2nd Grade Learning Goals
According to Joaquin’s current abilities, and referencing curriculums for 2nd grade children, the following are guidelines for experiences and learning opportunities I will pursue this year with Joaquin:
- Listening. One on one, within a group, 3-way conversation. Model this by listening to Joey and Joaquin with full presence as much as I can (notice my resistance, ease into presence, communicate clearly when I don’t want to make myself available rather than mentally checking out).
- Complex Imitation. Continue to provide opportunities to observe carefully and imitate accurately in order to learn skills from others. Let him do more when I teach him.
- Awareness of others’ perspective. Imaginary play with bears and dolls is giving us a chance to talk about people’s responses to our actions and occurring events. This ties with natural consequences, empathy, respect, etc. He asks many questions about why people do things; give presence to these.
- Peer Interaction. Through classes and activities around Joaquin’s interests.
- Stimulus Belief Response
- Awareness of self (i.e. outing brain chatter, checking out mentally, emotional responses, etc.)
- Cooperation within a community. Add chores (i.e. folding his clothes). Give “community service” tasks when community rules are broken.
Art and Creativity
- 2D and 3D art (let’s try some new techniques, materials, and applications.)
- Handcrafting (sewing, scrapbooking, felting, hand printing, book binding, knitting.)
- Cooking and baking
- Music (listen to music from different periods and genres; singing; dancing; musical instruction if there is an interest.)
- Building and creating spaces / stages
- Filmmaking, animation, photography
- Use of technology in creative projects
Health, Self Care, and Life Skills
- Physical activities of interest (hiking, bowling, swimming, basketball, running, racquet sports.)
- Personal hygiene (flossing, frequent showers, daily day clothes, management of dirty clothes.)
- Nutrition (role and sources of vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, etc.)
- Opportunities to help with laundry, food preparation, and other life skills
- Opportunities to work independently
Language and Literacy
- Active listening to read stories (discuss content, make predictions, imagine vividly)
- Telling stories in detail and in a logical way (after listening, or experiencing)
- Reading with comprehension. Ideas: He may be interested in reading stories about himself or people he knows, or letters for him.
- Writing as a tool for communication (dialogue, journal, stories, documenting). Self-edit (if we get there). Ideas: Start a bedtime journal; surprise him with a written question / dialogue around his interests; email with grandparents; letters with Madame Bovary.
- Capitalization, punctuation, proper spelling
- Use of dictionary for meaning and spelling, and thesaurus for synonyms and antonyms
- Use of books and Internet to research subjects of interest
- Faster addition and multiplication (i.e. memorize times tables, keep addition tallies in his head, shortcuts)
- Keep practicing patterns, numeration, division, and word problems in real life situations
- Units of measurement: length, weight, and volume (U.S. and metric systems)
- Symbols: > < = ( )
- Fractions and decimals
- Tables and graphs
- 2D geometric figures, perimeter, area
Science and Nature
- Within his areas of natural interest, encourage exploration and discovery of patterns.
- Our food garden provides many opportunities to perceive and learn about nature
- Potential topics: survival skills, life cycles, make predictions, science behind cooking and baking.
- Culture and traditions (within our circle and around the world.)
- Table manners (practice more with utensils, mouth closed when chewing, less crumbs.)
- Communities and roles within family, neighborhood, city, others arising with interests / activities
- Values, rules, laws (family to government)
- Within areas/events of interest, explore history, geography or cultural aspects as motivation allows.
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