Homeschooling Just Next Door

...a weekly wrap-up

It has been quite a few weeks around here! I know the days are flying by with me hanging on tightly. After today, we have just two more days of school left.

History Studies: Space Exploration, 1950's-1990's, and Civil Rights

Using The Story of the World, Volume 4, chapters 35 and 36 as a spine book, we have studied Space Exploration, 1960's, and Civil Rights. Some other resources we used were:

Kennedy Through the Lens, by Martin W. Sandler
John F. Kennedy and the Stormy Sea, by Howard Goldsmith
Who Was John F. Kennedy? by Yona Zeldis McDonough
Childhood of Famous Americans: Rosa Parks, by Kathleen Kudlinski
Rosa, by Nikki Giovanni
Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, by Russell Freedman
Heroes for Civil Rights, by David A. Adler
Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers: How a First Lady Changed America, by Kathi Appelt

Geography Studies:
Our youngest son is completing his trip around the world. Pictured above is an art project he did while studying Australia {4}. Next year, my oldest son will complete his own trip around the world. Though his will be more in depth as it will be taught on a high school level.

Spelling:
It is the end of year review for my daughter's spelling course. At the end of the year, we review any words she had difficulty mastering. I retest her on these words. If she is still having difficulty, then we implement a 'right brain' spelling technique I learned last year at a homeschool convention {2}.

New to Our Local Library and Us:

America the Beautiful: Together We Stand, by Katharine Lee Bates
Louisa May's Battle: How the Civil War Led to Little Women, by Kathleen Krull
Barbed Wire Baseball, by Marissa Moss
You Never Heard of Willie Mays?! by Jonah Winter and Terry Widener
White House Kids: The Perks, Pleasures, Problems, and Pitfalls of the Presidents' Children, by Joe Rhatigan

What's Working/Not Working for Us:
Several activities are finishing this week, including...

soccer {5a and 5b}
science co-op {3 - my youngest son's model of a nerve cell - idea found here}
AWANA

With the ending of these activities, the children are having more time to play and explore. One day, I found them all engaged in a two board Monopoly game {1}. For those of you curious, the two boards were a regular Monopoly board and a Littlest Pet Shop Monopoly board. The boys agreed to use the very feminine LPS Monopoly board if the Star Wars figures were the game pieces. To this, the girls agreed, and they all four happily played the game.

A Photo to Share:
Look what we found just beyond our dining room windows...

Find more weekly wrap-ups at:

Weekly Wrap-up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Collage Friday at Homegrown Learners

Homeschool Mother's Journal at iHomeschool Network

It has been quite the whirlwind of a year. My Kindergartener is finishing his trip around the world. Learning about different cultures has been incredible. At the same time, he learns about the physical geography of a particular region, including ecosystems, fauna, and flora. Though it has been a busy spring, we still found time to travel from Africa to Australia. With just one country as a continent, the overall learning seemed sparse. However, we did include Oceania, which helped to create a fuller unit.

Spine Books ~

National Geographic Beginner's World Atlas pp. 50-55
The Usborne Book of Peoples of the World, by Gillian Doherty and Anna Claybourne, pp. 80-91
The Usborne World of Animals*, by Susanna Davidson and Mike Unwin, pp. 86-95
Galloping the Globe, by Loree Pettit and Dari Mullins: Australia - flag, p. 221; New Zealand - flag, p. 229