Homeschool Days April 2021

We are well on our way to wrapping up this school year.  We finished several subjects this month and are focusing hard on the ones that are left (like math).  It has been another great month of learning.  Our brains are tired but we are pushing through.  

In our missionary study we learned about the life and ministry of John Wesley, Dietrich Bonhoeffer,  and John Bunyan.  We studied and prayed for the Garifuna, Hazara, and Yanomamo people groups. 

We finished all of our math lessons and they took their unit test.  We will now focus on reviewing for their final exams.

 

 

Cruz watching his weekly math video lesson.  

He was very excited that this one was his last for the school year.

 

Ben taking a weekly spelling test. 

 He read these two chapter books this month.

He also finished up a two year Sing Spell Read & Write reading program about the United States.  His last two books were on Mexico and Canada.  I have loved this Grand Tour series!!  It has been a favorite thing of mine.  Both boys learned so much about the U.S. through reading these books.  It is a great reading curriculum for 2nd and 3rd grade.

 

He was proud to finish his map.  After each book he would color in the State.
 

Cruz read this book and really enjoyed it.

Cruz also finished his BJU 5 reading book.  

Both boys finished their language for the year.

 

Here's Ben doing his final language assessment in his workbook.
 

Cruz took two online virtual field trip history classes this month. 

The first one was titled Join the Crew and was about life at sea on the USS Constitution. They learned about recruitment, daily activities, and battle.  They got to experience a sailor’s life in 1812 and compared that to life in the US Navy today. The class was co-facilitated by a US Navy sailor on board the USS Constitution.  Cruz enjoyed every minute of it.

 

The next class he took was titled I AM an American.  In this class he learned about Japanese Internment during World War II.  It was presented by the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.

 

A few of his drawings. 

He finished his Fix It! Grammar book.  

We loved our science Anatomy and Physiology study this school year but in spite of that you can see they were quite excited when we finished the book.  We use Apologia and it has been my favorite science study so far.

Our co-op did not meet in person this year due to COVID but my sweet friend Staci did a weekly Zoom call with all the kids to review and talk about the lessons.  To end the study she did a Jeopardy style game to review the whole year.  The boys loved it!!  Jeopardy is one of our favorite shows.

Since finishing our science and history curriculums I have used that time to do a unit study for an upcoming field trip we will be taking.  Did you know that 4th graders and their families get free entrance to national parks?  Well, due to COVID, they extended it to fifth graders this year because they missed their opportunity to go.  That means that Cruz will get us free entrance until August 31, 2021.  Ben will be entering fourth grade in the fall so his pass will start on September 1 and be good until August 31, 2022.  It's called Every Kid Outdoors.  

We plan to take advantage of it and visit several parks this year.  The timing fits well after our year long study of American history.  Our first adventure will have us visiting the Arizona, Utah, and Nevada areas.  We have learned all about the national parks that we will visit, the wildlife and plant life that we will encounter, Route 66, as well as dams, rivers, and lakes in the area.  It has been a fun study and we cannot wait to go see it all in person.  As an added bonus we will get to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary at one of the "grandest" places on Earth. 

Watching a documentary on how the Glen Canyon Dam was constructed.

A canyon drawing for art.