Just this morning, Turkey asked me if we had really already completed four weeks of school. I have to admit, I’m as surprised as he is!

We have finally left the review stage of math. Turkey and Bunny aren’t necessarily thrilled about that, especially when they were given a page of algebraic equations containing absolute values to solve, but hopefully they’ll survive. They did do a great on this week’s math test, as did Ladybug!

In science, Ladybug is learning about different kinds of whales, including dolphins, porpoises, and my favorite, narwhals. Turkey and Bunny have been learning more about air, including air pollution, and how some pollution (especially lead) has been almost eradicated since the 1970s.

Our history lessons have focused on both Afghanistan and Africa in the mid-1800s. We learned about the growing tensions between Britain and Russia, and how that shaped Afghanistan. We also learned about David Livingstone and his commitment to the people of Africa.

Turkey and Bunny are currently both working on their first big essay of the year in writing. Turkey has chosen to write about he history of Lego, and Bunny is (surprisingly for the first time in her academic career) writing about rabbits. Ladybug’s writing continues to be similar to her work last year, but now she is working on summarizing longer passages. This week’s readings came from a family favorite book: Homer Price. She is also continuing to work on diagramming sentences…thankfully, she still thinks that’s fun!

While reading through The Blue Fairy Book, we have come across some stories that I don’t ever remember having heard before, but that Turkey insists I read to him at some point. I guess I don’t listen to myself read very well! Treasure Island continues to leave us in suspense at the end of every chapter…I’m trying very hard not to read ahead to find out happens!

We may not have gone a big field trip this week, but we did visit the September 11 Memorial Walkway of Southern Illinois, which had phase one completed just in time for the fifteenth anniversary of 9-11. We had seen the World Trade Center remnant at the fire station before, but walking along the path and reading all the signs was a very moving experience, and, for the children, an educational one, as well.