2019-20 School Year

2019-20 School Year–Week Twenty-Six

Week 26 of the 2019-20 school year was one of the most confusing weeks I’ve had so far!

Turkey and Bunny have been learning about bones and muscles in health. And while they were doing that, Ladybug started a chapter on human biology in science, where she also spent a great deal of time learning about the muscular and skeletal systems. So all week, I was teaching a topic, and then the next day, teaching a topic that sounded awfully similar, but to a different audience. I couldn’t remember who had learned what when by Friday!

If that wasn’t bad enough, Ladybug had an introduction to functions in pre-algebra. And Turkey and Bunny have been learning about functions of functions in pre-calculus. So once again, there was a lot of information that sounded very similar on the surface (even if the details were pretty different!).

Meanwhile, Chickadee started doing simple equations in math, and I was just not ready for that. Yet another thing that, even though I’ve taught it twice before, always manages to catch me unawares.

Anyway, we wrapped up some other stuff, got back to playing tennis since the weather is so nice, and came to the realization that we just might not get to go on any more field trips this school year due to coronavirus. That’s hugely disappointing, but what are you going to do? At any rate, we’re about 3/4 of the way done with the school year, which means the end is going to come barreling towards us at light speed!

2019-20 School Year–Week Twenty-Five

Finally, the end of February! We didn’t go on any field trips this week, although we did have kind of a half day today, which helped a bit. February is just the worst month for school!

Turkey and Bunny worked on functions of a function in pre-calculus, and found it super easy. They started a chapter on waves in physics. The read Acts II and III of The Merchant of Venice, and encountered some of the funniest moments in the play. We had a really interesting discussion about Robert E. Lee after studying him in US history. In world history, they read about Robert the Bruce…they thought he was way more interesting than William Wallace!

Ladybug learned about supplementary and complementary angles, as well as alternate interior and exterior angles, in pre-algebra. She started a chapter on human biology in science. In history, she read about the invention of the steam engine, as well as Eli Whitney’s cotton gin. We discovered that although The Door in the Wall is a small book, it takes a long time to get through it!

Chickadee learned about ratios in math…even though I’ve taught it before, I was still surprised that it came up already! She also learned the difference between meteoroids, meteors, and meteorites in science. Her spelling lesson focused on words that are contractions. She continued to read to me from the Frog and Toad books, which we both enjoyed!

Looking forward to next week, because it will finally be March!

2019-20 School Year–Week Twenty-Three

I really think February is my least favorite month of the year for school (really, for anything), but we’re surviving, and it’s already halfway done!

Turkey and Bunny started a chapter on periodic motion in physics, and did some experiments with springs. They also began The Merchant of Venice, which is one of my favorite of Shakespeare’s works. In US history, they started what is going to be a long section on the Civil War. In world history, they learned about both the fact and fiction surrounding William Wallace.

Ladybug learned about mass in pre-algebra. In science, she started reading about the five kingdom classification system, beginning with Monera and Protista. She learned about the French Revolution in history. The Door in the Wall is her new literature study, and I don’t believe I’ve ever read that book myself, so I’m looking forward to reading it with her!

Chickadee worked on borrowing from the hundreds’ place in math. She started a chapter on space rocks in science, beginning with comets. We’re almost done reading Winnie-the-Pooh already…I always forget how quickly the chapters in that book go by!

I decided to take the day off of school yesterday, not because it was Valentine’s Day, but because Moose had a half day at his school, and I wanted to share his good fortune with his siblings. We did do a fun Valentine’s Day craft, though. Since the Makit & Bakit ornaments we made at Christmas were so popular, I thought it would be fun to make sun catchers, too…they’re so pretty!

I am almost positive that next week we’re going to finally get around to one of the field trips I’ve been planning…stay tuned!

2019-20 School Year–Week Twenty-Two

I feel like we got a lot done this week!

Turkey and Bunny started a chapter on vectors in pre-calculus (which sounds an awful lot like some of the things they’ve done in physics!). They’re on the last section of The Hound of the Baskervilles…since they’ve both read it before, they know how it ends, even if they don’t remember all of the details. In US history, they learned about some influential women, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, as well as some famous American writers. They finished the chapter on momentum in physics, and did an excellent job with the calculations!

Ladybug learned how to find the volume, surface area, and lateral area of various figures in pre-algebra. She also finished up a chapter in science. There are only two chapters left in Anne of Green Gables, and neither one of us wants to read them! She learned about the colonization of Australia in history.

Chickadee started learning about Roman numerals in math! We started a new literature study…we’re reading Winnie-the-Pooh. She managed to make it through a spelling lesson that included the word “color” without her oldest sister teaching her to spell it the English way. In science, she finished up the chapter on Mars.

I have a few field trips on my schedule for the next few weeks…we want to see the new Da Vinci exhibit at the Science Center, and there’s a modern art exhibit (featuring a few of Van Gogh’s works) coming to the Art Museum this month. We still haven’t seen the new exhibit about the Mississippi River at the History Museum yet, either, so we definitely have some places we need to go!

2019-20 School Year–Week Twenty-One

This week in school, Turkey and Bunny practiced graphing polar equations (which is an interesting process!). They started learning about momentum in physics. In health they learned about various micronutrients, what they all do, and in which foods they are found. They read about the western US in the early to mid-1800s in American history…things like the gold rush, the pony express (and later, the telegraphy), and the introduction of stagecoaches.

Ladybug started learning about polyhedrons pre-algebra. She also read about the four qualification of life in science. In history, she learned about the American Revolution, and George Washington’s presidency. We are getting close to the end of Anne of Green Gables.

