Westward Ho

We donned our hats and started heading west from Pennsylvania to Indiana. Will we stay?  Go on to Oregon?  Those are very hard questions. We are being wise and learning all about life on a wagon train.
We are reading a variety of books about the hard lives of pioneers.  Some of our very own ancestors came here to Floyd County as pioneers.  Some of us have asked questions and learned about how life was different for our grandparents.
Some of us read Johnny Appleseed, while one student played the part of Johnny, the others questioned whether what they read was truth, or a tall tale. In another group, we took turns being the main character, Olivia, and the others asked us questions about the trip. A last group was hoping a little cat made it to Oregon.
We are going to  make our own little wagon and fill it with all the important things we're learning about for a successful trip.

Ms. Cheryl came and we talked about all the things wise people stay far away from!




 

Coming home is a small cardboard bank. Sweet Sister Loretta visited from the Archdiocese to share how filling this bank will fill children's bodies with clean water and food, as well as provide them with school supplies.








 


We say, "Fill it up!"
 First Quarter Service Project
Sister Loretto, of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis Mission Office, visited SMKCS yesterday to tell our students about the The Missionary Childhood Association (MCA) and kick off our first quarter service project! MCA was founded in France in 1843. Its purpose is to encourage all children to be aware of the needs of children living throughout the world and support them both spiritually and sacrificially. Today the organization is in 110 countries and helps make Jesus known to children all over the world. Under its banner “children helping children,” monies raised through schools like SMKCS are directed towards self-help programs involving the building of schools, the provision of health and nutrition programs and medications, and teaching and learning resources. Each student is receiving a little box for monetary collections benefitting MCA. Thank you for encouraging participation in this very worthy cause in your home! We hope that every child is able to fill their little MCA box in order to help children across the globe.

In stitching, we are learning an India art style called Kantha.



  There is a lot involved in stitching and bit by bit we are learning how long to cut the yarn, how far to pull, how to used a needle threader, and how to make a running stitch.  We were so excited to make a picture instead of a line.




 
Math was so very tricky on Thursday.  We were practicing with ten frame cards.  The objective was to move items (cutest tiny erasers) from one ten frame to another to make ten. When you have a ten, you can add so quickly.
We enjoyed a very special visiting Aunt, all the way from California.
 
 She did a science lesson with us about pollinators and all the parts of a flower.
 

 

We also got to taste honey from different flowers.  


Even in the heat, we headed out for a creek visit today.
Thankfully, the shade makes the creek the best outdoor place to be.
Oh wow, look at what we found in our Fairy House.
 

Color us over moon with some evidence of visitors to our shelters.
And our wood fort.  So cool.

 We've never found such tiny, beautiful wings. It made us question if fairies are deciduous like trees. If in fall, they lose their wings, hibernate for winter, then grow new ones in spring. Certainly sounds reasonable.

 Contemplating what those letters could possibly mean.

All this talk about pioneers wasting nothing and using all their resources made us wonder if our fairies could use this snail shell to carry water, cook or use for jewelry.

Some of us thought another creek shelter was in order and worked up quite a sweat making it.


We have about melted trying to keep this garden watered.  We are going to spend the day out there in October, teaching all the other classes about seed dispersal. There are poems to learn and songs to sing and actions to match our songs.

It is a big job to do mass parts when you are in second grade.  We've been reading a very hard scripture from Haggai, and are learning those hard words.
I will soon be bringing home a paper that says what I will be doing in our September 27 Mass.  If I have any speaking part, I need to practice every day.

Wow, what an incredibly busy week of learning, learning, learning, experimenting, questioning and to wrap it up- Game Day, hurrah!