunately we couldn’t fit back into the schedule this week. We will have to wait until our October scheduled visit to go.

High

On Monday, we had our annual school photo session. A former homeschool parent has a side business doing photography and has offered her services every year. She takes great pictures and they are a highlight of the fall season. I can’t wait to see the pics soon.

Low

I absolutely hate taking the car into the dealership for oil changes and work. We had to get that oil change, fluids, tire rotation, and transmission flush. I packed a ton of school stuff to settle into the long haul. It wasn’t fun hanging out in their waiting room. But thankfully the dealership finished quickly.

Next Week

Continuing our read aloud (A)
Finishing our read aloud and Starting a new one (Q)
Learning about the Dutch and the English (A) and the Vikings (Q)
Listening to The Rolling Stones
Heading to Vala’s for our first visit of the season

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W4: Catching Up a Bit

What We Studied

This was our off week for co-op and we took advantage catching up on bookwork. We also ended up having a very light activity work. It was actually pretty nice to slow down a bit and stay home.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We continued reading our current read aloud about space. We continued with our spelling and completed our week 3 list. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

Mars One by Jonathan Maberry
Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg

The Long-Lost Secret Diary of the World’s Worst Knight by Tim Collins
Poetry: Mites to Mastodons by Maxine Kumin
Write Shop B

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. We covered another chapter and did some practice. We will also be working through Evan Moor’s Financial Literacy G5 book and random math packets.

Math in Focus Court 1 Book A
EM Financial Literacy G5

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. He started with the lessons in 2B. I imagine that we will be slowing working through that this semester. He also started his next logic book and did some math packets for practice and review. This week was really about math practice and financial literacy.

Primarily Logic
Singapore Primary Common Core 2B
EM Financial Literacy G1

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We managed to cover two more sections (four chapters) in our history book. We talked about Russia, Poland, the Persian Empire, and the Mughal Empire.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Taj Mahal: A Story of Love and Empire by Elizabeth Mann
Whole Wide World: Taj Mahal by Kristine Spanier
Amazing Landmarks by Rekha S. Rajan

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 supporting. We continued history with a chapter about the Charlemagne and the Medieval period in Western Europe.

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
If You were a Kid in a Medieval Castle by Josh Gregory
A Medieval Feast by Aliki
Kingfisher Atlas of the Medieval World

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our coverage will be spotty until October. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall semester course, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. We did read another chapter in the Story of Science, learning about JJ Thomsen and the discovery of electrons. We also started watching the documentary series One Strange Rock. We will continue watching sporadically throughout the fall. I’m counting this as science for kids.

RSO Biology 1
Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

RSO Earth and Environment
Earth by the Numbers by Steve Jenkins
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
Sometimes I Feel Like a River by Danielle Daniel and Josee Bisaillon
Water Dance by Thomas Locker
Water by Seymour Simon
Water: A Deep Dive of Discovery by Christy Mihaly
What on Earth? Water by Isabel Thomas and Pau Morgan
The Magic School Bus: At the Waterworks by JOanna Cole
It's Raining by Gail Gibbons

Enrichment STEAM Co-op

This was our off week for co-op due to Labor Day. We are going into our four last weeks of enrichment co-op.

Art and Music

Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. (The Joslyn Art Museum is reopening in September after being closed for two years!) And I will incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies. We did cover the first module in our visual arts curriculum. We covered the variety of art mediums and chatted about some of our favorites.

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. This week was all about The Shirelles and Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. I had a lot of fun listening to the origins of doo-wop and the girl and boy vocal groups.

Music Lab: We Rock!
DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

No real field trip this week, but we did go to the zoo on Tuesday. We’re aiming for a monthly zoo visit. This time, we focused on the jungle building (a new baby pygmy hippo!), elephants and giraffes, Asian Highlands, and the gorillas and oranguatns. It was a nice morning of observing animals.

High

It was nice to take this week a bit slower than normal. Sometimes I just really want to get cozy at home.

Low

By the end of the week, I think that the boys were really missing their activities and friends. Thankfully next week is back to our normal.

Next Week

Continuing our read aloud (A)
Finishing our read aloud (Q)
Learning about Japan (A) and China (Q)
Listening to The Beatles!
Getting school pictures taken!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W3: Another Week of Activities, But We Caught Up Mostly

What We Studied

We had another week that was full of activities. In fact, we ended up taking a break on Friday due my health issues. Even with all the activities, we managed to mostly catch up on our work.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We finished our first read aloud and even started on the second read aloud for the year. We caught up with our spelling and completed our week 2 list. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

Over the Moon by Natalie Lloyd
Mars One by Jonathan Maberry
Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg

The Long-Lost Secret Diary of the World’s Worst Knight by Tim Collins
Poetry: Mites to Mastodons by Maxine Kumin
Write Shop B

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. We covered the another lesson and did some practice. We will also be working through Evan Moor’s Financial Literacy G5 book and random math packets.

