Fellini 2nd Grade Evidence Blog
“Success is the sum of small efforts-repeated day in and day out.”
-Robert Collier
Subjects
Here is a list of subjects we taught this school year. Click on the button to take you to the subject and the grey arrow to bring you back.
Mathematics
We continued this year with Singapore Math. He finished 1B and we decided to switch programs to Right Start Mathematics. I really like the Singapore style of teaching but there was too much work that left little time for other subjects, it seemed to dominate our schooldays. Plus I felt the kids would benefit from more game-based learning. I admittedly miss Singapore Dimensions, but the kids grumble less so that really seals the deal. The hardest part of homeschooling is dealing with unmotivated learners.
I wished I used right start with Fellini from the start for most things, although he didn’t really like the abacus, in the beginning, the method of instruction is what works best for him. He enjoys the math balance and games like “Go to the Dump” (Go Fish). The repetition in the warmup really works well for him.
Here are some of the videos our his schoolwork for evidence:
For our math facts, we use Reflex Math, it’s fun and has different games as rewards for completing basic facts. It’s what I thought was a fun way to do drills. Fellini started at 5% fluency and is now up to 51% fluency! It’s been a challenge for him because he does have the added challenge of number reversal. Although that is improving day by day. He had the tendency throughout the year to reverse not only numbers like 6 and 9 but numbers like 21 and 12. We spent a lot of extra time making sure he understood place value and used a lot of manipulative to help his mind associate place values a bit better. I’ve seen a big improvement although we still have some way to go.
During the summer in order to retain some of our skills and get better at word problems we use Bedtime Math. It’s fun and challenging and a great way to work on our word problem skills.
Language Arts
This year we are using mad libs, poem recitation, and narration for our grammar work.
Here he is reciting two poems, “The Goops” by Gellett Burgess he did at the beginning of the year and a speech by Theodore Roosevelt commonly referred to as “Man in The Arena” he did at the end of the year.
For writing we worked on his B/D reversal with a packet I found on Bay tree Blog. She’s a board-certified Education Specialist out of San Mateo, CA. The packet was priced well and it helped us hone in on the b/d’s. It included games as well as spelling practice. When then switched to a journal and I would have him write simple sentences. Some I provided and others he would have to write on his own. We’ve been given a consult with an Occupational Therapist because he still has some issues with handwriting but on the whole, I believe he is progressing well.
He made a Pokemon journal
and him and his sister made a book about the adventures of Cat Girl and Gecko Boy! They dictated to me the story, I wrote it down and Yesenia drew the pictures.
Spelling
For spelling, we started with AAS level 2 since he finished it last year. I was finding, however, that he had not retained the concepts. I also found he would consistently switch letters B/D even switching the order of the letters. Instead of spelling the word “fell” he would write “flel”. So we stopped AAS 2 and completed the B/D reversal packet from Bay Tree Blog. After completion of that, we went back to AAS1. He is doing better and surprises me with what he can spell when he tries. I’ve also learned that having him spell it out loud or with the tiles first before writing, and it helps him greatly. Every spelling day, on top of his paper he must write two words (after his name and date). He must write “bed” and “pig”, it is a reference for him in case he gets confused as to which b/d p/g to write. That seems to help.
Here is a video of his writing work for the year:
We then switch back to AAS 1 repeating the lessons. We will continue with it next year.
Reading
All About Reading Program Level 2 uses flashcards, phonics, books, games, and worksheets to help teach reading concepts. He reads every day with these materials.
To make it fun we incorporate games like this one below. We made a speedway drag race complete with an obstacle course. He had to correctly read each word in order to advance to the next, and of course how quickly he read it determined how fast he got to the end.
He also had a team cheering him on at the end.
Here is also a link to his reading log from Epic, a digital repository of children’s books. His favorite books hands down are the Wings of Fire series. He absolutely loves listening to them and schools me often on the story and prophecy. He reads anything that includes Dinosaurs, Minecraft, and especially Pokemon.
This year we read a few read out-louds that he’s loved. First and foremost, Wonder. Both he and his sister wanted to read more and more every day. We sped through that book and the kids learned a great lesson about kindness. The second book that we read out loud that enjoyed was The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe! He loved the story of the kids who just happened to walk into a closet and end up King and Queens. Another book that we read out loud was Mr. Popper’s Penguins! We even attended a book party hosted by our friend, a reading tutor. It was a lot of fun and we had a great time.
History
This is still Fellini’s favorite subject!
We listen to The Story of The World Vol 2 audiobook as our primary lesson material.
For each lesson, we did either a small activity, color sheet or short Q&A. Watched extra videos or read books recommended by the student guide. We even MADE a video. Check out how little man shines as Julius Caesar in a recreation of Caesar invading Gaul.
He made his own Signum and we even created a Caesar costume for him for Halloween.
Geography
Geography this year started out with the basics. The continents, the oceans, the cardinal directions. Then we switched to a week by week study of the Central and South American countries. We kept it very simple. Watch a video (Geography Now! videos on Youtube), draw the countries, and have a short discussion. The kids loved the Geography Now! videos and would often ask for them outside of school.
Spanish
We used Homeschool Spanish Academy and Rosetta Stone.
Science
Science-this year we did one subject for the entire year. The human body. It was project-based with videos and reading. The main text I used was the Human Body by Encyclopedia Britannica. The kids fell in love with the Operation Ouch series on Youtube and we got a lot of great information off of there. They remember the show more than any of my teaching or reading haha. Below is one of our first projects. A working model of the digestive system. Eww gross! We’ve done so many projects, I’ve created a separate post for our science curriculum.
Operation Ouch is our go-to! We love this show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ijuxu2kbuY
We also do loads of science in the great outdoors! Every month we visited Ranger Laurie at Oletta State Park where she guided us on awesome educational activities throughout the park. Shifted through owl pellets, made fishing rods like the Tequestas did and learned about invasive plants of South Florida.
And my Uncle who is a retired Milwaukee Police Officer showed Fellini how to take fingerprints!
Last but not least we brought the microscope to the beach to collect and analyze beach specimens including a Portuguese Man O’War. Which apparently is mix of different species! Which Fellini schooled me on. I’d say he’s learning lots.
Music
This year we used Hoffman Academy for piano lessons. We also listened to Stories of Great Composers for Children by Thomas Tapper podcast.
I recorded him playing the piano before he had a chance to stop me!
Physical Education
PE is pretty simple. We had Freerunning on Wednesdays, a park day every Thursday and every Friday we had Nature Scouts. He took Kickboxing classes for about a month then the pandemic hit and we ceased all activities. Our PE has been limited to walks, beach days, or bike riding.
Art
This year was a cool year for Fellini. He learned how to fly his dad’s drone and take video.
He was interviewed for 10 year documentary following climate change and how it affects children. Part of the documentary was to plant an Everglades seedling in the backyard.
He spent some time on set with his father learning how video production works
We also had the fortune of having Lauren Baker teach us the art of ceramics. The kids made some really unique creations and this was Fellini’s favorite art class. He wanted to do more than just once a month.
During the Coronavirus Pandemic lockdown, we also made thank you notes for all the healthcare workers out there doing the hard stuff while we sat inside binging Netflix
All in all it was a great year.
