Weekly Updates

Week 23 of Homeschool: We built a replica of London’s Crystal Palace, learned the Distributive Law of mathematics, memorized the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, learned about Natural Selection by eating (and not eating) candy, studied the prominent features of the United States, had our friend Aliyah over to check out Sunbeam Academy and do school with us, learned about our national anthem and used the song as inspiration for painting, discovered an acrobatic squirrel in our backyard who maneuvered into the bird feeder and had his own little party out of the rain, used pattern blocks to measure odd shapes, made easter eggs to remind us of Jesus’ resurrection, learned the latin words for the parts of the face, built a paper microscope, learned what a venn diagram is, and practiced for our end-of-the year Classical Conversations performances!

Week 22 of Homeschool: We learned the Commutative Law for addition and multiplication mixing and matching fruits, studied catastrophism through the story of the volcano Mount Vesuvius and the lost city of Pompeii, learned about September 11, 2001 and its heroes, worked on our handwriting, learned what a subordinate clause is, created geometric people, studied the artist Mondrian and created art in his style, learned the U.S. deserts, gave presentations on our favorite foods (tiramisu and chocolate chip cookies), studied our letters and numbers, and gave a presentation on the classical composer Igor Stravinsky!

Week 21 of Homeschool: We learned about U.S. Astronauts walking on the moon, studied our American Territories and Terrains, had a blast studying the science of spinning with tops, learned how an Independent Clause functions in a sentence, studied ancient Egyptian culture and landmarks, learned about Uniformitarianism, studied Jeremiah 32:38-39, started to learn how to read guitar tablature, studied the Associative Law for addition and multiplication, and found over 40 words we can spell with a calculator!

Week 20 of Homeschool: We looked at grass from the yard under the microscope, read Charlotte’s Web, learned about Brown vs. the Board of Education, used our guerilla art kit to paint using a homemade stencil and crushed chalk, illustrated 1 Corinthians 10:31, learned the circumference of a circle, made a lego robot, learned the U.S. canals, studied Tchaikovsky and listened to his Symphony no. 6, learned about the theory of evolution, performed a probability and combination pizza lab, and gave a presentation on the book a Cricket In Times Square!

 

Week 19 of Homeschool: We learned the area of a circle, studied NATO and the spread of Communism, Made a felt-board illustration of Psalm 19:1, found pi using a string and a ball, learned the Trails of the U.S., studied Spanish on Duolingo, learned about probability and outcomes using poker chips, studied Predicates, practiced our piano, learned about Cranks and Connecting Rods in our Lego Robotics class, made more Valentines crafts, went to T-Ball practice and got our full uniform, created code using Scratch then made a color key of the Scratch Cat, went to the Inspire Charter Curriculum Showcase and heard Susan Wise Bauer speak about homeschooling, made Stone Soup (again) will all the ingredients listed in the book, and made our Kiwi Crate Solar System project!

Week 18 of Homeschool: We handed out Valentines to friends, made our first Raddish Kids recipes: Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes and Layers of Love Lasagna (with homemade noodles), learned our western rivers, played Chicka Chicka Boom Boom with tactile letters, tested foods for the presence of starch, learned the third four elements of the periodic table, reviewed our multiplication tables and skip counting, learned the Latin for John 1:5, sold chocolate bars to friends for Francis’ Little League team and gave a presentation about it, learned the area of a triangle, read Charlotte’s Web together, learned about the bombing of Pearl Harbor, played Duolingo and worked on our Spanish, learned what the subject of a sentence is, studied cartoonist Jim Davis and drew comics in his style, and got lots of Valentines!

Week 17 of Homeschool: We shared our Hamsters with our CC class, learned the area of a square, grew crystals using borax, made Valentine’s Day boxes for all our Valentines, learned the Eastern rivers of the U.S., learned the second four elements of the periodic table, took our online math assessment, studied music theory and learned about enharmonic notes, learned the latin for John 1:4, packed 55 Valentines crafts to give to friends, worked on our ABC’s, learned about President Wilson and the sinking of the Lusitania, studied the irregular verb “to go,” learned about Lichtenstein and created our own art using his dot method, and made Stone Soup!

Week 16 of Homeschool: we went to the Sierra Nevada Winds Concert and got to hear all kinds of wind and horn instruments playing in a live orchestra, wrote a story called “It Came From Beneath the Sea” then watched the old creature-feature of the same name with Granny, learned the area of a rectangle, studied lunar eclipses and got up at 5 a.m. to watch the super-blue-blood moon eclipse, learned where the major Bays of the U.S. are located, studied Andrew Wyeth and made artwork in his style, learned about Ellis Island and immigrants coming to America, spelled using Egyptian hieroglyphics, learned the first 4 elements of the periodic table, performed a ballon-carbon dioxide experiment, learned the irregular verb “to shake” and danced with our shakers while reciting, started a lego robotics and coding class, learned the Latin words for dog, cat, horse and fish, signed up for t-ball, wrote letters to Aunt Bobbie in Kentucky and made get well cards for Grampy!

Week 15 of Homeschool: We learned about Theodore Roosevelt and his rough riders, practiced our letters and cursive, learned the parts of an atom, made “The Claw” and Arcade from our Kiwi Crate, worked on sounding out words, started building a paper model of the White House, studied Psalm 49, wrote about the first day of second grade, made up stories with Story Cards, learned our metric measurements, performed an egg floating density experiment, built computer code from scratch, made winter snow globes, located the Great Lakes on a map of the U.S., built snap circuits, learned about the American artist Georgia O’Keefe and painted flowers in her style, reviewed all our Latin so far, studied the irregular verb “to write,” worked on music theory, practiced typing and lost 2 teeth!

Week 14 of Homeschool: We watched Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and studied the biblical concept of justice, learned our Linear Equivalents, studied scientific Elements, studied Norman Rockwell and created our own Saturday Evening Post magazine covers, learned about Tycoons and the American Industrial Age, had our first piano lesson (with someone other than mommy!), learned the Latin words for “please,” “thank you,” and “excuse me,” made marmalade sandwiches like Paddington and read our Paddington books, learned the irregular verb “to break,” made Feelings and Emotions cards to help us express ourselves and ask for what we need, read and translated a message from our Aunt who lives in Spain, learned about England and the Netherlands, practiced our Spanish numbers, wrote to Highlights magazine to request a calendar and made LOTS of Snap Circuit projects!