Second Grade Goals Analyzed

At the beginning of the year I wrote a post that included the basic national goals for second grade year. I would like to go back now and make note of what Tex covered in relation to those.

Language Arts

• continuing to read fables and folktales to illustrate good character and principles

This year we read a number of Bible stories, 4 of the Chronicles of Narnia books, stories from The Children's Book of Virtues, and a number of Greek/Roman myths (esp. in relation to the Percy Jackson books)

• label basic parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) and learn about abbreviations/contractions as well as antonyms/synonyms

Tex has a basic understanding of what contractions are and can usually figure them out in a sentence (tense-related ones like "it has" vs. "it is" can still be confusing). We played a lot of the board game Silly Sentences to learn parts of speech.

Geography/History

• be able to identify continents, some large countries and major cities, a few oceans, rivers, or other bodies of water, and some major mountain ranges

Can identify: North Am, South Am, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, doesn't know where Europe ends and Asia begins; the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Madagascar, prob. Brazil, New Zealand, maybe Japan; knows Pacific/Atlantic coasts.

• have some understanding of ancient world history and the discoveries of important civilizations (Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Rome, India, China, Africa...)

Mostly got into Greek/Roman mythology and the society surrounding

• early American history - basically any and everything -- from the natives to the first explorers, colonists, Western pioneers, and up to the Revolutionary War -- in which they are interested

Casual discussions of pioneer life and Westward expansion; some understanding of Revolutionary War as fight for freedom from England

Fine Arts

• as much hands-on experience as possible -- take kids to see performances or put on some ourselves, listen to poetry read aloud, see and discuss artwork and architecture

We enjoyed some Shel Silverstein poetry this year and discussed artwork when we saw it. Tex also has a love of drawing and concentrated this year on dinosaurs, robots, and spaceships.

• introduction to different instruments and how they are classified into groups
• anything about the parts of a song, how plays are written, mediums of visual arts, etc.

Tex did a LOT of independent listening to music this year and can identify verses/chorus; pays close attention to how different instruments are used in songs; starting to learn about rhythm, syncopation. Also understands how songs can tell a story, even those without words, a la Disney's Fantasia. Has discussed jazz, opera, rap, rock, and other forms of music. This year he also received a sound mixing toy with which he can create his own electronic music, and he spent lots of time designing sets, costumes, and scenes which he then filmed with our digital camera.

Mathematics

• practice, practice, practice, in fun and useful ways

Tex does math problems in his mind for fun, not to mention our practice with cooking, money, couponing, music, time, etc.

• memorization of basic addition and subtraction tables, skip counting, evens/odds, Roman numeral introduction, adding and subtracting time on an analog clock, learn HOW to +/- 3-digit numbers, and begin memorizing multiplication tables
• always practicing geometry, money, measurements, fractions, and word problems

Skilled in addition/subtraction, skip counting, understands evens/odds, analog clocks, is working on adding multi-digit numbers (ones, then tens, then hundreds), knows lots of small-number multiplication (2x2, 2x10, 5x3, etc.), can work small number division (9/3, 10/2, etc.), knows basic fractions

Life Sciences

• human body - cells into tissue into organs into systems

Can name several bones of the body: tibia/fibula, femur, mandible, humerus, radius/ulna, vertebrae, ribs, pelvis

• life cycles of animals/plants and how they relate to the seasons

We hatched butterflies this year and also cared for our garden. Tex knows some plants come back every year in our garden while others must be planted anew. Understands insect pollination.

• lots of hands-on experience with animals, plants, and nature
• biographies of important zoologists, animal activists, doctors, etc.

Tex has a few favorite animal scientists: Nigel Marvin, Steve and Bindi Irwin, Jungle Jack Hanna

Physical Sciences

• the products of chemistry such as plastics, hands-on simple chem experiments

We worked on acids/bases as well as a number of other basic kid-friendly experiments.

• how meteorologists gather data, how weather systems form

Tex understands how weather fronts move, how tornadoes form, what you can learn from looking at a weather radar

• the history of astronomy and how stars can be used to find direction, and how/why the sky changes with the seasons
  
• the behavior of light and sound, other physics basics

Experiments with grandfather on friction, resistance, etc.

• simple machines, introduction to basic engineering and technology

Built hydraulics machines, watched several of The Way Things Work series on simple machines (inclined planes, levers, wheels/axles, pulleys)

• more awareness of the Scientific Method in everyday play

One of Tex's favorite things! During play he loves to make predictions from the available information and then adjust his behavior to see how it changes the result

• biographies of important scientists

Clearly there are areas in which Tex excels and areas in which he could use more focus. I feel very blessed that homeschooling allows him to develop at his own speed and in the areas towards which he feels most drawn. My own basic goals for this year were for him to be reading well (he is on grade level even though his confidence is still lacking) and for him to continue his learning and comprehension of math and science topics (in these his understanding far exceeds my expectations). I look forward to seeing what kind of learning continues this summer since our Unschooling "schedule" will not change appreciably, and I'll spend several hours this summer collecting information on the basics of Third Grade.