Last Tuesday was one of my favorite days of the year…the day where we take the walking trail all the way around Creve Coeur Lake! Even though this is about the time we usually go, there were far fewer leaves this time, probably due to the winds we had last week. While I missed the foliage on some of my favorite parts of the walk, I appreciated that we had a whole new perspective this time around!
This was a busy and fun (not to mention short!) school week! We had one day that was a field trip day (Tuesday) and one day off (today, for Veteran’s Day). But first…cooking! Ladybug helped me make another three recipes from Recipes from the World of Tolkien…Lembas Bread (spicy cornbread), Sam’s Coney Stew (but actually chicken thighs according to the suggested substitution in the cookbook), and apple and blackberry cake:
Chickadee also did some baking with me this week…we made “Canterlot Cornbread” from the My Little Pony Baking Book. It was some of the best cornbread I’ve ever had!
Our previously mentioned field trip was to Creve Coeur Park for our annual walk on the four-mile loop around the lake. We timed it so Turkey, Bunny, and Moose could come with us, and he had a great time!
We did get some school work done, too. In algebra 2, Ladybug learned how to identify discriminants. In chemistry, she learned about decomposition, formation, and combustion reactions, and did an experiment to break down water into its constituent parts using an electrolysis machine. She read about dynasties in Japan and China in history. She has almost finished the second part of The Scarlett Letter. She tried her hand at crime and horror writing in creative writing.
Chickadee had mostly a review week in math, covering many of the topics she’s worked with so far this year. In science, she learned about chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas. She learned about early Greece and the Mycenaeans in history. We continued to read through Centerburg Tales. And we got to tag along with Bunny on a visit to the St. Louis Art Museum today!
Next week we have a full week of school, with some Thanksgiving fun thrown in, and then it will be Thanksgiving Week already!
On Tuesday, we went for a walk around Creve Coeur Lake…it was a perfect day!
Hymn of the Week–“For All the Saints” (Lutheran Service Book #677)
I’m so happy it’s finally November (even if it has been unusually warm the last few days)!
On Monday, we took our annual walk around Creve Coeur Lake…it was the perfect day for it, and there was still plenty of fall color to see. And most importantly, we got out of the house!
After our very rare field trip day, we got back to our regular work. Turkey and Bunny learned the chain rule for derivatives in calculus. They started reading two new books for history: American Nations and Light in the Dark Belt. Now that they’ve learned about how muscles work in advanced biology, they’re learning about specific muscles/muscle groups.
Ladybug worked with adding, subtracting, and multiplying systems of equations in algebra. She learned how elements are grouped on the periodic table in science. She also learned how to write a scientific paper. We finished reading The Trojan War. In history, she and Chickadee read about the Oregon Trail.
Chickadee started carrying in multiplication in math. Her writing lessons focused on passages from 101 Dalmatians. She learned a bit more about migration in science. We read about the first theater performance of Mr. Popper’s Penguins.
Ladybug and Chickadee put the finishing touches on their election lapbooks this week. The biggest addition was the “Vocabinet,” which summarized all the terms they’ve learned over the last month:
Both Ladybug and Chickadee were very proud of their finished projects!
Next week will be a pretty normal week, and then we’ll add in our Thanksgiving studies!
We took advantage of the beautiful weather and Moose’s day off on Thursday to visit Creve Coeur Park and walk the almost four mile loop around the lake. We saw some beautiful fall color (although not as much as I would have liked), a couple of different kinds of snakes, and some gorgeous herons. We also saw runners, bikers, a few people in kayaks, and even a sailboat…apparently we weren’t the only ones who wanted to take advantage of the lovely November day!
I’m pretty sure the first week of November is always a little crazy, but I’m not really sure why!
We made it back to Lutheranism 101 this week, after our study of denominations in One Christ, Many Creeds. We also reviewed the events of the Reformation on Monday, which included watching The Reformation Polka.
Math was pretty easy this week. Turkey and Bunny have been working with solving inequalities, as well as graphing them. Ladybug has continued to work on finding the factors of numbers, and is also working on multiplying three digit numbers.
Ladybug finished the chapter on aquatic herps in science. She really enjoyed learning about aquatic toads and frogs! Turkey and Bunny also finished the chapter they were working on in science, about water. They still have to take the test before they move onto the next module.
In history we have been learning about South America, Africa, and Australia in the late 1800s. I’m really enjoying learning about some of these events with the children. While I did learn a lot about history in junior high and high school, I didn’t learn as much about what was going on in some of the world’s more far-flung locations as we are learning about now.
We finally made it to Creve Coeur Park for a fall field trip. The weather wasn’t as nice as I was hoping, but we did get to see some good fall color and some interesting animals, and we enjoyed the 3.7 mile walk around the lake.
We’re going to do things a little different next week, to try to spend as much time as we can with Moose, who only has two days of school (and a birthday!). We have plans for two different field trips…I can’t wait!
We finally made it to Creve Coeur Park for the fall field trip I’ve been planning. We walked the entire 3.7 mile loop around the lake, and Chickadee did a great job…she kept up with us the whole time! Her legs may be little, but she’s fast!
