CURRICULUM

 

Religion:

§         Sacramental preparation for Reconciliation and Eucharist is the heart of our

       curriculum.  Students receive preparation through school and home activities. 

       However, parish participation is also highly encouraged.  It is important for children to connect with the other parish children with whom they will be celebrating the sacraments.  Your parish will contact you about their preparation program.  If you do not hear from your parish, give them a call.

*All three parishes  request all students to be part of their Sunday religious ed program.  If you do not hear from your parish by mid-September, you will want to give them a call to make sure you are on their list.

§         Celebrations of First Reconciliation and Eucharist are in home parishes.  The school is an educational arm of the parish, but not a replacement for the parish community.

A list of formal prayers the students need to know is below.  We also pray spontaneously through word, song and action.

·         The Sign of the Cross

·         Our Father (Lord's Prayer)

·         Hail Mary

·         Glory Be

·         Angel of God

·         Grace Before Meals

·         Act of Contrition (to be learned during Reconciliation preparation)

Reading:

§         Reading is a developmental process.  Some children catch on quickly; some take a while.  Second grade is often a year of “take-off” for many readers.

§         3 basic cues that fluent readers use:

*Meaning – Does it make sense?

*Structure – Does it sound right? (e.g. grammar)

*Visual – Does it look right?  (e.g. phonics)

§         Home reading:

*oral or silent  (If silent, check for comprehension)

*weekly reading goals

*We will be participating in the Pizza Hut reading incentive program from Oct . – Feb.  Each month your child can earn  a coupon for a free pizza if he/she meets his/her weekly reading goals.

Spelling:

§         Again, this is a developmental process.  Some students spell phonetically,  using consonants and some vowels.  Some students have mastered more of the conventions.  Most 2^nd graders are moving from phonetic to conventional spelling. 

§         Spelling is a visual process.  It is important to get students to practice writing the words, not just spell them out loud.

§         While approximations are encouraged in draft writing, all published work must be spelled correctly.

§         Along with the weekly class spelling list, students will periodically have individual words to study.  This gives an opportunity for both challenge and re-teaching.

Writing:

§         Writing is a process that includes planning, composing, correcting and publishing.

§         Student approximations in spelling, sentence structure, etc. are valued as attempts and as future teaching points.

§         Students will be allowed to choose their own topics, as well as learn write specific forms (e.g. thank you's, biographies, information stories, poetry)

Handwriting:

§         Focus in on increasing legibility and speed. 

§         Please watch your child as he/she writes.  Some children write from bottom to top.  This decreases efficiency, and often legibility.

§         We will introduce cursive toward the end of the year.  Please discourage your child from experimenting with it before then.  Incorrect habits can be VERY hard to break.

Math:

§         We work on refining and applying skills learned in the younger grades.

§         By the end of the year, all 2^nd graders should have addition facts through 10+10 memorized and should be very comfortable with subtraction facts.

§         We also introduce the concepts of multiplication and division, as well as geometrical shapes, fractions, etc.

§         Challenge activities will include things like problem solving and looking at math from different angles. (Pardon the pun.) 

Social Studies:

§         The 2^nd grade focus in on community.

§         Along with formal units on the making of a community, traditions from around the world, American heroes and map reading, social studies is integrated with  other curriculum areas whenever possible.

Science:

§         Our formal units are on weather, sound and insects.

§         As with social studies, science in integrated into the curriculum whenever possible.

Library:

§         We have library lessons and checkout once a week, on Wednesdays.  Please help your child

       remember to return books on or before that day.

§         Students are welcome to check books out of our class library every day.

P.E., Music, Art, Spanish:

§         We are lucky to have specialists for these classes!

§         Please make sure your child wears appropriate shoes for recess and P.E.

Computers:

§         We have 6 computers in our classroom.  We use them mostly for learning centers and for publishing.  Along with educational games, the students do some word processing, internet research and PowerPoint presentations.

§         2^nd graders also learn some keyboarding, focusing on the home row.