Homeschool W27: Spring Finally Arrived!

What We Studied

After a March filled with weird weather, this week finally cooperated and we took full advantage. Our schoolwork was shortened to spend multiple days outside with friends. It was well worth it to boost our general mental health. Apparently I took like no photos this week. All of our photos in this post were ones that Arthur took at Heron Haven.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. Arthur took a break from novels to focus on some short stories. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

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 fun book of a young girl and an intelligent squirrel. So much comedy in this story. We love it.

Poetry: The Tree That Time Built
Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. We got back into our math textbook and started a chapter about the Area and Circumference of Circles.

Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. We moved onto 3A starting slow to easy back into our lessons. Taking it slow but moving along.

Singapore Primary 3A
Primarily Logic

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We covered a section about the potato famine in Ireland and then social reform movements. We also watched more PBS Eons vides. Getting closer to finishing the entire series.

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. We covered a chapter focused on New Ideas for Europe, exploring the Reformation and the Scientific Revolution. We have one more chapter left in the curriculum.

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 finished his RSO Biology 1 course with the end of the academic co-op. We switched gears and focused on reading some more chapters from the Story of Science. We only have about six chapters left in the book. I also want to work through a few Blossom & Root Bookseeds this late spring.

Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

RSO Earth and Environment
DK First Earth Encyclopedia

Academic Co-op

With the cancellation, our spring semester has ended.

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.

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 listened to Parliament-Funkadelic and Hall & Oates this week. Arthur preferred the funk and Quentin preferred H&O, which was surprising. I love seeing how they have such different opinions about different bands.

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

Field Trip/Activities

On Friday, we got back into our nature walk routine with a visit to Heron Haven. Our last few attempts have been thwarted by weather issues. It was lovely to explore the wetland and spot signs of spring and some animals. We had a good group of multiple families join us allowing for some socializing time for the kids and the adults.

High

Thursday we had our enrichment kick-off playdate. We were supposed to be at Chalco, but the Papio RND had closed the playground for a field trip (hate when they do that and do not post anywhere in advance). We had to scramble to relocate and made it to Zorinsky. Not my favorite park, but most of the families joined us for some great playtime. It was also a chance for some of the new families to meet the old families. Love seeing our little community come together and form relationships.

Low

We had another playdate on Friday afternoon downtown. Nine families RSVPed and only three (including myself) actually showed up. Very disappointed in all these families who claim to want to community and just never show up to anything but make posts in the FB group about needing friends and activities. So come? Frustrating.

Next Week

Finishing our read alouds
Moving forward with our math textbooks
Traveling to the United States and then War in Europe (A) and Elizabethan Times (Q) for history
Exploring astrophysics (A) and soil (Q) for science
Listening to Queen for music!
Going to Lincoln to explore Morrill Hall and whatever else we decide to do while there

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #4

Reading: My brain is a bit broken and so I have turned to manga to help myself out. Currently, I’m reading multiple series, but my current obsession is Parasyte.

Watching: We started watching Alice in Borderland S1 and I am so in love with the series.

Listening: All Stray Kids all the time!

Making: I got back into making scones this week and now I just want all of the scones. So good! My lemon poppy seed mini scones are still my favorite to make and eat.

Feeling: My sleep has been trash lately and I am so incredibly tired.

Planning: We’re heading to Indiana at the end of April for Alex’s college graduation. I’m planning a stopover in Chicago before and another after to hit a few museums.

Loving: Stray Kids dropped their new Mixtape a few days ago and I am absolutely obsessed! “Escape” is my absolute favorite song, but all four new songs are good. “Truman” is really growing on me, but will not be surpassing “Escape” as my favorite. Definitely love my Bang Chan/Hyunjin pairing!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W26: Weather Again!

What We Studied

We had a full week planned with multiple activities and the last week of Academic Co-op. Unfortunately, a blizzard hit us on Tuesday night cancelling our Wednesday Joslyn visit and Thursday co-op meeting. Oh well. At least we finished up a ton of schoolwork.

Literature and Poetry

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

Poetry: The Tree That Time Built
Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo

Math

Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. We moved onto 3A starting slow to easy back into our lessons. Taking it slow but moving along.

Singapore Primary 3A
Primarily Logic

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We covered two more sections of history focusing on Victorian Britain and British Imperialism. We actually only have two more sections left in the curriculum. We also watched more PBS Eons vides. Getting closer to finishing the entire series.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Victorian Servant, by Fiona MacDonald
You Wouldn’t Want to Work in a Victorian Mill!, by John Malam

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 as his main history curriculum. We covered two chapters exploring the Mughal Empire and the Ottoman Empire. We have two more chapters left in the curriculum.

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
DK Explorers
Taj Mahal by Cynthia Kennedy Hanzel
Where is the Taj Mahal? by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler

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. We read some more chapters from the Story of Science.

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

RSO Earth and Environment
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
DK Eyewitness: Weather
Wind by Grace Hansen
What on Earth? Wind by Isabel Thomas
Cloud or Fog? by Kelly Doudna
Hail or Freezing Rain? by Josh Plattner
Extreme Weather by Ann O. Squire
A Child's Introduction to the Environment
Hurricane or Waterspout? by Josh Plattner
Tornado Alert by Franklyn M. Branley
Tornado or Dust Devil? by Josh Plattner
Tornadoes by Gail Gibbons
Tidal Wave or Tsunami? by Kelly Doudna
Winter Storm or Blizzard? by Kelly Doudna
All About Heat Waves and Droughts by Steve Tomecek

Academic Co-op

With the cancellation, our spring semester has ended.

