MFW 2nd Grade - Week #16

BIBLE:  We read through some more scriptures in our bible this week from Matthew 1:23 and Isaiah 7:14.  We also talked about the hymn, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel."  We were then supposed to sing it.  I san the first verse.  Then I looked at Caleb and said, "I'm just going to read the rest of it.  I don't like singing by myself."  He looks at me and says, "I'll sing with you mom."  So, we sang the rest of the verses together.  Jesus, pick me up off the floor.  This momma nearly fainted.  I remember looking at him, shocked.  But, he did.  He sang with me.  

Memory Verse:  Our new memory verse is "They will call him Immanuel," which means, "God with us."  Matthew 1:23

Bible Activities:  

Gingerbread man shapes: Since we were talking about God always being with us, we made a couple of "gingerbread" characters by tracing my cookie cutter.  Caleb traced them and then we each cut one out.  Then Caleb labeled them "Immanuel" and "Caleb."  We set them out to look at throughout the week as a visual reminder that God IS always with US!!

Plan in case of Separation:   We were supposed to go to a mall or a store that Caleb is unfamiliar with.  We are then to have a discussion about what we would do if Caleb were to get separated from me, or from dad if he is with dad.  We were connecting this with the realization that even if we don't see mom or dad, God is still with us.

We also talked about what Caleb should do if that were to ever happen to us.  Now, we live to far to drive to the mall.  So, we just had this discussion at the table during school.  The next time we are out and about and in a place that I can bring this back up with Caleb I will do just that.  But, I wasn't going to drive that far just for a demonstration.

SPELLING:   Spelling Lesson #14 is a wrap and we are on to Lesson #15.  This weeks words all end with "ed". 

ENGLISH:  In LA this week we had a discussion about a cute poem called The Swing.  There were some questions to answer in regards to the poem and Caleb was also supposed to draw a picture that had to do with one of the verses of the poem.  He did a pretty good job drawing a child swinging on a swing set.  We also talked about the seasons (again) and did some fill - in - the - blank type questions.  I also made him write half the sentences for copy work.  He truly dislikes copy work, but he did okay with it.

Book Basket:
I've Lost My Hat, Charnan Simon
Cows to the Rescue, John Himmelman
Come On, Rain!, Karen Hesse
Dog in Boots, Greg Gormley

Read-A-Loud:  This week we are still reading in our book called Farmer Boy.  As I said in my last post, this is a rather thick chapter book.  I'm sensing Caleb is getting a little tired of it, so I'm doing my best to add enthusiasm to my reading and make the book fun!  

HISTORY/STATE STUDY:  This week we talked about Rhode Island and Vermont.  Instead of four states, we only had two this week.  On the other days, we filled in with some discussion and reading from our history books on "what it was like going west" and "Daniel Boone."  

Timeline:  We added Daniel Boone to our timeline.  With all the state study, we haven't added a timeline piece in a long time.  I decided to take a few minutes to go over our timeline pieces and see what Caleb could remember.  On a whim, I flipped back to the beginning, which would be the beginning of 1st grade.  I was completely stunned at all the stories that Caleb remembered and could tell ME about just by looking at the time line pieces.  There were a few that neither of us could remember the specifics on, but over all, he remembered nearly all of them.  Matter-of-fact, he was having more trouble with the American History one's, which are the one's we did so far this year.  Once I said the names of the people, he could tell me things about them.  I was thrilled with the knowledge he has in his head about the bible.  The rest of the American History will come later and he'll grasp it better when we cover it in more detail in a couple of years.

MATH:  Still working away in our SM book.  We're nearing the end of 1A.  We'll go right into 1B when that time comes.

SCIENCE:  We started in our Science with Air book.  There were a couple of science projects to go along with this weeks lessons.  As you will see below, some of our experiments work and some of them don't.  We try our hardest, but for some reason things just don't always work out like the science book says they will.

