Chugging Along in Weeks 7 and 8

With this week in review I will be caught up - next week I can actually write about week 9 at the end of week 9! We have been chugging along with school over the past two weeks. No fun field trips, no neat experiments, just lots of book work and reading. We finished our American Revolution unit study and have begun to work on our Human Body unit. Basically, we are just moving forward, chugging along and have really settled into the school year.

Last week-end we spent both Saturday and Sunday at a swim meet; the short-course meet schedule has begun! My husband and daughter are spending most of the day Saturday and Sunday at a swim meet this week-end but my middle child, my youngest, and I will not be attending because my middle child is sick! He was supposed to swim this week-end but his yucky sickness really hit him after swim team practice on Thursday evening. He spent all of yesterday in bed, therefore, we didn't do art this week so that he wouldn't miss the lesson. Yesterday was QUITE a quiet day with my most active child sick in bed for the day!

We are all happy to be starting a new unit study topic. The American Revolution was fascinating but, after 7 weeks of study, we are all ready to move on. I will be sure to post pictures of one of their American Revolution lapbooks as soon as we get them all together.

In our human body unit, we focused on the skeletal and muscular systems this week - bones, joints, and muscles. I am using Great Science Adventures-Understanding the Human Body and Senses, as my main spine for this unit study and I love it. I am also using The Body Book: Easy-To-Make Hands-On Models That Teach by Donald M. Silver and Patricia J. Wynne, Scholastic Professional Books. Each of the children assembled a large skeleton this week that will be added to as we work through this unit. While I adore the projects in The Body Book, I do find them difficult to assemble as there are hardly any pictures of the completed models in the book.

We watched three great videos this week - all of which I would recommend. I was able to get all three through my local library. The Human Body for Children series is geared for children K-4, and the Human Body in Action series is for older children. I thought it worked perfectly to watch the Human Body for Children video first and then the Human Body in Action video really built upon the information covered in the first video.

• Human Body for Children - All About Bones & Muscles, Schlessinger Science Library (23 minutes)


• Human Body in Action - Skeletal & Muscular Systems, Schlessinger Science Library (23 minutes)


• Human Machine Bodyzone, Eyewitness Video, Schlessinger Media (27 minutes)

I am also trying to incorporate much more non-fiction independent reading regarding our unit study topic for each of the children. This has worked very well this past week and both my oldest and my youngest have been eager to share the facts they learned in their independent reading. Amber (7th) read Understanding Your Muscles & Bones, Usborne this week and she really liked it and found it very interesting. My youngest (3rd) read Bones by Stephen Krensky and You Have Healthy Bones! by Susan DerKazarian. Lastly, my middle child (5th) read The Skeleton Inside You by Philip Balestrino and is working through You're Tall in the Morning But Shorter at Night by Melvin and Gilda Berger.

For literature I was not able to choose books for each of them that fit in as neatly as the novels they read for the American Revolution unit. So, I just picked books that I thought were good, thought-provoking, and enjoyable. Amber (7th) is reading House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. I read it first so that we could discuss it as she reads through the book. I loved it! House of the Scorpion is filled with hard issues (cloning, illegal drugs, illegal immigrants, human dignity) which are great for discussing with a junior high or high school student. Mason (5th) is reading Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins - highly recommended! My youngest is continuing with Magic Tree House books. He is currently reading Night of the Ninja - his choice.

As mentioned previously, we didn't have art this week due to Mason being in bed sick, but last week we finished our "Wild Things" project. The "Wild Things" mural was another great project from our art curriculum, Atelier Art, and I can't wait to see how the mural looks once the completed monsters are added. I'll be sure to post pictures!
So, now I am completely caught up with my Weeks in Review! If you would like to read what other homeschoolers have been doing this past week, check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers for the Week in Review.