Math in Focus Court 1 Book A
EM Financial Literacy G5

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. He started with the lessons in 2B. I imagine that we will be slowing working through that this semester. He also started his next logic book and did some math packets for practice and review.

Primarily Logic
Singapore Primary Common Core 2B

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We got back on track with our history with the next section about Spain. We also learned about Miguel de Cervantes.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 supporting. We got back into history with a chapter about the Byzantine Empire.

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our coverage will be spotty until October. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall semester course, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. We did read another chapter in the Story of Science. Right now, the book is setting the stage for Einstein’s Miracle Year.

RSO Biology 1
Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. We covered the first lesson and pivoted to B&R’s Book Seed: Over and the Under the Pond. I rearranged some of the RSO units to make sense for our weather. We are starting with water. We ended up skipping science this week to accommodate activities.

RSO Earth and Environment
Earth by the Numbers by Steve Jenkins
DK First Earth Encyclopedia

Enrichment STEAM Co-op

Enrichment co-op has shifted from warm months only (April to October). We are in the middle of our transitionary “Summer Session.” This week both Arthur and Quentin’s class covered engineering. Q’s class focused on making a machine to save a toy and A’s class made balloon rockets.

Art and Music

Music Lab: We Rock!
DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

We had an excursion day downtown at the Lewis and Clark Landing and the Luminarium. It was a very warm day which made everyone a bit cranky. We did have some fun at the playground. Our time in the museum was cut a bit short due to attitudes. We plan on going to the Luminarium once a month until our membership expires in February.

High

On Friday night, J took off work early to join us at the Luminarium for their last late Friday for the summer. It was the first time that he was able to join us. We had fun even with my health issues this week.

Low

The boys had Pokemon club on Wednesday that was seemingly a waste of time. They don’t really play Pokemon like we had envisioned. Add in the fact that I drove basically an hour and a half to the locale, and I’m just about done with this. I think we need to reevaluate.

Next Week

Continuing our read aloud (A)
Finished our read aloud (Q)
Learning about Eastern Europe (A) and Western Europe (Q) - pretty funny that I’m covering both sides of Europe next week
Listening to The Shirelles and Frankie Lymon
Exploring the zoo

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W2: Activities Took Over!

What We Studied

All my big talk of balance the first week went out the window last week. Except for Monday, we had activities that took up most of our time. They were worthwhile activities, but it meant that we only did schoolwork two days in the week.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. Our read aloud has continue along with poetry and grammar. Our spelling list 2 will be stretched to two weeks to accommodate.

Over the Moon by Natalie Lloyd
Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg

Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. It took us all week, but we finished our very short read aloud. Q also read two chapter books independently in that time. I think he’s finally caught the reading bug.

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman
Song of the Water Boatman by Joyce Kidman (poetry)
Write Shop B

Math

Math in Focus Court 1 Book A
EM Financial Literacy G5

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. He started with the lessons in 2B. I imagine that we will be slowing working through that this semester. He also started his next logic book and did some math packets for practice and review.

Primarily Logic
Singapore Primary Common Core 2B

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We skipped history this week due to time constraints.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 supporting. We skipped history this week due to time constraints.

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our coverage will be spotty until October. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall semester course, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. We did read three more chapters in the Story of Science. Right now, the book is setting the stage for Einstein’s Miracle Year.

RSO Biology 1
Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. We covered the first lesson and pivoted to B&R’s Book Seed: Over and the Under the Pond. I rearranged some of the RSO units to make sense for our weather. We are staring with water. To learn more, we covered some readings and videos about ponds before spending most of Friday doing an exploration and experiments day with friends.

RSO Earth and Environment
Earth by the Numbers by Steve Jenkins
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
Beyond the Pond by Joseph Kuefler
On Duck Pond by Jane Yolen
Tadpoles by Matt James
Pond Circle by Betsy Franco
Over and Under the Pond by Kate Messner
Life in a Pond by Craig Hammersmith
Life in a Pond by Allan Fowler
Look Inside a Pond by Louise Spilsbury

Enrichment STEAM Co-op

Enrichment co-op has shifted from warm months only (April to October). We are in the middle of our transitionary “Summer Session.” This week both Arthur and Quentin’s class covered engineering. Q’s class focused on simple machines while Arthur’s class made balloon powered cars.

Art and Music

Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. (The Joslyn Art Museum is reopening in September after being closed for two years!) And I will incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies. We did some art-related activities while at the pond on Friday. Arthur made an amazing clay rendition of the pond. I snapped a picture before he destroyed it.

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. This week was all about Chuck Berry and Fats Domino. I’m a Chuck Berry fan; the boys preferred Fats Domino.

Music Lab: We Rock!
DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

Not a guided field trip, but we did have a lovely day at the zoo on Tuesday. It rained, but lightly, which meant that many of the animals were very active!

