Homeschool Update: Week of 11/8/21

Weekend Activities, 11/6/21-11/7/21 

On Saturday, we went to a couple of used bookstores and ate McDonald's hamburgers in the car for lunch. On Sunday, we went to the Latin Mass as usual. 

Morning Time

Music: I finished reading aloud Sebastian Bach: The Boy from Thuringia by Opal Wheeler and Sybil Deucher, and we listened to the remaining pieces referenced in the text: 

• Beside Thy Cradle Here I Stand from Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 No. 59 
• Air on the G String from Suite No. 3, BWV 1068 
• My Heart Ever Faithful from Cantata 68 
• Now Let Us To The Bagpipes Sound from Peasant Cantata, BWV 212 Coro, 

Singing: We continued working on "Praise My Soul the King of Heaven." 

Poems: From Favorite Poems Old and New, edited by Helen Ferris (Doubleday Books, 1957), I read aloud: "When Mother Reads Aloud," "Little Charlie Chipmunk" by Helen Cowles LeCron, "The Deer" by Mary Austin, and "Pocahontas" by William Makepeace Thackeray. C. recorded her video recitation of "My Shadow" by Robert Louis Stevenson and is now memorizing "First Thanksgiving Of All" by Nancy Byrd Turner. E. recorded her recitation of "If I Had a Cardboard Box" by Aileen Fisher, and is now going to learn "November" by John Clare.

Art Appreciation: In 100 Masterpieces in Color (Hamlyn, 1972), we studied Entry in Jerusalem from Duccio's Maesta, and then we watched the Smarthistory video about the back of the Maesta, where Entry in Jerusalem is located.

Catechism: We finished reading I Believe in God. M. and C. have both memorized the Apostle's Creed. We also practiced singing Ave Maria in Gregorian chant. 

History

First Grade: C. continues to love Ancient Egypt. We caught up on our reading in Builders of the Old World, and she did a few pages in her Sticker History book. She also watched Tutankhamun's Treasures and Ancient Egypt 101 from National Geographic and  Ancient Egyptian Boat Museum - The Khufu Solar Ship from Prowalk Tours, and I read aloud Muti's Necklace by Louise Hawes.

Third Grade: M. covered these sections in The World of Captain John Smith by Genevieve Foster: 

• The Mayflower Sails 
• Anchored at Plymouth
• Indians and Thanksgiving
• Trouble in Bohemia
• Of Kings and Brides
• Massacres, Indian and White
• Hugo Grotius
• A Painter Goes to Paris
• Buckingham Finds a Bride for Charles

Science

First and third grade: The girls watched two more vintage Disney nature films: White Wilderness and Perri: The Youth of a Squirrel. 

English

C. finished Runaway Ralph. M. continued reading The Man Who Was Don Quixote by Rafaello Busoni and finished The Adventures of Don Quixote by Leighton Barret and illustrated by Warren Chappell. She started reading This New Land by G. Clifton Wisler. E. read Pop Fox. 

E. worked on words beginning and ending with SH in The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading and also read some Dick and Jane. 

We finished the Julius Caesar portion of Three Children and Shakespeare. 

We continued listening to A Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter during lunch. 

M. and C. did a few pages in their Mad Libs grammar books.

Typing and Handwriting 

Both girls did typing and practiced cursive most days.

Languages

C. continued to practice Over the River and Through the Wood in ASL. She also watched the We Play Along ASL letter videos for D, E, F, G, and H. 

Math 

M. continued working on Challenging Word Problems 3. C. finished the Weight unit in Singapore 2A and started another review section. C. also worked on addition and subtraction with renaming on the soroban. Both girls did a chapter from Life of Fred. 

Physical Education

The girls rode their bikes several times. We had an afternoon playdate on Friday at the Adventure Playground. 

Instrumental Music

M. and C. practiced piano and recorder daily. 

Homeschool Update: Week of 11/1/21

Weekend Activities, 10/30/21-10/31/21 

This weekend was Halloween, and we did our usual traditional Halloween activities. On Saturday, the girls gutted a pumpkin, and my husband carved a face in it. On Sunday, we went to Mass, and afterwards, we dressed up all the kids. M. was an evil queen, C. was a magician, E. was a clown, R. wore an owl mask, and A. wore a witch hat. We also ate donuts and some candy and drank apple cider.  

Morning Time

Music: I continued reading aloud from Sebastian Bach: The Boy from Thuringia by Opal Wheeler and Sybil Deucher, and we listened to these pieces referenced in the text:  

• Minuet in G Major, Anh. 116
• Gigue from French Suite No. 5
• Bouree in F Major from Suite, BWV 820 
• Musette in D Major, Anh. 126 

Singing: Our hymn for this week was Praise My Soul the King of Heaven. 

Poems: From Favorite Poems Old and New, edited by Helen Ferris (Doubleday Books, 1957), I read aloud: "Lake Isle of Innisfree" by William Butler Yeats, "Hiawatha's Childhood" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and "A Little Song of Life" by Lizette Woodworth Reese. 

Art Appreciation: In 100 Masterpieces in Color (Hamlyn, 1972),  we looked at The Lamentation Over the Dead Body of Christ by Giotto. We compared it to Lamentation over the Dead Christ by Niccolò dell'Arca. We also watched the Smarthistory video about the Giotto painting.

Catechism: We continued learning to understand the Apostle's Creed using I Believe in God by Lawrence Lovasik.  On Monday, we prayed the Litany of Saints. On Tuesday, we prayed the Litany for the Holy Souls in Purgatory and the prayers for All Souls Day from The Catholic All Year Prayer Companion. We also watched the All Saints Day and All Souls Day videos from Brother Francis on Formed.

History

First Grade: C. continued learning about Egypt. We started reading aloud Pharaoh's Boat by David Weitzman. Independently, she read Tutankhamun's Gift by Robert Sabuda. She also watched the video adaptation of Pyramid by David Macaulay and then spent some time looking at the book. She watched a Pyramids of Giza Walking Tour on YouTube as well. 

Third Grade: M. covered these sections in The World of Captain John Smith by Genevieve Foster. 

• In Memory of Shakespeare
• Pocahontas in England
• The Law vs. the King?
• Raleigh's Last Adventure
• The House of Burgesses
• Servants and Slaves
• They Knew That They Were Pilgrims
• John Smith, Unhappy Admiral

Science

First and third grade: This week's BFSU lesson was supposed to be D-6 Seasonal Changes and Earth's Orbit, for which we were meant to be doing data collection since last fall. The level of data analysis the curriculum calls for is far beyond anything that would interest either M. or C. so it ended up being a good thing that we didn't really keep up with the record keeping. Instead of doing what the lesson prescribes, we watched Seasons from Earth Rocks and Earth's Orbit, Rotation, Seasons and Moon from High School Science 101. Then M. and C. watched two Disney productions: The Living Desert and The Vanishing Prairie, to review the last few lessons we have covered.

English

C. finished King Oberon's Forest and started reading Runaway Ralph. M. continued reading The Man Who Was Don Quixote by Rafaello Busoni and The Adventures of Don Quixote by Leighton Barret and illustrated by Warren Chappell. E. started working on sounding out the words in Sam and the Mitt.  

E. continued to practice beginning blends in The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading. This week she focused specifically on words beginning and ending with SH. 

We continued reading the section Three Children and Shakespeare about Julius Caesar. 

We began listening to A Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter during lunch. 

Typing and Handwriting 

Both girls did typing and practiced cursive most days.

Languages

C. started learning Over the River and Through the Wood in ASL. She also started working on the letters of the alphabet in ASL as well, also using videos from We Play Along. She covered letters A, B, and C. 

Math 

M. continued working on Challenging Word Problems 3. C. worked on the Weight unit in Singapore 2A. C. also worked on addition and subtraction with renaming on the soroban. Both girls did a chapter from Life of Fred. 

Physical Education

The girls rode their bikes daily. 

Instrumental Music

M. and C. practiced piano and recorder daily. 

Homeschool Update: Week of 10/25/21

Weekend Activities, 10/23/21-10/24/21 

On Saturday, the girls rode bicycles and M. went on a bike ride with Daddy. We made a birthday video for Grandpa's sister Aunt V. and attended the Latin Mass on Sunday. 

Morning Time 

Music: I continued reading aloud from Sebastian Bach: The Boy from Thuringia by Opal Wheeler and Sybil Deucher, and we listened to these pieces referenced in the text:  

• Minuet in G Major, Anh. 114 
• March in D Major, Anh. 122 
• Gavotte from French Suite No. 5
• Polonaise in G minor, Anh. 119 
• Chorale "O Herzensangst, o Bangigkeit", BWV 400 
• Gavotte I from English Suite No. 3, BWV 808 

Singing: We practiced singing When the Saints Go Marching In.  

