September 2019

Back in the swing of things, in a mostly steady state.

Fourth Grade

1. English

• Read: Nick and Tesla, Solar-Powered Showdown, Women who launched the Computer Age (Ready-to-Read series), and Rickshaw Girl.
• Resume: All About Spelling 4 - reviewing what we covered last year, while also moving along with lessons we did not have time to cover. I expect to finish level 4 by the end of December and to cover all of level 5 until the end of May.
• Will read Tiger Rising in October.

1. Math
• Finished 4D-probability
• Covered 5A-integers
• Began 5A-solids (surface area and volume)
• In October will finish 5A-solids, and 5A-expressions, and will begin 5B
2. Portuguese
• Read short stories
• Covered adjectives, and possessive as adjectives, reviewed the present tense of irregular verbs, as well as pair of verbs whose English translation is the same but the connotation is different.
• Will work on more grammar and reading from the same sources in October.
• We may start French.
3. Music
• Lessons once a week
• Daily practice, very little exceptions and this has proven very productive, so we will stick with that expectation from now on.
• First time in orchestra!!!
4. Sport
• playtime with friends every day after school. He gets his work done first thing coming from school, and immediately leaves to play outside, and plays for a good 2-3 hours.  I am glad that the boys few houses down the block are his age. Unfortunately, the sixth grader does not have anyone close to her age living nearby.

Sixth Grade

1. English

• Read Tangerine, Scythe, Fred Korematsu speaks out and some comics books. We discussed Tangerine in depth. Tangerine is a great book and I highly recommend it for this age group.
• In October will read The Giver, and maybe the second in the Scythe trilogy.
• Resumed All About Spelling Level 5, planning on completing it by December, and working on level 6 until the end of May.
2. Math
• MathCounts and Alcumus on AoPS
• Algebra: Ch8-linear equations and Ch 10-quadratic equations
• PreAlgebra: Ch 14-counting and probability; Ch 12-right triangles
• In October the plan is to cover Ch 11 and Ch 12 from Algebra, and Ch 5 from Geometry, as well as work on preparation for AMC8 which will take place in November, as well as MathCounts which is not until January.
3. Portuguese
• Read from Wonder
• Grammar included adjectives, irregular verbs, first encounter with . the subjunctive
• The plan is to continue. She knows a lot from having naturally encountered it but there is no harm done now with introduction to the actual structure and rules.
• We may start Chinese soon.
4. Music
• Regular practice is the key. We are in a good place especially with the violin. Book 4 and a bunch of other books. The teacher is dedicated and fully believes and recognizes the potential. Astounding progress in just a couple of short months.
• 6th grade school orchestra only
• We will participate in the IMA in the spring
5. Sports
• 6th grade basketball

Together

1. English
• We discussed banned books
• We are reading Animal Farm. We did not have a consistent read-aloud in September because things were just slow to reach .a steady state.
2. Portuguese
• We are continuing with Vovo deu no pe. We should finish it in October.
3. Science
• I showed them the yeast-sugar experiment
• We did not do much more than that
• In October, we will speak about light, and about the solar system and phenomena within it.
4. Other
• We did not travel anywhere in September. I don't have plans for travels in October either, but maybe we can take a trip to the city and visit some pumpkin patches nearby.