On Friday, I hosted a pond exploration day at Platte River State Park. They have a set of cascading shallow ponds called Crawdad Creek that you can actually wade into and explore. We caught (and released) some critters, learned about ponds, tested the water, and engaged in some free art. Afterward, we had to have a picnic and playtime at the playground. It has ziplines!

High

Wednesday we spent all day at the park with the No (we’re not supposed to be in) School Picnic with many of our homeschool friends. It was a nice way for some new families to join and make some connections. The boys’ favorite part was the axe throwing.

Low

Not getting to a ton of schoolwork? Nah, that’s not. a low, just a reality.

Next Week

Finishing his read aloud and starting a new one (A)
Starting a new read aloud (Q)
Learning about the Spanish Empire (A) and Byzantine Empire (Q)
Listening to Johnny Cash
Exploring the local science museum and another state park
Covering engineering for co-op, last week for this cycle

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W1: Year 5 has begun!

What We Studied

We hit the ground running on Monday with a full week of curriculum and activities. My focus word for the year is balance. Last year, I felt like we let activities take over our life at many points throughout the year and then never really recovered. I felt very rushed and behind. I don’t want to feel that way. One thing that I pinpointed was the fact that we didn’t have a dedicated home day. Every week was different in terms of flow. This year I am reserving Mondays for home. If something amazing comes up, we will jump on it. But otherwise, we will stay home and be chill on Mondays. I like to get that big jump on our curriculum after our weekend breaks. This should help.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We started all the components on Monday and we’re really enjoying it so far. We read about half of our literature selection, analyzed a poem, learned a spelling list, covered some grammar, and wrote a sample essay. We made a ton of progress in just one week!

Over the Moon by Natalie Lloyd
Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg

Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. He bean his B&R study with a unit about American tall tales. Arthur really enjoyed starting the year with those tales and I think Quentin agrees. We learned about tall tales, imagery, exaggeration, and descriptive language.

Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss (Q reads)
Song of the Water Boatman by Joyce Kidman (poetry)
American Tall Tales by Mary Pope Osborne
Thunder Rose by Jerdine Nolen
Write Shop B

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. We covered the first lesson and did some practice. We will also be working through Evan Moor’s Financial Literacy G5 book and random math packets.

Math in Focus Court 1 Book A
EM Financial Literacy G5

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. He started with the lessons in 2B. I imagine that we will be slowing working through that this semester. He also stated his next logic book and did some math packets for practice and review.

Primarily Logic
Singapore Primary Common Core 2B

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We started the year with the first section all about Elizabethan England. I’m very excited that his history has a ton of extras and projects associated with it. For the culture corner, he learned about Hans Holbein and anamorphosis. He even tried his hand at the technique with a drawing.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Lives of Extraordinary Women by Kathleen Krull
Frenemy in the Family by Kathleen Krull
The Tudors: Kings, Queens, Scribes, and Ferrets by Marcia Williams
100 Facts You Should Know: Kings and Queens
Mary Tudor: Bloody Mary by Gretchen Maurer
You Wouldn’t Want to Sail in the Spanish Armada by John Malam
You Wouldn’t Want to be Mary, Queen of Scots by Fiona Macdonald
Corpse Talk: Groundbreaking Rebels by Adam & Lisa Murphy
What was Queen Elizabeth I?

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 supporting. We started with the first chapter about Islamic Innovations.

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
About Time: A First Look at Time and Clocks by Bruce Koschielniak
Mosque by David Macaulay

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. We did cover the first lesson this week, but our coverage will be spotty until October. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall semester course, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. We did started Volume 3 of The Story of Science and will be working through that this year.

RSO Biology 1
Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim
Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes by Nicola Davies
The Universe in You: A Microscopic Journey by Jason Chin
The Three Little Tardigrades by Sandra Fay

None

Enrichment STEAM Co-op

Enrichment co-op has shifted from warm months only (April to October). We are in the middle of our transitionary “Summer Session.” This week both Arthur and Quentin’s class covered engineering by talking about gravity and building egg drop units. It was nice to get back to co-op after two weeks away while traveling.

Art and Music

Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. (The Joslyn Art Museum is reopening in September after being closed for two years!) And I incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies.

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. For the first week, we covered Elvis Presley. The boys likes the rhythm and beat of the music, but not so much Elvis as a singer.

Music Lab: We Rock!
DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts
Elvis: The Story of the Rock and Roll King by Bonnie Christensen
Elvis is King by Jonah Winter

Field Trip/Activities

On Monday, Arthur had a dentist appointment to take care of a baby tooth that wouldn’t come out. Not fun, but necessary appointment.

Wednesday we were supposed to have a splash pad birthday party for a friend, but weather cancelled it. We did get to have Pokemon club that afternoon.

Thursday after co-op will always be errands and/or extra activities. This week we used out Get Out pass with friends to visit Papio Fun Park. Quentin is finally tall enough to drive the go-karts by himself. The boys enjoyed go-karts and laser tag while there. We stayed for almost five hours!

