Homeschool Update: Week of 4/5/21

Easter Week Activities

To celebrate the Easter octave, we did a different craft or activity each day. These included: an Alleluia coloring page from Catholic Family Crate, Bunny Bingo, pom pom craft kits from Dollar Tree, Bunny Go Fish, spring sticker scenes, and a Brother Francis video about the Resurrection on Formed.org. I also rewarded correct answers to math flashcards with chocolate candies and jellybeans. 

Morning Time 

• Poems 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): "First Primrose" by Leonard Clark, "Blow,  breezes, blow!" by Anonymous, "Treading on the tail" by Yosa Buson, translated by R.H. Blyth, "When a fish..." by Anonymous, "Freckled fishes, flirting. flitting" by Anonymous 
• Articles from Vol. 17 No. 2 of National Geographic Explorer (Trailblazer edition): "Tall Tales" by Lynn Brunelle, "Show Me the Money" by Brenna Maloney, "In Search of Pristine Seas" by Dr. Enric Sala
• Art appreciation:  Snap the Whip by Winslow Homer from Come Look with Me: World of Play by Gladys S. Blizzard 
• Catechism: Review of the first few lessons in The New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism
• Singing: "The Happy Wanderer" (recording by the Stargazers)
• Music Appreciation: Slavonic Dance No. 7 by Antonin Dvorak 
• Memory work: 
• C: "The Tiger" by William Blake, planets, four directions, 50 states, continents, oceans, months of the year, days of the week, marks of the church 
• M: "Sea Fever" by John Masefield, countries of Europe, 13 colonies, books of the Bible, the 7 sacraments, countries of Asia  

Science 

This week's topic was Time and the Earth's Turning. On Monday, the girls went outside several times to mark the movement of their shadows. The rest of the week, we discussed sundials and time zones. We finished the week with a video: What is Time? from Sunburst Visual Media, available through the public library's subscription to Just For Kids Access Video. 

Preschool

E. did her letter flashcards several times and listened to several chapters from The Milly-Molly-Mandy storybook. 

History 

M. read India, Land of Wealth and Splendor in A Picturesque Tale of Progress, including sections entitled "Ancient India," "Buddha, the Enlightened," "The Development of India," "The Spread of Buddhism, "The Golden Age of Hinduism," "The Mohammedans in India," "Tamerlane," and "The Great Moghuls." C. continued reading D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths. 

Math

We started timing C. to see how many two-digit addition problems she could do on the soroban in 5 minutes. Her record so far is 6. M. did some two-digit multiplication and she started re-doing Review 5 and 6 from Singapore 3B because her answers were impossible to understand. 

Reading and Writing 

We finished reading aloud Dandelion Cottage. M. and C. enjoyed reading some of our Easter books. They also took advantage of nice days and read outside. M. wrote a story called "The Pirates" involving three pirates named Black Feather, Jim Dodd, and Sam Krickam who are sailing to the Philippines. 

Physical Education

We visited the playground by our house several times. The girls road bikes on Saturday morning.

Instrumental Music

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