MFW 2nd Grade - Week #9

BIBLE:  This week we talked about David being a shepherd boy who became king and learned that he loved music and God.  We read the words to Psalm 62.  We were supposed to put our own melody to the verses in 2 Samuel 22:1-4, but because Caleb is not really into singing we just read them.  I wish I had a better voice and could make it good.  But, I don't, and can't.  Ha!   

Memory Verse:  "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock."  Matthew 7:24  So, the theme for this week is Jesus is our Rock.

Bible Activities:    Well, the activity was to paint on a rock the name Jesus.  This is a visual on the fact that Jesus is OUR ROCK!!   We could not find a flat rock on our property/street anywhere.  We looked at looked.  Caleb tried to paint the letters, but it was very difficult on a bumpy rock.  He gave up and so we turned the rock around and I painted the letters for him.

SPELLING:  Not a whole lot to say about spelling.  It's spelling.  He had another week with a list of 12 words and did great as usual!!

ENGLISH:   This week we studied a painting by Adam called Wide Awake.  It was three kittens hanging out near a fence, probably on a farm.  Caleb had a list of questions to go over and find answers for.   The second lesson we focused on this week was also about cats.  It was an observation lesson and he had to answer in incomplete and complete sentences.  I was surprised at how quickly he understood that concept.  I figured it would be more difficult than it was.  

HISTORY:  Our history topic this week was more on George Washington.  Caleb has really enjoyed learning about this brave, honorable man.

Read-A-Loud:   Sarah Whitcher's Story is our read-a-loud for the next two and a half weeks.  Caleb seems a little bit disinterested because this story is focused on a little girl who gets lost.  I'm hoping he'll get more interested in it as we go.  It's a very good story so far.  I'm definitely interested.

Book Basket Reading:

Buttons for General Washington, Peter and Connie Roop
Oliver, Syd Hoff
The Mud Flat Olympics, James Stevenson

Hands-On Activity:   A Tricorn Hat.   At the time of George Washington, the Tricorn Hat's were very popular.   I was surprised that Caleb put his had on and wore it proudly!

MATH:  Typical math week.  Lots of lessons in our Singapore Math workbook.  

SCIENCE:  We talked about Seasons in science this week.  This is not new to Caleb as we've talked about this before in school.  We used the globe and a flashlight to show how the earth rotates and that this is what changes our seasons throughout the year.  

His science activity was to go outside and choose a tree in the yard.  He is to draw this tree once each season and show the changes that take place.  My son who is on again, off again when it comes to drawing took this assignment very seriously.  I was SO proud of him!!   I took the liberty of darkening the photo in some edit software.  He drew it so lightly that it wasn't showing up well.  Look at the branches and all the individual leaves he drew on the branches.  He drew a dog on the left saying, "woof."  There is a squirrel in the tree, but I know it's really hard to see.  Along the ground he drew grass and rocks.  The bottom says, "Fall Oak Tree."  Maybe if you click on the picture it will open into a larger, easier to see version.

And he did a leaf tracing.  We stuck a few leaves in a book on the shelf and I figure we'll give those some time to dry out before we look in on them again.  Here he is gathering his leaf.

MUSIC:  We listened to some of Tchaikovsky's story.  I have to admit, it's just a tad bit boring, (well, maybe more than a tad,) but we sit there and listen and talk a bit about it when we're done.  

And  I introduced Caleb to Yankee Doodle.  I'd forgotten what a fun song that was to sing as a child. In this case, I have a CD with lots of children's voices singing this song, so I can easily blend in and look silly.  Caleb rolls his eyes, but that's okay.  He will remember the song just because I was acting silly one day at school.  On the serious side, I never realized what the words to the song meant.  The song was written to ridicule the Americans in the early 1750's.   I definitely learned a bit that day.  
ART:   Caleb seemed interested in art this week so we did a couple of lessons instead of just one.  I've learned to go with the flow with him when it comes to art.  And that's okay.  I think I've said it before - we won't all be a Van Gough.

HEALTH/MANNERS:  This weeks lesson was a discussion on "Talebearers."  Or, as Caleb would call it, "tattle-telling."  The lessons come across as really old-fashion sounding, but in all honesty, these are topics that I think have gotten pushed to the side with recent generations.  It's all good stuff!

