Homeschool

2025-26 School Year–Week Twenty-Seven

Fun things first…Chickadee and I went to Eckert’s to experience their new spring event, the Tulip Trail!

Chickadee worked with exponential growth and decay functions in algebra, and learned how to graph them. In history, we read about JFK, the Civil Rights Movement, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Vietnam War. She is re-reading one of her favorite books in preparation for one of her final writing assignments of the year. In science we talked about currents and resistance, and did a fun experiment with a battery and aluminum foil. And for this week’s recipe from the American Girl Sweet & Savory Treats Cookbook, we made plum fruit leather (using three different kinds of plums), inspired by 2019 Girl of the Year, Blaire!

Now that it’s April, the end of the school year is coming fast…I can’t believe Chickadee is almost done with 8th grade!

2025-26 School Year–Week Twenty-Six

It was another busy week of school! We started with a visit to the Missouri Botanical Garden to see some of the spring blooms:

In algebra, Chickadee graphed systems of linear inequalities and used them to solve word problems. She learned about the electric field and charging objects through friction and conduction in science. In history we read about the space race, JFK’s “Moonshot” speech, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. And we skipped making a recipe from the American Girl Cookbook because we had an extra special outing this week…we went on a academic road trip!

Turkey was attending a math conference in Columbia, MO, so we decided to tag along and make an adventure out of it. The conference itself was at Columbia College, but our hotel was right across the street from Mizzou, and the first night we were there, Chickadee and I explored the campus and learned about its connection to Thomas Jefferson.

Friday the two of hit the road and ventured farther west to Kansas City. I’ll share full details of our day trip later, but a major highlight was our visit the National WWI Museum and Memorial, which is one of the best museums I’ve been to…we both learned a lot!

And yesterday before we headed home, we did a little spelunking at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park…it was so much fun to get to explore a small cave!

Field trip season is upon us, and I have a few more outings planned in the coming weeks, but they’ll all be much closer to home!

2025-26 School Year–Week Twenty-Five

This week in algebra, Chickadee identified more conjunctions and also disjunctions. We read about Juan Perón in Argentina and the Belgians in the Congo in history…it’s really starting to sound like “We Didn’t Start the Fire!” In writing she analyzed a short story (“The Garden Party”) and a poem (“Death Be Not Proud”). She finished the chapter on light waves in science. In religion we talked more about the liturgy as well as the organization of the church year. We did one final review of As You Like It. We also got to see the 10 chicks at the library one more time!

This week’s recipe from the American Girl Sweet & Savory Treats Cookbook was “Almond Energy Bites” inspired by Maryellen. This was my first experience with flaxseed and I was a little nervous about it, but the combination with almond butter, almonds, oats, chocolate chips, honey, and coconut was addictive!

We have something fun planned for next week…stay tuned!

2025-26 School Year–Week Twenty-Four

This year we’re trying something new. Instead of a taking a full week for spring break, we’re taking a day or two off here and there spread out over the course of several weeks. This week, we had three days of school. In algebra, Chickadee learned how to show inequalities on a number line and learned what conjunctions are outside of grammar. We discussed the Korean War in history, which gave me an opportunity to bring up several examples from M*A*S*H. Chickadee finished reading As You Like It. In science she learned about the difference between refraction, polarization, and scattering of light. We baked Southern Tea Cakes inspired by Addy from the American Girl Sweet and Savory Treats Cookbook…they were light and buttery and delicious, and we also added some lavender, which gave Chickadee the opportunity to practice muddling.

Chickadee also got to go to the teen craft night at the library this week…they did a really cool art project based on Monet’s paintings!

And speaking of the library…the chicks hatched this week!

I have something really fun I’m hoping we’re going to be able to do in two weeks…stay tuned!

2025-26 School Year–Week Twenty-Three

This week Chickadee solved more word problems in algebra, and also worked with direct and indirect variations in equations. In science she started a chapter on light and learned about the spectrum of light waves…we were really hoping that with all the rain we’ve been having, we might get a good lesson in the different colors of light in the visible spectrum, but we didn’t find a rainbow. She read about the Suez crisis, Marshall Plan, and apartheid in South Africa in history. In religion, we walked through the Divine Service, talked about the architecture of church buildings, and looked at the different visual symbolism found in churches. She continued to read As You Like It. She wrote another short paper, this time about FDR. This week’s recipe from the American Girl Sweet and Savory Treats Cookbook was a super-moist “Chocolate-Caramel Bundt ‘Election’ Cake” inspired by Felicity and the presidential election of 1788.

It’s almost field trip season, and I have a few exciting ones planned in the coming weeks!