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.

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

Field Trip/Activities

On Friday, we attended board game club at a local coffee shop. I had a nice time chatting with other homeschool moms.

High

Tuesday we renewed our Fontenelle Forest membership to meet up with friends to play at the new nature play area. And then we went on a nice walk on the boardwalk. It was lovely to get out in nature, especially as a blizzard came in that night. .

Low

Sad that we couldn’t finish out our Academic Co-op semester.

Next Week

Finishing our read alouds
Moving forward with our math textbooks
Traveling to the Ireland (A) and Europe (Q) for history
Exploring astrophysics (A) and climate (Q) for science
Listening to Parliament-Funkadelic and Hatt & Oates
Going to the park for a playdate and the nature preserve for a hike

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W25: Another Normal Week (We're on a Roll!)

What We Studied

Another week full of regular schoolwork, co-op, and a few activities. Very very normal.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. Arthur finished the co-op book club selection. We cannot wait to discuss it in two weeks. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
The Elephant in the Room by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Poetry: The Tree That Time Built
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. We ended up taking a short break from our textbook to explore more logic and algebraic expressions and do some review and catchup.

Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. We moved onto 3A starting slow to easy back into our lessons. Taking it slow but moving along.

Singapore Primary 3A
Primarily Logic

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We covered North America and the attempts at colonization.

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. We covered a chapter about Russia and the Ivans.

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
DK Explorers
The Mongol Empire from Britannica Educational Publishing
Follow Me Around: Russia by Wiley Blevins
Let's Explore Russia by Walt K. Moon
Living In Russia by Jesse Burton
Russia ABCs by Ann Berge
Matreshka by Becky Hickox Ayres
The Flying Witch by Jane Yolen
The Black Geese by Alison Lurie
Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave by Marianna Mayer
Grandma Chickenlegs by Geraldine McCaughrean
Baba Yaga and the Wise Doll by Hiawyn Oram
Baba Yaga by An Leysen

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. Other than co-op, we watched a ton of PBS Eons videos this week.

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

RSO Earth and Environment
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
Nat Geo Kids: Weather
The Child's Introduction to the Environment
What Will the Weather Be? by Lynda Dewitt
Weather Words and What They Mean by Gail Gibbons
DK Eyewonder: Weather
Boy, Were We Wrong About the Weather by Kathleen V. Kudlinski

Academic Co-op

We’re entering the home stretch of this semester of co-op. For biology, the kids learned about reptiles and birds. In art, they covered blind contour drawing. And for writer’s workshop, we conferenced the fictional narratives. Only one week to go!

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.

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 Donna Summer and The Bee Gees, so I guess it was disco week. The boys liked The Bee Gees more than Donna Summer, but neither were favorites.

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

Field Trip/Activities

No specific field trip this week, but we did finally get back to the zoo. We visited the desert, jungle, and aquarium with some friends. It was lovely to get back to our favorites.

High

The boys got to attend the winter homeschool dance on Thursday night and then sketchbook club on Friday afternoon. So two big activities with friends.

Low

I’m getting some attitude and laziness from both of the boys. I’m annoyed…

Next Week

Starting our new read alouds
Moving forward with our math textbooks
Traveling to the Victorian Britain (A) and the Mughal Empire (Q) for history
Exploring weather and climate for science
Listening to Madonna
Moving into the last week of Academic Co-op

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #3

Reading: I’m almost finished reading Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld. It’s our book club selection this month and I have some mixed feelings. Waiting until I finish the book before making my official determination.

Watching: J and finally started watching Alice in Borderland as I finished the manga series last month. I am enjoying the changes while retaining the basic ideas from the manga.

Listening: Stray Kids all the time, every day. That’s all.

Making: J and I have officially started our podcast about War and Peace. I’m excited to get into the book more and establish a routine.

Feeling: Since Christmas, I’ve been feeling weirdly disconnected. My depression has been harder to keep at bay.

Planning: The Enrichment Co-op is starting at the beginning of April. I need to start planning my lessons, but I guess I need to reconfirm the weeks that I am actually teaching.

Loving: I finally got my birthday cake this past weekend and of course it was German chocolate. Love it so much!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W24: Back to Normal?

What We Studied

We had a pretty normal week. Lots of schoolwork, a few activities, but also weather that interrupted some plans. We had a big blizzard blow through on Tuesday night that cancelled our Wednesday plans. We pivoted by covering more schoolwork and watching some more documentaries. Not a big deal.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. Arthur dove into our next coop book club selection. We’re both really loving it! It’s a gentle story, but with a lot to say. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Science Verse by Jon Scieszka
The Elephant in the Room by Holly Goldberg Sloan

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 read aloud that aligns with our Blossom and Root curriculum. We’re both really loved it!

Poetry: Out of This World: ICE Poems About Polar Life by Douglas Florian
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

Math

Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. We moved onto 3A starting slow to easy back into our lessons. Taking it slow but moving along.

