Summer Studies

All Ye Lands: World Cultures and Geography,
Catholic Schools Textbook Project [sample pages]
Developmental Math, Mathematics Programs Associates
Swimming, local parks and recreation department
Spanish story time, local library
Summer reading program, local library

Have fun!

What Homeschooler Are You?

"You are the relaxed homeschooler. You like to experiment with different homeschool methods. You work hard but also know how to have fun. You have many types of curriculum and a casual schedule you sometimes follow."

Try this quiz.

2nd Grade Activities: Week 37

RELIGION: daily prayer; attend Mass; read about some saints in Saints of the Americas Coloring Book, Anne Joan Flanagan, FSP.

MATH: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with orange sections, 1/2s, 1/4s, 1/8s; imagine 16ths and 32nds; telling time; oral math including skip counting; solve online word problems:
http://www.getsmarter.org/flash/math34/index.cfm
http://www.getsmarter.org/games/images/jumpin.htm

PHONICS: Explode the Code 5: read and solve exercises with qu words.

READING/LANGUAGE ARTS: reading in Phonics and Language Arts study; read signs, comics, websites; IM with relatives; workbook exercises: alphabetical order and story order.

READING: Partial book: The Sesame Street Treasury: Starring the Number 2 and the Letter B; On My Way with Sesame Street: My ABC's;
The Sesame Street Library: Featuring the Number 15;
Science Works: A Drop in the Ocean: The Story of Water, Jacqui Bailey.

Whole book: The Sesame Street Pet Show, Emily Perl Kingsley;
Mulan II: Lesson Number One, and A Hero's Journey;
Numbears: A Counting Book, Kathleen Hague;
Learn Shapes and Colors with the Munch Bunch, Giles Reed;
The Berenstain Bears and the Bully, Stan & Jan Berenstain;
Curious George Makes Pancakes, Margret & H.A. Rey;
Chester's Way, Kevin Henkes;
Lovable Lyle, Bernard Waber

HANDWRITING: writing in language arts, Chinese, and phonics exercises; make lists.

SCIENCE/NATURE: Observation and care of fish, ants, snail, banana slug; watch Eyewitness: Ape video; study books about dinosaurs:
DK Eye Wonder: Dinosaur;
Read-and-Find-Out Science: Dinosaur Babies;
Dinosaur World: Long-necked Dinosaurs, Robin Birch;
Dinosaurs Big and Small, Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld;

Answer questions in online science quiz:
http://www.getsmarter.org/flash/science34/index.cfm

Ask questions to research:
"What color are a blue jay's eggs?"
http://www.hope.edu/academic/biology/naturepreserve/Birds/Cyacri.htm

"What happens when a kangaroo has 2 babies? Is she able to carry and take care of both of them?"
Pictures of Kangaroo mom with twin joeys:
http://english.people.com.cn/200704/26/eng20070426_369990.html

FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Chinese class: review Pinyin tones and pronunciation; practice speaking and writing Chinese characters; answer questions orally; Spanish: read Colors/Los colores, Clare Beaton; attend Spanish story time.

READ ALOUD:
The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster;
In a People House, Theo. LeSieg;
All About Animals: Lions, Sarah Albee;

ART: make family of indian children (2 baby girls and 2 baby boys, a boy, girl, and big big sister) and their things (4 pacifiers, 4 rattles, 1 blanket, some dough, a paper, and a pen, and some tobacco, tobacco pipe, gun, bird, sword, and boxes of stuff) out of modeling clay; make mama kangaroo and babies from modeling clay; make 2 small blue jays in a nest; color and assemble two small "sun windsocks" (paper, cardboard and crepe paper).

MUSIC: listen to classical and contemporary music; sing made-up songs.

P.E.: park time; play with dogs at dog park.

2nd Grade Activities: Week 36

RELIGION: daily prayer; attend Mass; attend girls' group, a class taught by teenage girls for younger children: includes prayer, presentations, activities, crafts; make a devotional book about thanking Jesus for all aspects of our lives, about the sacraments, family life, and Heaven.

MATH: discuss large odd and even numbers; work in Kumon book of telling time; more time-telling activities.

PHONICS: construct cvc words using alphabet cards; discuss variety of spellings for similar-sounding words (example: otter, water).

READING/LANGUAGE ARTS: reading in Phonics, Language Arts, and Math study; read signs, comics, websites; IM and email with relatives.

READING: approximately a chapter each from:
Now We Are Six, and The House at Pooh Corner, A.A. Milne;
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis;
Little House in the Big Wood, Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Also: Scardey Cats, Audrey Wood;
Tiny Tots Picture Books: Tim Tadpole and Other Stories.

HANDWRITING: writing in math, language arts, and phonics exercises; trace words in workbook to practice letter forms.

SCIENCE/NATURE: Observation and care of fish, ants, snail, banana slug; write about the slug; read Who Eats What? Food Chains and Food Webs, patricia Lauber; draw parts of food chains and webs; watch The Way Things Work: Pulleys, David Macaulay (video).

Care for a virtual fish tank .

FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Chinese class: review Pinyin tones and pronunciation; practice speaking and writing Chinese characters; answer questions orally and in front of the class; watch cartoons in Spanish.

READ ALOUD: All About Animals: Bears, Catherine Lukas;
All About Penguins, Jane Arlington and Sharon Langdon;
The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster.