Friday morning we had our biweekly nature walk. This time one other friend joined us at Fontennelle Forest for a “board hike” as our friend called it. A hike on the boardwalk. We also ran into two other families that we knew. They were there for a blood drive.

High

Despite coming off of traveling the week before, we accomplished a ton for our first week. I always like to dive straight in and see what happens. We covered almost everything I had on the schedule and spent a ton of time with friends and outside in nature. I’d say that we had a great first week!

Low

The changing weather interrupted our plans for one last water park day. Oh well. We did spent a ton of time in pools this summer.

Tree at Fontenelle - most likely broke and twisted in the last storm

Next Week

Finishing his read aloud (A)
Starting Fortunately, the Milk (Q)
Learning about the Spanish Empire (A) and Byzantine Empire (Q)
Listening to Chuck Berry and Fats Domino
Exploring ponds and hydrology
Covering engineering for co-op
Celebrating the year at the homeschool picnic

Next up on the TBR pile:

Raising Critical Thinkers by Julie Bogart

Title: Raising Critical Thinkers: A Parent’s Guide to Growing Wise Kids in the Digital Age

Author: Julie Bogart

Publisher: TarcherPerigree 2022

Genre: Nonfiction - Education

Pages: 352

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Nonfiction Reader

Where I Got It: Bookworm in Omaha NE March 2024

Education is not solely about acquiring information and skills across subject areas, but also about understanding how and why we believe what we do. At a time when online media has created a virtual firehose of information and opinions, parents and teachers worry how students will interpret what they read and see. Amid the noise, it has become increasingly important to examine different perspectives with both curiosity and discernment. But how do parents teach these skills to their children?

Drawing on more than twenty years’ experience homeschooling and developing curricula, Julie Bogart offers practical tools to help children at every stage of development to grow in their ability to explore the world around them, examine how their loyalties and biases affect their beliefs, and generate fresh insight rather than simply recycling what they’ve been taught. Full of accessible stories and activities for children of all ages, Raising Critical Thinkers helps parents to nurture passionate learners with thoughtful minds and empathetic hearts.

For co-op adult book club, we followed up Julie Bogart’s The Brave Learner with her newer book. Overall, I totally see the need for this book and know that many of my fellow co-op parents really benefitted from the information presented. For me, it was a bit like being back in education classes in college. For goodness sakes, Bogart name drops Maria Montessori, John Dewey, and Paolo Freire. Many of the big explanations about critical thinking were a review from my college days. From those, Bogart tries to give some activities and examples, but they were very long and drawn out. I would have liked more practical advice on how to implement critical thinking skills into our education plans. A few of us did meet last weekend to discuss the book. Thankfully the discussion veered more towards practical applications than theory. Worthwhile read, but not going to end up being a favorite.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W32-34: We Made It!

Learning about care of chickens at the urban farm

What We Studied

We finally made it through our regular year of curriculum. We never really stop schooling, but we have finished with this year’s big curriculum pieces. For the next few months, we will be engaging in a lighter schoolwork load with small units and lots of activities.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur finished his current read aloud and started the next one. Our next read aloud is turning out to a great one. We are very into the mystery.

Hidden Figures for Young Readers by Margot Lee Shetterly
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

Quentin finished his read aloud. We are moving onto a variety of stories and shorter books.

Sing a Song of Seasons
Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
Dragons Love Tacos 2 by Adam Rubin
Zoey and Sassafras: Wishypoof and Hiccups by Asia Citro
Encyclopedia Brown by Donald Sobel

Math

Arthur finally finished Singapore 5B. We will be doing a lot of math review throughout the summer.

Singapore Common Core 5B

Quentin has moved onto math review and will continue solidifying those skills.

Social Studies

Arthur finished his study of U.S. History with a few weeks covering the 1970s to the early 2000s.

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
A Different Mirror for Young People
This is Our Land: A History of American Immigration
DK Timelines of Everything
DK History
Map Skills for Today G4

Quentin has already finished his history curriculum. We’ll be focusing on some geography skills for a summer units. We got started this past week.

Map Skills for Today G1

Science

Arthur finished up Volume 2 of The Story of Science. We have really enjoyed this book series so much. Cannot wait to get the last volume come August.

Story of Science Vol. 2: Newton at the Center by Joy Hakim

Quentin is covering a variety of science packets and review. We’ll be engaging in some nature science throughout the summer before starting our next year’s science curriculum.

