The Wizard of Oz The Official Cookbook

2024-25 School Year–Week Five

First things first…we had our annual trip to the pumpkin patch a bit early this year, because the pumpkin patch was in our backyard and the pumpkin was ready to be picked! Ladybug and Chickadee have diligently helped me care for it over the past month or so, and we were very excited to have a successful harvest!

OK, now on to the classroom stuff. Ladybug learned about the faulty appeal to authority and appeal to the people fallacies in logic. In physics she continued working on problems involving Newton’s Second Law of Motion. She read about the Olmec and the building of San Lorenzo and La Venta in history. We discussed Origen and the problems of universalism in religion. She continued to read The Merchant of Venice. In psychology she learned about the structure of the brain and the nervous system.

Chickadee reviewed inequalities and decimals in pre-algebra. In science she learned about scientific theories and laws. We continued reading Tom Sawyer. She took notes in writing. In history, she learned about the start of the slave trade in North America. We continued reading The Wizard of Oz, and made two more recipes from The Wizard of Oz: The Official Cookbook. Chickadee helped me make Peach Iced Tea, and Ladybug made “I’m Losing My Hay,” curried hash browns obviously named for the Scarecrow.

We went to Belleville’s Oktoberfest for a fun little outing today, and got to see part of the naturalization ceremony, and we have some fun plans for this weekend, too!

2024-25 School Year–Week Four

In logic this week, Ladybug learned about both the genetic and tu quoque fallacies. She started a chapter on Newton’s Laws of Motion in advanced physics. In her study of American culture and geography she read about the Clovis-First Theory. She continued to read The Merchant of Venice. In religion, she and Chickadee read about Tertullian of Carthage and his use of the word “Trinity” to refer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. She had her first psychology exam.

Chickadee practiced writing expressions with one variable and then solving equations with one variable by combining like terms in pre-algebra. She wrote an essay about the California Gold Rush, making use of endnotes. In history she read about Hideyoshi and the shogunate of Tokugawa Ieyasu in Japan. She continued reading Tom Sawyer. In science, she learned about the Scientific Method, and how it doesn’t always yield the results we expect. We continued reading The Wizard of Oz, and made a trio of lemonades from The Wizard of Oz: The Official Cookbook. We started with “Old-Fashioned Lemonade,” which also served as the base for the watermelon-infused “Good Witch Pink Lemonade” and the spicy “Wicked Lemonade,” which had flavors of lime, cucumber, and jalapeño.

Our cookbook focuses on the classic Judy Garland movie, but I couldn’t resist this sugar cookie pop kit based on the upcoming Wicked movie when I saw it at Walmart…we discovered that we must be good witches, because they turned pink!

I think next week is going to be a short four-day week, with a little outing thrown in for fun!

2024-25 School Year–Week Three

This was another busy week of school! We did find time to visit the library and take a walk down a nature trail in addition to our work, though.

Ladybug identified special pleading and ad hominem fallacies in logic. In advanced physics she calculated parabolic motion. She read about ethics in testing in psychology. In history she read about Hernán Cortés and the downfall of the Triple Alliance. She continued reading The Merchant of Venice. In religion, we read about Irenaeus of Lyons. She finished A Farewell to Arms.

Chickadee reviewed the order of operations in pre-algebra (PEMDAS), as well as the rules for exponents. She finished the first chapter of her science textbook with a look at some of the more modern influences in science. In writing she practiced both making citations in the proper form and taking notes. She continued to read Tom Sawyer. In history she read about the establishment of the Jamestown colony and Samuel Champlain and Henry Hudson in Canada. We continued reading The Wizard of Oz, and made both “Auntie Em’s Crullers” and “Wicked Cruel-lers” from The Wizard of Oz: The Official Cookbook. I did the actual frying, but Chickadee did most of the work on the batter and glazes!

I’m not sure if we’ll do anything special next week, but I do know we’ll be back at the library!

2024-25 School Year–Week Two

This week in school, Ladybug worked on identifying the red herring fallacy. She finished the first chapter in advanced physics with the cross product method and torque. In her study of US geography and cultures, she read about the Wampanoag as well as the rise and fall of the Incan Empire. She continued the study of The Merchant of Venice. In religion we read about Polycarp and Justin Martyr. She started reading On Writing Well and A Farewell to Arms. She also competed the first three modules of her psychology course.

Chickadee reviewed absolute values and prime factorization in pre-algebra. She continued to learn about the history of science, focusing on the Middle Ages and Renaissance. In history she read about Mary Queen of Scots and James I/VI. She continued reading Tom Sawyer. She wrote a two paragraph essay describing something…she chose to describe our washing machine (Ladybug remembered doing this assignment about the dishwasher!). We were introduced to the Tin Woodman in The Wizard of Oz.

Speaking of The Wizard of Oz, we made three recipes from The Wizard of Oz: The Official Cookbook this week…”Marvelous Campfire Spread,” “Twister Shakes,” and “Savory Pinwheel Lollipops.” They were all delicious!

We are hoping for nicer weather next week so we can do something outdoors!

2024-25 School Year–Week One

We have completed the first week of the 2024-25 school year!

Our first day of school was mostly fun, but we did get into some work…Ladybug was very excited to get started on her advanced physics course, and Chickadee was just excited about everything!

Ladybug began the intro to logic course she’s taking this year instead of standard math. In advanced physics, she reviewed vectors and the dot method. She started reading 1491 for social studies. She also read Act I of The Merchant of Venice (and read the entirety of The Great Gatsby!). In religion, a walk through all of church history, which she and Chickadee are doing together, she read about James the Brother of Jesus and Ignatius of Antioch.

Chickadee reviewed the identity formulas for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division and the rules for arithmetic involving signs in pre-algebra. Her first literature selection of the year is Tom Sawyer, and she read the first chapter. In history, she read about the Holy Roman Empire at the time of Charles V. She reviewed one and two-level outlines in writing. She began an intro to general science, and got to do her first experiment, which demonstrated how molecules move at different temperatures.

This year, we’re going to be reading The Wizard of Oz out loud together, and making recipes from The Wizard of Oz: The Official Cookbook. We started with a fairly simple recipe from Auntie Em’s Recipe Box for “Dinner on the Farm Rolls.”

We also took advantage of one of the fall-like days we had this week to play tennis. It has been a few years (I think) since we played tennis, and let me tell you, I’m really feeling it!

Next week it’s going to be hot again, so I don’t anticipate any fun outdoor adventures, but we are going to get fully into the routine of school!