2023-24 School Year–Week Twelve

Last week was a long short week! We took Friday off, but the rest of the week seemed interminable! I guess that’s just what happens as the holidays approach.

Ladybug used double angle and half angle identities in pre-calculus. She did problems calculating torque in physics. She began reading The Divine Comedy‘s “Purgatario.” In religion, she read Eusebius’ account of the building of the church at Tyre. She read about Thomas Jefferson, the Louisiana Purchase, and the explorations of Lewis and Clark in US history. In health, she finished reading about the five senses, focusing on touch, smell, and taste. She read about the Magna Carta in history.

Chickadee learned how to calculate range, mean, mode, and median in math. She read about William the Conquerer and feudalism in history. We finished the chapter on the respiratory system in science. We started reading The Hobbit…I really think the first chapter, with all of the dwarves showing up at Bilbo’s door, is my favorite part of the whole book! She reviewed conjugating irregular verbs in grammar. We started reading Happy Birthday Felicity.

This year, we also made a craft for Martinmas for the first time. I found the directions for these lanterns last year, but the idea of Mod Podge was too intimidating for me at the time…this year, I decided I was ready. They were fun to make, and so pretty with the light shining through!

We’re hoping to make our annual trip to Cahokia Mounds sometime this week!

Chickadee Thursday

When we were in Forest Park last day for our field trip to the Missouri History Museum, we just had to stop by Pagoda Circle and see how the fall color is coming along. I was actually surprised at the amount of color we saw, even though it’s no where near the peak yet!

2023-24 School Year–Week Eight

This has been a crazy week! We took the day off on Monday, and we might have done it anyway because Moose also had the day off, but the real reason for our long weekend was the story I taped with Rene Knott for the morning news!

Ladybug worked on rewriting a trig function using the cofunction in pre-calculus. She started learning about Newton’s First Law of Motion in physics. In health, we discussed birth order and family dynamics (something I’ve always found fascinating!). She punctuated titles in grammar. In writing, she learned about creating unbiased surveys. She read about the persecution of the Christians under Diocletian and Galerius in religion. In world history, she read about the Third Crusade led by Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, against Saladin following the capture of Jerusalem. In US history, she read about the French and Indian War, and some famous names started showing up!

Chickadee worked with three-dimensional figures in math. In health, she started a chapter on nutrition, learning about the importance of water and carbohydrates. She read about Australia and New Zealand in the Middle Ages, and we also read a myth about Maui, which had us singing songs from Moana! In grammar, she reviewed the list of prepositions and how to find the object of a preposition in a prepositional phrase. We continued reading Anne of Green Gables…we really don’t have much of the book left! We also baked the perfect fall recipe from The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook…Puffy Apple Dumplings. They were as delicious as they sound!

Today we went to the Missouri History Museum for this month’s “History Exploration Day.” The theme was “Harvest History: St. Louis Agriculture,” and it was the best one of their themed days we’ve been to yet! We all learned a lot, got to do some fun hands-on activities (even I made a craft), and got to meet an adorable calf!

I’m not sure how I’m going to top this week!

Chickadee Thursday

Even if it hadn’t been Zootoberfest, Chickadee would have had a great time at the St. Louis Zoo last weekend because she got to see the entire elephant herd!

Chickadee Thursday

We went to St. Charles Oktoberfest for the first time, and it was so much fun…Chickadee especially loved seeing all of the dachshunds that were there for the “Wiener Takes All” Wiener Dog Derby!