Poems: From Favorite Poems Old and New, edited by Helen Ferris (Doubleday Books, 1957), I read aloud: "There Are So Many Ways of Going Places" by Leslie Thompson, "Autumn Fancies" by Anonymous, "Vegetables" by Eleanor Farjeon, and "The Wonderful World" by William Brighty Rands, 

Art Appreciation: In 100 Masterpieces in Color (Hamlyn, 1972), we looked at Saint Mark from the Cathedral Treasury, Trier, and The Crucifixion (unknown painter, before 1339) from the British Museum.  

Catechism: We continued learning to understand the Apostle's Creed using I Believe in God by Lawrence Lovasik.  Saint Stories for Kids put out a week of episodes featuring "spooky" saint stories, and we listened to all of those as well.  

History 

First Grade: C. and I read most of The Great Pyramid by Elizabeth Mann and all of Mummies Made in Egypt by Aliki. She also watched the Reading Rainbow episode featuring the Aliki book, and did some coloring pages of Khufu and Osiris and Set. On Friday, C. decorated a Kiwi Crate box covered in paper to use as a sarcophagus. She wrapped one her dolls in a white scarf like a mummy and colored a paper mask to put over her face. Then she dressed up in a costume and black wig and she and her sisters processed through the house, taking the mummy to her tomb. 

Third Grade: With Daddy, M. read these sections from The World of Captain John Smith by Genevieve Foster:  

• A Synagogue in Amsterdam
• At Home in Leyden
• (The Telescope (1608))
• Galileo and the Planets
• Henry IV is Dead
• Galileo in Rome (1611)
• French Missionaries in Canada
• Pocahontas Is Married
• The Royal Couple
• King Gustav Adolf
• Russia's New Tsar, Michael Romanov (1613)
• The Naming of New England 

Science

First and Third Grade: We finished BFSU Lesson B-7: How Animals Move II: Different Body Designs; Major Animal Phyla. I showed M. and C. video from the library's website called  Animals 101: Animal Atlas and Invertebrates - Sponges, Worms, Mollusks, Arthropods, Echinoderms. 

Pre-K: E. and I read about weather phenomena in National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of How. 

C. also did her Mirror Illusions Kiwi Crate.   

English 

M. and C. finished all their thank you notes. 

C. continued reading King Oberon's Forest. She also read the first two books in the Lulu series by Hilary McKay. M. continued reading The Man Who Was Don Quixote by Rafaello Busoni and The Adventures of Don Quixote by Leighton Barret and illustrated by Warren Chappell. She also read Cody and the Fountain of Happiness by Tricia Springstubb. We finished our read-aloud of Anna Witch. 

E. continued to practice beginning blends in The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading. 

We started reading the section Three Children and Shakespeare about Julius Caesar. 

Typing and Handwriting 

M. and C. wrote their thank you notes in cursive. Both girls did typing most days. 

Languages 

C. continued working on learning two Halloween songs in ASL from We Play Along: It's Halloween and 10 Little Jack-o'lanterns. She also watched a series on the same channel of signs for household objects.

Art 

The girls made Halloween decorations from foam shapes and we hung them in the front window. 

Math 

M. continued working on Challenging Word Problems 3. C. worked on a review in Singapore 2A. C. also worked on addition and subtraction with renaming on the soroban. Both girls did a chapter from Life of Fred. 

Physical Education

Almost every weekday, the three girls rode their bikes before dinner. 

Instrumental Music

M. and C. practiced piano and recorder daily. 

Homeschool Update: Week of 10/18/21

Weekend Activities, 10/16/21-10/17/21 

On Saturday, the girls rode bikes and the babies rode in the wagon. On Sunday, we attended the Latin Mass. 

E.'s Birthday

E. turned four this week. On her birthday, we didn't do a lot of school. She opened presents, rode her bike, and ate chocolate cake. Her gifts included dolls, Eric Carle stickers and magnets, and an axolotl puppet.

Morning Time 

Music: To kick off our study of Bach, I read aloud the first chapter of Sebastian Bach: The Boy from Thuringia by Opal Wheeler and Sybil Deucher. 

Singing: We practiced singing "Abide with Me." 

Poems: From Favorite Poems Old and New, edited by Helen Ferris (Doubleday Books, 1957), I read aloud "Daddy Fell into the Pond" by Alfred Noyes, "Play Time" by William Blake, "The Ant Village" by Marion Edey and Dorothy Grider, and "My Dog" by Marchette Chute. 

Art Appreciation: In 100 Masterpieces in Color (Hamlyn, 1972), we looked at Bull Aurochs and Roman Mummy Portrait. 

Catechism: We continued learning the Apostle's Creed using I Believe in God: the Apostles' Creed by Lawrence G. Lovasik. This week, we read about the birth of Jesus. On Friday we celebrated the Feast Day of St. Pope John Paul II with prayers from the Catholic All Year Prayer Companion.  

History 

First Grade: C. has finally started her long-awaited unit on Ancient Egypt. We read Ancient Dwellers of the Nile and Tillers of the Soil from Builders of the Old World, and she labeled and colored the Old Kingdom of Egypt from MapTrek. 

Third Grade: M. read these sections of The World of Captain John Smith by Genevieve Foster: 

• The Great Chief Powhatan
• John Smith at Jamestown 
• A Compass and Talking Paper
• Pocahontas and John Smith
• John Smith Draws a Map of Virginia 
• Half Moon on the Hudson River
• French and Indians on Lake Champlaign
• President John Smith 
• Starvation and Shipwreck
• Tobacco to the Rescue

She watched 1607: A Nation Takes Root on YouTube. 

Science

First and Third Grade: We started BFSU Lesson B-7: How Animals Move II: Different Body Designs; Major Animal Phyla. Using our set of animal x-rays we studied the structure of the bodies of animals that have backbones. We also discussed arthropods and animals without backbones. We watched several videos: 

• Vertebrates from Dr. Binocs 
• What is an Arthropod? from Smithsonian Education 
• Arthropod Adaptations from Smithsonian Education
• Exploring Invertebrates: How do Earthworms Move? 
• The Undying Hydra

Preschool: E. and I continued to read from the National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of How. 

English 

M. and C. both continued working on Communion and birthday thank you notes. They also did some work in their Mad Libs workbooks. 

C. finished reading Farmer Boy and started King Oberon's Forest by Hilda van Stockum. She read some of 26 Fairmount Avenue to Gran.  

M. continued reading The Man Who Was Don Quixote by Rafaello Busoni and The Adventures of Don Quixote by Leighton Barret and illustrated by Warren Chappell. (She is reading the Barret and Chappell version to Gran as well.)

E. continued to practice beginning blends in The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading. 

We continued our read-aloud of Anna Witch. 

My husband read Honey Bear aloud to A. 

We finished reading the section Three Children and Shakespeare about A Midsummer Night's Dream. M. and C. watched the Globe theater production of the play on video on Wednesday and Thursday. 

We had story time on Wednesday with friends, and I read aloud The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams, Give Me Back My Bones by Kim Norman, Web Opposites by Rob Hodgson, and Pick a Pumpkin by Patricia Toht. 

Typing and Handwriting 

M. and C. wrote their thank you notes in cursive. Both girls did typing most days. 

Languages

C. started working on learning two Halloween songs in ASL from We Play Along: It's Halloween and 10 Little Jack-o'lanterns. 

Art

M., C., and E. made a birthday card for Aunt B.'s boyfriend, S. 

Math 

M. continued working on Challenging Word Problems 3. C. worked on measuring length in Singapore 2A. C. also worked on addition and subtraction with renaming on the soroban. 

Physical Education

Almost every weekday, the three girls rode their bikes before dinner. 

Instrumental Music

M. and C. practiced piano and recorder daily. 

Health 

M. went to the orthodontist on Monday for a palate expander, but it didn't fit her mouth. While the lab fixes that, we went to the next step in the process and she got braces on her four front teeth. She learned a lot about caring for braces, including how to floss under the wire and how to use wax to reduce the irritation of the brackets against her cheek. 

Homeschool Update: Week of 10/11/21

Weekend Activities, 10/9/21-10/10/21 

This weekend, Grandma, Aunt B. and S. came to visit and celebrate M.'s First Communion with us on Sunday. The girls went to the playground,  played Yahtzee, and ate Munchkins, and we had cake on Sunday. 

Morning Time 

Music: On Monday and Tuesday, M. and C. listened to Beethoven Lives Upstairs by Susan Hammond (1992), and on Wednesday, they watched the 1998 video adaptation. 