Week #9 is officially closed now that I've got the blogging part done!  :)  Still a few more weeks behind, but there have been things taking priority over blogging.  It will all get done in good time.  

I'm blessed to be a homeschool mom and wouldn't have it ANY other way!!

Educating in Christ,

Momma/Pam

MFW 2nd Grade Week #8

BIBLE:  This week our studies were about Jesus and how He is our Rock.

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock."  Matthew 7:24

SPELLING:   Pretty typical week in spelling.  New list of words, several spelling exercise and a successful test!

ENGLISH:   Caleb completed the memorization of "If I Knew" by Maud Wyman.  He wouldn't let me video him, but he did let me record his voice.  He started a second or two before my phone recorder was ready, but we managed to get most of it.   I am attempting to put the "video" here for you to listen to.  Hang in there as I've not uploaded video before using the updated blogger features.  Okay, well.  I'm having a some troubles with it.  I will try again to get it posted on here.....It's too precious not to share.

After this we moved onto other language lessons in our Primary Language Lessons book.  The lessons included copy work, dictation, and a discussion on capital letters and words that begin a sentence starting with capitals.  He's been told that last item over and over, but he still gets in a rush and forgets to capitalize the first word of a sentence.

Reading:

Morris the Moose, B. Wiseman
Baby Whales Drink Milk, Barbara Juster Esbensen
A Garden of Whales, Maggie Steincrohn Davis
The Wales, Cynthia Rylant
Animal Cose-Ups - The Whale, Valerie Tracqui
The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane, Joanna Cole
Don't Call Me Sidney, Jane Sutton
Dragons LoveTacos, Adam Rubin
Nessa's Fish, Nancy Luenn
Baby Rattlesnake, Te Ata
What's the BIg Idea Ben Franklin, Jean Fritz
The Amazing Life of Ben Franklin, James Cross Giblin
Benjamin Franklin, A Man with Many Jobs, Carole Greene
Rocks and Minerals, Illa Podendorf
Quack, Daisy, Quack!, Jane Simmons
Pond Babies, Cathryn Falwell

Read-a-Loud:

Courage of Sara Noble -  I love this book.  Caleb is slow to like it...as I'm writing THIS post, we've already finished it.  But, I will save the cheers for a later post!

HISTORY:   This week our focus was on Benjamin Franklin.  Caleb learned a lot of facts about Ben Franklin and even that he was the writer of Poor Richard's Almanac.  What was very interesting about Ben Franklin was that he was a good man.  A tidbit:  Having spent his last coins on three small loaves of bread, he gives away two of them to a hungry mother and her child, even though he has traveled a long way and is very hungry himself.

Timeline:   Ben Franklin

MATH:   I was able to find a Singapore Math review workbook online and purchased it for Caleb.  This week we began our review of everything we have covered in our math book so far.  It is an awesome book and I know it's going to help Caleb so much.

SCIENCE:   This was a pretty light science week as far as science goes.  Not exactly what Caleb likes to hear, but it is what it is.  We read a bit out of our First Encyclopedia of Science took and discussed the what the earth was made of.  Then he convinced me to pull out some science lessons from another book that really don't go with our curriculum this year.  But, hey, he wanted to do it and learn and I'm all for that.

This particular activity was about ice, how it melts in cold water, hot water, or sitting on a plate.  He also poured salt on ice to see it melted faster, and he put a spoon on some ice to see that it melted shaping the spoon into the ice.  All this is right up his alley.

I used the ice and salt experiment as an opportunity to share with him about my childhood and how the postman couldn't deliver our mail if we didn't keep the ice off of the porch because our mailbox was on our house.  I remember times the postman would leave a note, asking my parents to please try to get rid of the ice and I also remember my dad buying a certain type of bagged salt to pour on the ice causing it to melt away.   

ART:   We did a drawing lesson in art this week.  Caleb isn't always sure whether he likes art or not.  So, we focus on covering at least one lesson a week.

MUSIC:   We listened to the song America again this week.  We're not too focused on singing the words at the time.  Caleb looks at me like I've grown horns if I ask him to try to sing.  So, he listens, I hum or sing a little bit, and then we move on.