Chickadee practiced counting paper money in math. She enjoyed learning about the American Revolution, especially when we read “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Longfellow. She and Bunny finished reading Alice in Wonderland, and now Chickadee is reading it again to herself!

I feel like we need something fun and interesting to look forward to in school, because January and February aren’t the most interesting months of the year!

2019-20 School Year–Week Twenty

Now that we’ve started the 21st week of the 2019-20 school year, I guess I should wrap up week 20!

Turkey and Bunny worked with polar coordinates in pre-calculus, which was very new and different. They finished the chapter on work and energy in physics. Their study of The Hound of the Baskervilles finally took them to Baskerville Hall. In history, they read about the seventh crusade, and to be honest, it seems like the Crusades will never end!

Ladybug calculated the perimeter and area of different shapes in pre-algebra. She also finished a chapter in science. In history, she learned about several European wars that led up to the American Revolution. Bunny accidentally gave her a spoiler about what is coming up in Anne of Green Gables, and she was not happy about it!

Chickadee had a very light week of school, because she was sick for a few days (she even had to miss catechesis, which made her very sad!). She did a lot of reading, and started her second math book of the year, where she learned how to write fractions. She also started learning about Mars in science.

And, in kind-of-related-to-school activities, Turkey and I went to see Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back live in concert at Powell Hall with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra last week. I think an important part of any education is music appreciation as well as exposure to cultural events. I’m trying to make sure each of the children has an opportunity to see the symphony play something, and so far, the three oldest children have all accompanied me to Powell Hall for an event. It’s a lot of fun, and a good introduction to live orchestral music without the pressure of a more, shall we say, high-class, event!

2019-20 School Year–Week Nineteen

We’ve started so many new things in school in the last two weeks that Christmas feels like a lifetime ago!

Turkey and Bunny started a study of the Formula of Concord in religion. They also began a chapter on radians in math, which is the last big new thing they need to study before they take the SAT in March. In physics, they started learning about work and energy. They finished the chapter on macronutrients in health. And we read about a dark time in America’s history…the Trail of Tears.

Ladybug finished her study of the Old Testament in religion, and is looking forward to starting the New Testament next week…it will be like Christmas all over again! She learned how to calculate permutations and combinations in math. She had a brief introduction to uniformitarianism and catastrophism in science, before studying each in more depth in the coming weeks. In history, she learned about China and Emperor Chien-lung.

Chickadee continued learning multiplication facts in math. She and Bunny are enjoying reading Alice in Wonderland together. She finished learning about the moon in science…Mars is up next!

We’re hoping to do a few fun, school-adjacent activities this weekend, but we’ll have to wait and see if the weather permits any of it to happen!

2019-20 School Year–Week Eighteen

We got back to work this week after our Christmas break…never an easy thing to do!

Turkey and Bunny hit the ground running. They started working with the law of cosines in pre-calculus. They also began reading The Hound of the Baskervilles for their next literature study. In American history, they learned about the War of 1812. And in physics, they started a chapter on centripetal force.

Ladybug worked with probabilities in pre-algebra. She continued her literature study of Anne of Green Gables. In history, she read about the collapse of the Indian Empire, and the beginning of the British takeover of that country. Her science lessons focused on different kinds of fossilization.

Chickadee continued learning multiplication facts in math. She reviewed all of the poems she’s memorized this year, as well as all of the parts of speech she’s studied in language arts. She also returned to catechesis for the first time in almost a month!

This can be a dull time of year…I’m hoping for a field trip or two to brighten our days a bit!

2019-20 School Year–Week Seventeen

This was a weird week of school.

I had planned for it to be a short week. We were going to have school Monday-Wednesday. And then the snow started.

Usually, snowstorms don’t have much impact on our school schedule. Even when Moose has a snow day, we usually keep going as usual. But this week, in addition to Moose being home from school on Monday and Tuesday, our one scheduled activity, a homeschool day at the Missouri History Museum (that we were really looking forward to), was cancelled. And that threw the whole week off.

So, on Monday, instead of going to the history museum, we baked cookies, made ornaments (really cool “stained glass” ones that baked in the oven, reminiscent of something I made as a child!), and watched three different version of The Nutcracker (something we do every year, anyway, but which I didn’t have planned for Monday!).

Tuesday we did some work, and Wednesday we wrapped up all the tests that needed to be taken before the break, and that was pretty much it. We did get out of the house today for another Advent concert at the Belleville Cathedral and a walk down Main Street to see this year’s gingerbread houses, but that wasn’t exactly the field trip I had planned for the week. It was still fun, though!

See you next year!

2019-20 School Year–Week Sixteen

Last week was our last full week of school before Christmas break!

In some ways, it seemed a lot like Thanksgiving week. There were quite a few tests, plus some holiday things. But we had a fairly normal schedule beyond that. Turkey and Bunny learned about the Law of Sines in pre-calculus. We started our annual literature study of A Christmas Carol. They read about the presidencies of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in US history. In world history, they studied the Fifth Crusade.

Ladybug worked on stem and leaf plots and box and whisker plots in pre-algebra. She has almost made it to the end of the Old Testament in her study of Bible history. In writing she analyzed “The Highwayman.” She read about the Ottoman Turks in history. We finished reading Letters from Father Christmas.

Chickadee continued to learn multiplication facts in math. She read about lunar eclipses in science. In language arts, she did a picture study of one of my favorite pieces of art from Chicago’s Art Institute: “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat. In addition to Jotham’s Journey, we read some fun Christmas stories.

We also had the chance to go to a lunchtime Advent concert at the Belleville cathedral last week. It was a nice, and much-needed, addition to our week!

We just have a (maybe) field trip, a few more tests, plus some fun Christmas things left before vacation!