Singing: We learned to sing My Home's in Montana. 

Poems: From Favorite Poems Old and New, edited by Helen Ferris (Doubleday Books, 1957), I read aloud: "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allan Poe, "The Mountain and the Squirrel" by Ralph Waldo Emerson,  and "The Secret Cavern" by Margaret Widdemer 

Art Appreciation: We discussed Lady in Blue by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. 

Catechism: We started learning the Apostle's Creed using I Believe in God: the Apostles' Creed by Lawrence G. Lovasik. On Thursday, we prayed a Rosary, and on Friday, we listened to the St. Teresa of Avila episode of the Saint Stories for Kids podcast.  

History 

First Grade: In addition to the "Trading and Counting" section in Builders of the Old World, C. read two books on Open Library: One Small Blue Bead by Byrd Baylor (Macmillan, 1965) and Time of the Bison by Ann Warren Turner (Macmillan, 1987). 

Third Grade: M. read these sections of The World of Captain John Smith by Genevieve Foster: 

• Sir Francis Bacon Rings the Bell
• The King James Bible
• Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot
• A Meeting in Scrooby Village
• A Frenchman Reports on New Spain 
• Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Champlain Visits Canada
• Off to Virginia 
• New France, the First Colony

Science 

We finished BFSU Lesson D-4, Land Forms and Major Biomes of the Earth. We looked up the body of water that our watershed feeds into, and then followed it on the map until we reached the ocean. We also discussed how irrigation and transportation make it possible for people to have food that would not necessarily grow naturally in a given climate.  

English

M. and C. both worked in their Mad Libs reading workbooks. C. finished the first grade book and moved into the second grade book. M. worked on composing thank you notes for her First Communion cards and gifts and C. composed and started copying her birthday thank you notes in cursive.

C. continued reading Farmer Boy. She also read The Snowbound Mystery from the Boxcar Children series. 

M. finished Martin the Warrior  and started reading The Man Who Was Don Quixote by Rafaello Busoni and The Adventures of Don Quixote by Leighton Barret and illustrated by Warren Chappell. 

E. practiced beginning blends in The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading. 

We started reading Anna Witch by Madeleine Edmondson at lunchtime. My husband is still reading from Polly and the Wolf in the evenings. 

We continued reading Three Children and Shakespeare, and got close to the end of A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

Typing & Handwriting 

M. and C. both wrote their thank you notes in cursive. They also both worked on their lessons on Typing.com. C. completed the beginner level and received a certificate. 

Languages

Caroline continued working on This Little Light of Mine in ASL. 

Art

Using kits from the Dollar Tree, we glued together some felt Scarecrows. We also colored some wooden pins with Halloween designs and used them to hang some Halloween-themed coloring pages on the string we use for our art display. On Wednesday, the girls drew with chalk in the driveway. 

Math 

M. started working on Challenging Word Problems 3. C. finished Review 1 in Singapore Primary Mathematics 2A. She continued to practice addition and subtraction with renaming on the soroban.  

Physical Education

Almost every weekday, the three girls rode their bikes before dinner. 

Instrumental Music

M. and C. practiced piano and recorder daily. 

Homeschool Update: Week of 10/4/21

Weekend Activities, 10/2/21-10/3/21 

On Saturday, M. made her first Confession and went to the 5pm Mass. On Sunday, the girls rode their bikes in the morning. 

Morning Time 

Music: I finished reading aloud Ludwig Beethoven and the Chiming Tower Bells by Opal Wheeler (E. P. Dutton & Co., 1942), and we listened to the rest of the pieces referenced in the book: 

• Sonata no. 20 in G Major, Op. 49, no. 2,  mvt. 2 Minuetto 
• Sonata no. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, no. 2 mvt. 2 Allegretto 
• Symphony no. 9 in D Major, mvt. 4 
• Sonatina in F Major, anh. 5 no. 2
• Sonata no. 13 in E-flat Major, Op. 27, no. 1
• Sonata no. 19 in G minor, Op. 49, no. 1

Singing: We continued working on "Be Thou My Vision." 

Poems: From Favorite Poems Old and New, edited by Helen Ferris (Doubleday Books, 1957), I read aloud: Praise for Created Things by St. Francis of Assisi, "A Vagabond Song" by Bliss Carman, "Goblin Feet" by J.R.R. Tolkien, and "Travel" by Robert Louis Stevenson.   

Art Appreciation: We looked at St. Francis of Assisi by Margaritone d'Arezzo found in The Vatican Art Deck by Anja Grebe. 

Catechism: On Saturday, we sang "Dear Angel Ever at My Side" to celebrate the Feast of the Guardian Angels. On Monday, the feast of St. Francis, we read The Canticle of the Sun illustrated by Fiona French  and Clare and Francis written by Guido Visconti and illustrated by Bimba Landmann. We prayed a Rosary on Thursday for the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, and again on Friday.

History

First Grade: C. and I read Skara Brae by Olivier Dunrea and we started Life Long Ago: First Farmers by Leonard Weisgard. We also read Wheels and Sails, The Beginning of Settled Life, and Learning to Live Together from Builders of the Old World by Gertrude Hartman. C. watched a short video about Skara Brae to finish out the week. 

Third Grade: M. covered these sections from The World of Captain John Smith by Genevieve Foster:  

• John Smith, Sightseer in Italy
• Galileo
• A Royal Wedding
• Grand Opera and the Violin
• John Smith and the Terrible Turks
• John Smith, Slave
• Cervantes and Don Quixote
• Boris Godunov
• The Queen Is Dead
• King James I
• The Globe Theater
• Ben Jonson

On Thursday, she also read about the Battle of Lepanto from National Catholic Register  and watched Christopher Check: The Secret Weapon at Lepanto on YouTube.

Science

First and Third Grade: We started Lesson D-4, Land Forms and Major Biomes of the Earth. From EasyTeaching.Net, I printed fact sheets about Deserts, Grasslands, the Rainforest, and the Tundra and the girls and I used them to fill in a worksheet for each of those four biomes. We also used a biome map to help us identify the climate at different places on Earth, and we looked at a climatograph for Damascus, Maryland.

Independently, M. read Tundra by Delia Goetz and Deserts by Gail Gibbons, and C. read Grasslands by Delia Goetz and In the Rainforest by Kate Duke. 

On Friday, we reviewed the water cycle and discussed the concept of a watershed. We watched What is a Watershed? on YouTube. 

Health

M. had rubber bands put on her molars on Monday to get ready for her orthdontic appliances to be put in on the 18th. We talked about making sure not to eat anything chewy or sticky in order to prevent having them fall out too soon. 

English 

M. and C. each did a few pages in their Mad Libs reading workbooks. 

I started reading aloud the next section of Three Children and Shakespeare, which retells  A Midsummer Night's Dream. M. is still working on her Shylock speech.

E. continued practicing words beginning and ending with consonant blends in The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading. We started reading aloud More Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories together. C. continued reading Farmer Boy. She also read a Boxcar Children mystery and continued reading 26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie dePaola to Gran over Skype. M. continued to read Martin the Warrior to herself and she read a short story from The Little Bookroom to Gran. 

We finished Tatsinda on audio. My husband is still reading aloud Polly and the Wolf in the evenings.

We also had story time this week with a few friends. Because different people came, I re-used the farm theme. We read Early One Morning by Mem Fox and Christine Davenier, Click Clack Moo by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin, Catch That Chicken! by Atinuke and Angela Brooksbank, and To Market To Market by Anne Miranda and Janet Stevens.

Languages

C. started working on This Little Light of Mine in sign language. 

Typing & Handwriting 

M. and C. both practiced typing skills on Typing.com. M. copied questions from the Catechism in cursive and C. practiced some new letters.

Art 

The girls did chalk art in the driveway. 

Math 

M. continued to work with a protractor in Singapore 4A. On Wednesday, she and my husband read a chapter from Life of Fred: Jellybeans. M. did Khan Academy every day. 

C. worked on subtraction with renaming using the soroban in both Singapore and with me for extra practice. She finished the addition and subtraction of Singapore 2A. She also did Khan Academy every day. On Wednesday, I read aloud a chapter from Life of Fred: Cats. 

 E. continued to practice adding and subtracting within 9 on the soroban and she worked on being able to identify the numbers represented by different configurations of the beads. 

M. drilled multiplication and division and C. drilled addition and subtraction using the Flashmaster app. 

Physical Education

The girls rode bikes around the park near our house on several afternoons. 

Instrumental Music

M. and C. practiced piano and recorder almost daily.

Homeschool Update: Week of 9/27/21

Weekend Activities, 9/25/21 - 9/26/21 

On Saturday, the three girls rode their bikes, M. to the park with me and the twins, and C. and E. around the playground near our house. Grandma read aloud a chapter of Hickory by Palmer Brown over Skype. On Sunday, we went to the Latin mass as usual. 