That's a wrap for Week #8....if I missed something, I'll have to add it later or this post will never get posted.  We've had illness in our house all week and this post sat open on the computer waiting for me to hit send...for now, it is what it is.

Educating in Christ,

Pam

A Bit Behind

Okay - this is a short post.  Really short, because I am determined to catch up just a little bit in the hour and half I have of free time.

At the time I am writing this post, I am officially several weeks behind in our homeschool blog.  For those that might follow this blog, I assure you just because a week hasn't been posted here, doesn't mean we aren't doing school.  There is only so much time in a day.  There are only so many hours and minutes and sometimes blogging takes the back seat.  Even though I truly enjoy it and love to share what's going on here I don't always have time to sit and recreate our week.

But, rest assured, I have lots of fun pictures that are calling my name to be shared!!  We've done some really wonderful studies in the last few weeks and I am determined to get them posted up here and shared!

So, for now, know that I am back at it ....

Educating in Christ,

Pam

MFW 2nd Grade - Week #7

BIBLE:  We continued our study of John 6:35.... with our topic being Jesus the Bread of Life.

One of the projects this week was to make a napkin holder out of a box. Well, I didn't have the right size box, so after a quick look on the MFW message boards, I came up with a different way to use the bread template.  A "Salvation Sandwich."   Each page is a different color and has a short phrase with the steps leading to salvation.

Second bible project this week was to make bread.  Mmmmmmm, fun day that was!!

SPELLING:  Another week in spelling, same old, same old.  New list of words, write them, study them, test on Thursday or Friday.

ENGLISH:  We continued working on our memorization of the poem, "If I Knew."  And had some good old copy work.  Caleb hates copy-work, but it's so good for him.  Good handwriting practice.

HISTORY:  We read from our American Pioneers and Patriots book this week and learned about the Pioneers who came from France. We talked about the Great Lakes, H-O-M-E-S - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior because this was the area that these Pioneers traveled.  

Activity:  Make a canoe.  The indians in this area made their canoes out of birch bark.  They shared them and gave them as gifts to the white men.

MUSIC:  Celebrate America CD was used this week and we listened to the song, America.  Caleb doesn't like to sing, so we're not to the singing phase yet.  We'll get there some day as I know these songs are important for him to learn and know.

SCIENCE:  Our topics in science this week were making playdough and making the bread (pictured above.)  Since we're learning that Jesus is the Bread of Life, these were great ways to get that point across.  Also, he learned that once you make dough, your flour cannot go back to flour.

MATH:  Nothing new to talk about here.  We're just continuing on with our daily math lessons.  

READING:  

I'm Fast, Kate McMullan

Squid & Octopus, Tao Nyeu

Stargazers, Gail Gibbons

Dirty Kurt, Mary Serfozo

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Clover, Lucille Colandro

Outside an Inside Alligators, Sandra Markle

I Won't Go to Bed!, Andrea Baruffi

Read-a-loud:    This week we read read and finished The Courage of Sarah Noble.  Loved this sweet story and even though it was about a little girl I think Caleb enjoyed it also.  

HEALTH/MANNERS:   This week's lesson was about the Care of School Property.  Interesting since we homeschool, but still important things to remember.  

RANDOMNESS:   I thought I'd share a few things that I didn't put in previous posts.

Here is a picture of some of Caleb's copy-work.  He's written more neatly before, but I was still impressed with how well he did.

Here's a picture out of his spelling book.  Words aren't overly hard.  He can read them, but the trick is, learning to SPELL them.  I'm proud of him.  The more we get into the year, the more he spells random things out of the blue....  

I thought I'd show you a copy of our weekly schedule, once I get through with it.  Lots of markings and notations.  Whew..... this is a very important piece of paper and I keep each week in a binder.  It's nice to have to go back for reference and to keep track of what we're doing.  I log the date we did school and the time we spent on school that day.  Important stuff.

So proud.  At the six week mark, Caleb had five weeks of spelling words to go back over and remember for a review test.  He did awesome!!!

Okay - behind as usual, but this post gets me a little more caught up.  I hope you've enjoy a peek at one of our school weeks....

