A Separate Peace, Romeo and Juliet, Martin Luther King Jr, and the Winter Olympics

Our school week was shortened, due to one of the kids feeling ill yesterday.  Today, DJ and I will be watching, A Separate Peace, then Math and Spelling.  Caitlin will finish her next friendly letter, Math, Science, Reading and Spelling.  Our Earth Kids meeting was postponed, for today, due to a scheduling conflict. 

Next week, we are switching things up a bit.  Monday we are taking a field trip, our final visit to Bush Gardens.  Then we start a Martin Luther King Jr, unit study, and our new Geography game, which we only got in once this week.  Learning via games is especially fun, and a nice way to learn.  If you missed the states Geography game post, you can find it in my archives.  I will have the virtual states up soon.  I am about halfway through with that.  We won't start that, until the kids have mastered the Geography part of the game.  DJ, and I, will also begin reading Romeo and Juliet next week.  We will read, and also listen to the book.  I chose this method, because sometimes Shakespeare is hard to understand.  I read Romeo and Juliet in high school, but that was a real long time ago.  Over the weekend I will share all the links to all these, and some Winter Olympics lessons too.  Feb will be a different month for us.  We will get in as much as we can, plus do Olympics studies as well. 

The end of this second grading period is Jan 31st which is also the date of the Medieval Fair.  Boy, that is a busy weekend, but more on that later.

Ancient Greek Architecture and Art

Caitlin has been learning about Ancient Greek Architecture and Art, this week, for History class. Today, she painted some Greek architecture in a painting called Sunrise Over the Sea.  We got the lesson through Lesson Pathways, but Crayola.com had the art instructions.  You can see her painting came out pretty good.  Youtube has a documentary on the Greeks, and I think I will have both kids watch it, when Caitlin finishes learning about the Greeks.  DJ is studying the Middle Ages, but he will appreciate the video too.  I will share it later, when we get closer to it.  I am trying to keep up with school, before Christmas break, so we can take off our full three weeks I planned to take off.  We will be doing two different hiking trips and Busch Gardens over the Christmas break.  Plus we are having a Polar Express pajama Christmas Party.  DJ will be making his homemade hot chocolate, and I am making the popcorn.  I am still thinking about decorations, and of course we are watching the movie, The Polar Express.  The next two weeks are crazy busy, but I will try to post the fun things we do, not the mundane textbook work.  DJ has to finish his formal letter, for Language Arts, writing a Legend for History class, and a book report.  All this week, probably tomorrow, lol.  The book he started to read online, A Separate Peace, went away, so now I have to wait for the library to tell me they have it.  I am stopping over there tomorrow to jog their memory.  He will be far behind if I don't get it soon.

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Thanksgiving and Dinosaurs

We have next week off for Thanksgiving break.  So, we need to get a lot done this week to stay up to date.  Our Run Club has moved to Mon and Wed at 1, but today we were rained out.  We have 4H this evening.  Caitlin will be doing more Dinosaur reading and activities, this week, along with more history on Greece.  She has decided to make a theater mask, and a Greek style dinner for her hands on projects.  We will not be using Feta cheese though, no one seems to like it much.  She will be making a simple Greek Salad, and Lemon Chicken served over rice and sauteed veggies.  There will be a lot of art work, with her dinosaur research.  I will add links and info as we go.  DJ is continuing to learn about the Middle Ages, and the Atmosphere.  I have not decided yet what hands on activity he will do next.  However, we have decided he is too busy to write his book on his free time, so I will be incorporating it into his school days.  He is beginning to read, A Separate Peace, and if you click here you will find a study guide to go with the book.  We will be using it.  If you want to read A Separate Peace online, click the second link.