ART: make characters and food out of modeling clay; make tissue paper flowers and a Mother's Day card; attend discovery in art class: study and discuss African art; make African masks; draw animals based on drawing lessons here:
http://www.howtodrawit.com/

MUSIC: listen to classical and contemporary music; sing and perform made-up songs.

P.E.: park time; play with dogs at dog park.

2nd Grade Activities: Week 35

RELIGION: daily prayer; attend Mass; receive 1st Holy Communion.

MATH: review minutes in an hour for telling time; show times on the Judy Clock; draw a clock showing what time someone might get out of school; oral math, including counting to 100 by 5s and simple addition and subtraction.

PHONICS: Explode the Code 4: read and identify 2- and 3-syllable words; learn where to break 2-syllable words; begin Explode the Code 5.

READING/LANGUAGE ARTS: reading in Phonics, Language Arts, and Math study; read signs, comics, websites; IM and email with relatives; make up a story about how the turtle got his shell; do reading and grammar exercises, including punctuation, forming plurals, and correct form of the verb to be, in Second Grade Language workbook; use "invisible ink" to write a note.

HANDWRITING: writing in math, language arts, and phonics exercises; write items on grocery lists; writing practice in Kumon lowercase letters workbook.

SCIENCE/NATURE: Observation and care of fish, ants, snail, banana slug; answer questions in banana slug quiz:
http://www.crd.bc.ca/parks/kids.htm#
Water experiments: centrifugal force, etc.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Chinese class: review Pinyin tones and pronunciation; practice speaking and writing Chinese characters; recite poem and song, and answer questions in front of the class; attend Spanish story time; watch videos in Spanish.

ART: make banana slugs and other characters out of modeling clay; attend great artists class: learn about Paul Gauguin's use of bright, non-standard colors in his landscapes; create a landscape using blue, red, yellow, green, orange, purple, pink, peach; draw people and animals.

MUSIC: listen to classical and contemporary music; make up songs and poems.

P.E.: park time; softball game; play with dogs at the dog park.

HISTORY: read an article about Queen Elizabeth II visiting the White House

2nd Grade Activities: Week 34

RELIGION: daily prayer; attend Mass.

MATH: do sample math lessons (angles, parallel lines, number patterns, probability, measurement) on time4learning.com :
http://www.time4learning.com/start/freelessons.htm

Word problems with 2-digit numbers including regrouping/carrying tens; calculate what items can be bought with a budget (2-digit numbers under under $1.00); write a very long number (24 digits).

PHONICS/LANGUAGE ARTS: Explode the Code 4: read and identify 2-syllable words; learn where to break 2-syllable words; answer reading and grammar questions in Learning Horizons: 2nd Grade Language workbook.

READING: reading in Phonics, Language Arts, and Math study; read signs, comics, websites; IM and email with relatives;
Swimmy, Leo Lionni;
Puppy Love, Dick King-Smith;
Maybe, My Baby, Marilyn Janovitz;
Inch by Inch, Leo Lionni;
Mr. Putter & Tabby Write the Book, Cynthia Rylant;
Tico and the Golden Wings, Leo Lionni;
Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss;
Benjy's Boat Trip, Margaret Bloy Graham (not easy reading, but read very fluently).

HANDWRITING: writing in math, language arts, and phonics exercises; write items on grocery lists; handwriting practice (trace words and sentences) in Italic Handwriting Series B, Getty & Dubay..

SCIENCE/NATURE: Observation and care of fish, ants, snail, banana slug; ask questions: "What is that hole in the slug's side?", "What sounds does a slug make?"; do internet research about banana slugs at:
http://www.naturepark.com/bslug.htm
http://www.scsc.k12.ar.us/2001Outwest/PacificNaturalHistory/Projects/GannK/Default.htm
http://oregonstate.edu/Dept/nurspest/slugs.htm
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Ariolimax_columbianus.html
http://www.proaxis.com/~mccune/slughome.htm
http://www.proaxis.com/~mccune/experimentpage.htm
http://www.proaxis.com/~mccune/whatwehavelearned.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_slug
Slug anatomy:
http://oregonstate.edu/Dept/nurspest/slug_anatomy.htm
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/invertebrates/mollusk/gastropod/Slugprintout.shtml

Read a newspaper article about collapsed bee colonies and researchers trying to find out why, because "It's not just bad news for beekeepers and honey lovers. Growers of fruits, nuts and many vegetables rely on honeybees to pollinate their crops, which contribute $15 billion to the nation's agricultural output, according to a Cornell University study."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/26/MNGK7PFOMS1.DTL&hw=bees&sn=009&sc=345

Read a little more about beekeeping (starting a colony) on the web:
http://echoesofcreation.blogspot.com/2007/04/bees-are-buzzing-on-vita-bella-ranch.html

FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Chinese class: review Pinyin tones and pronunciation; recite phrases and songs in front of the class, individually and as a group; practice speaking and writing Chinese characters; attend Spanish story time; watch videos in Spanish.

ART: make tiny toy food and tiny fishes out of modeling clay; make cartoon characters with modeling clay; learn about positive and negative space in discoveries in art class; create a project using the concepts of positive and negative space.

MUSIC: listen to classical and contemporary music; make up songs and poems.

P.E.: park time; play with dogs at the dog park.

HISTORY: online activities and quizzes about ancient Egypt and Rome:
http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/games/walk/walk_egypt.html
http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/games/penaltyshootout/romans_ks2.htm