ivey league academy: week in review!

This week's chalkboard was inspired by Monsters Inc.!

Reading:  We continued working in Explode the Code and our Six Ducks in a Pond reader.  Caleb mixes up "were" and "where," but is slowly getting it!

Spelling:  We did Week 9 of his spelling curriculum (which happened to include the word "were!") and Caleb got 6 out of 8 correct on his test.

Handwriting:  Caleb wrote in his journal, and opted to do a page in Draw Write Now one day instead of making up his own entry.

Vocabulary:  This week's words were "busybody," "fetch," "regret," and "splendid."

Math:  We continued in his Horizons Math workbook.

Bible:  We continued in his Growing With Jesus devotional.

Read-Aloud:  We finished Ralph S. Mouse and Caleb chose Henry and the Paper Route for our next read-aloud.

Science:  This week's topic was Kitchen Chemistry.  We watched the Magic School Bus episode where the kids learn about how common household items can cause chemical reactions, such as vinegar and baking soda mixing together, or yeast in recipes.  We did a few experiments, including blowing up a balloon using a bottle, vinegar, and baking soda:

We also did a Pretzel Chemistry activity inspired by the MSB episode.  We followed a recipe for pretzels, and observed how the yeast reacted to the water and other ingredients.  Our pretzels looked more like breadsticks when they were done, but it was still fun (even though Caleb thought the yeast smelled stinky...and can you blame him?).

Lastly, we did a Ketchup Coin experiment inspired by one of our library books.  We predicted whether ketchup could clean up dirty pennies, and Caleb was surprised to see that it did a pretty good job!

These are the science books we checked out of the library this week:

U.S. Geography:  This week's state was North Carolina.  Caleb colored a picture of the state and we read several books from the library.  We learned about the Wright Brothers, Blackbeard the Pirate, and Venus flytraps (apparently a region of North Carolina has them!).

Links:
Vinegar/Baking Soda Balloon Experiment (Gift of Curiosity)
Pretzel Chemistry Printable (Scholastic)
North Carolina Coloring Page (USA Printables)