Morning Time 

Music: I continued reading aloud Ludwig Beethoven and the Chiming Tower Bells by Opal Wheeler (E. P. Dutton & Co., 1942), and played recordings of the following pieces mentioned in the book 

• Six Minuets, WoO 10 no. 2 
• Country Dance in D Major, WoO 11 No. 1
• Country Dance in D Major, WoO 11 No. 5
• Symphony no. 6 in F Major, mvt. 1
• Symphony no.  6 in F Major, mvt. 5 
• Turkish March, The Ruins of Athens, op. 113, mvt. 4 Vivace
• Piano Sonata "Pathetique" Op. 13, mvt. 3 Rondo  
• Piano Sonata no. 25 in G Major, Op. 79, mvt. 3 Vivace

Singing: This week, we worked on learning to sing "Be Thou My Vision." 

Poems: From Favorite Poems Old and New, edited by Helen Ferris (Doubleday Books, 1957), I read aloud: "Joy of the Morning" by Edwin Markham,  "A Boy's Song" by James Hogg,  "Laughing Time" by William Jay Smith, "The Birthday Child" by Rose Fyleman, and "The Flowers" by Robert Louis Stevenson. 

Art appreciation: This week, we studied St. Jerome by Leonardo da Vinci found in The Vatican Art Deck by Anja Grebe. 

Catechism: We went over lessons 8 and 9 The New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism, in preparation for M.'s first confession this weekend and first communion next weekend. We had already covered the content, but it was a good review. On Friday, we read the readings for the feast of the Archangels from The Catholic All Year Prayer Companion by Kendra Tierney (Ignatius, 2021), and prayed the prayers to St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael. We also prayed the Novena Rose Prayer each day until St. Therese's feast day on Friday. On Thursday, C. and I read St. Jerome and the Lion by Margaret Hodge for his feast day, which was also her 6th birthday.

History 

First Grade: It was a light week for C. On Monday, she read about prehistoric worship, and learned about Stonehenge. For the next few days, we followed up with some videos The History of Stonehenge for Kids (from FreeSchool on YouTube), Stonehenge Monument (from National Geographic on YouTube), Stonehenge for Kids (from The Touring Teacher on YouTube), and Ancient Engineering: Stone Age Secrets (from Curiosity Stream). She also colored this Stonehenge coloring page. On Friday, she read about prehistoric clothing and watched a video about primitive weaving. 

Third Grade: M. heard these sections from The World of Captain John Smith by Genevieve Foster:  

• Akbar of India
• Mr. Pilot in Japan 
• Entrance to China
• Sun, Moon, and Stars
• A Star Gazer, Tycho Brahe and His Dog
• Gustav Adolf, Star of the North

Science

First and Third Grade: We worked on Lesson B-5A from BFSU Volume 1: Adaptations and Survival. We discussed the adaptations animals and plants have to suit them to their environments. I read aloud Plant Adaptations by Julie Lundgren from Hoopla, and showed the girls Living Things Change (from Crash Course Kids on YouTube) and Adaptations at Animal Wonders (from Nature League on YouTube)

Pre-K: E. and I started reading the first section of the National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of How. We also read What Happens to a Hamburger by Paul Showers after she specifically requested to learn more about digestion. 

Health 

I recently purchased The Care and Keeping of You from American Girl for M., and it's going to serve as our health curriculum this year. I forgot to mention it last week, but we have covered the first chapter so far, and she is very interested in learning "how she will grow up." M. also went to the dentist this week to have four baby teeth removed in anticipation of some upcoming orthodontic work. This invited lots of discussion of baby teeth among all the three girls, and C. was inspired to the point that the loose front tooth that had been hanging by a thread was finally wiggled loose enough to fall out.

English

M. and C. continued working in their Mad Libs reading workbooks. 

On Tuesday, we finished up the section of Three Children and Shakespeare about The Merchant of Venice, and on Wednesday and Thursday, M. and C. watched a video performance from the Globe. They really seemed to follow it, and they laughed loudly throughout the whole thing. M. is now working on memorizing Shylock's famous speech.

E. worked on some more words containing consonant blends in The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading. C. continued to read Farmer Boy to herself and started reading 26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie dePaola to Gran over Skype. M. continued to read Martin the Warrior to herself and Ol' Paul to Gran. 

At lunch, I started reading aloud Tatsinda by Elizabeth Enright. My husband is still reading Polly and the Wolf after dinner.

Languages

C. worked on learning "What a Wonderful World" in sign language. For her birthday, she received a copy of A Show of Hands: Say it in Sign Language and she and M. spent some time practicing signs from that as well. 

Typing & Handwriting 

M. and C. both practiced typing skills on Typing.com. M. copied questions from the Catechism in cursive and C. practiced writing her name and some other simple names in cursive.

Art 

We created autumn gnomes using a printable template from Krokotak and some leaves and flowers from outdoors. The girls also created chalk art in the driveway. 

Math 

M. finished all the algebra quizzes on Khan Academy, and worked on measuring angles in Singapore 4A. On Wednesday, she and my husband read a chapter from Life of Fred: Jellybeans. 

C. worked on subtraction with renaming using the soroban in both Singapore and with me for extra practice. She also did Khan Academy every day. On Wednesday, I read aloud a chapter from Life of Fred: Cats. 

E. practiced adding and subtracting within 9 on the soroban and she worked on being able to identify the numbers represented by different configurations of the beads. 

M. drilled multiplication and division and C. drilled addition and subtraction using the Flashmaster app a couple of times, but they missed a few days due to the dentist, C.'s birthday, etc. 

Physical Education

In addition to their morning exercise routine, which I'm fairly certain was not completed every day, the girls also rode bikes on Wednesday morning and again on Friday morning. C. received pedals for her balance bike for her birthday, and she is making great progress. She also received a jump rope and is working on learning to jump with it. 

Instrumental Music

M. and C. practiced piano and recorder almost daily. (M. took some time off for her teeth.)

Homeschool Update: Week of 9/20/21

Weekend Activities (9/18/21-9/19/21)

On Saturday, M. and E. went to Dollar Tree with me to shop for gifts for C.'s upcoming 6th birthday.  C. went to the park with Daddy and the twins. 

On Sunday, we attended the Latin Mass as usual. 

Morning Time 

Music: I read aloud the rest of Chapter 3 and the very beginning of Chapter 4 of Ludwig Beethoven and the Chiming Tower Bells by Opal Wheeler (E. P. Dutton & Co., 1942), and played recordings of the following pieces mentioned in the book: 

• Sonata in D Major, WoO 47, no. 3, mvt 2 Minuetto. Sostenuto
• Rondo in C Major, WoO 51, no. 1 
• Symphony no. 5 in C minor, mvt. 1 (first 8 minutes of the video)  
• Bagatelle, Op. 33, no. 6 Allegretto quasi andanta

Singing: This week's song was "When Johnny Comes Marching Home." We also reviewed "I Met a Bear." 

Poems: From Favorite Poems Old and New, edited by Helen Ferris (Doubleday Books, 1957), I read aloud: "The Road Goes Ever On and On" by J.R.R. Tolkien, "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer, "Autumn" by Emily Dickinson, and "My Land is Fair For Any Eyes to See" by Jesse Stuart 

Art appreciation: This week, we studied and compared The Crucifixion of St. Peter by Michelangelo and The Crucifixion of St. Peter by Guido Reni, both found in The Vatican Art Deck by Anja Grebe. We also watched a video about the restoration of Michelangelo's frescoes.

Catechism: M. and C. worked on learning the questions and answers for Lesson 8 in The New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism. On Tuesday, we prayed the appropriate prayers for St. Matthew's feast day from The Catholic All Year Prayer Companion by Kendra Tierney (Ignatius, 2021). On Wednesday, we used the same book to begin praying the Novena Rose Prayer in anticipation of St. Therese's feast day. On Thursday, we listened to the Saint Stories for Kids episode about Padre Pio and the girls watched the episode of Lukas Storyteller about him as well. 

History

First Grade: C. focused primarily on cave art this week. We finished reading They Lived Like This in the Old Stone Age by Marie Neurath, and we also read the sections entitled "The Cave Dwellers" and "Cave Artists" from Builders of the Old World. C. also watched Our Ancient Human Cousins from SciShow Kids, Lascaux Cave and the Stunning Primordial Art of a Long Lost World from Blast World Mysteries, The Oldest Known Cave Paintings in the World from TopTenz, and Did Humans Make These Ancient Cave Paintings? from National Geographic. On Friday she drew her own cave art on brown paper using oil pastels. 

