This week was filled with appointments and schedules, which is one of many reasons that I really appreciate homeschooling. We are always able to shift things, which makes us so much more flexible for our appointments – our providers love that too!
We are enjoying the Fall vibes but still fighting with the summer weather this week. It is nice to have a few hours of 60’s before the day begins though – which is a helpful reminder of what’s to come in the not to distant future!
Monday: Literature and Language Arts
This week we read another Frog and Toad story, which Baby Blossom loves. I love how B&R integrates activities to do that align with the stories. We are supplementing the reading/copy work portion with Treasure Hunt Reading, though we are trying to follow the letter order from Blossom and Root. I am not sure how that will look going forward, but we are trying it for now. She has also reached word building, and its so fun to watch her realize she can read words. I also appreciate that part of the literature study requires the student to “retell/narrate” the story. For us, that not only makes sure that Blossom is paying attention, but it also helps us to see what she is absorbing from the story – so we can talk about it, if necessary.
Tuesday: Art and Music, and History of Myself
This week, we talked about Ruth Asawa and Scott Joplin. I like that the art and music studies focus on the techniques the artist uses, and we also take some time to learn about their lives. This week we went off text and watched a PBS special on Ruth Asawa, where we learned about her home and family life. I unfortunately didn’t have the supplies ready to go, so we had to push the activity to later. Instead, we played with playdoh to make sculptures, and Baby Root decided to join in, so we borrowed from his activities in the preK level.
When we got to it though it was super fun and Baby Blossom really enjoyed doing it and wants to go back to it often throughout the week – luckily we will be studying these works for a few weeks. She really likes making bracelets and bubble wands for her brother.
Wednesday: Singapore Dimensions Math
This week and last, we have really been focusing on identifying and recognizing numerals 1-5 and putting the numbers together with physical representations. This is sort of a review for us, but it’s a good one. We talked a lot about how we are working on our solid foundation, and that we need a sturdy base to build on, especially with Baby Blossoms interest in STEM careers. Baby Root joined, and we had him separating the counters into color categories, until he got bored and threw them on the floor….
Typically on Wednesdays, we go to the local story time, but that is on hold for the foreseeable future, so instead we met with friends at a local park and then reconvened with them at the pumpkin patch for a little field trip! We fed ducks, and talked about fall and Halloween being “around the corner” from our last story!
Thursday: Science
Our ultimate goal in science is to “build a spacecraft” to visit our Alien friend Zoola, and explore our solar system. This week, we made a control panel and a mock up spacecraft, using specifications from our “mission control.” One of the specifications we had for the control panel was the number of “shapes” or buttons we needed to have on it. It was funny because as she was gluing her shapes to the “panel,” Baby Blossom said, “that’s too many buttons, I think” and I laughed, as her dad and I have both worked in aircraft maintenance, and showed her the control panel for our jet.
Friday: Nature Study
We did our first Tree Study in our Outdoor Classroom, I wanted to focus on a tree that would change with the seasons, so we picked an OAK tree to do our study on this year – Baby Root is also focusing on trees and how they change in his nature study, and we are allowing him to do as much or as little as he wants – though nature study is usually a hit with him 🙂
We continued learning about the Squirrel family..
Did you guys know WOODCHUCKS are SQUIRRELS?!
We also started to talk about how fall will be different after moving further south.
Unfortunately /s, I am still really appreciating waking up with dad, that time in the morning is invaluable, especially on heavy appointment weeks!
Baby Blossom was stoked to play with playdoh for art time, so that worked out well – though I am disappointed I couldn’t find our pipe cleaners… ALTHOUGH, the fuzzy ones we found at the store are too fun!
Picking lessons from the preK1, rather than trying to force Baby Root to “do school” with us, is definitely the better play.
We believe heavily that “play is the work of the child,” so when we need to step away, we do not hesitate to do so – with either kid! We got some larger sensory type toys 2for when they need a moment to get back into it, and we try to make sure lessons really don’t reach beyond 45min to an hour.
We have been having a lot of fun finding ways to incorporate the lessons into our day to day life, which encourages the kids to pay attention, but also to work on recall, which is also important.
I have really been loving that when Baby Blossom and I talk about why things are important, she tells me another thing she wants to be when she grows up. This week we have really been into being a scientist, and a ballerina. Previously she has wanted to be a veterinarian, an aerial acrobat… we try to use those examples to weave in why our lessons are important. I also really like the History of Me sections for this reason. Though things change about every day for her, I love to see what is going on in that brain of hers.
Next week we are looking forward to Nature Study, there is a park with Prarie Dogs which we plan to observe, and Art and Science are always a hit! I am also anticipating our Spanish 3and History 4 curriculums which will be arriving in the next several weeks as well!
I’ll be back to check in next week😊
If you have questions about our curriculum, or what we are doing – you can check it out here, along with free samples to download, and the scope and sequences!
https://www.blossomandroot.com/level-0
- https://www.blossomandroot.com/early-years-vol-1 ↩︎
- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTQ6TQ66?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTQ6TQ66?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1 ↩︎ - https://www.ninosandnature.com/cuentos-conmigo-curriculum/
↩︎ - https://shop.wokehomeschooling.com/products/oh-freedom-for-beginners ↩︎
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