Our year-long study of communities is the focus of our social studies curriculum in second grade. This study provides the children with real-world experiences and knowledge while exploring the needs and wants of our local neighborhoods and communities around the country.
This past fall, the second graders explored the importance of individual roles in our Dwight-Englewood community. We learned about the history of our campus, the significance of the buildings, and the deep-rooted traditions that are still in place today as well as new ones that are being created. We then moved off campus to learn about urban, suburban, and rural communities as well as a focus on the residential and commercial spaces in the community of Englewood. We utilized Google Earth to visit the town of Englewood to see the different areas within the community. The highlight was our virtual field trip to “visit” the Englewood Fire Department. The children prepared questions to ask the firefighters and they were intrigued by all they shared with us about how they keep our community safe.
Currently, the children are learning about economics in our community. We have had great discussions about how money works, why we need money, how money is made, bartering, and producers and consumers. We have also talked about taxes and how tax money is being spent in our local communities. We will wrap up our economics discussions talking about goods and services, needs and wants, and how they differ based on the needs of different communities.
Every year the second graders look forward to learning about Canine Companions for Independence (CCI). In February, our neighbor, Caryl Swain, will come to speak to the classes on Zoom about how she volunteers by training service dogs for this wonderful organization. This will be our 11th year partnering with CCI! The children will learn about community service and the importance of giving back to our community. We will talk about nonprofit organizations and why people volunteer, as well as fundraising, budgeting, and the needs and want of nonprofit organizations. We will have discussions about people that have physical, mental, and social disabilities as well as alternative athletes and how all of these individuals can overcome so many obstacles with the help of a service dog. We will also discuss the different types of dogs and their roles: guide dogs, service dogs, SAR (Search and Rescue) dogs, therapy dogs, and medical dogs.
Communities keep us connected and they teach us the value of relationships and hard work. Our focus on collaboration, compromise, and cooperation help the children to be better classroom citizens and daily problem solvers within our D-E community and their local communities. Our study teaches the children to embrace diversity, and as our mission statement says, we encourage them to “meet the challenges of a changing world and to make it better.”