Coolest picture of a water drop and Quentin from the Luminarium

STEAM Coop

We finished our spring semester with a study of bats and caves for Quentin and conservation for Arthur. This is going to be a very strange year. The coop is transitioning to warm months only and will begin the summer session in early June. We’ll continue to meet until early October and then break until the next April. Arthur will be attending a new academic coop October through March to take the place of the enrichment coop.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

Documentaries are going to be sprinkled throughout our summer sessions. The past few weeks, we covered a few including a doc about the First Man on the Moon,

DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts
DK Art and How It Works
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
Iconic Composers by Nicholas Csicsko & Emi Ferguson
13 Art Movements Children Should Know
13 Artists Children Should Know
13 Modern Artists Children Should Know
The Story of Paintings by Mick Manning & Brita Granström
Why is Art Full of Naked People? by Susie Hodge

Field Trip

We had our last two coop field trips for the year. We visited the Wildlife Safari to explore the Ice Age Animals exhibit. And we had a great picnic with friends seeing all the animals. It was a great outing. We also revisited a local Urban Farm. The farmer taught the kids about specific plants in her garden and care of the various crops. We really enjoyed our time at her farm.

High

We had a wonderful Coop Field Day acting as an end cap to our year. Our field day is all about organized game play instead of competition. Quentin won the award for Best Neck Hula Hooper. Arthur won the award for Best Duck Walk (Limbo). It was a very tiring day, but amazing.

Low

The weather has caused a few schedule interruptions. Oh well.

Next Week - We will be continuing our schooling with summer units and a higher workload.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W30-31: Nearing the End...

What We Studied

We are nearing the end of this year’s school. Okay that’s not true. We school year round, but we are nearing the end of our big curriculum pieces. Then, we will move to some summer units before starting our next curriculum round in August.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur finished his current read aloud and started the next one. We took it a bit easy with our ELA these two weeks. We finished our poetry collection and won’t start a new one until August. He also continued his Super Secret Notebook from Blossom & Root.

My America poem collection
Much Ado About Baseball by Rajani LaRocca
Hidden Figures for Young Readers by Margot Lee Shetterly

Quentin finished his read aloud. It took us a few days, but we got through it eventually. He also worked on his reading and comprehension skills.

Sing a Song of Seasons
Homer Price by Robert McCloskey

Math

Arthur moved through most a unit about angles. We slowed down a bit these past two weeks, but are still on track to finish 5B before the end of May.

Singapore Common Core 5B
Orbiting with Logic

Quentin has moved onto math review and will continue solidifying those skills.

Social Studies

Arthur continued with the 1960s with a focus on the Civil Rights Movement and then the Space Race. We’re inching our way to the present slowly, slowly.

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
A Different Mirror for Young People
This is Our Land: A History of American Immigration
DK Timelines of Everything
DK History
March by John Lewis
The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist by Cynthia Levinson
Liberty's Civil Rights Road Trip by Michael W. Waters
Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Boycott Blues: How Rosa Parks Inspired a Nation by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Malcolm X: A Fire Burning Brightly by Walter Dean Myers
Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon by Catherine Thimmesh
Moonbound: Apollo 11 and the Dream of Spaceflight by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm

Quentin finished his History Quest Ancient Times curriculum with a chapter about Arabia. We will be taking a break from our big history curriculum by shifting to geography.

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
DK Myths, Legends, and Sacred Stories
Find the Journeys Around the World by David Long
Ancient Worlds
A Journey Through Art by Aaron Rosen
DK Eyewitness Wonders of the World

Science

We got back into chemistry with two weeks of lessons. Only one more to go! Beyond the chemistry, we continued reading our Story of Science. Nearing the end of that book as well.

RSO Chemistry
DK Super Simple Chemistry
Story of Science Vol. 2: Newton at the Center by Joy Hakim
DK The Elements

Quentin finished his RSO Life curriculum with a review of the plant kingdom. We’ll be doing some science pieces here and there and obviously we have coop.

RSO Life
DK Trees, Leaves, Flowers & Seeds
It Starts with a Seed by Laura Knowles
Stems and Trunks by Melanie Waldron
Roots by Melanie Waldron
Muse: Secrets of Trees
We Planted a Tree by Diane Muldrow
What on Earth? Trees by Kevin Warwick
A Seed is Sleepy by Dianna Hutts Aston

STEAM Coop

We had one coop lesson in the rain (the radar lied to me) and one coop lesson indoors due to weather. I was teaching archaeology to the Chatty Cheetahs. Neither one of the boys are in that class, but we needed a teacher and I enjoy the topic. Arthur focused on Environmental Science and Quentin learned about paleontology.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

Another two weeks, another couple of documentaries covering topics from our history lessons. Quentin watched one about the ancient city of Petra and one about the Emperor’s Ghost Army (the Terra Cotta Warriors). Arthur watched a great Modern Marvels episode about the Space Shuttle program.

DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts
DK Art and How It Works
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
Iconic Composers by Nicholas Csicsko & Emi Ferguson
13 Art Movements Children Should Know
13 Artists Children Should Know
13 Modern Artists Children Should Know
The Story of Paintings by Mick Manning & Brita Granström
Why is Art Full of Naked People? by Susie Hodge

Field Trip

We had a great field trip to Morrill Hall in Lincoln. The museum has been closed for a few months for renovations. There wasn’t a ton of visible changes, but I know that they updated a ton of the internal systems. Still, we had a great guided field trip learning about animals of the prehistoric past. Post field trip, some of our friends and we went to Prehistoric Putt for some mini golf fun.

