Week 8: 10/24-10/28... Pumpkins to Acrobats to Bugs...

We started our week with a trip to a nearly Pumpkin Patch/Fall Festival. There the kids got to pet goats...

And really cute little donkeys...

Hold some starfish...

Pose as a farmer...

Pose in front of a mountain lion...

And of course, pick out some pumpkins...

There were also live birds (a barn owl and a red tailed hawk), all kinds of insects, snakes and lizards, a Native American village, a hay-bale maze, and the hayride out to the pumpkins! Not to mention crafts, music, and so forth.

Other than that...

Language Arts
Cricket read two Nora Gaydos books this week, worked on two lessons from her word families book, did 8 pages in Explode the Code, and did 2 lessons in Primary Language Lessons, focusing on observation and a picture study! Her reading is coming along nicely, at long, loooooooong last. Phew! I have also noticed an improvement in her handwriting.

Bug did three lessons in Intermediate Language Lessons, mostly learning about proper use of is/are and was/were, as well as I/her/him/hers/his/ours/us. He did work a bit in his Spectrum Spelling book, but has asked to switch back to a combo of Natural Speller and Spelling City next week, so I'll set up his word lists there on Sunday. He also made a couple of entries in his journal.

Both kids also wrote short poems for free entry to an insect event (see Science below).

Math
Both took and passed their quizzes this week, Bug with 100% and Cricket with 95%, which she only got because on the last question she was looking over her shoulder talking to the dog and clicked on the wrong button! They both completed another 2 lessons as well. I decided to go ahead and order Life of Fred: Fractions for Bug as a supplement/fun math book, and am still debating which of the elementary level books to get for Cricket. I think the author recommends just starting at the beginning for any kid under 4th grade... I'll have to double check his website.

History
We started reading from Year of Columbus: 1492 this week, and really enjoyed it. We also looked up images of the artwork mentioned, specifically da Vinchi's Last Supper and Michaelangelo's Pieta. We talked about Copernicus and what people thought about the shape and size of the world at that time. We've decided also to start some "social studies" again, focusing on world cultures, and finally putting into use my plans for Cricket for the year, since she is less involved in history than Bug. I think since we don't do tons of history, she could do both, and Cyrus can start integrating more mythology into his history studies. I also ordered a copy of Social Studies Through Children's Literature, which looks intriguing. Our library has Science Through Children's Literature though, so I placed that on hold.

Science
We learned a lot about farm animals this week, since we went to a friend's farm on Thursday. This was in addition to all we learned on Sunday about insects and snakes! At the farm, we got to hold one-week old-chicks, see a big cow that was a tiny little calf just such a short time ago! Cricket actually helped bottle-feed it as a calf. We learned about a few different breeds of chicken, and in the car on the way home, we discussed family versus factory farms, proper chicken care, and vegetable gardening. Tomorrow, we are off to an insect-fest hosted at the local university!

Geography
We started reading from Richard Halliburton's Complete Book of Marvels this week. The first chapter is about the Bay Bridge, stretching 8 miles from San Francisco to the East Bay. The kids were recently on that bridge when we drove across it on our way home from Disneyland, so they could picture the bridge quite well. Mr. Halliburton's descriptions are awesome, and I think we will really enjoy this book! I had a hard time setting it down when skimming through it before reading aloud. Even M came to listen in on this reading, and really enjoyed it.

Literature
Family reading this week was mainly Nurse Matilda, which sets the kids off in riots of laughter. Bug is still re-reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and The Children of Green Knowe, as well as Calvin & Hobbes. I read from Squids Will Be Squids to the kids several days this week, and I read from All of a Kind Family Downtown to Cricket.

Other
Bug continued working on computer animation and physics. Cricket continued to be the cook's assistant for most dinners. We also went to a show at the local center for the arts... The Golden Dragon Acrobats! It was awe-inspiring, and we had a great time.

And that's really about it! Have a good weekend... I think we will!