Fourth Grade Week 17

We finished up Week 17 last Friday, but again…time got away from me, so I’m just now posting.  Here’s how it went for us…
Bible – Our question was ‘If all that God created was good, how could Satan be bad?’  We read Genesis 1:31, Isaiah 14:13, and James 1:13-15 to find some answers.
Math – This week Caleb worked on what time will it be; numbers in other problems; and decimals can show mixed numbers.
English – This was our 2nd week with Growing with Grammar, and Caleb is STILL enjoying it and grasping all of the concepts.  That’s a HUGE plus for us at this point, and I couldn’t be happier.  He worked on diagramming simple subjects and predicates; compound subjects and predicates; and diagramming compound subjects. 
Classical Conversations Foundations – We finished up Week 9, and here’s what we learned…

• English – Prepositions ‘outside, over, past, regarding, since.’
• Science – some parts of a plant (leaves, stem, roots)
• History – Confucius and Taoism
• Math – counting by 15s
• Latin – 4th Declension Noun Endings singular and plural
• Geography – Eastern Asia…Mongolia, China, Korea, Japan, Yellow Sea
• Timeline – Byzantine Emperor Justinian, Benedict and Monasticism, Muhammad Founds Islam, Zanj and Early Ghana in Africa, Franks Defeat Muslims at the Battle of Tours, Golden Age of Islam, Vikings Raid and Trade
• Science Experiments – Due to some upcoming field trips to complete our science task, we switched up science this week.  We used flowers to identify the parts of a flower…stamen, anther, pistil, sepal, and petal.
• Fine Arts – Tin Whistle – This week we discussed rhythm, time signature, measure, and bar lines.  Caleb seems to really enjoy playing the tin whistle, and he’s doing a great job with it.

On Friday, we joined up with some fellow homeschoolers for some Spooky Science.  We learned about density, chemical reactions, made some slime, etc.  Caleb had a really good time, and I loved the opportunity for him to do some science experiments since we really don’t get around to those at home.

Fourth Grade Week 16

I’m a little behind in my weekly posting of our studies, but we’re on schedule with schooling.  So, I’m happy about that.    Here’s how week 16 went…
Bible – Our questions this week were:  ‘The serpent talked to Eve, so why can’t snakes talk today?’ and ‘Why did God put the tree in the Garden of Eden if He didn’t want Adam and Eve to eat the fruit from it?’  We read Numbers 22:30 and Genesis 3:1-7 for the first question and Genesis 2:17, John 3:16, and Romans 5:12 for the second question.
Math – Caleb worked on adding one-digit numbers to two-digit numbers with mental carrying; liter and milliliter; two-step story problems; expanding a number before adding; more about millimeters, centimers, and decimals; larger or smaller angles; changing gallons to quarts; and how many minutes have passed.
English – Well, I broke down and bought another English curriculum.  I know…I said we were going to ditch the formal stuff and go for the fun.  We are still going to implement some fun stuff, but this new curriculum is such a gentle approach, that I really think it’s going to be a good fit for Caleb.  It’s very short, sweet, and simple…right up his alley.    It’s called Growing With Grammar, and I’ve heard GREAT things about it.  With that said, this week Caleb worked on subjects and predicates, simple subjects, and simple predicates.  After three lessons, Caleb seems to be happy with the new curriculum, and he’s not complaining or fussing during English.  So, HUGE kudos so far.
Writing – Using Just Write, Book 1, we worked on sequencing.
Classical Conversations Foundations – We completed Week 8 of CC, and Caleb is still enjoying it and learning so much information.

• English – Prepositions ‘of, off, on, onto, out’
• Science – some types of seed plants (monocot, dicot, conifer)
• History – the Age of Imperialism
• Math – counting by 14s
• Latin – 3rd Declension Noun Endings singular and plural
• Geography – China…Huang He River (Yellow), Chang Jiang River (Long), An-Yang
• Timeline – Council of Nicea, Augustine of Hippo, Jerome Completes the Vulgate, Visigoths Sack Rome, The Middle Ages, Council of Chalcedon, Western Roman Empire Falls to Barbarians
• Science Experiment – This week we got to dissect an owl pellet.  To say that Caleb had fun would be an understatement.  He was so excited about all the bones he found. 
• Fine Arts – Tin Whistle – This week we worked on music vocabulary and identifying different types of notes.

During some of his free time, Caleb decided to build a tower with unifix cubes.  He asked me to snap some pictures, so here he is with his tall tower.

Fourth Grade Week 15

Another week of learning is complete at Childress Academy for Boys.    Here’s how our week went…
Bible – Our question this week was “How long did it take Adam to name the animals?”  We read Genesis 2:18-20 to find the answer.
Math – This week Caleb worked on multiplying by 9, when 9 is a factor, mixed numbers, multiplying and adding, changing meters to centimeters, and multiplying two-digit numbers.  He did REALLY well with the multiplying and adding problems (ie 4x7+5=?).
English – This was our second week of FUN English.  Caleb watched a VERBS DVD that we borrowed from the library, and he also watched several verb/nouns lesson on the computer…

• Verbs
• Schoolhouse Rocks – Verbs
• Brain Pop, Jr. – Nouns

Classical Conversations Foundations – we completed week 7 of CC, and it’s still going really well!

• English – prepositions ‘in, inside, into, like, near’
• Science – ways that animals reproduce
• History – Hinduism and Buddhism
• Math – counting by 13s
• Latin – 3rd Declension Noun Endings singular and plural
• Geography – Indus River…Ganges River, Himalayas, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Great Indian Desert
• Timeline – Jesus the Messiah, Pentecost and the Early Church, Persecution Spreads the Gospel, Herod’s Temple Destroyed by Titus, Diocletian Divides the Roman Empire, Constantine Legalizes Christianity, India’s Gupta Dynasty
• Science Experiment – This week we worked with crayfish.  The students had to identify the major parts, and then they were able to dissect it.  I’m not with Caleb during this time, but when I saw him, he said, “Mom, I found the brain.”  I’m guessing he had LOTS of fun dissecting the crayfish.  My littles (4-5 year olds) weren’t that enthused.  LOL!
• Fine Arts – Tin Whistle – This week we moved on to learning all about the tin whistle.  We learned the parts of the tin whistle, how to play the D Scale, and we worked on identifying if notes were going up or down.  Caleb is really picking up on how to play it, and I think he’s loving it, too. 

Classical Conversations Essentials – I’m going to start leaving this off of our weekly post, but I’ll add in writing.  I asked Caleb if he wanted to continue with the IEW writing or work on his Just Write Book 1, and he chose the latter.  So, for now, we’re just going to do the Analytical Task Sheets for Essentials.  So, there’s no need to report on that.   

We’re taking this upcoming week off, and we’re both looking forward to the break.  I hope to work on my CC plans for the next 5 weeks, and do a little planning for our schooling, too.