Week 5

This was a 75% normal week.  We missed one day because Big Sister had an appointment that kept us busy for much of the day.  That was fine.  It was hot as blazes here this week, so there was lots of outside time, which is never a bad thing.

The very best thing we did this week was spelling.  I'm not sure Henry would agree, but I was tickled with it. His suffixes were -able, -ible, -id, -ly, -ness, -or, and -ure. His  spelling words were: rupture, actor, vividness, sensible, plentiful, quietly, and teachable.  That was all fine and dandy. He wrote them twice, and used them in sentences.  The great thing was having him think of other words using those suffixes. He came up with words like: mindful, impossible, swiftly, proctor, capture, and messiness.  There were others, but those were the ones that came to him immediately. It was a wonderful, thought-provoking, sometimes laughter-inducing exercise.  I will definitely employ that strategy in the future.

We're still touring Mesopotamia.  We learned about Babylon and King Hammurabi and King Nebuchadnezzar II.  If any of you listen to the podcast, "Oh No, Ross and Carrie", you know that Ross can spell Nebuchadnezzar like a boss.  It makes me chuckle every time I see the word.

Math was math.  I am not entirely thrilled with the hopscotchy nature of the Critical Thinking book.  I might take it apart and make it a little more orderly, or I may use that as a supplement.  I would like something that has a little more flow to it. For example, this week, Henry did probability, averaging, algebraic thinking and multiplication.  All of those are great things, but I would like to have it in larger chunks, rather than the sporadic nature we are getting.

He's reading I Survived! The Hindenburg Disaster of 1937.  I swear, if he asks me if I was alive in 1937 one more time, I'm getting a face lift.

Only 31 weeks to go!

Week 4 - Better

Thankfully this was, all things considered, an infinitely better week.  Papa Bear is still having some medical issues, but we're on track to finding out what is going on. We hope.

School happened.  We did -ism and -ist words for spelling.  Given the hubbub over the word "dotard" in the news yesterday, I am even more insistent that Henry understands the parts of words and what the mean. Even if he doesn't know the precise definition, he'll be able to figure out what the word means by its parts.

Math was pretty generic - just some fractions, adding and balance problems.

Social studies was good.  We read about Sargon of Ur. We borrowed Story of the World, Volume I from a friend and read the story of Abraham and Sarah, too.  It was timely that we read it on Rosh Hashanah. Like knowing the parts of words, knowing what has happened in history is imperative.  It repeats, yet we don't seem to get that.  It makes me want to bang my head against a wall.  All I can do is help facilitate learning and hope that my kid will help to save what's left of the world when he's  older.

We never did get to the science lesson that was planned for this week.  We did watch lots of Hurricane Maria on the Weather Channel, and we watched a few episodes of The Strangest Weather on Earth. We also read about the autumn equinox.

Henry finished his book and started another one. It works for me. We'll  have another jumbled week  next week, but hopefully we'll be on a better schedule after that.  When life rears its ugly head, we just have to  roll with it.

Week 3 - The Week That Wasn't

This was a no good, very bad week for our household.  Papa Bear had a medical emergency (which is now under control...ish), and all of my brain space was filled with that.  There was some spelling, some reading, some Moana watching, but no real hard-core school work.  I am hoping this week will be better.

Week #2

This was a really calm. low-key week.  We took Monday off for Labor Day, then on Tuesday, I had an early morning appointment, so that kind of threw off our schedule.  So, Wednesday, we got back down to brass tacks.  We had a bit of a kerfuffle over reading.  Once that was done, Henry read a Scooby-Doo book, The Missing Scooby-Snacks.  Again, not high up on the literary scale, but it was words on a page.  On Thursday, he started I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916.  He was immediately engaged with this one.  He's only four chapters in, but he may actually finish it this weekend. I might get him another one when I'm out with Big Sister tomorrow, just to make sure he doesn't lose the reading thread.

We did a lesson from Mystery Science:  "Can You Fry an Egg on the Sidewalk?"  It was all about the insulating properties of certain materials.  The experiment involved using three common household materials to see if the difference of hot or cold water bottles could be felt.

Social studies fell by the wayside this week. I was going to read the kids' version of Gilgamesh and have Henry draw pictures for each part, but we had such a short week that my plan wouldn't have worked.  I may do that next week, or I may just skip it and move on to Babylonia.

Math, as usual was the best and easiest subject.  He did fractions, multiplication and division.  I enjoy the Mathematical Reasoning book because, while there may be only five or six problems on a page, they all require a little bit of thought.  It's not just page after page of problems.

We finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, too.  As soon as I was done reading, Henry exclaimed, "That's it? I want to know what happens to Charlie and his family!"  I thought it was adorable.  I'm glad he enjoyed the book.  Up next, The Little Prince.

Finally, for spelling we had prefixes un,  re, and dis. I think before we get too far into this book, I am going to write the prefixes, suffixes and words on index cards for a running reference/reminder.  I am really hoping to get into a little more writing as this school year goes on.

Week 1 Wrap Up

Phew! We made it. Our first official week of fourth grade is in the books. I won't lie, there were tears, whining and frustration, but it all worked out in the end.  Here's what we did this week.

I am expecting Henry to read one book every week. By Thursday, he hadn't started anything and wailed, "I'll never be able to read a whole book by Sunday!" I suggested that perhaps he would make a better choice next week and start reading on Monday.  The book he wound up reading is Minnie and Moo: The Case of the Missing Jelly Donut. Not great literature by any stretch, but he read it and he thought it was pretty funny.  Baby steps, right?

Social studies was fun, though.  We are studying Sumeria, and I found some fun hands-on activities on Pinterest.  Thank God for Pinterest!  Henry made a ziggurat out of Legos,

 he wrote his name in cuneiform on a clay tablet (with clay that he dug out of the creek bed himself),

and he made some Mesopotamian bread.

  I'm not worrying about names of kings and dates they ruled.  I want him to remember four key things about the Sumerians: They are credited with inventing the wheel, they wrote in cuneiform, they had a legal code, and Gilgamesh.  He also thinks the statues with the freaky huge eyes are pretty cool. 

We did not really do any science this week.  I have discovered that the science book I bought is going to be more of a supplement than a curriculum.  So, I went ahead and bought the membership for Mystery Science.  It is laid out nicely, and Henry liked it when we had the free trial.  That will give us a much better plan than my pick-and-choose efforts.

Math is math.  We are still reviewing multiplication tables, basic division, and the dreaded rounding and estimating.  For some reason, all of my children have hated rounding and estimating.

We will have Monday off for the Labor Day holiday, but we'll be back at it on Tuesday.  See you next week!