SECOND YEAR
FIRST WEEK
Monday
Learn the first two stanzas of the poem:
THE SEED
As wonderful things are hidden away
In the heart of a little brown seed
As ever were found in the fairy nut
Of which we sometimes read.
Over the dainty shining coat,
We sprinkle the earth so brown,
And then the sunshine warms its bed,
And the rain comes pattering down.
Patter, patter, the soft warm rain
Knocks at the tiny door,
And two little heads come peeping out,
Like a story in fairy lore.
—Selected and slightly adapted
Tuesday
Learn the entire poem.
Wednesday
Talk about the meaning of the poem, and sow some morning glory seed in a box or flower pot. Talk about the need of moist earth to make the seeds grow. Have the children water the seeds every day, until the “two little heads come peeping out.”
Thursday
Write a list of the naming words (nouns) in the poem of the week.
Friday
Children write five sentences about seeds and the way they grow.
SECOND WEEK
Monday
For dictation:
Sing, O sing, thou merry bird,
As you fly so lightly;
Sing your song of joy and love,
While the sun shines brightly.
Tuesday
Write, in complete sentences, answers to the following questions:
What bird has a red breast? (Robin.)
What bird picks worms from under the bark of large trees? (Woodpecker.)
What bird lays large white eggs that we like to eat for breakfast? (Hen.)
What bird likes to eat the farmer’s corn? (Crow.)
What bird says, “Coo, coo, coo?” (Pigeon.)
Wednesday
Talk about the birds and nest-building. Talk about the different kinds of nests: the robin’s; the oriole’s, hung from the limb of a tall tree; the bobolink’s, built in the grass; the sparrow’s, tucked under the eaves; the swallow’s, built in the barn, etc.
Thursday
Read the following poem to the children, and have them tell the story back to you:
THE JOLLY OLD CROW
On the limb of an oak sat a jolly old crow,
And chattered away with glee, with glee,
As he saw the old farmer go out to sow,
And he cried, “It’s all for me, for me!
“Look, look, how he scatters his seeds around;
He’s tremendously kind to the poor, the poor;
If he’d empty it down in a pile on the ground.
I could find it much better, I’m sure, I’m sure!
“I’ve learned all the tricks of this wonderful man,
Who shows such regard for the crow, the crow,
That he lays out his grounds on a regular plan,
And covers his corn in a row, a row!
“He must have a very great fancy for me;
He tries to entrap me enough, enough,
But I measure his distance as well as he,
And when he comes near I am off!”—Selected
Friday
Have the children write a little story about the crow and the corn.
THIRD WEEK
Monday
Write five words beginning with m.
Write five words beginning with s.
Write five words beginning with b.
Tuesday
Add a word to violet, to show what color it is.
Add a word to tulip, to show what color it is.
Add a word to apple blossom, to show what color it is.
Add a word to hyacinth, to show what color it is.
Add a word to grass, to show what color it is.
Wednesday
For dictation:
Into my window a sunbeam bright
Comes with a glad good morning,
“The night is gone, it is time you were up,”
It is thus he gives me warning.
Thursday
Write five sentences, telling what the warm sunshine does.
Friday
Play, as a game, “I went to the woods and brought back a violet.” One child says, “I went to the woods, and brought back a violet and an anemone” (or any other flower). The next child says, “I went to the woods and brough back a violet, an anemone, and a hepatica.” Each child adds a flower to the list, as long as the children can remember the list of flowers.
FOURTH WEEK
Monday
Talk about birds’ eggs, and the wrong of robbing nests.
Tuesday
Read the following poem to the children:
THE FRIGHTENED BIRDS
“Hush! hush!” said the little brown thrush,
To her mate on the nest in the alder bush.
“Keep still! don’t open your bill,
There’s a boy coming bird-nesting over the hill.
“Let go your wings out, so
That not an egg on the nest shall show.
Chee! chee! it seems to me
I’m as frightened as ever a bird can be.”
Then still, with a quivering bill,
They watched the boy out of sight o’er the hill.
And then, in the branches again
Their glad song rang out over valley and glen.
Oh! oh! if only that boy could know
How glad they were when they saw him go,
Say, do you think that next day,
He could possibly steal those eggs away?
—Selected
Talk about the advantage that the birds are, in eating insects and protecting the trees.
Wednesday
Write five sentences, telling what birds do for us, and why it is wrong to steal birds’ eggs.
Thursday
Fill the blank spaces in the following:
—— blackbirds —— on a hill,
One named ——, the other —— Jill.
Fly away ——,
—— away, Jill,
Come ——, Jack,
—— back, ——.
Friday
Write a letter to your cousin, telling about birds, and why you will never steal their eggs.