We were on Spring Break last week, and spent this week easing back into our routine. The boys had a sleepover Sunday night, and between that and our home school gym class and piano lessons, nothing got done on Monday. Even though we didn't have a full week, I think we'll be ready to hit next week full-force. Here is what we did this week:
Math: J-Straco has been working on graphing and Farm Boy has been working on multiplying/dividing fractions.
Latin: We only cracked open our Latin book one day, and spent the other days with our flash cards trying to cement our latest batch of vocabulary words.
Grammar: Worked with prepositions and objects of the preposition. Did some parsing on the patio door with window markers.
History: We read and discussed Alexander the Great- how he was a student of Aristotle, sought revenge on Persia, and conquered much of the 'known' world. He named the city of Alexandria (Egypt) after himself.
Lit: Famous Men of Greece, chapters on Phillip and Alexander
Science: We are still working through a unit on nutrition and talked about healthy and unhealthy fats and how calories are measured.
Other: We watched 'The Safe Side: Stranger Safety and discussed it. It is a VERY good movie which gives very usable advice without being too scary.
Reading: The boys finished their audio book: 'Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal. J-Straco started listening to a new audio book: Sign of the Beaver. He started reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret this week, and is really enjoying it. Farm Boy is reading: The Worm Book For Beginners: A Vermiculture Starter. Grandma took him shopping for his birthday and he chose a portable worm farm. We have been looking at larger worm compost bins and researching vermiculture.
J-Straco has also been reading his herb books. His favorite is: A Kids Herb Book. I bought him a new herb book which arrived this week: Walking the World in Wonder: A Children's Herbal. He planted a wide variety of herbs this week, and is planning which 'concoctions' he wants to make.
He collected dandelion leaves last week and dried and ground them. He made a dandelion sun tea. I would like to find a local herbalist to mentor him.
Music: The boys are really moving ahead with their violin lessons. We are lucky to have found an amazing teacher who was also home schooled as a child. Farm Boy, being so strongly left-brained, 'doesn't see the point' of violin lessons, as it takes away from his piano practice time. I don't think he'll hang in there very long. He really enjoys his piano though. J-Straco is still rocking his guitar. The boys have a concert tonight they will perform in. J-Straco will play guitar, Farm Boy will sing, and the Princess is going to play the maracas. Sounds like it will be a fun time!
Language Arts: I bought 'The Logic of English' curriculum with the intention of using it for both the Princess and some remediation of J-Straco. We have been going through the phonogram sounds using the nice flashcards included, and the Princess is doing amazing. She knows all three sounds of 'A', 'B', two sounds of 'C' and 'D'. I made a salt box and she has been practicing making her cursive letters in the salt. I'm trying to find a good cursive app on my iPad for her. Anyone know of a good one?
Even though we had a light week, I think we got a lot accomplished! We will hit the books hard for another 6 weeks or so, and then I need to figure out our summer school plans.