Third Grade: M. heard these sections from The World of Captain John Smith by Genevieve Foster:  

• John Smith, Schoolboy
• The Faerie Queen
• The Upstart Crow 
• The White-Plumed Henry 
• El Greco and Philip II
• John Smith, Would-Be Knight
• El Dorado, City of Gold

She also read El Greco by Mike Venezia, and wrote and illustrated a narration about John White and the Indians on Roanoke Island. 

Science 

First and Third Grade: This week, we worked on Lesson B-5 in BFSU Volume 1: Concepts of Adaptations, Food Chains, and Energy Flow. This included the differences between herbivores and carnivores and the balance among them as well as an understanding of food chains. We read Who Eats What? by Patricia Lauber on Open Library and also watched the Food Chains Compilation from Crash Course Kids. At the end of the week, I printed some worksheets about food chains from Enchanted Learning (available to us through our umbrella group) and C. and M. did those for review. 

Pre-K: E. and I finished reading The National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Why. 

English

M. and C. each did a few pages in their Mad Libs grammar books. C. struggled with the page on capitalization, mostly because she has not learned to print and has not yet learned capital letters in cursive. 

On Tuesday and Friday, I read aloud two more chapters from Three Children and Shakespeare. We have just one act of The Merchant of Venice left before we move onto the next play.

E. worked on some more words containing consonant blends in The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading. We also read some of the Sheep in a Jeep books together; she read the words she could, and I did the rest. She also practiced her poem  "If I Had A Cardboard Box" by Aileen Fisher. C. started Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder and practiced her poem, "My Shadow" by Robert Louis Stevenson. M. finished Alfred Hitchcock's Solve-Them-Yourself Mysteries and started Martin the Warrior by Brian Jacques. To Gran over Skype, M. is still reading Ol' Paul by Glen Rounds and C. finished A Brother for the Orphelines by Natalie Savage Carlson. M.'s new poem is Shylock's famous speech from The Merchant of Venice.

At lunch, we finished listening to Then There Were Five by Elizabeth Enright. At dinner, my husband is still reading aloud Polly and the Wolf by Catherine Storr. 

On Wednesday, we hosted story time and we  read books on a farm theme: Early One Morning by Mem Fox, Click Clack Moo by Doreen Cronin, Stanley the Farmer by William Bee, and Barn at Night by Michelle Houts. The babies also heard Little Rabbit's Loose Tooth by Lucy Bate, Here are my Hands by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambeault, Can You Cuddle Like a Koala? by John Butler, To Market To Market by Anne Miranda, and A Parade of Elephants by Kevin Henkes.

Languages

C. has taken a real interest in American Sign Language, so we started learning the alphabet and we're practicing some songs from We Play Along on YouTube. She has mastered Happy Birthday and is close to mastering You Are My Sunshine. 

Typing & Handwriting 

M. and C. both practiced typing skills on Typing.com. M. copied questions from the Catechism in cursive and C. practiced writing her name in cursive. 

Math 

M. worked on another review section in Singapore 4A as well as more quizzes in algebra on Khan Academy. 

C. worked on subtraction with renaming using the soroban in both Singapore and with me for extra practice. She also did Khan Academy every day.

E. continued to practice moving the beads on the soroban up to 9. 

M. drilled multiplication and division and C. drilled addition and subtraction using the Flashmaster app. 

Physical Education

M. and C. did their morning exercise routine almost daily. On Monday, M., C., and E. stayed with our next door neighbors while we took the twins for their 18-month well check. The neighbors took them to play on the playground and on a walk around the neighborhood and then played ball and running games with them until we got home. I also forgot to mention that I recently took M. to the high school track to see if she could run a mile. She ran it in 10 minutes, 58 seconds. 

Instrumental Music

M. and C. practiced piano and recorder daily.

Homeschool Update: Week of 9/13/21

Weekend Activities (9/11/21 - 9/12/21) 

On Saturday, C. and E. practiced riding their balance bikes around the playground while M. helped me with the babies on the playground slides. Then all three girls played together on the playground. On Sunday, we attended an outdoor Mass for homeschoolers followed by some outdoor playtime with friends old and new.

Morning Time 

Music: I read aloud the rest of Chapter 2 and beginning of Chapter 3 of Ludwig Beethoven and the Chiming Tower Bells by Opal Wheeler (E. P. Dutton & Co., 1942), and played recordings of the following pieces mentioned in the book: 

• Anger over a Lost Penny, op. 129
• Sonata no. 25 in G Major, Op. 79, no. 2 mvt. 2 Andante 
• 6 Variations on 'Nel cor piu non mi sento', WoO 70 (Andantino) 
• Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 no. 2, mvt 2 Rondo 
• Piano Sonata no. 12 in A-flat Major, Op. 26, mvt. 2 Scherzo  
• Albumfleaf "Fur Elise" 

Singing: The girls learned to sing "Lift High the Cross." We concluded morning time each day with Salve Regina. On Friday, we practiced their previously learned songs in a family sing-along. 

Poems: From Favorite Poems Old and New, edited by Helen Ferris (Doubleday Books, 1957), I read aloud: "Me" by Walter de la Mare, "Song for a Little House" by Christopher Morley, "Frolic" by A.E. (G.W. Russell), "Feather or Fur" by John Becker and "Puppy and I" by A.A. Milne. 

Art appreciation: Using questions from TeacherVision.com and MasterpieceSociety.com, we discussed The Marriage at Cana by Veronese found in The Louvre Art Deck: 100 Masterpieces from the World's Most Popular Museum by Anja Grebe and Erich Lessing. Late in the week, we compared it to The Marriage Feast at Cana by Juan de Flandes. . We also watched a YouTube video showing the painting hanging in the Louvre. 

Catechism: We reviewed the first seven lessons in The New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism. On Tuesday, we prayed the Collect Prayer and the Holy Cross Prayer for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, found in The Catholic All Year Prayer Companion by Kendra Tierney (Ignatius, 2021). On Wednesday we used the same book to review the Scripture readings for the seven sorrows of Mary and to pray the Collect Prayer and "To Mary in Honor of her Seven Sorrows" for the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. On Friday, we listened to the episode of Saint Stories for Kids about St. Hildegard of Bingen. 

History

First Grade: C. learned about the importance of the discovery of fire, and about the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. We read the sections of Builders of the Old World called "The Fire Makers" and "Buried Treasures." On Thursday, she filled out a short timeline of Early Human History, showing the progression from Old Stone Age to Iron Age. On Friday, we read the first few pages of They Lived Like This in the Old Stone Age by Marie Neurath, stopping before the section on cave paintings, which we'll cover next week. She also watched When We Tamed Fired from PBS Eons.

Third Grade: M. read (with Daddy) these sections from The World of Captain John Smith by Genevieve Foster: 

• Little John Smith
• To and From Holland
• Mary Stuart and the Honest Man 
• James
• Lord Roanoke and Virginia Dare
• Spanish Armada 
• War of the Three Henrys
• The Lost Colony 

On Friday, they read The Lost Colony of Roanoke by Jean Fritz, and M. wrote a narration about John White. 

Science 

First and Third Grade: This week, we worked through Lesson A-6 in Building Foundations for Scientific Understanding Vol. 1: Matter II: Air Pressure, Vacuums, and Earth's Atmosphere. My husband demonstrated how to use a pressure gauge using a tire pump and a rubber playground ball. The girls also puffed up their cheeks to feel how air pressure increases inside their mouths. 

From Fun Science Demos, I showed the girls Exploring Air and Air Pressure, Weather: Measuring Air Pressure, and What is Air Pressure - Egg Demonstration. We also watched Air Exerts Pressure Experiment; Weather Barometers: How Does a Barometer Work?; Weather Maps (Isobar Fronts); and How a Vacuum Cleaner Works. 

Pre-K: E. and I read about animals in The National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Why. She fell in love with the photo of an axolotl, so I showed her a YouTube video of axolotls yawning. 

English 

M. and C. love their Mad Libs workbooks. This week, C. worked on pronouns, adjectives, conjunctions, and prepositions. I went to explain prepositions to her, and she immediately started singing Busy Prepositions, which we then watched together. M. worked on adverbs, abstract nouns, conjunctions, and irregular past tense verbs. 

 On Tuesday and Thursday, I read aloud to M. and C. from Three Children and Shakespeare. We are well into The Merchant of Venice now, and the girls beg me to read more each time we finish a chapter. At lunch we're still listening to Then There Were Five by Elizabeth Enright. At dinner, my husband is still reading aloud Polly and the Wolf by Catherine Storr. Grandma started reading aloud Hickory by Palmer Brown over Skype on Thursday. 

