Homeschool Update: Summer 2023

Group Activities

The girls continued to work on memorizing Anima Christi. We also chose seven additional prayers to practice on a weekly rotation: 

• The St. Michael Prayer (Sunday)
• Memorare (Monday)
• Hail, Holy Queen (Tuesday)
• Come, Holy Spirit (Wednesday)
• Apostle's Creed (Thursday)
• Glory Be (Friday)
• Domine Non Sum Dignus (Saturday)

Our June read-alouds were I Will Adventure by Elizabeth Janet Grey and Canadian Summer by Hilda van Stockum. Our July read-alouds were: Shadow of the Hawk by Geoffrey Trease, Summer at Buckhorn by Anna Rose Wright, and The Road to the King's Mountain by Margaret Ann Hubbard. Our August read-alouds were: The Midnight Horse by Sid Fleishman, Friendly Gables by Hilda van Stockum, and Bambi by Felix Salter. (E. had a very strong emotional reaction to a certain chapter in Bambi.)

Our June poet was Carl Sandburg. In July, we read American Poems from the Poetry for Young People series, and in August, we read Animal Poems from the same series.

We read children's versions of Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew, and The Tempest. The girls watched animated and live-action productions of the plays as well as Kiss Me Kate. 

History 

M. continued reading about the 20th century using The Century by Peter Jennings as a spine. She is ending August with the Reagan presidency. 

She has read many history and historical fiction titles: 

• Ben-Gurion and the Birth of Israel by Joan Comay
• Other Sandals by Sally Watson
• The Garden by Carol Matas
• Exploring the Himalaya by William O. Douglas
• The Ark by Margot Benary Isbert
• The Korean War by Tom McGowen
• The Korean War Soldier at Heartbreak Ridge by Carl R. Green
• The Shoes from Yang Son Valley by Yong-ik Kim
• The Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi 
• Echoes of the White Giraffe by Sook Nyul Choi
• Rowan Farm by Margot Benary Isbert
• Alexander Fleming by Richard Tames
• The School Segregation Cases by Janet Stevenson
• Brown v. Board of Education by Diane L. Good
• The Story of Jonas Salk and the Discovery of the Polio Vaccine by Jim Hargrove
• You Choose: The Civil Rights Movement by Heather Adamson
• Americans Into Orbit by Gene Gurney
• Walk in Space by Gene Gurney

She also watched a variety of videos, including episodes of Days that Shook the World and the following documentaries: 

• Korea: The Never Ending War 
• Festival of Britain 
• Planet Earth: Mountains (about Mt. Everest)
• Exploring the Himalayas
• Nine from Little Rock
• Space Race 
• Suez: A Very British Crisis
• Cold War Roadshow 
• The Man Who Saved the World 
• Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment  
• Martin Luther King and the March on Washington 
• Dancing in the Street (part of episode 3)
• A Hard Day's Night
• Neil Armstrong: First Man on the Moon 
• People's Century: Freedom Now 
• Simple Justice: The History of Brown vs. Board of Education  
• Polio Crusade 

C. finished her history in June with the printing press and Shakespeare. 

She read:  

• Shakespeare: His Work and His World by Michael Rosen
• The King's Beard by Leonard Wibberly
• Crossbows and Crucifixes by Henry Garnett

Math 

M. continued Algebra Basics and Get Ready for Alegebra I on Khan Academy. She continued working through Life of Fred: Fractions and she drilled multiplication and division facts daily.  

C. moved into Singapore Primary Mathematics 3B and finished Life of Fred: Edgewood. She also drilled her math facts daily. 

E. continued working on Early Math on Khan Academy. 

Science 

M. and I finished reading  The Story of Science: Newton at the Center and then read The Story of Science: Einstein Adds a New Dimension. All three girls watched some episodes of Watch Mr. Wizard. 

English 

M. continued working in Rex Barks and Vocabulary from Classical Roots A. Everyone read independently all summer. 

P.E. 

The girls rode bikes and practiced their swimming. All three girls improved their swimming skills. M. and C. can now go in the deep end independently and E. is almost there. 

Art 

We finished reading A Child's History of Art. The girls made birthday cards for their aunt and a friend whose birthday party they attended. M. made paper cube animals. 

Music

Everyone practiced piano and recorder all summer, and occasionally did some singing.