Changing Size

Bottle and a Quarter:   We did a couple of projects to see how air "changes size."  Two worked, one didn't.  The first was to take a long necked bottle and placing a coin on the opening.  Then put the bottle in a bowl and add warm water into the bowl.  As the air in the bottle warms up, the coin starts popping up on the opening of the bottle.  Yes this one did work.  It was quite cool, too.

Ping Pong Ball:   With this project we were to dent a ping pong ball and then place it in a cup of warm water, covering the lid.  As the air in the ping pong ball warmed it was supposed to warm enough to push out the dent.  As I said, some projects work for us, aaaannnnddd, some don't.  We could see the dent become minimized, but it never fully popped back out.  We tried several times, made the water hotter, and nothing.  So, that was that.

Iced Bottle:   This project involved crushing ice, putting it in a 2 liter bottle, then shaking the bottle really hard.  After a few moments, as the air in the bottle became very cool, the sides of the bottle started to cave inward.  Okay, so my son just can't stand to leave things alone and twisted off the lid of the bottle before I could get a picture with the sides caved in.  We tried to replicate it, but the air/bottle was already cold and so it really didn't show very well.  But, we did at least see this one work!

Rising Air

Swirling Snake:  With this project, Caleb traced a dinner plate on some card stock.  Then, I drew a circle from the outside edge to the inside, until it looked like a coiled snake.  Caleb and Sissy colored the snake and then cut it out.

It ended up with a nice coil ....  See?  Then we attached some string to the head so Caleb would have something to hold onto.

I promise, we used every bit of caution.  I'm standing right next to Caleb on one side and Sissy is on the other.  This experiment called for a "radiator."  But, who has a radiator anymore these days.  So, we improvised and used the burner on my stove.  I was nervous, but it was all we had and Caleb was very careful.

So, he stood next to the burner and held his snake over it.  At first the snake was sorta shaking as Caleb's hand wasn't very steady.

Then - - it started twirling.  It was spiraling in a circle.  Caleb said, "I'm NOT doing that!!" with a laugh.   The point is, that when air is warm, it rises.  And in this case, as it rose, it went through the snake causing it to spiral.  Sissy was able to get a cute video of the snake in action.  If I can ever figure out how to add a video to this blog, I will post it here for you all to see.  

Floating Feather:   This project was another complete failure.  We were to take a feather, drop it over a "radiator" and the feather was supposed to float above it.  Well, more improvising had us dropping the feather over the burner.  Well, it dropped like a lead balloon, no joking here, and sizzled until the feather was completely gone.  Then, it smoked and sent a horrid smell ALL through the house!!  We had to open all the windows AND the doors to try to get he smell out.....Maybe if we'd had a radiator, this project would have worked.

Needless to say, Caleb was in his element this week.  Plenty of science projects to keep a science-loving kid busy!  He can never get enough!

HEALTH/MANNERS:   This weeks lesson had to do with brushes that we use for personal hygiene.  Such as a toothbrush, hairbrush, clothesbrush, and nailbrush.  Caleb learned that these are compound words.  He had to write them separately and then together.  Then he had to answer some questions on when to use what.  Easy-peasy he said....  :)

Tidbit:   I just have to laugh.  Sometimes Caleb likes to "air write."  Instead of answering me with words, he'll write the answer in the air with his finger.  I don't normal let him do this as I want him to speak his answers to me.  Well, during one of our lessons, he decided to "air write" his answer.  I could tell by what he wrote that his last letter was a "b" and should have been a "d."  I said, "Caleb, you know I want you to say your answer to me.  But, you wrote a "b" instead of a "d.""   He raised his arm back up and "erased" his wrong letter and wrote it correctly.  We both sat there amongst a fit of giggles that he actually did the hand-motion to erase the "air answer."  That's my boy.....

This has been a blessed week.  I feel like we're back on track and made lots of progress.  This disheartened momma need a great week like this to rejuvenate the soul.  As Caleb got ready for bed tonight he said, "mom, I hope we have a good school day tomorrow.  Today was a REALLY good day."  

Warmth to the soul.....

Educating in Christ,

Momma/Pam