Now we’re in Grade 2.
CFA always starts the school year with the Anointing Day. Here’s Godric with his playgroup friends Gianna, Ace, and Johann after the Holy Mass.
Now on to the reason why I started this blog in the first place… to document our homeschooling journey. Let me start off with the academic part of it.
Christian Living
This quarter Godric learned about the stories of St. John the Baptist, the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the birth of Jesus, Jesus as a young child, and Jesus preaching in Nazareth. We also discussed the Liturgical Calendar.
He watched YouTube videos about these stories so he can better appreciate the materials he read from his textbook and from the Bible. He prayed the rosary and learned a new Christmas song (Mary’s Boy Child). He also visited our parish office and interviewed the people there about the name of the parish, the parish priest, parish organizations, and the feast day of the parish.
He also made some artworks… heart cut-outs where he wrote his promises to do good things and his version of the Liturgical calendar.
The Character Traits we focused on this quarter were Attentiveness and Obedience. With the new school year, we kept on practicing how to be attentive in our lessons especially since more is expected of him this year given that he’s already in second grade. To give emphasis on Obedience we read and watched the stories of Jonah and Noah and discussed how we can apply in our daily lives the lessons we learned from these two Biblical characters.
Science
For this quarter in Science we discussed what Science is and its branches, some famous scientists, science processes and tools used.
We also discussed what Matter is, its different phases and characteristics, and the changes it undergoes. As part of the topic in matter we also discussed classifying materials at home for safety.
Since we finished early, we started discussing already a supposedly second quarter topic which is Human Sense Organs particularly the different parts of each of the sense organs, how it helps us, and proper ways of taking care of them. We also talked about sense organs that work together when we do certain activities. The topics about similarities and differences of people as well as the factors that affect growth and development were also covered this quarter.
For activities that help him appreciate the lessons more, which CFA encourages us to do since last school year, he did many. He sang the Matter Song he found in his textbook and created his own song (different lyrics and rhythm) comparing the different characteristics of solid, liquid, and gas. He also did many experiments pertaining to each of the states of Matter and the changes it undergoes.We also went to the supermarket to classify things based on the state of matter it belongs to. He also made an inventory of chemicals used at home, how they are used, when and how they are harmful/helpful, and what are the proper ways of handling them. Lastly, he also watched a video about the changes in matter.
He enjoyed these activities so much especially the experiments making Science one of his favorite subjects so far.
I haven’t taken any pictures of him while we’re doing his lessons in any of his subjects but here are some of his outputs for Science. I hope you can see them.
Math
We have used Singapore Math ever since we started formally homeschooling Godric in CFA and I have no plans of shifting to a traditional Math even though CFA already warned us parents that starting this year exams will be based on the DepEd prescribed traditional Math. I like Singapore Math mainly because it focuses more on the why and how of solving Math instead of just how something is done with lots of memorization which is the focus of the traditional Math.
This quarter, we were able to cover Numbers to 1000 (counting, place value, comparing, order and pattern, and odd and even numbers), Addition and Subtraction within 1000 (with and without regrouping), Using Part and Whole in Addition and Subtraction, Adding On and Taking Away Sets, Comparing Two Sets, and Money (counting, changing, and comparing). We also did lots of word problems (Addition, Subtraction, and Money) which I think is one of the strengths of Singapore Math and one of the weaknesses of the traditional Math.
For the activities we did at home; we made use of sticks, chips, toys, popsicle sticks, and dice in discussing numbers to 1000 and even addition; he did an oral explanation about comparing numbers; drew numbers from a box to come up with random 3-digit numbers; and used play money to play pretend shopping and being a shopkeeper applying all three major lessons we covered.
But there’s no better way of applying lessons learned in addition, subtraction, and money than to expose him to the real world so that’s what we did. I was slowly exposing him to the concept of buying since last year but this quarter I’ve been more deliberate in letting Godric buy his own needs from stores, supermarkets, stalls, and restaurants. Of course, I give him the money that he needs but the actual transactions he’s in-charge of that. Before he even buys from these places we discuss what he’s buying, how much money he needs and how much change should he receive. He enjoyed it so much that he’s always telling me to just give him money and he will buy his own food. I think I’ve created a shopaholic! I’m extra careful though that he only buys what he actually needs and not just what he wants. I always discuss with him that money, like everything else, is a limited resource, so we need to be extra careful how we spend it.
