Home Base For Learning

Friday, May 15, 2026

Last Week and Where We Go From Here

Unicorn cookies for A2

We finished all of our curriculum up last week. So this week it was cooking treats for math and science.

2nd to Last Week

A1 worked really hard and finished all of his math review this week. We had a donut party to celebrate.

LA: More typing and reading and writing. A1 also compared and contrasted different DND characters. He then picked one to research further into what the character could do as it leveled up. He made a chart to explain it and wrote a paper on it. I love that he can pick a topic he's interested in and use that to learn important language art skills.

Science: Here are more crazy facts A1's has learned:

Getting Closer to the End of School

Love note from A2

Math: We finished the last unit. We have a couple of weeks of review and then math is complete.

Language Arts: Reading and typing.

Science: Videos...

Shoutout to an awesome kid!

First off, a huge shoutout to A1 for being an amazing student. This week both of his OpenEd Club teachers gave him shoutouts for how kind and respectful he is in their classes. From his chess coach:

(He) deserves a MASSIVE shout-out today! He absolutely crushed it in Chess Tournament Club! He played an amazing tournament and was just as impressive in the chat—kind, helpful, and constantly lifting others up. He brought skill, sportsmanship, and great energy all at once. Seriously awesome job!

Easter

We were going to take spring break the first week in April for Holy Week. A1 and A2 ended up being really sick all that week, so neither school or a break happened. K and J had school off and they ended up having lots of fun without us.

Last Week of March

Math- triangle angles

Language Arts highlight: A1 helped A2 with some reading and writing. He was a patient teacher. He also did typing and reading.

Science- Videos: weird noises from the ocean.

Did you know there are mysterious sounds coming from the ocean? I am going to note that some of the sounds do not sound like their name. The bloop was a very confusing sound and no one knew what it was for a long time. It happened to be ice breaking. We think another sound is also ice but we don't know for sure. Ice is so loud you can hear it all the way across the sea. One that I can't remember what its called is like a car horn going loud and then quiet and loud and quiet. It's still going today but is getting quieter. That sound is still a mystery.

More Rocks to Climb on and We Love Animals

The highlight of the week for me, was taking the kids to the Fiery Furnace, which you can read more about here. We also found some other big rocks for the kids to climb on while we explored another trail.

As far as the rest of the week goes...

The Fiery Furnace!

It's true, we took our kids to explore Utah's largest furnace- The Fiery Furnace in Arches that is. Cliffs, rock scrambling, crawling under things, jumping over crevasses, squeezing between fins, if you followed along our homeschooling journey, you'll know crazy hikes like this is familiar territory.

It's Madness! March Mammal Madness That Is.

Math: This week was all about averages. We had a good discussion on outliers, too.

Language Arts: A1 did typing lessons and read out loud to A2 in the blanket fort they built. He also worked on writing his fictional story and writing all the animals report below for you to enjoy.

Science: We are learning more about animals. Here's A1 with more info from his Biology Videos:

Animals Ruled Learning This Week

Math: More percentages and an easy calculator trick to find the cost of something. Need to figure out a 15% tip? Times the total cost by 1.15. Done. Need to know the cost of something if it is 30% off? Times the original price by .7 (.7 is the 70% of the cost you pay) Done.

When I was growing up, teachers used to say, "You'll never have a calculator in your pocket." Funniest irony in education history. Let's teach kids how to use this tool that they literally carry with them everywhere.

Science: Biology Videos summaries by A1...

End of February

Math: Percentages

Language Arts: Writing an opinion essay, the outline and first draft.

Science: The unheated greenhouse plants really slowed down after the cold. Spinach has faired the best, and it's almost time for a second cutting. Also, thinned carrots for the last time. They, too, are growing slower than normal summertime carrots.

A1 also had Animal Science Club and watched animal videos on the Real Science YouTube Channel. Here's A1 with what he's learned.

President's Week and a Good Snow Storm

Monday was President's Day. This week we wanted to focus on learning about the rest of the presidents.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was Franklin D Roosevelt and he was president during the Great Depression. He was elected 4 times. And was a beloved president. He was in a wheelchair because he was paralyzed by polio.

Colds, Flu, and More

This week was a bumpy road. After returning from my grandpa's funeral, which was held over the weekend, we all got hit with one sickness after another. First people had colds, then someone came down with the flu, which proceeded to spread.

However, between tissue boxes, trash cans, and barf bowls, we did manage to get a little school done.

Finally, it Got Cold

In a world where you can be anything-

Be Kind

I am kind.
I am loving.
I am worthy of God’s love.

Science: We harvested more green onions and the spinach. And we thinned the carrots again.

Last Week of January

Purposefully bring joy into your life.

Lynnette Sheppard

When I pay attention, I can find things around me that bring joy.

There are many exciting experiences awaiting me.

I can find humor in the day-to-day.

I can be myself.

〜〜〜〜〜

For Language Arts, A1 worked on writing descriptions. Let's see if you can guess what these are:

Dessert Week

Tenacity- the quality displayed by someone who just won’t quit—who keeps trying until they reach their goal.

I will always do my best.

I am strong, inside and out.

When I don’t succeed right away, I can try again.

I have tenacity.

Above is our quote and affirmations of the week.

Math: We began Singapore Primary Mathematics 5B book. This week we started with dividing decimals to the second and third decimal place.

Science: A1 baked cinnamon rolls and donuts. Someday we really need to move away from desserts, but it's what's motivating him right now. (And we had a few celebrations that called for treats.)

The John Tyler Controversy

Even with our flexible schedule and ample time for play, sometimes motivation to do school work is, well, just not there. For example, when I asked A1 to type what he learned about John Tyler, 10th president of the United States, I came back and found only two sentences:

John Tyler was kicked out of his party for rebellion. Now to play!

A1 was nowhere to be seen so I typed my response. When I found him, I asked him to go back and type more on John Tyler. Here is the conversation that happened. Yes, all in writing and in good humor of course:

And We're Back to School

We like to do a mid-year review of our curriculum and see what has been good, what needs improvement, and what hasn't been as helpful for the kids' learning. After the review, we decided to scrap Exact Path, but will still continue with Singapore Primary Mathematics. In Language Arts, we will focus more on actually writing instead of Exact Path and spelling lists. A1 has always been very good about reading. For science, we will be doing cooking at least once a week and watching the YouTube Channel "Real Science" where A1 is able to lean fun facts about animals.

Math: Reviewing concepts previous learned. A1 is also in OpenEd's chess club.

Language Arts: A1 has been writing and doing typing lessons.

Science: A1 is in the OpenEd animal club. They are learning about how animals survive the winter.