Day 2


Read book about the moon.  Observed and cared for crawfish and learned how to identify males and females.  Solo reading: "A Cat Adrift".  Watched online video about seals and their diet.  Read about Thai geography, religion and language.  Read Thai folktale "Ta-In and Ta-Na".  Read chapter 1 in Queen Elizabeth biography

Day 3


Did worksheet on articles (a, an and the).  Discussed urban vs. suburban vs rural.  Read chapter 2 of Queen Elizabeth biography.  Went swimming and played outdoors.  Worked on number sense by estimating.  Discussed what "emotions" are.  Went over family fire plan.

Flora is in 2nd Grade!

Despite doing a wretched job of keeping track of her learning on here, she sailed through 1st with flying colors.

This is our last year of not needing to officially keep an educational log, but this year I am really going to try my hardest to do it.  Wish me luck!

DAY 1


Compound words, place value, the 7 continents, drew pictures of cats, the frog's life cycle, observed crawfish and minnows in our tank, worked on animated Lego movie with friends, observed and misted isopods in tank, cardinal and ordinal numbers, observed feeding habits of our tarantula, read about Thailand; geography, religion and language, counted money and paid for our items at the store.  Played outdoors.

practice cursive while listening to chapter 1 of "The Burgess Bird Book for Children" on librivox, looked at pictures of wrens online, read 2 chapters in her "Bad Kitty's Birthday" book, caught isopods and a millipede, made up chapter 1 of her story "Good Queen Isopod and Her Adventures", did a R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey lab on isopods, made a model of the volcano from the island of Thera...

...all before noon!  I am exhausted!

Educational Objectives for Flora D, 2nd Grade

Language Arts

• Daily exposure to poetry, folk tales, fairy tales, tall tales, myths and stories from various cultures
• Learn the use of antonyms and synonyms, contractions, and abbreviations
• Continue to learn and master phonics skills
• Continue to learn and master sight words
• Learn to write sentences using correct punctuation and capitalization
• Understand sentence structure, nouns and verbs
• Read Easy Reader Level 2 and 3 books on her own, daily
• Compose letters and stories
• Keep a journal
• Observe the use of reference materials
• Use library on a regular basis 

Arithmetic

• Learn and understand basic fractions; 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and 4/4
• Continue to master telling time in 5 minute intervals
• Continue to work toward mastery of addition and subtraction, including carrying and borrowing
• Understanding money, identifying coins and dollars
• Place value to 1000
• Measuring in inches and feet
• Strengthening mental math skills
• Logic
• Continue to master use of calendar
• Introduction to multiplication
• One step problem solving

History and Geography

• Learn about the Middle Ages from the Fall of Rome to the Renaissance with associated map work
• Making and studying maps of our neighborhood, town, city, county, state, region, country and world
• American History including but not limited to: the Constitution, the War of 1812, Western Expansion, The Civil War, Immigration, and Civil Rights
• Learn about various notable Americans

Science

• Earth science, geology
• Space
• Native plants of Northwestern Pennsylvania
• Native animals of Northwestern Pennsylvania, including birdwatching
• Basics of nutrition
• Prominent names in Science

Civics

• Read and discuss current events as are appropriate
• Study holidays and festivals

Physical Education

• Daily active play, both structured and unstructured
• Swimming

Music

• Exposure to various styles of music
• Singing in groups and alone
• Exposure to US folk songs
• Learn to identify various music instruments by sight and sound
• Read biographiesj of various notable composers
• Beginning piano lessons
• Learn about pitch and scale

Art

• Continued use of various media for creative visual expression
• Observe and discuss various works of art from books and visits to museums
• Learn about various artists and their works

Safety

• Fire safety
• Kitchen safety
• Bicycle safety

March 2
Brain Quest consonant clusters
Read aloud: "Purple Pickle Juice"
Read about Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors in Story of the World
Read an overview of the human body in R.E.A.L Science Odyssey

March 3

Read "As You Like It" from Beautful Stories from Shakespeare for Children
SOTW mapwork on the route the Israelites took
Which Way USA? Texas
 Math Mammoth subtraction
Brain Quest plural nouns

March 4

Math Mammoth - adding double digit numbers
Read aloud 'Fox All Week"
Art - drew animals from a 'learn to draw' book
Read about cells in "My First Human Body Encyclopedia"
Which Way USA? Texas
"The Little Man in the Map": AR, LA, OK, TX

I've been sick with an ear infection so studies have been a little lighter than usual.

February 2011 (23 days)

History:  Read biographies of Cleopatra, King Tut, Nefertiti.  Added them to a timeline
Learned about cuneiform, hieroglyphs, Mesopotamia, mummies, pyramids
Made a model of a pyramid.
Learned about Sargon and Akkadia.
Discussed military dictatorship
Watched video online about mummification
Learned about Abraham and the Jewish people

Science:  Discussed living vs. non-living
Animal cells vs. plant cells
Made bubble gum
Watched video on animal intelligence
Studied and egg with a magnifying glass and identified the chalaza, yolk, white, blastocyst and holes in the shell
Watched video on wild parrots in the U.S.
Nature study included: wren, robin, grackle, pinecones

Geography:  Identifying Egypt and Sumer, the Tigris and Euphrates, the ancient city of Kish, on a map.
Worked on "Which Way USA?" Texas
Started memorizing the Midwest states with "The Little Man in the Map"

Math:  review of January's concepts
Telling time on the hour and half hour
Properties of shapes; triangles, rectangles, squares and quadrilaterals, including vertices
Measuring in inches and centimeters.
Counting with pennies and nickels.
Subtraction

Reading and Language Arts:  Continued to work on reading proficiency by reading aloud and being read to daily. (See book list.)
Nouns; including common and proper.  Capital letters on proper nouns.  Consonant blends and clusters, digraphs, spelling short vowel words.  Handwriting practice from "Handwriting Without Tears".

Latin:  Learned the words for; mother, father, sister, brother, girl, boy, man, woman, chair, table, pencil, book.

Art: Recognizing and copying lines. Painting with acrylics and water colors; drawing with crayons, pencils and oil pastels.  Made a paper version of the Rosetta stone, made a Sumerian seal from clay.  Learned about warm and cool colors in Monet's "Tulips in Holland" and drew with warm and cool colors.  Made masks and swords from construction paper.

March 1

Math Mammoth pg 69-70 subtraction
BrainQuest consonant clusters
worked on memorizing the Midwest states
Story of the World chapter 6 "The Jewish People"
Shakespeare for children "The Tempest"