Back to School Homework Stradegy

The first week of school is under our belts and so is "Back to School" night. Now comes the part of finding our way through 2nd grade homework. 

Homework is sent home on Monday and is due back Friday. Homework consists of:

• Spelling Words
• Dictation Sentences
• High Frequency Words (HFWs)
• Vocabulary, and 
• AR Reading (Accelerated Reader)

It sounded easy, then we were informed the students are to read two books a day and accumulate eight AR tests a week by Friday morning. This may or may not be a challenge for us. It is yet to be determined. Last year first grade students were supposed to read a book three times before they were allowed to take an AR test. As second grade students, they can read a book once and take a test. Students are to read for comprehension. We might have to read a book twice just to make sure.

Wondering what our first homework looks like, well here it is. It's blurry but I think it's more important to display it than to get an awesome photo and display it some time in the distant future, which may or may not come.

Mon: Write spelling words 3 times each. Math page 27.
Tue:  Write spelling words 2 times each. Highlight or circle the vowels. Math page 28.
Wed: Put the 1st 10 spelling words in ABC order. Math page 29.
Thu: Take a practice spelling test and work on problem words. Math page 30.

In addition, each day practice Dictation Sentences, High Frequency Words, Vocabulary Words, and read 20 minutes.

Since this is the first week of homework I decided to help by creating some worksheets to guide him. These are the worksheets I created for each day of the week:
Monday's worksheet
Tuesday's Worksheet
Wednesday's worksheet
Thursday's Worksheet
Reading Log

Because We Can

Today we were able to do a good deed. We did it because we could, and it felt good.

A friend found a baby bird believed to be sparrow. His parents did not return to the nest for over a day and the little guy was squawking up a storm and he fell out of the nest. My friend fed the bird and kept it warm while she tried to find a more permanent home.

This morning we were asked if we could spare some time to provide transportation for this little bird to a nearby pet hospital. Of course we said yes. The nurses at the pet hospital were waiting for him with open arms and food in hand. We were told the little bird had a very good chance of survival.

This small easy task made our day. Thank you SM for letting us help.

Day 2 : 73 Family Video Game Time

We do not usually play video games. In fact, most of the time it takes a little over a month to accumulate six hours of game time. As a family we played "I Spy Spooky House." Six hours and eighteen minutes later, we finished the game! This was a record amount of time, and the first time we have played a game all the way to the end. We were all tired but felt a sense of accomplishment. It took team work, we did it as a family team! As for our youngest player, she zonked out on the couch.

Kid Mom Moment:
Getting lost in the game and advancing level by level reminded me how much fun I used to have playing video games when I was a kid. This time around, I enjoyed playing because I got lost in the video game via my children's eyes. To my children, it was a big deal to play video games for an extended period of time, to play with both Mom and Dad, and to play all the way to completion. The next morning, they were both still excited about our accomplishment.This kid of excitement I hope helps strengthen our bond as a family. BTW, we will do it again, eventually, but, definitely not any time soon.

Day 1 : 73 Water Fun

It's Friday, June 7th and it is our first day of summer vacation. What shall we do? Have a swimming pool play date!

We splished, splashed in the water. We laughed and cheered all afternoon. A short break to enjoy a healthy snack and we were all back in the water again!

Book Fair

It is time for the Book Fair. Lots of books to pick from and the best part is, they all BOGO. BOGO means you Buy One and Get One free. We got some entertaining books like Monters Inc. and Dora the Explorer. We also got a book with experiments we can do. The plan is do at one or two experiments each week over the summer.

Note: Find a book with "To-Do" activities. Do one activity a week all summer long.

WALL-E Diorama

The project was to re-create a scene from a book inside a box, and create a puppet of the main character as well.

After changing his mind six times, he finally decided on a book called, WALL-E, Smash Trash. The scene selected, WALL-E finds a fire extinguisher. If you have seen the movie, you know what happens next. WALL-E sets the fire extinguisher off and starts to float around while kicking up trash dust all over the place.

This is the scene set up in the box ...

 WALL-E's roach friend ...

 

and the main character ... WALL-E!

The best part of this project was watching my son carry it into his classroom with a big smile on his face as his classmates were telling him it looked cool.

Pieces to The Puzzle

These are a few pieces to the puzzle better known as the next project. Fingers crossed it will turn out okay. Tomorrow I will reveal the instructions/directions given and maybe you can guess what it is. In two days, I will reveal the end result.