Singapore Primary 3A
Primarily Logic

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. Because of our changes in scheduled, we ended up covering three sections of history this week. We learned about the Latin American Revolutions in South America, the revolutions in Brazil and Mexico, and the African Zulu Empire and Central African caliphates

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Simon Bolivar: Latin American Liberator by Frank de Varona
A Kid’s Guide to Latino History: More than 50 Activities, by Valerie Petrillo
Latinitas: Celebrating 40 Big Dreamers, by Juliet Menendez
Where Is the Amazon?, by Sarah Fabiny
DK Eyewitness: The Amazon
Fiesta Femenina: Celebrating Women of Mexican Folklore, by Mary-Joan Gerson
Tales Our Abuelitas Told: A Hispanic Folktale Collection, by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy
Brazil: Enchantment of the World, by Ann Heinrichs
Mexico: Enchantment of the World, by Liz Sonneborn
A Kid's Guide to Latino History by Valerie Petrillo
Shaka Zulu by Richard Spilsbury

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 as his main history curriculum. We covered two chapters, one about the Inca Empire and one about the Renaissance..

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
DK Explorers
Ancient Civilizations: Aztecs, Maya, Incas! by Anita Yasuda
The Inca Empire by Sandra Newman
20 Fun Facts About Machu Picchu by Janey Levy
Inca by Lawrence Kovacs
Lost Treasure of the Inca by Peter Lourie
A Look at Renaissance Art by J. Jean Robertson
Raphael by Mike Venezia
Leonardo, Beautiful Dreamer by Robert Byrd
Leonardo da Vinci by Mike Venezia
The Renaissance by Enzo George

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. Other than co-op, we watched a ton of PBS Eons videos this week.

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 jumped back into RSO Earth & Environment to cover the atmosphere. But we also just watched a ton of PBS Eons videos.

RSO Earth and Environment
DK First Earth Encyclopedia

Academic Co-op

We’re entering the home stretch of this semester of co-op. For biology, the kids learned about fish and amphibians. For art, they focused on abstract and absurdist art. And for writing, we started our unit on Fictional Narrative. Only two weeks to go!

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.

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

Field Trip/Activities

No specific field trip this week.

High

We got a lot of curriculum covered…

Low

The weather brought a fun winter storm and some terrible road conditions that disrupted our week. We had to skip our nature walk due to sleet and soggy ground. And our social meetup was cancelled due to the blizzard.

Next Week

Finishing our read alouds, probably starting our next ones
Moving forward with our math textbooks
Traveling to the United States and Russia (A) and Russia (Q) for history
Exploring weather for science
Visiting the zoo
Attending a nature class
Moving into the last two weeks of Academic Co-op

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

I’m currently reading six books right now. It might be a bit much.
A blizzard came through on Tuesday night, disrupting my plans for yesterday. No birthday dinner out for me. Instead, we have pushed it to this weekend at some point.
Trying to take advantage of all the birthday offers from various places. We’ll see what I can work into my plans for Sunday.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W22-23: Lots of activities, a Flex week, and a trip!

What We Studied

We had a week of a ton of activities. Seriously, we only did book work school one day between a birthday party, a parent meeting, co-op, and the Valentine’s Day party. And then the next week was technically a flex week, but we pushed in some school. So that we could leave on Friday to go on a mini trip to Kansas City and Great Wolf Lodge with friends. We’re back this week on Tuesday, but will be taking a bit of a break from school to regroup. Plus we have co-op as usual on Thursday, so we won’t be just sitting around.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. Arthur started and finished the next Co-op Book Club selection. It was written in verse, so something a little different for him. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

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 dove into a modern classic. Q even tried to read it himself, but said that the words were too hard. It is above his independent reading level right now, but we’ll get there.

Poetry: Out of This World: Star-Studded Haiu by Sally M. Walker
The Tale of Despeareaux by Kate DiCamillo

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. We took a short break so Arthur could catch up on some independent work, and then dove back into area of polygons and triangles.

Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. We moved onto 3A starting slow to easy back into our lessons. Taking it slow but moving along.

Singapore Primary 3A
Primarily Logic

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. Arthur covered the Industrial Revolution and the Rise of Romanticism. From there, we learned about Napoleon. We are blazing through this history curriculum this year.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Crossing on Time: Steam Engines, Fast Ships, and a Journey to the New World by David Macaulay
Cars, Trains, Ships, and Planes: A Visual Encyclopedia of Every Vehicle, by DK and the Smithsonian Institution
Train: The Definitive Visual History by DK and the Smithsonian Institution
Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein by Linda Bailey
She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein by Lynn Fulton
DK Eyewitness Books: Judaism by DK
Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Composers: Ludwig van Beethoven, by Mike Venezia
Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Composers: Frederic Chopin, by Mike Venezia
Gris Grimly’s Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley and Gris Grimly
Beethoven’s Heroic Symphony, by Anna Harwell Celenza
Blades of Freedom: A Tale of Haiti, Napoleon, and the Louisiana Purchase (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales 10), by Nathan Hale
Napoleon vs. the Bunnies, by J. F. Fox
Battles that Changed History, by DK and Smithsonian Institution
The Game of Hope, by Sandra Gulland
Who Was Napoleon?, by Jim Gigliotti

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 as his main history curriculum. We covered the chapter about the Aztec Empire.

