Music Theory

Kirsty is teaching music theory to the older group on Thursdays.

The boys have to complete homework each week.

African Drumming

Our Thursday group had 3 consecutive weeks of African drumming workshops. The boys LOVED this! Oxford's a great place to homeschool!

The younger group has a go.

Boomwhackers were used as well as djembes.

 Here's a little sampling of the fun...

Wagner

We listened to Ride of the Valkyries while coloring a picture of Wagner from our Dover Coloring Book.

Enthralled.

Thursday, September 26

Jolly Music lesson...

Caleb keeps beat with his new claves.

I believe they're using yelling voices here.

The little guys are captivated by their French teacher.

 Kirsty led a fantastic lesson on leaves followed by several activities and crafts.

The younger group did a matching game with leaves and Usborne identification cards.

Caleb shows off some of his collected leaves.

Noah works on his leaf rubbings.

La, La, La and Ladybirds

Kirsty has done an excellent job teaching music this term. So much fun!

After a lesson on ladybirds, it was time for a craft. The younger crew got started while the older finished a worksheet.

Haydn and Giotto

We finished reading Joseph Haydn, The Merry Little Peasant by Opal Wheeler and Sybil Deucher. Another great read. There were two notable highlights for the boys. 1) Hadyn visited England and was invited to Oxford where he enjoyed walks and picnics along the River Thames (us too!). Do you see the Sheldonian Theatre in the picture above?  2) His surprise symphony has a sudden sharp chord that was meant to wake the ladies who nodded sleepily during the concerts. We had to play Adante from the Surprise Symphony several times so the boys could crack up at the surprise chord. 

This book introduced us to Giotto. It was also the perfect follow-up to our last two art lessons on Cimabue who was Giotto's teacher. 

Weekly art project:

First, cover cardboard with white or grey oil pastel. 

Look super cute while doing so.

Next, apply black pastel liberally over entire surface.

Finally, scratch picture. We used nails.

Photo Catch-up

Since I haven't posted in a while, here are a few photos of some of our recent additions/activities...

A history timeline now graces our wall.

After reading Nate the Great, the boys colored Fang yellow (like Annie) and then red (like Harry) resulting in an orange dog.  

Caleb waters our basil plant so the boys can observe water absorption.

Noah and Cooper examine soil from our garden.

This was an excellent read! Beethoven has been a favorite.

Another great read!

Black and white illustrations and excerpts of music are interspersed throughout the book.

We began investigating animals and their habitats last week.

The boys sorted land animals by habitat.

Making Mycenaean shields after our history lesson.

Conifers and Composers

We learned about the seeds of conifer trees.

We have 2 pine cones. One was heated in the oven until it opened. The boys examined each cone, made observations, and dislodged seeds from the open cone.

Each of the boys have a notebook to compile pages about the composers we study. Originally, only the older two had a notebook, however, Caleb insisted today that I make him one.

We spent several weeks studying Vivaldi. 

We completed our study of Bach today.

Eager Students

Caleb did a great job on his "b" worksheets yesterday.

Cooper's reading a Magic Tree House book. He'll record the pages read in his Reading Log.

It's all about trees and shrubs in science.

Noah was very thorough with his math work today.

Here's a close-up of all of the little bike riders he drew for his word problem.

Caleb glued blue yarn to the letter "b."

This book is super!!! It's a loaner from a friend. We've moved on from Vivaldi to Bach and read the Bach section of the book.

French, Apples, and Rembrandt

Thursday...

I snapped a shot of French class before it officially started. Seems to be going well.

Kirsty entertained my kids while I went to the doctor. So sweet.

Water fun in the warm sun!

 Our nature study focused on apples.

Noah colors in his tree. Paint fingerprints were added for apples.

Alice and Cooper examine his apple print. 

 Today...

We reviewed the boys' French song. "Rouge et jaune et rose et vert, violet, orange et bleu...."

and we read this book.