Educating in Christ,

Pam

MFW 2nd Grade - Week #6

BIBLE:   Our new memory verse is John 6:35 - 'I am the Bread of life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.'

Scriptures read:  Exodus 16:2-4, 13-16; John 6:5-13; and John 6:26-35.

We added another picture to our Names of Jesus poster - 'Jesus the Bread of Life.'

SPELLING:   The usual this week with spelling.  Only Johnny had me add in some homework for Caleb.  He had to write his spelling words three times a couple of times this week.

ENGLISH:   A neat lesson this week for English was memorizing a poem.  This isn't something that will happen overnight, but I am really excited at the progress Caleb is making.  There are 4 short paragraphs and he has the first one memorized.

Dictation activity did not go over well this week.  We've not done a lot of this were Caleb has to just write on his own.  It was like he went into shut-down mode.  But, it's not unusual for him to get that way when it's the first time we do something.  It will get better.  I kept the sentences very easy this time around and we'll work on longer and harder one's as the year progresses.

HISTORY:  More readings from our American Pioneers and Patriots book.  This weeks reading is focusing on the pioneers that came over from Holland and settled in New Amsterdam, which is now called New York.  Very fun reading and so interesting!  This one is about a little boy named Peter and his cow Trinka.  ;)

Activity:   We made BUTTER!  What fun!!  You start with a jar of some sort and heavy whipping cream.

Fill the jar half way, or less.  We went about half way.

Put on the lid.

Then shake it.....

And shake it....

And shake it.....until Caleb gets tired and I take over.

I was grateful we used a small jar.  We shook our jar for a total of 10 minutes and finally ended up with butter.  We put it on crackers and Caleb actually ate two of them!

History Read-a-Loud:  We have a new chapter book we are reading this week, 'The Courage of Sarah Noble' by Alice Dalgliesh.  So far it is a very sweet story.  This one is about a girl, so Caleb isn't so gung-ho as he was reading Squanto.  But, he is enjoying it.

MUSIC:  More listening to the song 'America.'

SCIENCE:  This week we did a couple of experiments with yeast.  Caleb learned that sugar is essential to yeast being able to create carbon dioxide.

Activity #1:

Glass bottle, yeast, sugar and balloon.  I must admit I repeatedly forgot to purchase a glass bottle at the store.  I didn't really have anything at home with a long neck.  So, the day we are to do this experiment I am saying, "uh-oh."  Well, we fixed the problem.  We drove a mile or so from the house and yes, we found a bottle on the side of the road.  Gross?  Definitely.  I picked it up with wet-wipes.  But, that is what hot, soapy water is for and it wasn't like we wanted to drink out of it. 

He mixed yeast and sugar, together in some warm water.

Poured it into the bottle.

And attached the balloon on top.

Set the yeast bottle in a warm, dry place.

And the balloon grew........

And over the course of an hour it grew this large.....

Then quickly fizzled out...

Activity #2:   Same process but Caleb was to use salt instead of sugar.

Sadly, we (I) forgot to take a picture at the one hour mark.  But, take my word for it.  As floppy as the balloon looks in this picture was how it looked an hour later.  The salt did nothing for the yeast and no carbon dioxide was made.

MATH:  This week we're working on the addition and subtraction facts.  Caleb can do them and has been doing them, but the new concept Singapore Math wants us to learn is a bit, well.....on the confusing side.  We decided to stop and work on our facts for a bit to get them more concrete in his mind.  We're doing various activities to reinforce them.  Part of that was Johnny's idea to have Caleb write them out a couple of times this week.  For example, all the 1+'s and 2+'s, etc.  all the way through 9+'s....

READING:

Somehow this week got away from me and we didn't do much library book reading.  Looking back, I can't even really understand why except that we read a lot during school and didn't make time for it.   I have to do so much talking that some days my voice starts getting tired by the end of school.  Next week will be a better week in regards to this, because this is SO important.  No excuse is a good excuse when it comes to making time to read.

Super Swimmers, Caroline Arnold

The Rough-Face Girl, Rafe Martin

On the Mayflower, Kate Waters

Another very full and successful week in MFW!

Educating in Christ,

Pam