We also attended another great theater performance. This time, we got to see Charlotte’s Web. Quentin really enjoyed the performance.

High

Our field trip coordinator for coop set up a great guided tour of Ashfall Fossil Beds in Royal. It was absolutely amazing to be guided by one of the one-site paleontologists. We had the place completely to ourselves and it was amazing. Three families and myself decided that three and a half hours of driving to and then three and a half hours of driving back in one day was too much. We decided to book an AirBnB nearby and spent a weekend exploring north central Nebraska. (While there, tornadoes hit Omaha and caused a decent amount of damage. Thankfully none of our coop families suffered any damage.) On Saturday we explored a beautiful state park right on the Missouri River and had lots of fund social time. Sunday, one of the families joined us on a side tour to Sioux City. It was a great weekend.

Low

Weather created some interruptions and concern for our activities, families, and coop.

Next Week

Stating a new read aloud for Quentin
Continuing Arthur’s read aloud
Moving through the end of the 1960s and 1970s
Continuing learning about angles and moving to percentages
Starting our math review
Covering more chapters in the Story of Science
Spending more time outdoors

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W29: Rain Rain Go Away

What We Studied

We had a week of schedule changes and weather issues. We rescheduled the park playdate for the next day. Unfortunately coop could not be rescheduled and we had to cancel. Hopefully the weather will cooperate next week.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur started reading a modern book playing off of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. We finished the first Reading Explorer book which focuses on reading comprehension. We’ll hold off book two for next August. He also continued his Super Secret Notebook from Blossom & Root.

My America poem collection
Reading Explorer 1
Much Ado About Baseball by Rajani LaRocca

Quentin finished his read aloud. He also worked on his reading and comprehension skills.

Sing a Song of Seasons
Charlotte’s Web by EB White

Math

Arthur moved into a unit about angles. We will definitely be finishing 5B by the end of this “school year.”

Singapore Common Core 5B
Orbiting with Logic

Quentin finished his volume of Singapore Math with more about multiplication and division and a review. We’ll be switched gears to a financial literacy unit.

Singapore Common Core 2A

Social Studies

Arthur continued with the Cold War Era by moving into the 1960s. We covered Kennedy’s administration and broached Civil Rights.

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
A Different Mirror for Young People
This is Our Land: A History of American Immigration
DK Timelines of Everything
DK History
A Time to Act: John F. Kennedy's Big Speech by Shana Corey

Quentin covered the chapter about the Byzantine Empire. We’re so close to finishing this year’s history curriculum.

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
DK Myths, Legends, and Sacred Stories
Find the Journeys Around the World by David Long
Ancient Worlds
A Journey Through Art by Aaron Rosen
DK Eyewitness Wonders of the World

Science

We had a break week from chemistry class. Only three more Chemistry weeks to go for the year! We made sure to read more chapters in our Story of Science book.

RSO Chemistry
DK Super Simple Chemistry
Story of Science Vol. 2: Newton at the Center by Joy Hakim
DK The Elements

Quentin continued the Plant Kingdom section of his curriculum. We talked about leaves.

RSO Life
DK Trees, Leaves, Flowers & Seeds
What Do Roots, Stems, Leaves, and Flowers Do? by Ruth Owen
From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons
Plants on the Move by Emilie Vast
Before We Stood Tall by Jessica Kulekjian
Seeds and Trees by Brandon Walden
What Kinds of Seeds are These? by Heidi Bee Roemer
Little Dandelion Seeds the World by Julia Richardson
Every Little Seed by Cynthia Schumerth

STEAM Coop

Coop was cancelled due to the weather

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

We snuck in a mini lesson about cutouts and learned about the compositions about Franz Schubert. And we slipped in some documentaries. Quentin watched one about the Hagia Sophia to go with our history chapter about the Byzantine Empire.

DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts
DK Art and How It Works
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
Iconic Composers by Nicholas Csicsko & Emi Ferguson
13 Art Movements Children Should Know
13 Artists Children Should Know
13 Modern Artists Children Should Know
The Story of Paintings by Mick Manning & Brita Granström
Why is Art Full of Naked People? by Susie Hodge

Field Trip

With coop being cancelled, I grabbed a library pass for the Durham Museum. We really wanted to visit the Toytopia exhibit. The boys had fun playing all the classic games.

High

Thankfully our park playdate was able to rescheduled to the next door. The boys needed some running time with friends. And I need to just relax a bit.

Low

My body was very angry and created some issues for me. I am thankful for the flexibility of homeschooling to work around these issues.