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
DK Explorers
The Aztec Empire by Sunita Apte
The Aztec Empire by Ellis Roxburgh
The Princess and the Warrior: A Tale of Two Volcanoes by Duncan Tonatiuh
Ancient Aztec: Archaeology Unlocks the Secrets of Mexico's Past by Time Cooke
Ancient Civilizations: Aztec, Maya, Incas! by Anita Yasuda

Science

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. Lots of science this week! We covered Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and beyond. We finished the documentary series The Planets. But we also just watched a ton of PBS Eons videos.

RSO Earth and Environment
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
RSO Asttonomy 1
DK Eyewitness Astronomy
DK Space
DK First Space Encyclopedia
DK Eyewitness The Planets
13 Planets: The Latest View of the Solar System by David A. Aguilar
Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space by Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman
Goodnight, Astronaut by Scott Kelly
Starry Messenger by Peter Sis

Academic Co-op

Back at it with weeks 4 and 5. In biology, they covered climate change and started the unit on evolution. Art focused on perspective. And in Writer’s Workshop, we started our opinion writing 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.

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

Field Trip/Activities

So many incredible activiites over the last few weeks. So many activities…

High

It finally snowed properly! The boys got to play outside multiple days. It was even powdery snow, perfect for sledding down to the neighbors yards. Their record was sledding four houses down.

Low

We had our co-op Valentine’s Day party at a bowling alley. A great idea, and the planners did awesome. Unfortunately, there was some logistical miscommunication and my group of boys that wanted to bowl together lost their lane and we had to split them up on other lanes. Q was especially upset that he couldn’t bowl with the kids he had originally wanted to bowl with. The planners and I chatted about how to avoid that issue next time we do a bowling party.

Next Week

Starting new read alouds
Moving forward with our math textbooks
Traveling to Latin America (A) and the medieval Incan Empire (Q) for history
Exploring the atmosphere for science
Moving into the last three weeks of Academic Co-op

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

We caught another cold. The boys got over it fairly quickly; I have not. I’m still feeling pretty terrible, Just in time for our trip tomorrow. Really sucks.
Between sickness and general crap, my depression really kicked in these past few weeks. I’ve slowly been sinking, frantically trying to keep myself afloat. My usual tricks hav not been working at all. Because of that… my broken brain has gone into obsession-mode.
My current obsession — Stray Kids. They have been on repeat in my ears this week. Between the music and watching their videos and stupid TikTok videos, I’m staying somewhat afloat. But not really. It’s bad.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #2

Reading: Finishing reading The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang for Dirty Book Month for book club. I actually have liked it a lot more that I was expecting.

Watching: J got me addicted to Pantheon. I’ve been watching some episodes during lunch, but wasn’t going fast enough. We’re watching the rest of S2 at night to finish before my trip.

Listening: My mom got me addicted to Stray Kids. I am obsessed now…

Making: I made a version of Kimchi Jjigae (just Kimchi stew with tuna and tofu) and we loved it. I think this needs to go into regular rotation.

Feeling: After being sick last week, I haven’t really slept well lately. Consequently I am tired. The cloudy weather is not helping me.

Planning: I’m finalizing the travel plans for the end of the month. I have just a few things to finish before we leave.

Loving: As a result of my Stray Kids obsession, I’ve been listening to more dancing music while making dinner. Makes the tasks a little less annoying.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W21: More Sickness

What We Studied

Another week of winter 2025, another sickness impacting our scheduled activities. I really hope that we can get back to some activities this next week. As a less of an impact, co-op was cancelled due to multiple families being sick.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We finished our read aloud and doc into a short unit involving the stories of Hans Christian Andersen. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat
Hans Christian Andersen storie collection

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 The Hobbit. Q is definitely liking it more than our last one. For Friday movie night, we watched the 1977 animated version of the book.

Poetry: Out of This World: Poems and Facts About Space by Amy E. Sklansky
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Tale of Despeareaux by Kate DiCamillo

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. Arthur continued the second book of the course, exploring more about coordinate planes. We finished the chapter and took a short break so Arthur could catch up on some independent work.

Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. We moved onto 3A starting slow to easy back into our lessons. Taking it slow but moving along.

Singapore Primary 3A
Primarily Logic

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. Arthur covered the slave revolts in Haiti and other colonies. We then fit in a chapter about the United States expanding.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Blades of Freedom: A Tale of Haiti, Napoleon, and the Louisiana Purchase (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales 10) by Nathan Hale
Toussaint L’ouvertrue: The Fight for Haiti’s Freedom by Walter Dean Myers
Haiti: Enchantment of the World by Liz Sonneborn
Freedom Soup by Tami Charles
Olaudah Equiano: A Voice for Africa; Nigeria Heritage Series by John Adoga
No More!: Stories and Songs of Slave Resistance by Doreen Rappaport
The Kidnapped Prince: The Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano and Ann Cameron
A New Nation: The United States: 1783–1815, by Betsy Maestro
Blades of Freedom: A Tale of Haiti, Napoleon, and the Louisiana Purchase (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales 10), by Nathan Hale
Brick by Brick, by Charles R. Smith Jr.
Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library, by Barb Rosenstock
Worst of Friends: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and the True Story of an American Feud, by Suzanne Tripp Jurmain
Where Is the White House?, by Megan Stine
Who Was Alexander Hamilton?, by Pam Pollack
Buffalo Bird Girl: A Hidatsa Story, by S. D. Nelson
Gift Horse: A Lakota Story, by S.D. Nelson
Sacagawea: Journey into the West, by Jessica Gunderson
Star People: A Lakota Story, by S.D. Nelson
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, by Jessica Gunderson
Thomas Jefferson and the Mammoth Hunt: The True Story of the Quest for America’s Biggest Bones, by Carrie Clickard
50 Fearless Women Who Made American History: An American History Book for Kids, by Jenifer Bazzit
Lewis and Clark for Kids: Their Journey of Discovery with 21 Activities, by Janis Herbert
You Wouldn’t Want to Explore with Lewis and Clark!, by Jacqueline Morley
Sacajawea, by Joseph Bruchac
What Was the Lewis and Clark Expedition?, by Judith St. George
Who Was Sacagawea?, by Judith Bloom Fradin