E. recorded her video reading of Ann's Hat. She needs some more instruction before the next book we have for her, so now she's just working out of The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading. This week, she learned to read words ending in -ck, -lk, and -nk. 

M. read I Will Adventure by Elizabeth Vining Gray and started Alfred Hitchcock's Solve-Them-Yourself Mysteries. C. finished The Mouse and the Motorcycle, then read The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting and Jenny's Moonlight Adventure by Esther Averill. To Gran over Skype, M. is still reading Ol' Paul by Glen Rounds and C. is still reading A Brother for the Orphelines by Natalie Savage Carlson. 

I read aloud a bunch of picture books to the babies too: In the Diner by Christine Loomis, Mama Cat Has Three Kittens by Denise Fleming, Bruno Munari's Zoo, Some Dinosaurs Are Small by Charlotte Voake, One-o-Saurus, Two-o-Saurus by Kim Norman, B is for Baby by Atinuke, Stanley's Fire Engine by William Bee, and Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle.

M. recorded her video recitation of Oberon's Speech from A Midsummer Night's Dream Act II Scene 1. C. is still working on memorizing "My Shadow" by Robert Louis Stevenson and E. is working on memorizing "If I Had A Cardboard Box" by Aileen Fisher. 

Math 

M. spent most of the week working on an algebra test on Khan Academy. It was very challenging for her, but a good challenge. She will go back and work through the algebra unit tests in the coming weeks and then attempt to take it again. M. also worked on Review 2 in the Singapore 4A workbook, but she will need to revisit some of the word problems to correct her mistakes. 

C. has been struggling to add and subtract with renaming on the soroban. My husband made her some "cheat sheets" to help her stop panicking at every step of the process. She now says the problems in Singapore 2A are fun. She especially likes the exercises where the answers help decode a secret message. 

E. learned to count to nine on the soroban, and she continued to work on moving the beads up and down with the correct fingers. She did some simple addition and subtraction up to 4 to help her practice. 

M. drilled multiplication and division and C. drilled addition and subtraction using the Flashmaster app. 

Physical Education

M. and C. did their morning exercise routine daily. They were also taken out to ride their bikes on Monday afternoon. 

Instrumental Music

M. and C. practiced piano and recorder daily.

Handwriting 

M. copied a question and answer from her Catechism in cursive each day. C. worked on cursive each day.

Homeschool Update: Week of 9/6/21 (First Week of 2021-2022)

We have shifted gears and we're in full school mode once again. This year, M. (8 in November) is in third grade, C. (6 later this month) is in first grade, and E. (4 next month) is in Pre-K. R. and A. (17 mos.) are along for the ride. We have made some changes to the schedule, but most of our curriculum remains the same.  

Morning Time 

Music:  I read aloud Chapters 1 and 2 of Ludwig Beethoven and the Chiming Tower Bells by Opal Wheeler (E. P. Dutton & Co., 1942), and played recordings of the following pieces mentioned in the book: 

• Piano Sonata no. 19 in G minor, Op. 49, no. 1, mvt. 2 Rondo. Allegro
• Sonatina in G Major, Anh. 5 
• Ecossaise I in E-flat Major, WoO 86
• Ecossaise II in G Major, WoO 23
• Sonatina in G Major, Anh. 5, mvt. 2 Romance 
  

Singing: M. C., and E. took turns singing the call and reponse parts in "I Met a Bear". We concluded morning time each day with Salve Regina. 

Poems: from Favorite Poems Old and New, edited by Helen Ferris (Doubleday Books, 1957): School-Bell by Eleanor Farjeon, "Arithmetic" by Carl Sandburg, "September" by Helen Hunt Jackson, and "Geography" by Eleanor Farjeon.  

Art Appreciation: Using questions from TeacherVision.com and MasterpieceSociety.com, we discussed Woman with a Mirror by Titian, found in The Louvre Art Deck: 100 Masterpieces from the World's Most Popular Museum by Anja Grebe and Erich Lessing. At the end of the week, we compared this painting with Conversation in a Park by Thomas Gainsborough. 

Catechism: We reviewed the first seven lessons in The New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism. On Wednesday, we read about St. Peter Claver in Picture Book of Saints by Rev. Lawrence G. Lovasik, SV.D. (Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1979). 

History 

First Grade: C. has begun the first year of the classical Trivium. We are using Builders of the Old World by Gertrude Hartman (D.C. Heath and Company, 1946) as our spine, and this week we read "How the First People Lived" and "Sticks and Stones," which primarily focused on the tools of the Old Stone Age and New Stone Age. 

C. watched several videos about archaeology and prehistoric life: 

• Solving Mysteries with Archaeologists! (SciShow Kids)
• Archaelogists - Career Spotlight 
• What Was Life Like? | Episode 1 : Prehistory - Meet a Prehistoric Flint Miner

On Friday, she made paper replicas of stone-age tools using a printable from Zing-Zoom.com and dictated a narration to me, which I typed up and had her illustrate. She also used some items in the dress-up box to dress herself up like a caveman. 

Third Grade: For this segment of the year, M.'s spine is The World of Captain John Smith by Genevieve Foster. This week, she and my husband read these sections together: 

• The Queen's Little Pirate
• Queen Elizabeth
• Philip II
• A Declaration of Independence
• The Virgin Queen and Her Frog Prince
• Mary Stuart
• The Three Henrys and the Queen Mother of France
• Young Walter Raleigh and Virginia
• No Gold - But Tobacco

They also went over a chart in the book called "Royal Relatives" which shows the successions in England and Scotland that explain how the same person was both King James I of England and King James VI of Scotland. 

Science 

First and Third Grade: We are still in Volume 1 of Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding and using Early Elementary Science Education by Shannon Jordan as a guide. This week, we started the year with Lesson C-3a,  "Energy and Force." As an introduction, we read Move It! Movement, Forces, and You by Adrienne Mason, and did  a demonstration from the book showing how more force is needed to move heavier objects. M. and C. each lifted a 5 lb. back of flour to show what 5 lbs. of force feels like, and they each completed a worksheet identifying whether the force in a particular action is  push or pull.  

In the second half of the week, we watched videos demonstrating how water wheels use the force of gravity, how engineers protect buildings against wind, gravity, and earthquakes, and how wind farms generate electricity: 

• Energy 101: Hydropower 
• How Dams Work: Hydro Dams
• Learn About Wind Farms (Super Simple)
• How Tall Buildings Tame the Wind
• How We Design Buildings to Survive Earthquakes
• The Future of Earthquake Proof Buildings

On Wednesday, C. did the Push-and-Pull Toys Kiwi Crate.  

Pre-K: E. and I read the first section of The National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Why (Amazing Me) and some of the second section (How Things Work).

English 

I happened to receive some Mad Libs Reading workbooks for review from Penguin Random House, so I decided we would start the year using those to review parts of speech, spelling rules, etc. C. is working in the first grade book, and M. is working in the third grade book. I had them skip the phonics sections because they were too easy, but I will probably have them do everything else. I had also have the books for 2nd and 4th grade for whenever they finish these. 

With M. and C., I am reading aloud Three Children and Shakespeare. With C. in the evenings I'm reading aloud from My Bookhouse. To give me voice something of a break, our lunchtime book is now on audio. We're currently listening to Then There Were Five by Elizabeth Enright. At dinner, my husband is reading aloud Polly and the Wolf by Catherine Storr. 

E. is continuing to work through The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading. This week she started the section on consonant blends and learned how to sound out double letters. She also practiced with a Hooked on Phonics reader called Ann's Hat and her three-letter word flashcards. M. listens to her reading once a day after she receives instruction from me.  

M. read Valley of the Smallest: The Life of the Shrew by Aileen Fisher and The Marvelous Invention of Alvin Fernald by Clifford B. Hicks. C. read Jenny and the Cat Club by Esther Averill and started The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. To Gran over Skype, M. is reading Ol' Paul by Glen Rounds and C. is reading A Brother for the Orphelines by Natalie Savage Carlson. 

Math 

M. has been doing math at a 6th grade level on Khan Academy, so we're starting the year having her do all the review sections in Singapore 4A. We'll review the weak spots as needed and then move forward until we reach material she doesn't know yet. This week, she did Review 1, and she got some questions about rounding and timelines incorrect, so she went back and did the practice problems on those topics. M. is more than halfway through Life of Fred: Jellybeans.  

C. resumed working in Singapore 2B, using the soroban to assist her with multi-digit addition and subtraction. In the evenings with me, she is also doing additional soroban practice with multi-digit addition and subtraction, and using the Cuisenaire rods to review the numbers that add up to equal 5 (little friends) and 10 (big friends). She started Life of Fred: Cats this week. 

