Weekly Report: 2011-12 School Year

I am three weeks into a new school year with a 10th, 8th, 6th, and 2nd grader. Whew! I don't think I'll be bored. :)

History, this year, will center on the Middle Ages, Reformation, and Renaissance. We are very excited! The kids are already thinking of a way to make a movie set in Medieval times. We are almost finished with our first read aloud of the year, Augustine Came to Kent. Chloe and I read The Knight at Dawn--a perfect fun book to introduce her to the Middle Ages.

All four kids have science studies centered around earth science. Chloe asked for more art projects, so I am trying to combine her science studies with art this year. Our first unit was "planet earth". Chloe learned about the continents and oceans, and Grant read about different weather patterns and clouds.

I found a fun project called "The Big Blue Marble". We will finish it in two parts. Today, we did the painting and cutting. Next week, we will paste our "marbles" and planet earth to black cardstock and learn a bit about 3-dimensional drawings.

Grant's marbles: He hates art but didn't mind this project too much.

Allison and Abby are participating in a "Mapping the World by Heart" course this year that will include earth science as a part of their studies. They will be able to draw a map of the entire world including labeling all the countries by the time they are finished with the course in May!