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 as his main history curriculum. We covered the chapter about the Age of Exploration.

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

Science

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. Lots of science this week! We covered Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt. And we started watching the NOVA/BBC series The Planets.

RSO Earth and Environment
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
RSO Asttonomy 1
DK Eyewitness Astronomy
DK Space
DK First Space Encyclopedia
DK Eyewitness The Planets
13 Planets: The Latest View of the Solar System by David A. Aguilar
Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space by Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman
Mars: Earthlings Welcome by Stacy McAnulty
Mousetronaut by Mark Kelly
Mousetronaut Goes to Mars by Mary Kelly
Comets by Kristen Rajczak
Shooting Stars by Kristen Rajczak
Caroline's Comets by Emily Arnold McCully
Comet Chaser: The True Cinderella Story of Caroline Herschel, The First Professional Woman Astronomer by Pamela S. Turner

Academic Co-op

Multiple families were sick, so we canceled this week’s meeting. I’m so glad that the remaining families are understanding and flexible while still communicating with each other.

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.

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. The chapter covered the music of Michael Jackson. We listened to some early songs and then dove into the best of the music videos.

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

Field Trip/Activities

Nothing…

High

It wasn’t the week that I wanted to have, but we managed to finish a ton of school work and get ahead on our lessons. This should mean that the week after our Kansas City trip, we can take a break. The boys are looking forward to that.

Low

Sickness. I really hate having to cancel activities.

Next Week

Continuing our read alouds
Moving forward with math lessons
Traveling to Europe from the Industrial Revolution (A) for history
Exploring Saturn and Jupiter for Q’s science
Listening to Earth, Wind, and Fire and Chic
Hopefully getting back to our activities including a friend’s birthday party
Starting Opinion Writing for Writer’s Workshop at co-op

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

The kids are sick again. 2025 is really not off to a great start. I really wish that we could move past this.
On the bright side, we’ve got a ton of school work done while not going anywhere.
And J and I have watched a ton of great television.
I think we are going to start a podcast about our reading of War and Peace. Hopefully I can fit some prep work in this weekend.
Thinking about what I should read next. I have no idea… So many options, but I think I want to lean into whatever mood I am in after finishing my current read.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W20: School, Dentist, Car, Co-op, and Play!

What We Studied

I think we are officially back on track for the spring semester. We managed to balance school work, some errands, and a bit of play this week without too much stress. I’m very excited to see how far we got in our curriculum. It will make it easier when we take some days off bookwork to go on our trip at the end of February.

Apparently I was absolutely terrible at taking picture this week. Here’s to doing a better job this week!

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We continued a new read aloud and it’s been much better than the last one. As an added bonus it appears in Hearth and Story G5 and as a Build Your Library Lit Bite. And it’s our co-op book selection for this month. We’ve got just a few more chapters to cover this coming week to finish off the book. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat

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 got deeper into The Hobbit and are really enjoying it. Q is definitely liking it more than our last one.

Poetry: Out of This World: Poems and Facts About Space by Amy E. Sklansky
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. Arthur continued the second book of the course, exploring more about coordinate planes. This chapter has been a lot easier for him to conceptualize than the last one.

Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. We moved onto 3A starting slow to easy back into our lessons. Taking it slow but moving along.

Singapore Primary 3A
Primarily Logic

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. Arthur covered the French Revolution and Culture Corners on Mozart and Jacques-Louis David. I must say that those French names really throw us off, but we got through it with a little help from some videos.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Who Was Marie Antoinette? by Dana Meachen Rau
Joseph Bologne Le Chevalier de Saint-George: The First Black Classical Composer by Amelie-Mai Wright
The Magic Flute: An Opera by Mozart by Kyra Teis
Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by Mike Venezia
Who Was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? by Yona Zeldis McDonough
You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Aristocrat in the French Revolution!: A Horrible Time in Paris You’d Rather Avoid by Jim Pipe

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 as his main history curriculum. This week we explored Yuan and Ming Dynasties China. He really got into the sections about the Great Wall and the Grand Canal. Plus we watched a NOVA Episode about the construction of the Forbidden City.

History Quest Middle Times
DK When on Earth?
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
DK Explorers
Kublai Khan, The Emperor of Everything by Kathleen Krull
No Year of the Cat by Mary Dodson Wade

Science

RSO Biology 1
Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim
Amazing Evolution: The Journey of Life by Anna Claybourne

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 moved on to lessons about the Earth and our Moon. For documentary time, we started a series on NOVA with BBC Earth titled Universe Revealed. We watched the episodes about the Age of Stars and the Milky Way. We are also still watching the PBS Eons videos here and there.