Next Week

Stating a new read aloud for Quentin
Reading a Shakespeare-inspired story for Arthur
Moving through the Civil Rights Movement
Continuing learned about angles
Switching to a financial literacy unit
Covering more chapters in the Story of Science
Learning more about the Arabian Peninsula
Exploring more parts of the plant kingdom
Bringing back some art and music

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W28: We Took It Easy

What We Studied

We ended up taking it a bit easy this week. My body was in a lot of pain, so I eased off our workload. Instead, we spent more time with some easy activities.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur covered another of Shakespeare’s play. We are continuing with a light study of the actual play with focus on the story and a good short experience with the language of the 17th century. We continued the first Reading Explorer book which focuses on reading comprehension. He also continued his Super Secret Notebook from Blossom & Root.

My America poem collection
Reading Explorer 1
Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare

Quentin started the next read aloud. He also worked on his reading and comprehension skills.

Sing a Song of Seasons
Charlotte’s Web by EB White

Math

Arthur moved into looking at averages, line graphs, and plotting. We will definitely be finishing 5B by the end of this “school year.”

Singapore Common Core 5B
Orbiting with Logic

Quentin got back into Singapore with a unit on multiplication and division concepts. He then started on 2 and 3s.

Singapore Common Core 2A

Social Studies

Arthur stared on the Cold War with a large scale overview. We then moved onto the politics and Korean War.

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
A Different Mirror for Young People
This is Our Land: A History of American Immigration
DK Timelines of Everything
DK History
Dwight D. Eisenhower by Mirella S. Miller
The Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi
The Korean War by Andrew Santella

Quentin covered the second chapter about Ancient China. And we even watched a documentary. We’re still moving through our Ancient Times curriculum.

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
DK Myths, Legends, and Sacred Stories
Find the Journeys Around the World by David Long
Ancient Worlds
A Journey Through Art by Aaron Rosen
Ancient China by Dale Anderson
D is for Dragon Dance by Ying Chang Compestine
20 Fun Facts About the Great Wall of China by Therese Shea
Great Wall of China by Kristine Spanier
DK Eyewitness Wonders of the World

Science

We had a break week from chemistry class. Only three more Chemistry weeks to go for the year! We made sure to read more chapters in our Story of Science book.

RSO Chemistry
DK Super Simple Chemistry
Story of Science Vol. 2: Newton at the Center by Joy Hakim
DK The Elements

Quentin continued the Plant Kingdom section of his curriculum. We talked about seeds.

RSO Life
DK Trees, Leaves, Flowers & Seeds
A Seed Grows by Antoinette Portis
Seeds and Fruit by Melanie Waldron
Seeds We Eat by Katherine Rawson
Seeds by John Wood
Seeds by Carme Lemniscates
A Seed is the Start by Melissa Stewart
Seeds Move by Robin Page
Seeds by Grace Hansen
The Journey of Seeds by Soo-bok Choi
Sprout, Seed Sprout! by Annika Dunklee
A Seed in Need by Sam Godwin
Spring is Here! A Story About Seeds by Joan Holub

STEAM Coop

We had coop outdoors. Unfortunately the wind was incredibly high. It made things a bit complicated. Oh well, we survived. Arthur and Quentin both covered conservation.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

No formal music or art this week. But we did slip in some documentaries. Arthur watched on about D-Day and underwater archaeology. Quentin watched one about Ancient Chinese chariots.

DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts
DK Art and How It Works
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
Iconic Composers by Nicholas Csicsko & Emi Ferguson
13 Art Movements Children Should Know
13 Artists Children Should Know
13 Modern Artists Children Should Know
The Story of Paintings by Mick Manning & Brita Granström
Why is Art Full of Naked People? by Susie Hodge

Field Trip

We took Wednesday off to hit up a park for the Omaha Parks Challenge. We spent some time there with friends. Afterwards, we moved over the Omaha Children’s Museum to use one of our GetOut Passes. The kids enjoyed their time, but I was reminded why we don’t go there often. I was very overstimulated by the time we left. We also got in a nature walk on Friday morning with some friends that we haven’t seen for awhile.

Moping (I think) and the newest baby elephant Hondo

Elephant baby backsides: Eugenia, Hondo, and Moping (I think)

High

After coop on Thursday, I didn’t feel like going home and doing schoolwork. So we decided to go to the zoo. I finally got to see the new baby elephant! We also visited the jungle, aquarium, and kingdoms of the night.

Low

My body was very angry and created some issues for me. I am thankful for the flexibility of homeschooling to work around these issues.

Next Week

Continue Quentin’s read aloud
Reading a Shakespeare-inspired story for Arthur
Moving through the early Cold War years
Continuing our math units
Covering more chapters in the Story of Science
Learning more about the Byzantine Empire
Exploring more parts of the plant kingdom
Bringing back some art and music

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W27: Two Weeks of Relaxed Yet Productive School

What We Studied

This post actually contains a Flex Week and a regular week. We’re definitely getting to the point in the year when our schooling rhythm changes once again. We took advantage of some outside exploration and fun with friends. We also didn’t stress about the curriculum, but made sure that we were plugging away.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur continued and then finished our current read aloud. I absolutely loved it. He was a much harsher critic. For this one, I bought a new-to-me ELA curriculum unit and tried it out. The unit focused on paragraph writing and analysis of text. I’m really liking it. It’s not fancy or colorful, but has worthwhile activities. I think I’m going to pick up a few more lit studies for other books we are going to read. We continued the first Reading Explorer book which focuses on reading comprehension. He also continued his Super Secret Notebook from Blossom & Root.

