Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Homeschool Update, March-June 2024

Group Activities 

Geography/Art 

From The Complete Book of Marvels by Richard Halliburton, Dad read these sections, and the girls watched accompanying videos: 

  • Parthenon, Temple of Athena [video]
  • Mt. Athos, Country of Men [video]
  • Moscow, Heart of Russia [video]
  • Santa Sophia, Mother of Churches [video]
  • Ephesus, City of Ancient Temples [video
  • Halicarnassus [video]
  • Colossus, Statue of Helios [video]
  • Pharos, Towering Lighthouse [video
  • Pyramids, Huge Man-Made Wonders [video]
  • Knossos, Buried Cretan City [video]
  • Timbuctoo, Desert City [video]
  • Victoria Falls, Sounding Smoke [video]
  • Mecca, Sacred Moslem City [video]
  • Petra, Enchanted City [video]
  • Dead Sea [video]
  • Jerusalem, Rock of Abraham [video]
  • Baalbek, City of Marvelous Ruins [video]
  • Palmyra, Zenobia's Domain [video]
We also used historical and current world maps to locate different countries that came up in our reading in other areas.

Latin 

We finished Getting Started with Latin: Beginning Latin for Homeschoolers and Self-Taught Students of Any Age by William E. Linney. We spent some time reviewing some of the translation exercises by translating from English to Latin, then started Keep Going with Latin

Shakespeare


We read a children's version of As You Like It and the girls watched the animated adaptation.  We will soon watch a version of the play as well. 

Read-Alouds

Dad read aloud these historical fiction titles:
  • Children of the Fox by Jill Paton Walsh 
  • Hostage to Alexander by Mary Evans Andrews 
  • The Eagles Have Flown by Joanne Williamson
  • Runner for the King by Rowena Bastin Bennett 
I read aloud these titles: 
  • A Swarm in May by William Mayne 
  • Noodlehead Stories (excerpts) by M.A. Jagendorf
  • The Cottage at Bantry Bay by Hilda van Stockum
  • The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge 
  • Mystery of the Roman Ransom by Henry Winterfeld
  • Swallowdale by Arthur Ransome 
  • Magic or Not? by Edward Eager 
  • The Whale People by Roderick L. Haig-Brown 
  • Barefoot Days by Anna Rose Wright 
  • Over the Blue Mountain by Conrad Richter 

We listened to these books on audio: 
  • James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl 
  • The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
  • When Marnie Was There by Joan G. Robinson 

Catechism 

We continued practicing questions and answers in our Catechism books.  


Science 

C. and E. listened to me read aloud The First Book of Trees by Margaret Wiliamson and Here a Plant, There a Plant, Everywhere a Plant, Plant: A Story of Luther Burbank by Robert M. Quackenbush, and they finished science for the year with the Green Planet documentary series.

M. and I finished reading Secrets of the Universe

The Van Cleave experiments started getting old, so she wrote up her last few lab reports on demonstrations from ExperimentArchive that were too dangerous to try at home. 

Health

Both M. and C. visited the orthdontist. M. visited the pediatrician and also accompanied A. to several appointments after she broke one arm, and a month later, the other. 

History 

C. read The Year of the Horseless Carriage and Abraham Lincoln's World

M. read The Ancient Greek World, The Ancient Roman World, and The Ancient American World and completed related pages in the accompanying workbooks. 

E. continued reading A Child's History of the World by V.M. Hillyer through the Fall of Rome. She started listing to The Story of Civilization Volume 1 for review of this year's history topics. 

All three girls went in period dress on a field trip to a one-room schoolhouse. 

English

In Critical Thinking Co.'s Sentence Diagramming program, M. completed level 1 and level 2. C. finished the beginner level and moved on to level 2.  E. did some adjective worksheets to help her practice. 
M. finished Vocabulary from Classic Roots level 6 and started level B. 

R. finished reading all but the last of the Hooked on Phonics readers. A. started reading consonant-vowel-consonant words.

Math 

M. continued working on Challenging Word Problems 3 and finished Singapore Primary Mathematics 6B. In Life of Fred, she continued with Decimals and Percents and she worked on 7th grade math and Algebra 1 on Khan Academy. She is working on Algebra this summer. 

C. finished Singapore Primary Mathematics 4A and made significant progress in 4B, as well as in fifth grade math on Khan Academy.  

E. finished Singapore Primary Mathematics 1A and started 1B. She finished early math and is worked quickly through 2nd grade math on Khan Academy and is now making significant progress in third grade math. 

Music 

M. and C. continued working on the music theory exercises in Practical Theory by Sandy Felstein. All three girls practiced piano and recorder daily. C. started learning ukulele and M. started guitar. 

