Back Into It Again

We begin the last 10 weeks of our school year tomorrow after a two week break. This next unit will take up five of them. I think I have the next two weeks (agriculture and plants) hammered out pretty will with the following three (money and stewardship) in good shape as well. Here's the next two.

Bible Together: Parables of Jesus (he told a lot of stories having to do with agriculture and a lot having to do with money and so that is what this unit will be about) Parables of the sower, the weeds, the mustard seed and leven, growing seed, fig trees and workers in the vineyard.

Science (and the words/concepts to introduce to J):

• Roots (primary, secondary, fibrous)
• Stems (monoctyledon, dicocotyledon, epidermis, cortex, phloem, xylem, pith, bark, cambium, runners, tubers, bulbs)
• Leaves (parallel-veined, net-veined, needles v. scales, stomata, mesophyll)
• Photosynthesis (chlorophyll and glucose)
• Flowers (review -- sepals, petals, stamen, pistil, filament, anther, pollen, stigma)
• Seeds (angiosperm, gymnosperm, cotyledon)

Do nature walks as we can.
Discuss creation care ("A steward only has responsibilities, not rights").
Review biomes and ecosystems and perhaps build a terrarium.
Work in a nature journal each day. Practice drawing what you see.

Math J: Begin Complex Fractions
Math B: Begin First Grade Book (skip the first 29 lessons of review).

Stations -- J: Penmanship (continue Horizons cursive), Language Arts (Practice the craft of oral storytelling), Reading (to mix it up a little he'll read various advanced "picture books" containing stories and information centered on agricultural themes and take a comprehension "quiz" each day), Memory Verse (Psalm 1:1-3 "...he is like a tree planted by a stream of water..."), Vocabulary Activities (primary, secondary, vein, glucose, photosynthesis, flower, parable, forest, agriculture, native), Topical Study (Make a lapbook of the plants and agriculture of either Washington or Oregon -- since we live in both states).

Stations -- B: Creative Drawing (works on his Nature notebook), Phonics (Spectrum Grade 1 workpages...ending blends), Reading (Continue lessons in Phonics for the New Reader and begin set four of the phonics readers by Innovative Kids), Memory Verse (same as J), Vocabulary Activities (tree, crop, land, root, stem, make, draw, bark, seed, weed), Topical Study (same as J on a lesser scale).

Field Trip: Either to the Washington Park Arboretum or the World Forestry Center.

Planning Ahead: If you have suggestions for a good chapter book (5th grade level and above) having something to do with the wise use of money, I'd love to check it out. I'm also on the lookout for a good video that might teach us how to draw/paint trees next week.