What happens at home

When you go to school at home:

• You wake up after the school bus picks the neighborhood kids up and eat an unrushed breakfast.
• You may get dressed for the day or stay in your pajamas- it kind of depends on whether or not you're going to see anybody.
• You spend a couple of hours learning new spelling words, reading, answering questions, writing, practicing math skills, hearing history stories, and performing science experiments.
• You may or not have to run errands with mom or tag along to doctor appointments.
• You eat lunch with the family- sometimes in the kitchen, sometimes on the back porch, sometimes at a friend's house, sometimes at a restaurant, and sometimes at the park- then take another hour to rest.
• You visit Mom's friends sometimes and make ones of your own.
• You take mini-vacations when family comes into town.
• You wait for your neighborhood friends to come home from school.
• You play, and sometimes argue- with your brother.
• You play games on the computer.
• You sit with your brother at the library story time, and play along too.
• You clean your room, pick up the playroom, feed the dog, and fetch diapers.
• You wait for Mom to feed the baby, change the baby, wash the dishes, do the laundry, talk on the phone, pack the car, and fix the lunch.
• You daydream and draw pictures and make up stories.
• You have been dubbed the assistant mommy, because you help Mom with almost everything.

We don't do a lot of sitting.  We do a lot of life.

Dueling poems

Bella and I read poems about insects today: caterpillars, bees, wasps...

Then we completed an activity where we're given the first line of a poem and must come up with the second.  We both tried it and shared our results with each other.  Bella's rhymes were an attempt to be funny, of course :-)

Here are our insect poems:

Bella:
Beetles like to munch and munch.
They even like Captain Crunch.

Mom:
Beetles like to munch and munch.
...The leaves of roses they eat for lunch.

Bella:

Ants work hard all through the day.
They even like to lay on the bay.

Mom:
Ants work hard all through the day.
...For their play is work and work is play.

Bella:
Crickets chirp in the dark of the night.
They might even fight at the same old night.

Mom:
Crickets chirp in the dark of the night.
...Music sounds sweeter in the moonlight.

Bella:
Grasshopper up in the air so high!
I will miss you my little guy.

Mom:
Grasshopper up in the air so high!
...Down again, then up.  Jump, then fly.

If this was a contest for the silliest poet, the second grader certainly wins the prize!

Art History

I don't know if I've shared this before, but our favorite subject right now is History.  We recently finished with the ancient Roman Empire and are onto the Byzantine.  When you were in 2nd grade, did you go there?  My daughter is learning about religions, art, and world events through this current curriculum.  While I am still thinking about switching after this year, we will miss this subject.  I'll have to make up for it somehow.

For example, Bella learned about the Hagia Sophia and the beautiful mosaics that decorate it's interior walls.  So we decided to make our own mosaics after we finished this lesson.  The kids loved it!