Physical Education

Now that pool season is here, our main focus is swimming at the pool. The girls played freeze tag and other group games with friends in the neighborhood. M. and C. learned the basics of baseball from their aunt while watching Mets games on our visit to NY. 

Read-at-Home Mom Report: June 2024 Wrap-Up

June Favorites


Theology of Home: Finding the Eternal in the Everyday by Carrie Gress and Noelle Mering 
This looks like an interior decorating book, but it's not! I loved this look at the concept of home from the Catholic perspective, and now I want to read the others in this series.  

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
The writing in this was beautiful, and it was a great way to ring in the summer season.  

Cole and Laila are Just Friends by Bethany Turner 
I loved these characters, the New York City setting, and all the pop culture references. 

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center
I have seen mixed reviews of this book, which was a surprise to me. I loved the characters and the peek into the screenwriting life. 

Somehow: Thoughts on Love by Anne Lamott
I don't agree with Anne Lamott on everything, but boy do I love her writing.  

The Summer of Yes by Courtney Walsh 
This is my new favorite book by this author - her best yet. I love that it's a friendship story that fuels two love stories.  


Read-Aloud and Homeschool Books

  • The Whale People by Roderick L. Haig-Brown (with all five kids) (4 stars)
  • Barefoot Days by Anna Rose Wright (4 stars)
  • Secrets of the Universe: Discovering the Universal Laws of Science by Paul Fleisher (with M.)(4 stars)


Sequels and Series Books

  • Silver on the Tree (The Dark is Rising Book 5) by Susan Cooper (3 stars)
  • Beany and the Beckoning Road (Beany Malone Book 4) by Lenore Mattingly Weber (3 stars)


Camp Bookstagram

My friend Kris hosted a great camp-themed reading challenge on Instagram in the middle of the month, and it was so much fun. I read seven books total! 

  • Summer at Squee by Andrea Wang (4 stars)
  • Camp Echo by Paul Theroux (3 stars)
  • The Counselors by Jessica Goodman (3 stars)
  • Baby-Sitters' Summer Vacation by Ann M. Martin (4 stars)
  • Burnt Mountain by Anne Rivers Siddons (3 stars)
  • The Summer of Songbirds by Kristy Woodson Harvey (3 stars)
  • Hail, Hail, Camp Timberwood by Ellen Conford (2 stars)

Stand-Alone Books

  • Domestic Extremist: A Practical Guide to Winning the Culture War by Peachy Keenan (5 stars)
  • Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte (4 stars)
  • Funny Story by Emily Henry (4 stars)
  • George by Agnes Sligh Turnbull (3 stars)
  • Miss Morgan's Book Brigade by Janet Skeslien Charles (3 stars)
  • Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan (4 stars)
  • The Editor: How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America by Sara B. Franklin (4 stars)

Family Reading Lists


Audiobook in the Car

  • When Marnie was There by Joan G. Robinson 


M. (girl, 10 years, 7 months)

[M. did a lot of school reading, but didn't finish any books in June] 


C. (girl, 8 years, 9 months)

  • Maida's Little Shop by Inez Haynes Irwin
  • Florence Nightingale by Ruth Fox Hume 
  • Curious Missie by Virginia Sorensen 


E. (girl, 6 years, 8 months) 

  • The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting 
  • The Third Planet from Altair (Choose Your Own Adventure Book 7) by Edward Packard
  • George by Agnes Sligh Turnbull
  • The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum 
  • The Trouble with Jenny's Ear by Oliver Butterworth


R. (boy, 4 years, 3 months)

Independent reading: 
  • The Fire Cat by Esther Averill 
  • Robert the Rose Horse by Joan Heilbroner 
  • Chester by Syd Hoff
  • Thunderhoof by Syd Hoff
  • Cowboys: What Do They Do? by Carla Green 
  • The Whales Go By by Fred Phleger 
  • Love is in the Air by Jonathan Fenske
  • Father Bear Comes Home (first two stories) by Else Holmelund Minarik

Read-alouds: 
  • The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle 
  • Spectacular Spots by Susan Stockdale 
  • A Piglet Named Mercy by Kate DiCamillo 


A. (girl, 4 years, 3 months)

Read-alouds: 

  • Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahy 
  • When Grandma Came by Jill Paton Walsh
  • One Lighthouse, One Moon by Anita Lobel
  • Richard Scarry 


My husband

  • The Whale People by Roderick L. Haig-Brown 
  • George by Agnes Sligh Turnbull
  • Curious Missie by Virginia Sorensen
  • Runner for the King by Rowena Bastin Bennett
  • Barefoot Days by Anna Rose Wright 
  • Bandit's Moon by Sid Fleischman