RSO Earth and Environment
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
RSO Asttonomy 1
DK Eyewitness Astronomy
DK Space
DK First Space Encyclopedia
DK Eyewitness The Planets
13 Planets: The Latest View of the Solar System by David A. Aguilar
The Planets by Gail Gibbons
Earth: My First 4.54 Billion Years by Stacy McAnulty
Our Planet! There's No Place Like Earth by Stacy McAnulty
Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space by Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman
Storybots: The Moon's Time to Shine by Scott Emmons
Moon! Earth's Best Friend by Stacy McAnulty
The Moon by Gail Gibbons
Moon's First Friends: One Giant Leap for Friendship by Susanna Leonard Hill

Academic Co-op

Another week of co-op with more changes to our line-up. I really hope that we are done with all this and can focus on the lessons. Quentin decided that he was going to pay attention during lessons and so we participated in homeroom and art and listened during biology. Um. I guess so… But it did mean that the stuff I had planned for him to do during co-op did not get done. Not terrible but definitely a chance in plans. Arthur learned about value in art, biomes in biology, and writing with voice in writer’s workshop. Overall we had a good day. And afterward, I got to solidify our travel plans with the two families joining us for the Kansas City trip.

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.

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 our last artist in the punk chapter: Talking Heads. I love Talking Heads and the boys seemed to also enjoy them. We watched their famous concert Stop Making Sense. I’m excited that we are in the timeline when we get to watch music videos for some of these songs.

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

Field Trip/Activities

Not a field trip, but we did have an open playdate at Backyard Playworld on Friday afternoon. The boys ran, jumped, and climbed for three hours. I call that a win! Plus they got to hang out with some friends.

High

Not necessarily homeschool related but we did get an estimate to fix the van (late February appointment) and the boys had their dental cleaning. I have literally been in the dentist office every week for an entire month (and I have to go in on Tuesday for my crown). Thankfully the boys had no problems. They even seem to enjoy going to the dentist (weirdos).

Low

Changes in co-op made us recalibrate once again. I am very annoyed with people who try to gaslight me. Some people apparently really want to burn bridges this January.

Next Week

Finishing our current reads; maybe pivoting to a fun non-study read aloud
Moving forward with math lessons
Traveling to Haiti and then the US (A) and all over the oceans (Q) for history
Exploring the rocky planets for Q’s science
Listening to Michael Jackson
Going to the zoo for animal watching, the Luminarium for science play, OPPD Arboretum for a hike, and a friend’s house for a playdate - a busy week ahead!
Starting Opinion Writing for Writer’s Workshop at co-op

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #1

Reading: Currently in the middle of a Book of the Month, Unread Shelf book The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas. It’s the spooky ghost story that I was really needing this week.

Watching: J and I started watching Rivals S1 and I’m absolutely obsessed with the campy 80s drama. I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Listening: I put on a big music mix, but mostly it’s been podcasts. And in particular, it’s been You’re Wrong About. I am official in summer 2020 in their back catalog.

Making: Today it’s supposed to hit 57 degrees, but it’s been super cold for the last week or so. I’ve focused on making warm meals, dare I say comfort food.

Feeling: After a crap January, I am feeling so much better this week.

Planning: Enrichment Co-op starts in April and I have to hold all the informational parent meetings before then. They litter my calendar for February and March. Now to finish up my documentation.

Loving: My preferred breakfast this week has all been banana bread. I always forget how much I love it!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W19: Finally Back to Activities and Friends!

What We Studied

More of our week was spent in your usual flow with school, co-op, and activities. I think that we ended the week in a really good place, I did implement a more intentional independent work task list to help the boys get on a good track and move quickly. Looking forward to February.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We dove into a new read aloud and it’s been much better than the last one. As an added bonus it appears in Hearth and Story G5 and as a Build Your Library Lit Bite. And it’s our co-op book selection for this month. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat

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 got deeper into The Hobbit and are really enjoying it. Q is definitely liking it more than our last one.

Poetry: Alphabestiary selected by Jane Yolen
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. Arthur started the second book of the course, diving back into algebraic equations. From there, we’re pivoting to coordinate planes. I am really am liking how Singapore spends a lot of time on what the equations are actually telling us vs just jumping into solving.

Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. We moved onto 3A starting slow to easy back into our lessons.

Singapore Primary 3A
Primarily Logic

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. Arthur moved onto the section about Australia and New Zealand. We really enjoyed this detour to place that often doesn’t get covered in history texts.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Birrarung Wilam: A Story from Aboriginal Australia by Aunty Joy Murphy and Andrew Kelly
Welcome To Country: A Traditional Aboriginal Ceremony by Aunty Joy Murphy
Australia and Oceania: True Books: Geography: Continents by Mel Friedman
You Wouldn’t Want to Be an 18th-Century British Convict!: A Trip to Australia You’d Rather Not Take by Meredith Costain
Sun Mother Wakes the World by Diane Wolkstein
Indigenous Australian Cultures by Mary Colson
Great Barrier Reef by Martha London
Uluru: Australia's Aboriginal Heart by Caroline Arnold
Land of the Long White Cloud: Maori Myths, Tales and Legends by Kiri Te Kanawa and Michael Foreman
New Zealand by Alicia Klepeis

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 two Indian Empires.