As young as 7, I also discussed with him the concept of banking, saving, and the stock market. He counted the money he will be depositing to his own savings account, filled up a deposit slip, and talked to the bank teller. I also showed him his own passbook. I’ve been saving all the money he received from family and other relatives to this account ever since he’s a baby and I’ve been setting aside a little amount every month for him in this account.
And for the first time ever I showed him his own stock market account which I opened for him last year after saving a certain amount in his savings account. We discussed a little bit about what stock market is and how prices move up and down covering a little bit of the law of supply and demand in the process. We all know that inflation will just eat up our money in a regular savings account, right?! So no better way to grow money than in the stock market, given that we have a long term outlook of course.
Araling Panlipunan
For this school year, I opted to purchase a textbook written in English instead of in Filipino to facilitate learning better. You see, my little boy is more comfortable in speaking, writing, and thinking in a foreign language than his supposed native tongue. I don’t want to encounter the same challenges we had last year wherein lessons became a struggle mainly because of the language barrier. Exams are expected to be written in Filipino, of course, but my little boy aced the first quarter exam well. Thank God! Maybe because he’s also starting to learn Filipino a little bit more now.
For this whole school year we’re going to cover everything about the community. This quarter in particular we were able to cover topics like knowing our own community, different communities across the country, urban vs. rural communities, community workers and institutions within the community, importance of community to one’s life, improving one’s community, and resources (like human, land forms, and water forms) that identify with one’s community. We were also able to cover topics like maps and weather conditions which are also connected to discussions about communities.
Godric was able to draw his own community, different kinds of communities, and map of our condominium community. He was also able to create a table differentiating urban and rural communities. He made a riddle describing a particular community worker and a weather chart after observing the weather for a week. He also created a mindmap to summarize the ideas he learned about resources that identify with a community.
We were also able to squeeze in one field trip this quarter wherein we visited (together with other homeschoolers) the PAGASA Planetarium and Weather Station, Phivolcs, and the National Institute of Geological Sciences. Godric was able to learn about weather, volcanoes and earthquakes, and even rocks. How cool’s that?!
Languages (Filipino, English, and Mother Tongue)
This school year, since CFA started implementing an open-curriculum set-up and just sent out a copy of the Learning Competencies required by DepEd, it was a little more challenging to homeschool. For one, the materials I bought do not necessarily follow the DepEd competencies per page/chapter so Godric and I keep on jumping chapters (to say that it’s tiring to do so is quite an understatement) just to keep up with the quarter requirements. Next is that there’s this “new” subject area Mother Tongue which overlaps with either Filipino or English across quarters. So in order to cover everything DepEd and CFA requires I have to squeeze in topics that I intend to discuss later in the school year to this quarter!!! Imagine how many topics those are?! I think by the end of the second quarter we’ll be done with our English textbook but imagine the bulk of work and topics that are meant to be spread into four quarters squeezed into two!!!! Hay!
Let me start with topics we covered in Filipino….
We were able to cover bagong alpabetong Filipino, kambal katinig, pagpapantig at anyo ng pantig, pangngalan (uri at kasarian), panghalip (panao at panauhan, kailanan, pamatlig, at pananong), kayarian ng mga salita (payak, maylapi, inuulit, at tambalan), pangungusap at dalawang bahagi nito (simuno at panaguri), at mga uri ng pangungusap (pasalaysay, patanong, padamdam, pautos, pakiusap).
We read and discussed stories with sounds coming from animals, vehicles, and other things; going on vacation; a fable; and a poem about planting, using, and taking care of trees. While we’re at it we also discussed the difference between a story and a poem and covered the topic about rhyming words.
I made him read aloud these stories/poems written in Filipino to check appropriate speed, expression, intonation, and punctuation cues. I also let him retell these stories in his own words taking into account details, sequence, etc for me to check his reading comprehension.