E. is beginning to use the soroban. I'm teaching her from the Learning Mathematics with the Abacus Year 1 textbook. This week, we focused on Unit 1, which teaches the parts of the soroban, and which fingers to use to move which beads. We also practiced clearing it and counting up to five. 

M. and C. started using an app called Flashmaster to drill their math facts. It's a free app for the Kindle Fire and it delivers their results to my husband's Evernote account by email. 

Physical Education 

I  borrowed some of the exercises from the Ten Thousand Method YouTube videos we used the past two years and wrote out a routine for the girls to do on their own before breakfast. This is what they're doing: 

• 15 little arm circles
• 15 big arm circles
• 25 punches
• 20 marches 
• balance flamingo (count to 20)
• 15 kangaroo jumps
• 15 bird wings
• 15 monkey walks 
• 15 windmills
• balance flamingo (count to 20)
• 15 rabbit jumps
• bear crawl (count to 20)
• 20 seal claps
• balance flamingo (count to 20)
• 15 frog jumps 
• 20 horse gallops
• 20 lizard runs
• balance flamingo (count to 20) 
• 20 marches  
• 25 punches
• 15 big arm circles
• 15 little arm circles 

Currently, they're doing their workout on the deck, but they'll move to the basement once it gets too cold.

The girls also went for one last swim on Labor Day, and they also had an unexpected playdate on our first day of school because our public school friends had a day off for Rosh Hashanah.  

Instrumental Music

M. and C. practiced piano and recorder daily.

Handwriting 

M. copied a question and answer from her Catechism in cursive each day. C. worked on cursive each day.

Homeschool Update: Weeks of 8/23/21 and 8/30/21

As summer comes to an end, we have slowly been winding down our summer studies in preparation for starting the new school year after Labor Day. Here is the last of our summer work. 

Morning Read-Alouds 

From Sing a Song of Seasons: A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year selected by Fiona Waters,  illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon (Nosy Crow, 2018) we read "The Eagle" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "Hurricane" by Dionne Brand, and "I Went Up the High Hill" by Anonymous. 

For the week of 8/23 our author/illustrator was Leo Lionni. I read aloud Swimmy, Fish is Fish, Frederick, and Inch by Inch,  and Grandma read Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse, The Biggest House in the World, The Alphabet Tree, and Theodore and the Talking Mushroom, all from Frederick's Fables.

For the week of 8/30 our author/illustrator was Maurice Sendak. I read aloud I'll Be You and You Be Me by Ruth Krauss, A Hole is to Dig by Ruth Krauss, Outside Over There, In the Night Kitchen, and The Sign on Rosie's Door, and Grandma read Where the Wild Things Are. The girls also watched Really Rosie on YouTube. 

Music

We reviewed the songs we learned this year and tested to see which the girls had memorized.  They practiced piano and recorder daily. 

Art

The girls made birthday cards for a friend who turned 4. M and C painted with watercolors on the easel, and C. and E. drew with chalk in the driveway. 

Catechism

M. is scheduled to receive her first Communion in October. We had a meeting at church to practice and we have been preparing for her first Confession. 

History 

From The Golden Book of America adapted for young readers by Irwin Shapiro (Simon & Schuster, 1957), we read the chapter entitled " It Happens Every Four Years" about the history of presidential campaigns. From Yankee Doodle's Cousins by Anne Malcolmson (Houghton Mifflin, 1941), we read "Pecos Bill," "Pecos Bill and his Bouncing Bride" and "John Darling." From American Adventures by Elizabeth Coatsworth (Macmillan, 1968). we read "The Sod House" and "Cherry Ann and the Dragon Horse." From The Great Heritage by Katherine B. Shippen (Viking Press, 1947), we read "The Long Trail." We finished the month with two chapters about WWII from The Landmark History of the American People from Appomattox to the Moon by Daniel J. Boorstein (Random House, 1968). 

Math

Both girls continued working in Khan Academy. C. worked on quadrilaterals and area. M. worked on data and statistics along with algebra basics. 

Reading and Writing

M. read Time Stops for No Mouse by Michael Hoeye and The Number Devil by Hans Magnus Enzensberger,and finished reading A Book for Jennifer by Alice Dalgliesh to Gran. C. started reading the Orphelines series by Natalie Savage Carlson. 

Physical Education

The girls did three trips the pool during these two weeks. 

Homeschool Update: Week of 8/16/21

Morning Read-Alouds

From Sing a Song of Seasons: A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year selected by Fiona Waters,  illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon (Nosy Crow, 2018) we read "The Pike" by Amy Lowell, "Brown-river Brown-river" by Anonymous, "Row Row Row Your Boat" by Anonymous, "The Last Rose of Summer (Extract)" by Thomas Moore, "What is Pink?" by Christina Rossetti, "The Secret Song" by Margaret Wise Brown 

We finished the remaining poems in A Book of Americans by Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benet (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1933).

This week Grandma read an apple picture book to accompany our Johnny Appleseed readings for history. She picked Apples Apples Apples by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace. 

Music

We learned to sing "Goodnight Irene" as performed by The Weavers. M. and C. practiced piano and recorder every day.

Art

The girls made birthday cards for my husband's birthday as well as a place card they gave him as a gift. 

Catechism

We started reviewing what M. needs to know to receive first Communion in preparation for a meeting at church next week. She worked on memorizing the Act of Contrition. 

History

This week we read "The Old Country Store" from The Golden Book of America adapted for young readers by Irwin Shapiro (Simon & Schuster, 1957), "Johnny Appleseed" from Yankee Doodle's Cousins by Anne Malcolmson (Houghton Mifflin, 1941), and "The League of the Iroquois" and "Indian Versus Indian" from The American Indian adapted for children by Anne Terry White (Random House, 1963). 

Math

M. and C. did some work in Singapore Math and Khan Academy every day.

Reading and Writing 

At lunch, we started listening to the audiobook of The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks. C. started working on her cursive again. 

Physical Education

The girls went to the pool on Saturday.

Homeschool Update: Week of 8/9/21

The first week in August, we spent at the beach in the Southern Outer Banks. We had planned to do some reading aloud and some nature study, but we mostly ended up taking a very leisurely week. The girls enjoyed building sandcastles, collecting shells, and swimming in the pool, and they had a fun visit to the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. We arrived home on Saturday and used this week to slowly return to our normal routine.

Morning Read-Alouds 

From Sing a Song of Seasons: A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year selected by Fiona Waters,  illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon (Nosy Crow, 2018), we read "If All the Seas Were One Sea" by Anonymous, "Until I Saw the Sea" by Lilian Moore, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" by William Butler Yeats, "Squishy Words (To Be Said When Wet)" by Alastair Reid, "At the Seaside" by Robert Louis Stevenson, "Sea Shell" by Amy Lowell, "The Shell" by John Foster, "Days" by Brian Moses, "August Heat" by Anonymous, "The Mockingbird's Song" Tigua song translated by John Comfort Fillmore, "I am the Rain" by Grace Nichols, "Little Fish" by D.H. Lawrence, and "There Was an Old Man in a Tree" by Edward Lear. 

From A Book of Americans by Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benet (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1933) we read poems entitled: "Daniel Drew" and "Jesse James." 

Our author/illustrator for this week was Wanda Gag. We read Wanda Gag: The Girl Who Lived to Draw by Deborah Kogan Ray, Millions of Cats, and Nothing-at-All. On Skype, Grandma read Gag's version of Snow White.

Music

We learned to sing "The Titanic (When That Great Ship Went Down)" as recorded by Pete Seeger.  

M. and C. practiced piano and recorder daily.

History 

Our readings for the week were "Old Whirlwind" from American Adventures by Elizabeth Coatsworth (Macmillan, 1968), and "Davy Crockett" and "Mike Fink" from Yankee Doodle's Cousins by Anne Malcolmson (Houghton Mifflin, 1941). 

Math 

M. worked on algebra basics and C. worked on addition with renaming using the soroban. They both did Khan Academy every day.

Reading and Writing

We read aloud Secret Sisters of the Salty Sea by Lynne Rae Perkins at lunch. In the evening, I started reading The Happy Hollisters at Pony Hill Farm with C. 

Physical Education

The girls went swimming twice this week.

Homeschool Update: Week of 7/26/21

Morning Read-Alouds 

From Sing a Song of Seasons: A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year selected by Fiona Waters,  illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon (Nosy Crow, 2018), we read: "Thistles" by Karla Kuskin, "Cow" by Ted Hughes, "The Pasture" by Robert Frost, "Littlemouse" by Richard Edwards, and "The Falling Star" by Sara Teasdale. 