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

The temps were downright frigid this week…

Science

RSO Biology 1
Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim
Amazing Evolution: The Journey of Life by Anna Claybourne

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 moved on to lessons about galaxies, solar systems, and our sun. We are also still watching the PBS Eons videos here and there.

RSO Earth and Environment
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
RSO Asttonomy 1
DK Eyewitness Astronomy
DK Space
DK First Space Encyclopedia
DK Eyewitness The Planets
The Stuff Between the Stars: How Vera Rubin Discovered Most of the Universe by Sandra Nickel
Solar System By the Numbers by Steve Jenkins
Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space by Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman
The Book of Big Science Ideas by Freya Hardy
Sun: One in a Billion by Stacy McAnulty
13 Planets: The Latest View of the Solar System by David A. Aguilar
The Planets by Gail Gibbons

Academic Co-op

Another week of co-op and one our absent families rejoined us. So exciting to have them back with us! Arthur had a good day learning about neurotransmitters (expansion of week 1), food webs, and drawing techniques. For writer’s workshop, the kids did their first conference. It’s a learning process, but I’m really pleased by how they handled it. Q and I figured out a way to still do our read aloud and poetry. I feel like both boys accomplished so much in those four hours.

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.

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 onto two artists: Pattie Smith and The Replacements. The boys were not huge fans of those artists, but it is always good to expand our musical horizons.

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

Field Trip/Activities

We attended board game club on Friday afternoon . It was a bit of a rough start (Arthur’s besties were not there), both boys settled in and played some games with other kids. I had a lovely time chatting with old, middle, and new homeschool friends. We will definitely be attending next month’s meeting.

High

Wednesday we restarted our Joslyn Art Explorers visits. The kids had a great time exploring color this month. And we visited one of the galleries that we haven’t gotten back into since the museum opened. I think we have now visited all of the galleries at least once. Love our art museum visits.

Low

Q ended up having a bit of an emotional time after board game club and we had to have a big conversation afterwards. It was a bit rough. But we made it through.

Next Week

Continuing our current reads
Moving forward with math lessons
Traveling to Revolutionary France (A) and China (Q) for history
Exploring the rocky planets for Q’s science
Listening to Talking Heads
Playing at an indoor playground to get our wiggles out
Heading back to the dentist, thankfully this time for the kids’ cleaning appointments and not anything about me

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

Academic Co-op is back on track and moving along into the spring semester. I’m very excited about helping the kids with their writing.
I think that our terrible January might just be turning a corner. We’re healthy and school is going well.
Yesterday’s visit to Joslyn Art Museum was delightful. We met a new friend and saw some great art. The museum is such a gem for our city.
We finished a ton of shows this week and started a few new ones. Such great media available right now.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W18: Back to a Normal Week

What We Studied

We got over the sickness and went back to our usual schedule. We had some school days, I had a dentist appointment, and we restarted co-op.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We finished our current read aloud. I’m not sure that I really enjoyed it and may just skip this book in a few years when Quentin enters the 5th grade. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

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 one classic and started another classic. I must say that I’m always so surprised how bad of a writer I think C.S. Lewis is when compared to J.R.R. Tolkien.

Poetry: Alphabestiary selected by Jane Yolen
The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. Arthur started the second book of the course, diving back into algebraic equations. I am really am liking how Singapore spends a lot of time on what the equations are actually telling us vs just jumping into solving.

Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. We moved onto 3A starting slow to easy back into our lessons.

Singapore Primary 3A
Primarily Logic

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. Even though we covered two sections, these two sections were mostly a review focusing on North America and the American Revolution.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
A Spy Called James: The True Story of James Lafayette, Revolutionary War Double Agent, by Anne Rockwell
Anna Strong: A Spy During the American Revolution by Sarah Glenn Marsh Eliza: The Story of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, by Margaret McNamara
George vs. George: The American Revolution As Seen from Both Sides by Rosalyn Schanzer
Who Was Daniel Boone? by Sydelle Kramer

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 Kingdom of Mali. Lots of fun connections to other chapters in this one.

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 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. Co-op restarted and the first week was focused on vocabulary and introducing the ideas of ecology and evolution. We did read some chapters from our Story of Science to keep up.

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 started into our large space unit using RSO Astronomy as our backbone. We are also still watching the PBS Eons videos here and there.

RSO Earth and Environment
DK First Earth Encyclopedia
Boy, Were We Wrong About the Solar System by Kathleen V. Kudlinski
RSO Asttonomy 1
The Big Beyond: The Story of Space Travel by James Carter
DK Eyewitness Astronomy
The Big Beyond: The Story of Space Travel by James Carter
Find the Constellations by H.A. Rey
Galaxies, Galaies! by Gail Gibbons
The Book of Big Science Ideas by Freya Hardy
DK Space
Once Upon a Starry Night by Jacqueline Mitton
What Miss Mitchell Saw in the Stars by Hayley Barrett

Academic Co-op

We restarted co-op this week with some big changes. The changes created a lot of stress for me, but the remaining members managed to pull together and successfully have a normal day. This semester we are learning 2D Design and Art History, Biology (focusing on ecology and evolution), and Writing Workshop. Because of some scheduling, I ended up teaching Homeroom and Closing along with my actual class of Writing Workshop. We focused on neurotransmitters and ways to push our brain into releasing those chemicals.

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.

