Doing your best isn't hard when learning is so much fun.  Another theme for the year is American pioneer life.  Who wouldn't want to work hard when school is full of projects like making pioneer crafts, costumes, games, and songs?  Students make maps and food.  The Little House on the Prairie books, American Girls Addy  series, and other pioneer books take students back to the early days of our nation's history.  A day at the one-room schoolhouse at Greenfield Village, a visit to the Jiffy factory, and a trip to the farm give students a chance to live like pioneers, too.

Reading and writing take up big portions of the second grade curriculum.  The monthly Book It program encourages reading at home, and the famous American report gives students a chance to read, write, and give an oral presentation to their class. The Scott Foresman reading program includes five critical areas of explicit instruction.  They are phonics, vocabulary, and text comprehension along with English and Writing.  All of these components make learning a wonderful and challenging experience for the students.  As in first grade, math is literally hands-on with Saxon material.  These interactive teaching methods and materials help young students to see how math really works, not just work with figures on paper.  It has consistent, cumulative review of the concepts taught and encourages memorization of math facts early in the students' school career.

In Bible, students learn weekly verses of scripture, sing hymns of the month, and act in classroom dramas to make the lessons come to life.  Memorization of the books is a skill taught during the second semester.  Students participate in school-wide community service projects such as Operation Christmas Child and collect mittens for homeless children and clothing for the poor.

Second grade specials include library, physical education, music, art, and Spanish.  These activities enrich and extend the primary curriculum.  All the various elements work together to make the dynamic second grade year full of exploration, learning and fun.