2025-26 School Year–Week Twenty-Two

This week in algebra Chickadee focused on word problems, especially those using the i=prt and d=rt formulas. She wrote another short paper, this time about WWII, in writing. In history we discussed the aftermath of WWII, focusing on the partitioning of India and Palestine. She continued to read As You Like It. In religion we discussed the history of education in the Lutheran church. She finished the sound on chapter in science. We also finished going through the amendments to the US Constitution, and also discussed the Equal Rights Amendment. Now that the Olympics are over, we’re back to making recipes from the American Girl Sweet & Savory Treats Cookbook. This week, we made a Fruit and Cream Pavlova inspired by 2021 Girl of the Year Kira. I’ve wanted to make a Pavlova for years, but was always afraid it would be too difficult. Not only did we discover it’s actually pretty simple, Chickadee got to practice separating eggs, which is a very useful kitchen skill!

Our library is incubating chicks again! Last year we missed the first candling, which takes place at one week, so we made sure to make it to this year’s initial candling…it so cool to see them developing and even moving around in the egg!

We’re hoping to visit the zoo soon…there are painted dog puppies that are going to be introduced to the public!

2025-26 School Year–Week Twenty-One

We had another busy Olympics week! In algebra, Chickadee learned how to use the equation for a parabola in the form of 4p(y-k) = (x-h)² to identify the vertex, axis of symmetry, focus, and directrix. In religion we talked about Lutheranism after the death of Luther and the Saxon migration. She used that information in writing as well, to write a short chronological narrative about Luther. In history we talked about the European Theatre of WWII, especially D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, and also the Pacific Theatre and the atomic bomb. She read about the speed of sound, what a decibel is, and the difference between sonic, ultrasonic, and infrasonic waves in science. We talked about the Bill of Rights as we continued making our way through the body of US Constitution. She continued to read As You Like It. And of course we made our favorite every-other-year craft, Olympic medals. Chickadee chose to make hers in the shape of a snowflake for the Winter Games:

In addition to enjoying more Italian cooking, we also tried a few treats I picked up at the store:

And here’s a look at our medal chart, which is almost complete!

I can’t believe the Olympics are almost done already!

2025-26 School Year–Week Twenty

We started the week with our every-Olympics-year pilgrimage to the Olympic Spectacular in St. Louis:

And then we got down to our regular work. Chickadee graphed more quadratic functions in algebra. We read about General Franco and the beginning of WWII in history. She continued to read As You Like It. In religion, we spent several lessons discussing the Lord’s Supper. She started a new chapter about waves and sound in science, starting with mechanical waves. We continued our study of the US Constitution, taking a closer look at Article One and the legislature. But the highlight of the week was the Olympics, learning about Italy thanks to Rick Steves’ Europe, and our outing to the skating rink!

We also did a small craft. I found a cute unfinished cutting board, which seemed like the perfect item to paint in the colors of the Italian flag since Italy is known for its great food!

Here’s a look at our current medal chart:

We’re looking forward to more Olympics fun next week!

2025-26 School Year–Week Nineteen

This week Chickadee graphed quadratic functions (including parabolas) in algebra. We read about the Great Depression and the rise of Hitler in Germany in history. In science, we talked about how work, force, and energy are related. She read most of the second act of As You Like It. In religion we discussed the Sacraments including Confession and Absolution. We wrapped up the main lessons in our study of the US Constitution and read through the Declaration of Independence before we go amendment-by-amenedment through the Constitution itself. Our recipe for the week from the American Girl Sweet & Savory Treats Cookbook was “Mac-&-Cheese Cups” inspired by Kit, which is timely give our study of the Great Depression

We also began preparing for the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics by making our favorite edible Olympic torches…we did some other food prep as well, but you’ll have to stay tuned for the details on today’s full day of Italian dishes!

We’re looking forward to really immersing ourselves in the Olympics over the next two weeks!

2025-26 School Year–Week Eighteen

This week started with snow, which was definitely a good beginning! And we needed it to put us in a good mood before we worked on algebra, which was all about quadratic equations including completing the square and the quadratic formula. Chickadee finally began her first Shakespearian literature study with As You Like It. In history we continued making our way toward WWII, learning about Chiang Kai-shek in China and Hirohito in Japan. In science we began a chapter on energy, learning about gravitation potential energy and elastic potential energy. We discussed the difference being being treated equally and being treated fairly by the government and how the US Constitution guarantees our right to both. We also discussed the amendments that deal with voting rights for various groups of people. For our recipe of the week from the American Girl Sweet and Savory Treats Cookbook we made “Peanut Butter-Chocolate Buckeyes” inspired by Kit, a native of Ohio.

And today we braved the cold for a trip to the Missouri Botanical Garden, because we really wanted to see it while it was still covered in snow! It did not disappoint!

Somewhat unrelated, but Ladybug finally had her first official snow day this week, because the weather cancelled college for a day!