2nd Grade Curriculum

Arithmetic

Second grade reinforces concepts and skills presented in First Grade as well as introducing new ones. Students will participate in activities that stimulate auditory, kinesthetic, and visual processes. In addition to mastering math applications, children are encouraged to find creative strategies to solve for correct answers. Students will be working on the following skills:

Counting to 10,000 (by ones, twos, threes, fours, & fives)
Place value to the ten thousands
Ordinal numbers
Rounding to the nearest 10
Addition and Subtraction Families 1-18
Borrowing and Carrying to the ten thousands
Problem solving
Geometry (shapes, planes, vertexes, symmetry, & perimeter)
Money (counting, making change, & decimal points)
Roman numerals
Graphing
Calendar components
Telling time
Measurement (temperature, length, & dry/liquid units)
Multiplication and division facts 1-5 & 10
Fractional parts

Language
Students receive instruction in the following area: parts of speech, listening, speaking, the writing process, word usage, mechanics, vocabulary development, and study skills. Dade Christian School's goal is that each student not only develop clear and effective oral and written communication skills, but also gain confidence in his/her abilities.

Penmanship
Writing is an important aspect of a second grader's education. Students will review cursive writing and learn creative writing skills. Writing habits, which are polished during 2nd grade, will greatly influence student's penmanship skills throughout life.

Reading
The reading skills developed in second grade include phonetic decoding skills, sight word recognition, usage of context clues, sequencing of events, and identification of story elements, vocabulary acquisition, and comprehension. Students will practice these skills by guided and independent reading in class and at home. Dade Christian's objective is that children not only have the ability to read effectively and critically, but have the motivation to independently pursue it.

Science
Students will develop scientific literacy through the use of knowledge, observing, identifying, classifying, hypothesizing, predicting, analyzing, comparing, and interpreting. These processing skills will be used in the following components: earth and space science, life science, and physical science. Listed below are the topics planned for the year:

Earth Science                                                           Physical Science
formation of the earth                                                 gravity
earth's rotation                                                            mechanical and magnetic force
volcanoes/earth's crust                                              friction, energy & motion

Life Science
muscular and skeletal system
living and non-living things
plants and habitats

Social Studies
The students will explore the diversity of people in the United States and identify and appreciate examples of various cultures within their own community. They will learn how explorers, pioneers, and immigrants helped make the United States what it is. In addition, children will learn how to follow routes on a map, read a map of world countries, and read a bar graph.

Spelling
AIS strives for our students to be independent spellers. As they learn phonics rules to read, they then apply these rules to spelling. This enables the students to decode the word and then spell it on their own. Some words are exceptions to the rules; therefore, daily practice at home is necessary