We discussed and created dialogues about using appropriate expressions in common situations. I also asked him to create a simple script using all the kinds of sentences he learned.
For him to appreciate more the topic about common and proper nouns (pangngalang pambalana at pantangi), armed with a list of common nouns he made beforehand I asked him to find proper nouns for each of the items in his list in the supermarket.
For English, we covered topics related to nouns (singular and plural forms, mass and count), verbs, compound words, adjectives, sentence vs non-sentence, parts of a sentence (subject and predicate), kinds of sentences, appropriate expressions used in common situations, forming questions for dialogues and interviews, role playing, retelling a story, and parts of a book.
He also created his own Haiku and a simple dictionary of things found in the sky applying things he learned about adjectives, read a bilingual children’s book, read a legend and a fable and acted it out, interviewed his grandmother about things in her life, and answered worksheets.
In all these, I’m very particular in checking his reading and listening comprehension skills since I think he’s a little bit behind in those aspects.
For Mother Tongue, we were able to cover suffixes, contractions, similes, difference between reality and fantasy, drawing conclusions and inferences, interpreting a poem, summarizing stories, determining the main idea and supporting ideas in a story and creating a mindmap to visually present the connections, making a poster of what he wants to learn, and creating a Venn diagram and interpreting it.
He also read and created his own poem and wrote paragraphs about many things.
We were also able to visit our city library, talked to some people there, and learned how a library works.
I am very particular that he start writing in cursives more often now (something that he started practicing last summer) and so I made him write in his penmanship notebook vocabulary words he read from his other subjects.
Again reading and listening comprehension skills were given priority.
Starting last school year Godric’s required to give an Oral Book Report, something that he actually looks forward to since I always upload in YouTube his report. He actually loves reading books and seeing himself give a report about it, something that makes my husband and I very proud of him, us being bookworms as well.
MAPEH (Music, Arts, Physical Education, and Health)
Starting this school year, I requested my husband to take over teaching Godric Music, Arts, Physical Education, and Health because of my condition (I will elaborate this further in another post).
For Music, Mike and Godric covered topics about sound versus silence, steady beats, simple rhythmic patterns, and ostinato.
In Arts, they were able to cover the different elements of Art like lines and shapes; principles of design like variety, body proportions, and different contrasting colors; and Art processes like drawing, portrait of two or more people in a composition, body in motion, still life, and drawing imaginary landscape.
In Physical Education, they were able to cover the different fundamental movements like locomotor skills, stability skills, and manipulative skills; and different body shapes like curled, stretched, wide, and twisted.
In Health, it’s all about healthy food and the body, guide in eating a balanced meal, food pyramid and food plate for Filipino children.
Now, of course, it’s not just academics that made us enjoy homeschooling. Here are the other activities Godric did this first quarter….
Spend more time with his daddy skating, playing in the arcade, playing dominoes, and reading books in coffeeshops.
He also spent time playing with his cousin Bernice, neighbor Lily, and his friends Johann, Gia, and Ace.
He was also able to join a dance class solely for homeschoolers called Homeschool @ Valle Verde this quarter. But since I cannot bring him to the next quarters’ classes due to my condition (again this deserves a special post) we enrolled only this quarter. I have no pictures nor videos of him though as of this writing so I’ll just update this post when I get my copy from the organizers. For now, here’s the venue where they conduct their classes.
On a sad note, Godric’s little playgroup needs to end due to Teacher LA’s unavailability starting this school year because of her responsibilities as a preschool teacher. We will all see each other again but maybe it will take time. Us moms and the kids get to see each other sometimes being under the wing of the same homeschool provider. Here are some of their last few sessions with Teacher LA.
To end this very long post, I’d like to leave you with a picture of my little boy being our Sunday breakfast dishwasher starting this quarter. He still cannot reach the sink actually, it being a little bit higher than a regular sink, so he’s still standing on a little chair to show how excited he is in doing the dishes. I hope this sense of responsibility and excitement in doing chores sticks with him forever. 😉
teacherbucay 