Homeschool Recap: April 18 - May 6, 2016

The kids have been engaged in a lot of self-directed learning over the past three weeks while I get my first novel ready for publication (details coming soon).  They've been cooking, sewing, inventing, and writing their own books.  The twins (age 6.5) have even been creating their own Preschool activities for little brother H (age 4.5).  Here's a summary...



History

We read about the end of the Hundred Years' War between France and England in The Story of the World Vol. 2.  The kids especially enjoyed the story about the son of Charles VI sending tennis balls to Henry V.  After writing some letters back and forth, we played a bowling game with tennis balls.

The kids also learned about Joan of Arc.  I checked out some great books about her life from the library.  After reading them, the kids watched an episode about Joan of Arc from "Animated Hero Classics" on YouTube.


Latin

We learned various classroom commands in Latin ("be quiet", "raise your hand", etc..) as well as polite words like "please" and "thank you".  The kids and I are trying to use the Latin phrases and words we're learning in everyday life.   I try to point out new words (in our read-aloud books) that have Latin roots they are already familiar with.


Math

The kids are still working on reinforcing their singe-digit multiplication and division facts.  We've also been re-reading the Life of Fred elementary series for review.  The books also contain higher-level concepts that the twins are just now able to grasp.  Last week we finished "Dogs" (the 4th book in the series).  We have four more books to "review" to get to where we left off a couple months ago.


Language Arts

We finished the second chapter of Sentence Island.  I'm also giving the girls copy-work and dictation daily to work on spelling, grammar, and the fine-motor-skills for writing.


Science

The kids have been learning about weather.  They also enjoy reading encyclopedias and doing their own research.


Reading

Our current read-aloud selection is The Borrowers by Mary Norton.  E is reading Steve Jenkins's The Animal Book and James Herriot's Treasury for Children.  L is finishing up Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin.

H (age 4.5) likes doing his workbooks like his older sisters.  He's also been working on his reading skills and draws every day.