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 onto the next artist: The Clash! Arthur has decided that he likes them better than The Ramones while Quentin prefers The Ramones.

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

Field Trip/Activities

None this week

High

It was so nice to get back into a normal schedule for us. Hopefully next week we can re-introduce activities to our weekly schedule.

Low

I had a dentist appointment. Those are always a schedule disruption. The lingering pain impacted my ability to read with the kids and teach.

Next Week

Attempting to read around my dental issues
Moving forward with math lessons
Traveling to Australia (A) and Indian (Q) for history
Exploring the solar system for Q’s science
Listening to The Replacements and Patti Smith
Appreciating the art museum
Going on a nature hike
Playing some board games with friends

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W17: Sickness Changed All Our Plans

What We Studied

The entire family came down with that norovirus that’s been going around the country. And let me tell, it was horrible. We had plans for activities and meetings with friends that all had to be cancelled. This did open up the week for more school work and we powered through a ton. Ultimately, we all lost steam on Friday and just took it easy.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We started our next read aloud, a classic that has been on my list for awhile. We’re about halfway through it and I still don’t know what I think about the book. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

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 another classic. Q isn’t the biggest fan of C.S. Lewis, but we’re going to proceed through The Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe before we move on.

Poetry: Alphabestiary selected by Jane Yolen
The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

Math

Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. We moved onto 3A starting slow to easy back into our lessons.

Singapore Primary 3A
Primarily Logic

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. We dove into Volume 2 and managed to cover two sections this week because of sickness. We covered Russia under Catherine the Great and Captain Cook’s exploration of the South Pacific and Hawai’i.

Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK Timelines of Everyone
DK A Child Through Time
Catherine the Great by Elizabeth Raum
A Royal Ride: Catherine the Great's Great Invention by Kristen Fulton
You Wouldn’t Want to Live Without Vaccinations!, by Anne Rooney
Dr. Jenner and the Speckled Monster: The Discovery of the Smallpox Vaccine, by Albert Marrin
The Adventures of Tupaia, by Courtney Sina Meredith
The Shark King, by R. Kikuo Johnson
Famous Lives: Captain Cook, by Rebecca Levene
DK Explorers - James Cook
Butterfly for a King: Saving Hawaii’s Kamehameha Butterflies, by Cindy Trumbore and Susan L. Roth
A True Book: My United States: Hawai’i, by Joanne Mattern
Kamehameha: The Boy Who Became a Warrior King, by Ellie Crowe

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 settlement of Polynesia. Oddly, Q’s history connected with Arthur’s history chapters.

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
Oceania by Martha London

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. Co-op restarts next week, so no biology lesson this week. We did read some chapters from our Story of Science to keep up.

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 officially finished the Prehistory unit this week; although we still have a ton of Eons episodes to watch here and there through the winter.

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
Dragon Bones: The Fantastic Fossil Discoveries of Mary Anning by Sarah Glenn Marsh
My Mastodon by Barbara Lowell and Antonio Marinoni
Thomas Jefferson and the Mammoth Hunt: The True Story of the Quest for America's Biggest Bones by Carrie Clickard
I Used to be a Fish by Tom Sullivan
Sapiens: Our Human Evolution by J.R. Becker and Max Rambaldi
Amazing Evolution: The Journey of Life by Anna Claybourne Pg. 40-43
Mary Leakey: Archaeologist Who Really Dug her Work by Mike Venezia

Academic Co-op

We restart co-op next week.

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 textile art.

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

Field Trip/Activities

None… We quarantined to limit the spread of infection.

High

All the Eons episodes! We just hunkered down and watched a ton of documentaries while sick to relax and still learn.

Low

Sickness. Enough said.

Next Week

Restarting academic co-op for spring
Finishing our read alouds and starting new ones
Moving forward with math lessons
Covering the American Revolution (A) and African Empires (Q) for history
Diving into RSO Astronomy for Q’s science
Listening to The Clash

Next up on the TBR pile:

2025 Goals and Resolutions

Checking in with my 2024 Goals and Resolutions -

House Goals/Resolutions

Paint the living room (and maybe playroom) - FAIL
Downsize the playroom ✓

Life Goals/Resolutions

Complete 52 Hikes ✓ - We don’t ever get to 52 hikes, but the idea is to focus on getting out into nature often.
Add More Vegetarian Dishes to Our Rotation ✓
Work on a Better Budget ✓

Reading Goals/Resolutions

Read 200 Books/60,000 Books ✓
Clear Off 50 Books from My UnRead Shelf ✓ - Between my read books and unloading some that I will never read, I definitely got to this number.
Skip at Least 50% of BOTM Months ✓ - I really stuck to my idea of only ordering books I was actually excited about.

Homeschool Goals/Resolutions

Be a Leader for the Secular Homeschool Community ✓
Move the Coop into the Next Era ✓
Complete Another Year of Homeschooling ✓

And now on to 2025…

I’m not actually going to make any goals and resolutions this year. 2024 was hard and I really want to focus on the everyday victories instead of lofty goals. I want to try to live in the moments this year.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Christmas Bucket List Finish

Another year, another Christmas bucket list! This season I’m still embracing the mantra of “Take it easy.” As such, I’m filling our bucket list with all my favorite things and not reaching too far. Sickness at the beginning of the month made me switch a few things around. Hopefully we can get back to all our activities by the end of the month.