MFW 2nd Grade - Week #4

Bible:  This week we talked about Jesus being the Light of the world.  We also brought back the concept of the Memory Verse, with the first one being:

"I am the Light of the World.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."  John 8:12  

I can say this time we did great!  Together, we have it memorized!!  Our goal, to be consistent and memorize all of them we can this year!!

Bible Activity: Make a Jesus is the Light of the world candle.  Caleb wrote Jesus the Light of the World on a piece of paper which he then glued to a candle he'd picked out at the grocery store recently.   Next he rolled the entire thing in salt, to cover up whatever glue was showing around the label.  

We put the candle in our class room so we can look at it and have a clear reminder of who Jesus is and what He means to us.

Read-a-Loud:   We continued with our story of Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims this week.  Very good story and I'll admit we finished out the week reading one day ahead.  Squanto was in trouble and neither of us wanted to wait til the next day to see what happened next!!

Reading:

Chloe, Peter McCarty

A Duck in Luck, Anne Marie Ryan

What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs, John Morris & Ken Ham

Peepsqueak!, Leslie Ann Clark

Breezy and Funnybone, Megan McDonald

These Bees Count!, Alison Formento

Spelling:  Spelling word lists and spelling tests are a very new concept for Caleb in 2nd grade.  He's been doing really well for someone who's never had to do that before, missing one or two.  I knew his perfectionism would kick in.  This week he make a 100 on his spelling test, on Thursday.  We didn't even have to carry it over to Friday!  So tickled with him!!

Handwriting:   Handwriting letters this week were S-Z and can I say Caleb is quite pleased to be done with them.  He did great, but he loves it when it's the last time we have to do something repetitive.

History:  This week's topic in history has been about Indians.  We read a little each day from our book called, North American Indians.  Caleb learned about the different tribes and where they lived in North America.  We talked about the homes the different Indian tribes lived in and even I was amazed to be reminded that they didn't all live in teepee's!  We closed out the week practicing some Indian sign language and trying to talk to each other.  Quite funny actually!!

Hands on Activities:   We made wigwams and teepee's and had a great time doing it!!

Science:  Our topic for this week has been the Universe, Planets and Constellations.  We had an activity that was about looking at a clear, night sky and finding some constellations.  But, we've had quite a bit of cloudy weather and not very clear nights this week.  This topic will continue to next week and I'm certain between now and then we'll be able to go outside and study the stars.  Living in the country like we do, some nights are very pretty and clear.  We need a night like this!  (But, we need the rain more.  If cloudy weather brings the rain, well, our viewing of the stars can wait!!)

Related reading:  

Our Stars, Anne Rockwell

The Sun Our Nearest Star, Franklyn M. Branley

The Sun, Seymour Simon

Find the Constellations, H.A. Rey

Gravity Activity: Drop a piece of tissue paper and a coin from the same height.  Be sure the tissue is nearly the same size as the coin.  Caleb learned that the coin landed first because it is heavier.

Then we put the tissue inside one container and the coin inside a separate container (both containers should be identical).  What Caleb learned is that once the smaller items were inside the identical containers they then fell at the same rate.

Math:    More review lessons this week from Singapore Math.  Caleb seems to be grasping more every day and that's a comfort.  

Community Service:  This week we volunteered our time at the local food pantry.  

Can I say this was an amazing week of school?  It really was.  By Tuesday I was so excited I could barely contain myself.  Haha!!  Caleb and I were so in sync and on the same page.  Honestly, I think he missed the consistency as much as I did.  School has been a bit sporadic since the injury to my eye, Sissy having a baby and then she, hubby and baby living here with us for a short while, Caleb having round two of strep, then a week of doctor visits nearly every day for one of us.  Now though, Sissy is cleared to drive and we're pretty much back to our normal schedule.  Blessings!

Here's a peek at my new Grandson and Caleb's new nephew.....C.J. born at only 4 lbs. 7 oz and 17 3/4" long.  