From A Book of Americans by Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benet (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1933) we read poems entitled: "David Farragut" and "Clara Barton." 

Instead of an author, this week we did a theme: the beach. I read The Beach Before Breakfast by Maxine Kumin, A Jellyfish is not a Fish by John Frederick Waters, Shimmer and Splash by Jim Arnosky, Houses from the Sea by Alice Goudey, and An Octopus is Amazing by Patricia Lauber. On Skype, Grandma read some seashore poems and Chirri and Chirra Under the Sea by Kaya Doi.

Music 

We continued singing "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" as performed by The Corries. We listened to Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Johannes Brahms, Dance of the Reed Pipes from The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky, The Firebird: Infernal Dance by Igor Stravinsky, and Piano Sonata No. 11 in A: Turkish Rondo by Mozart. 

M. and C. practiced piano and recorder daily.

Art 

We studied The Edge of the Forest of Fontainbleau, Setting Sun by Theodore Rousseau from the Louvre Art Deck: 100 Masterpieces from the World's Most Popular Museum by Anja Grebe and Erich Lessing. 

C. followed the instructions on two how-to-draw videos from Art for Kids Hub: How to Draw a Playground Slide and How to Draw a Fishbowl. M followed the instructions in How to Draw a Coral Reef.

Catechism 

We continued working on Lesson 7: "Jesus Opens Heaven For Us" in The New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism. 

History 

This week's readings were "Highwaymen of the Seas" and  "The New World Changes Warfare" from The Golden Book of America adapted for Young Readers by Irwin Shapiro (Simon & Schuster, 1957) and "Aunt Flora" from American Adventures by Elizabeth Coatsworth (Macmillan, 1968).  

Science 

The girls watched Mr. Wizard's World and finished the series. 

Math 

M. worked on algebra basics and C. worked on addition with renaming using the soroban. They both did Khan Academy every day.

Reading and Writing 

We finished our read-aloud of One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street and my husband finished reading aloud Serendipity Tales. M. continued to read A Book for Jennifer to Gran on Skype, and C. read a Houndsley and Catina book to Gran as well. 

Physical Education

We went to the pool with friends. 

Homeschool Update: Week of 7/19/21

Morning Read-Alouds 

From Sing a Song of Seasons: A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year selected by Fiona Waters,  illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon (Nosy Crow, 2018) we read "I Wish..." by Anonymous, "It Was / So Hot"  by Malcolm de Chazal, "Colouring In" by Jan Dean, and "Where the bee sucks" from The Tempest by William Shakespeare.

From A Book of Americans by Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benet (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1933) we read poems entitled: "Zachary Taylor," "John James Audubon," "Nancy Hanks," "Daniel Boone," "Crawford Long and William Morton," "Sam Houston," "Western Wagons," "Clipper Ships and Captains," "James Buchanan," "Crazy Horse," "Stonewall Jackson," "Abraham Lincoln," "Negro Spirituals," "Ulysses S. Grant," and "Robert E. Lee." 

Our author for the week was Jan Brett. I read aloud On Noah's Ark and Town Mouse Country Mouse and Grandma read Comet's Nine Lives. 

Music 

We sang "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" as performed by The Corries. We listened to Lt. Kijé Suite: Troika by Sergei Prokofiev, Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade by Modest Mussorgsky, Simple Symphony: Playful Pizzicato by Benjamin Britten, Album for the Young: The Happy Farmer by Robert Schumann. 

M. and C. practiced piano and recorder daily.

Art

We studied Saint Mary Magdalene by Gregor Erhart from the Louvre Art Deck: 100 Masterpieces from the World's Most Popular Museum by Anja Grebe and Erich Lessing. The girls made bookmarks for our friend that we met up with in New York to thank her for the books she gifted to us. 

Catechism 

We continued working on Lesson 7: "Jesus Opens Heaven For Us" in The New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism. 

History

This week's readings were "Timber!" from The Great Heritage by Katherine B. Shippen (Viking Press, 1947), "Ol Paul Bunyan," "How Paul Bonjean Became Paul Bunyan," and "Ol' Paul's Camp on the Big Onion River" from Yankee Doodle's Cousins by Anne Malcolmson (Houghton Mifflin, 1941), and "Boston Bells" from American Adventures by Elizabeth Coatsworth (Macmillan, 1968). 

Science

The girls watched Mr. Wizard's World every day.

Math 

M. worked on algebra basics and C. worked on algebra with renaming using the soroban. They both did Khan Academy every day.

Reading and Writing 

We continued reading One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street by Joanne Rocklin. At dinner, my husband finished reading aloud The Three Princes of Serendip and started Serendipity Tales. C. started reading Heartwood Hotel Book 1: A New Home by Kallie George. M. started reading The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder and continued reading A Book for Jennifer aloud to Gran. E. recorded her video of Dad and Sam and started working on Pig Wig. 

Physical Education

We went to the pool with friends on Friday and the girls went back on Saturday with my husband for a swim lesson.

Homeschool Update: Week of 7/12/21

Morning Read-Alouds 

From Sing a Song of Seasons: A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year selected by Fiona Waters,  illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon (Nosy Crow, 2018) we read "The Moon at Knowle Hill" by Jackie Kay, "The Song of Hau, the Red Fox," a wintu song translated by Jeremiah Curtin, "First Fox" by Pamela Gililan, "The Blue Water In," a Southern Paiute song translated by John Wesley Powell, and "A Dragonfly" by Eleanor Farjeon. 

From A Book of Americans by Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benet (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1933) we read poems entitled: "John Paul Jones," "Abigail Adams," "John Adams," "Benjamin Franklin," "Benedict Arnold," "Thomas Jefferson," "Alexander Hamilton," "Aaron Burr," "Johnny Appleseed," "Lewis and Clark," "Dolly Madison," "James Monroe," "John Quincy Adams," and "Andrew Jackson." 

Our author for the week was Margaret Wise Brown. We read Three Little Animals, Love Songs of the Little Bear,  The Diggers and Sleepy ABC. We also listened to the CD from Goodnight Songs and watched the Weston Woods video of The Wheel on the Chimney. Grandma read The Old Mill on Skype on Saturday. 

Music

We sang "On Top of Old Smokey" from Go In and Out the Window: An Illustrated Songbook for Young People (The Metropolitian Museum of Art, 1987). 

We listened to the Russian Dance from the Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky, Háry János Suite: Viennese Musical Clock by Zoltán Kodály, Water Music: Hornpipe by George Frideric Handel, Triumphal March from Aida by Giuseppe Verdi and Brandenburg Concerto No. 2: Movement 1 by Johann Sebastian Bach. 

Art

We studied The Rialto Bridge by Canaletto from the Louvre Art Deck: 100 Masterpieces from the World's Most Popular Museum by Anja Grebe and Erich Lessing and watched some videos about the bridge itself. The girls made wind chimes using kits from Dollar Tree. 

Catechism

We continued working on Lesson 7: "Jesus Opens Heaven For Us" in The New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism.

Memory Work

E. recited the months of the year, days of the week, four directions, marks of the church, and continents. She continued to practice "Happiness" by A.A. Milne. 

C recited the 50 states, planets, Great Lakes, countries of Europe, the oceans, the books of the Bible, and our address and phone number. She continued practicing "maggie and milly and molly and may" by e.e. cummings. 

M recited the 50 states, the countries of Asia, the books of the Bible, the Kings and Queens of England, and our address and phone number. She continued to practice Oberon's speech from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act II, Scene 1 by William Shakespeare.  

History 

This week's readings were: The Legend of New Amsterdam by Peter Spier, "The Wishing Pear" from  American Adventures by Elizabeth Coatsworth (Macmillan, 1968), and "The Gift of Saint Nicholas" and "The Ghost of Dark Hollow Run" from Yankee Doodle's Cousins by Anne Malcolmson (Houghton Mifflin, 1941). 

Science

The girls are still watching episodes of Mr. Wizard's World. We'll resume BFSU in September.

Math

M. and C. both did some work in Singapore and Khan Academy every day. C. is doing addition with renaming and M. is working on converting units of measure. 

Reading and Writing 

At lunchtime we're reading One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street by Joanne Rocklin. At dinner, my husband read from The Three Princes of Serendip. M. started reading A Book for Jennifer by Alice Dalgliesh aloud to Gran and finished the second Borrowers book. C. read a review copy of a forthcoming beginning chapter book, Ivy Lost and Found by Cynthia Lord. E. read and recorder her video for Dad and Sam.

Physical Education

We went to the pool with friends during the week, and M. and C. went again on the weekend with my husband to practice swimming. M. and C. also ran around outside on the hill next to our neighbor's house.