Second Grade - End of First Trimester

I decided that since we are doing a 40 week school year that I should break up the year into trimesters. So this is officially the end of the first trimester of second grade for CC. Next trimester, we are going to ramp-up a few subjects and see if we can get to some things that never seem to get done. So here is the honest evaluation of our trimester.

Math - After a rocky summer getting over our problems in first grade, CC has excelled in math. She is on lesson 20 in Singapore 3A . I think that we need to do more practice in calculations. She is great when we do word problems, but she needs to be able to buckle down and do plain 'ole calculations too. Goal - I'd like to have begun 3B by the end of the next trimester.

English - Her handwriting has come a long way. When she is trying, it looks as good as my best, or better. She is copying and memorizing poems. She is reading books at an AR level of 5.7 or higher (her current favorite series is at a 5.7). Goal - We will start formal grammar. I also want to do more with writing besides just copywork and dictation.

Science - We completed a 10 week earth science co-op. She has also studied butterflies and states of matter at her cottage school. Goal - Since we aren't doing co-op in the spring, we will do science at home. I want to do something with physics this trimester to compliment the Physics with Toys that will be used at the cottage school. I already have the Teacher's Guide for Real Science 4 Kids Physics level 1 so I think we will work through those 10 lessons this trimester..

History - Okay - here is where we go downhill. CC loves history. I love history. We haven't been doing history. We finally started reading King Arthur, but I don't even know where SOTW2 is. That just can't be good. I have history encyclopedias, a big collection of history related literature, and I even have TOG. I just haven't been getting history done. The plan to do it in a relaxed way by reading SOTW2 isn't working. I need a stronger structure. I will sit down with my TOG, and my books and make myself a weekly schedule from what I have. Goal - We will finish the 10 weeks of TOG 2u1 during the next trimester.

Art - This is an easy one. CC loves art. She lives and breathes it. Her newest interest is polymer clay. Goal - She will be attending art classes at a local art school once a week to learn more clay techniques.