Educating in Christ,

Pam/Momma

MFW 2nd Grade - Week #3

Bible:    This week we talked about how Jesus Saves, how to Live Like Jesus, and Jesus as a child.  A fun activity was the Jesus Window Poster.  We used a veggie peeler, wax paper, construction paper, and crayons.  We shaved the crayons into little pieces and ironed them between wax paper.  The result was this very pretty "stained glass" Jesus poster.  What fun!

History:  In our American Pioneers and Patriots book we read about how three small ships brought pioneers from England to a place on the James River where they started a small town and called it Jamestown.  We read and discussed Jamestown, John Smith, and Pocahontas.

We also read a story in our American Pioneers and Patriots book called the Runaway.  Very interesting story about pioneers and their way of life.

Read-A-Loud:  We started a story on Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims this week.  It is a chapter book and we will be reading assigned pages from it for the next three weeks.  Caleb enjoys it so much that it's always a struggle to put the book away.  He wants me to continue on to the next chapter.  I love that!!

Reading:

Paul the Pitcher, Paul Sharp
Buffalo Hunt, Russell Freedman
The Sniffles for Bear, Bonny Becker
Don't Know Much About the Pioneers, Kenneth C. Davis
Hedgehog Bakes a Cake, Maryann McDonald
Raccoons and Ripe Corn, Jim Arnosky

Handwriting Practice:  This week Caleb practiced his handwriting with letters K-R.  I really love how neat his handwriting is when he takes his time and stops to think about the letters.

Math:  We worked out of our Singapore Math book all this week, closing out the week with the beginning of review.  This review is covering all we've been working on in 2nd grade as well as the end of 1st grade when we started Singapore Math.  I was very pleased with Caleb's progress.  The idea of review is great.  From all the topics covered in this review there was only one area we'll be working a little extra on - - Number Bonds.  Honestly, I didn't even remember what a number bond was, nor do I think it was ever taught to me that way.  Another mom shared an idea of using a deck of cards, 1-6's to work on Number Bonds (otherwise know as Number Families).  Example for those of you wondering:               3
                            5
                                  2
That is a number bond or number family.  3+2=5; 2+3=5; 5-2=3; 5-3=2

Science:  This weeks topic was Science with Air.

These are pictures of our Collapsing Carton Experiment.  By drinking all the juice out of the carton and then sucking the air out Caleb learned that the air outside the carton pushes in the sides of the carton.

Not every experiment we participate in is a complete a rolling success.  I must admit that the Heavy Newspaper Experiment was really a failure for us.   The FIRST time.  The idea is, hit the ruler, but the air pressing down on the newspaper makes it hard to flick off.  Well, we just didn't get it and we were smacking the ruler and letting it all fly....

Which resulted in everything landing on the floor.  When done right, you are to flick the ruler to try to throw the newspaper off.  Aha!!  When we figured it out and did it correctly, yes, the newspaper would not fly off.  Sometimes it takes a new day and a new perspective.  ;o)

Upside-Down Trick was another science activity this week.  Fill a cup with water, lay a flat piece of cardboard on top of it and flip it over.  Air pushes up on the cardboard and keeps it in place.  This makes the water stay in the cup.  Of course, Caleb loves that I didn't do a very good job and it all fell and splashed all over me.  He did it twice and did it "right" both times.  ;o)

Art:   Confession time.  If you've been following my blog at all, you already know that Caleb isn't much for coloring and drawing.  I going to admit that I'm really not digging the art lessons.  I think, if you have a child who is all about drawing and wanting to better their skills - - it's perfect.  Matter of fact, I might enjoy them for myself, to learn to draw better.  But, for a child who doesn't like to do those things, it's a bit of drudgery.  Our son loves hands on activities.  You can see from our posts.  His hands are pictured in all of them as a participant.  I think it would be fun to have a special art class, say, once a week with a specific art project in mind.  Just something fun, that maybe does teach a new art skill, but more than anything helps him get into the creativity box without making feel like he's not good at it.  So, I'm on the lookout for some ideas.  More research.

Week #3 in Adventures was such a blessing.  I am enjoying our days together so very much.

Keep the prayers coming!

Educating in Christ,

Pam