Week In Review October 31-November 4

Whew!  Where did the week go?  

History-This week we finished up our reading from Gladiator.  We all really enjoyed this book and found ourselves both fascinated and puzzled by this aspect of Roman culture.  Highly recommended-especially for boys!  Unexpected bonus tie-in: We just happened to catch a program on TV this week called Colosseum: Rome's Arena of Death. Colosseum revolves around the true story of Verus, who rises from slave to star gladiator, but who faces the ultimate challenge in one of the very few gladiatorial fights that was recorded and described by contemporary writers. Its outcome was quite unexpected. The whole family watched and enjoyed this one.  We also completed reading about the early life of Christ and the fall of Rome from K12's Human Odyssey.  Ben and Will completed notebook pages on all these topics.

Munching pumpkin seeds and creating history notebook pages.

Science/Nature Study-For Charlie's science this week, we read The Skeleton Inside You.  Charlie then assembled a simple skeleton on our felt board and named the bones.  We also talked about how muscles help to move our bones.  I had Charlie lift some small weights to feel muscle fatigue, and did an activity with Tootsie Rolls to illustrate why we should warm up our muscles before a hard work-out. He warmed one in his hands and I put one in the fridge. The warmed one stretched and flexed easily.  The cold one not so  much. Then, on You Tube, we watched Bill Nye the Science Guy Bones and Muscles.  I also read a story from Among the Forest People to Charlie.  This week's story was about moths.  The big kids are anxious to start their chemistry course soon.

Assembling the bones.

Math-Ben seemed completely brain-dead in math this week and and Will managed to somehow get out of doing any math at all.  I don't want to even talk about it.  

Charlie whizzed through lessons per usual.

Language Arts-The older boys love Spelling Power.  No problems there.  Still haven't gotten my act together for grammar though. Tsk. Tsk.

Charlie's fable this week was The Fox and the Grapes From Aesop's Fables for Children illustrated by Milo Winter.

 

After I read, he narrated the story back to me and I wrote it down for him.  He then illustrated the page.

Art-Charlie attended his art class at the library and had the chance to do some pictures with colored sand.  There is a lovely local artist who donates her time to present these classes and it is so nice to have the chance to use varied materials without the cost or need to plan.  We both look forward to attending. 

Looked at and discussed artwork in Enjoying Art With Children. 

This afternoon we'll be off on a field trip enjoying a beautiful sunny November day at a local sculpture park.  We went last month and are now taking some friends who have never been there before. It will be interesting to see if our perspectives on some of the pieces change after seeing them for a second time.

Poetry-We have switched our regular Tea Time from Tuesday afternoons to Thursday mornings.  I found that poetry often got left off the list at the end of a long day, so now we enjoy a larger/fancier breakfast one day a week while listening to poetry.  Right now I'm focusing on poems that Ben and Will are familiar with, but that are new and appealing to Charlie.  The Poetry For Young People series is especially nice as each book is devoted to one poet and is illustrated to fit the mood of the poems. We're currently reading Edgar Lear. I also pulled a few complimentary poems from Favorite Poems Old and New.  I plan to add in some poetry and discussion soon from The Harp and The Laurel Wreath for the older boys. 

Music-Field trip for the grown-ups to see They Might Be Giants last weekend.  It was a good show, and a much needed night out!    

Hope your week was good, enjoy your weekend!