The emphasis remains firmly on developing your child's reading and math
skills, but lessons in art, social studies, science, and physical education
are incorporated as well. Although some skills will resemble those your seven
year old learned in 1st grade, keep in mind that 2nd grade is mostly about
mastering lessons previously taught. Generally speaking, your child will be
expected to:
Reading
The wide variety of quality reading selections stimulates enjoyment of
reading and an appreciation of literature. The curriculum integrates Bible
truths, phonics, comprehension, and reading/thinking skills in its reading
material. The additional reading of a novel is introduced in the classroom.
Spelling
Weekly spelling lists are arranged phonetically so the students will be able
to identify the sound they hear with the pattern they see. A collection of
poetry for student memorization is included. A few poems have been selected
for their beauty of language, literary greatness, and character-building
qualities.
Penmanship
Manuscript is reviewed as the students start learning cursive at the
beginning of the year. It teaches proper letter formation, slant, and spacing.
Language
Students are taught nouns (common, proper, singular, plural, subject nouns,
object of the preposition nouns), verbs, adverbs, adjectives (including
article adjectives), pronouns, and prepositions. Writing skills include
identifying and writing a topic sentence for two-point expository paragraphs,
descriptive paragraphs, and narrative paragraphs. Students write thank-you
notes and address envelopes. Students distinguish words that are antonyms,
synonyms, or homonyms. Students can recognize the simple subject, simple
predicate, complete subject, and complete predicate. Subject and verb
agreement can also be distinguished.
Social Studies
Students step back into American history and learn what life would have been
like in our country’s early days. They learn the history of our flag,
patriotic holidays, patriotic songs, Pilgrims, American Indians, colonists,
pioneers, cowboys, and immigrants. Class discussion, underlining important
information in the text, and answering study review sheets help prepare the
students for test evaluations. Students enjoy acting out historical stories
and doing class projects such as craft shops in Colonial America.
Science
Students learn to enjoy God’s world as they study His plan for creation. Both
reading comprehension and knowledge of scientific concepts are increased as
students learn about the human body, animals, plants, matter, energy, earth,
space, and conservation. By answering “how and “why” questions, students will
develop their thinking skills. Hands-on activities and activities to help
increase comprehension of basic science concepts are included.“Mad Scientist”
parents are encouraged to get involved by doing experiments in the classroom.
Math
Concepts taught or reviewed in the curriculum include counting, place value,
addition and subtraction, money, time, graphs, simple geometry,
multiplication and division, and Roman numerals. Story problems are used to
provide practice in using the skills and facts learned and are based on
concrete situations. New material is built on prior learning and encourages
students to think through new concepts. I will challenge students’ thinking
ability. Speed drills and math facts contests are carried out through the
year.
Homework
Daily reading the most important homework whether assigned or not.
Set a regular time for your child to complete her homework, whether
immediately after school, after a snack, after playtime, or after dinner
what matters most is that she establish a routine. Make sure distractions
from the television and computer are kept to a minimum. Ask your child if she
understands the assignment, then encourage her to work on her own and to
consult you if she has any questions. When finished, review her work and
point out any mistakes, but don't supply the right answer. If your child errs
a second time, work it out with her. Have your child slip the completed
assignment into her backpack folder in preparation for school the next
morning.