My America poem collection
Reading Explorer 1
Amari and the Night Brothers by BB Alston

Checking out the Dinos at Lauritzen Gardens

Quentin finished two read aloud this past two weeks. We covered a bunch of short stories with Frog and Toad. I even added on some language arts activities to expand. From there, we started and finished a short read aloud. Bonus points as it’s our next coop book club selection.

Sing a Song of Seasons
Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel
Days with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
Frog and Toad All Year by Arnold Lobel
Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel
Nim’s Island by Wendy Orr

Math

Arthur moved into looking at averages, line graphs, and plotting. We will definitely be finishing 5B by the end of this “school year.”

Singapore Common Core 5B
Orbiting with Logic

Quentin got back into Singapore with a unit on multiplication and division concepts. He then started on 2 and 3s.

Singapore Common Core 2A

Social Studies

Arthur wrapped his study of World War II. We also snuck in a documentary about The Manhattan Project. I’m super excited to get into the Cold War era this 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
A Different Mirror for Young People
This is Our Land: A History of American Immigration
DK Timelines of Everything
DK History
DK Eyewitness World War II
The US Navy in World War II by Peter Benoit
The US Army is World War II by Peter Benoit
Big Battles of World War II by Peter Benoit
The Great Depression and World War II by Susan E. Hamen
Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm

Quentin covered the African kingdoms of Aksum and Kush. He then started his two-part unit on Ancient China. We’re still moving through our Ancient Times curriculum.

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
DK Myths, Legends, and Sacred Stories
Find the Journeys Around the World by David Long
Ancient Worlds
A Journey Through Art by Aaron Rosen
Ancient China by Dale Anderson

Science

I taught our chemistry lesson about acids and bases. I even created my own homemade indicator paper for the experiments. And then we had a break week. Only three more Chemistry weeks to go for the year! We made sure to read more chapters in our Story of Science book.

RSO Chemistry
DK Super Simple Chemistry
Story of Science Vol. 2: Newton at the Center by Joy Hakim
DK The Elements

Quentin started the Plant Kingdom section of his curriculum. We talked about the basics of plant life and flowers.

RSO Life
An ABC of Flowers by Jutta Hilpuesch
Flowers by Gail Gibbons
Flowers by Grace Hansen
Flowers by Jennifer Colby
Fantastic Flowers by Susan Stockdale
Have You Ever Seen a Flower by Shawn Harris
The Flower by John Light
Bloom Boom by April Pulley Sayre
Flowers by Elaine Pascoe
What are Flowers by Kelley MacAulay
Tell Me Why Flowers Bloom by Nancy Robinson Masters
Flowers We Eat by Katherine Rawson

STEAM Coop

We had one coop meeting inside at one of the local libraries and one outside at a park (finally!). For Arthur covered the last two weeks of Spring Growth by creating a composter and sun prints. Quentin focused on botany with a seed planting and flowers.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

We covered oil painting the Frederic Chopin this week.

DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts
DK Art and How It Works
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
Iconic Composers by Nicholas Csicsko & Emi Ferguson
13 Art Movements Children Should Know
13 Artists Children Should Know
13 Modern Artists Children Should Know
The Story of Paintings by Mick Manning & Brita Granström
Why is Art Full of Naked People? by Susie Hodge

Field Trip

We had a lovely field trip to Lauritzen Gardens (our local botanical garden and conservatory). I got to hang out with the littles class where we did a lot of plant observation as well as enjoyed the dinosaurs models made out of Lego. Arthur’s class got to learn about the evolution of plants from prehistoric times until now. This past Friday, we had a free explore day at Arbor Day Farm with lots of coop friends. When we go, you better believe that we spend all day there! It’s great. I even convinced the boys to do the trail around the back when their friends left.

High

We are trying to complete the Omaha Parks Challenge. They give us 10 parks to visit and take pictures. Completing a certain number gets you a goody bag and another number gets you entered into a drawing for pool passes. We have until May 12th to complete our visits. So far, we’ve hit three parks, but we have two more parks this week on our schedule. Some of these parks I didn’t even know existed! It’s a great way to explore.

Low

The wind and cold temps made coop (and then book club on Saturday) not a hugely pleasant experiences. In particular, we attempted a new-to-us park and had to leave after 15 minutes. The 30mph wind gusts on top of low 40s temps pushed us back into our cars and home. Oh well. We do live in the Midwest!