Homeschool Update: Week of 5/3/21

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: "New Day" by Ian McMillan, "The Cock Crows in the Morn" by Anonymous, "A Little Talk" by Anonymous, "Tall Nettles" by Edward Thomas, "The Farmyard" by A.A. Attwood

We read all the articles from Vol. 8 No. 6 of National Geographic Explorer (Pathfinder Edition): "Living Color" by Gary Miller, "Arctic Adventurer" by Dolores Johnson, "The Invaders" by Lana Costantini, "Back to the Future" by Terri L. Jones

Music

This week we listened to Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Rodeo: "Hoe Down" by Aaron Copland, Symphony No. 5: "First Movement" by Ludwig von Beethoven, and The Four Seasons: "Spring" by Antonio Vivaldi. We learned to sing "All Through the Night" using the arrangement in The Fireside Book of Children's Songs. (I sang the descant; the girls sang the melody.)

M. and C. both practiced piano and recorder daily. We had a Friday evening sing-along after dinner.

Art Appreciation 

We studied Fast Break by Red Grooms from Come Look with Me: World of Play by Gladys S. Blizzard. (This was the last painting in this book.) 

Catechism

We bought a copy of The New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism in the interest of moving things along a bit, and we did Lesson 1, "God Made Us." All three of the big girls are picking it up really quickly. On his feast day (May 6), we read about St. Dominic Savio from Picture Book of Saints by Lawrence G. Lovasik. We attended the Latin Mass on Sunday. 

Memory Work

C. reviewed the planets, four directions, 50 states, continents, oceans, months of the year, days of the week, and marks of the church, the countries of Europe, and finished learning "The Tiger" by William Blake. She recorded her video of her recitation of "The Tiger." 

M: reviewed the countries of Europe and 13 colonies, the books of the Bible, the 7 sacraments, the monarchs of England, thirteen of the countries of Asia, and finished learning "Sea Fever" by John Masefield. She recorded her video of her recitation of "Sea Fever."

E. finally recorded her video for "Icicles" by Anonymous. 

Science 

We continued BFSU Lesson B-4: Life Cycles. We read How Heredity Works by Jeanne Bendick and watched a Dr. Binocs video about DNA. E. did the activities in her latest Koala Crate, Music. She made a xylophone and a tambourine and composed her own music to play on the xylophone. She also decorated a streamer to dance with. 

History 

M. read "The Indians of the Southwest" in book 8 of A Picturesque Tale of Progress, which included these sections:  "Spanish Exploration," "The Pueblo Indians and Their Dances,"  "The Poetry of the Indians," "Arts of the Indian," and "Acoma, the Sky City." She watched a video on YouTube of a Hopi snake dance. 

C. read the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece from D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, which finished out the book. 

Math 

C. and M. both did math facts flashcards. C. did timed two-digit addition with regrouping on the soroban, and she worked on 3rd grade math in Khan Academy. M. did Singapore Math 3B Exercise 38, which asked her to convert hours to minutes. She worked on 4th grade math in Khan Academy. M. also participated in World Math Day online and worked on extrapolation and interpolation in Life of Fred: Honey. 

Reading and Writing

Our lunchtime read-aloud was Away Goes Sally by Elizabeth Coatsworth. At dinner, Daddy read the Choose Your Own Adventure Book, The Mystery of Chimney Rock and then started reading Tal: His Marvelous Adventures with Noom-Zor-Noom by Paul Fenimore Cooper. 

M. read and listened to Mattimeo by Brian Jacques. 

C. started The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton. She also started writing a story about her younger sister, E. 

E.'s read-aloud during her school time was the Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook (we finished the book). She also listened to All Falling Down by Margaret Bloy Graham and Gene Zion, Do You Know What I'll Do? by Charlotte Zolotow,  and The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Audrey and Don Wood. She also played runaway letter and worked on learning the vowel rhymes from The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading. 

Special Activities 

On the weekend, M. and C. attended a friend's amazing Boxcar Children themed birthday party.