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2nd grade planning thread


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I'm itching to try Science in the Beginning, but I'd like to wait until the whole crew is a bit older. Maybe I'll do some sort of kit....

 

I had really wanted to do Science in the Beginning this year.  We tried it for nine lessons or so, but determined that it was so good that we should save it for later.  My crew wasn't old enough either, and it seemed they would get a lot more out of it in a year or two.  We switched to Nancy Larson Science.  They do miss the constant experiments, so I ordered them the Magic School Bus kits.

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This is our first year homeschooling (started in August) and I'm still figuring it out but I think we will be school-all-year types with less work in the summer b/c we will be outside a lot more. So I think my 6 yo (almost 7yo) will just kind of gel into a second grade level eventually in the next few months. Right now he does-

 

ETC book 4, we will keep going with these books until I think he has learned all he can from them. He likes them and I like them so they get a thumbs up!

WWE 1- we started just a month ago on this b/c we are still discovering homeschooling and hadn't discovered these great books yet! We will continue these into at least book 2 b/c I have that one for my older child now and I like them.

Math-a tricky subject for my boy and we are still learning what works best for him. We just got MiF 1a and LOF Apples and will see how these two things together work out along with a tiny bit of MM1.

Climbing To Good English book 1- LOVE these books, they cover so much! We will keep going with these for sure. He is about half way through book 1.

Reading-Just bought some Pathway readers along with the workbook (Days go By) and am excited to try these.

Spelling- doing Sequential Spelling with his big sister and it seems to be going well so far! He also gets a lot of spelling practice through ETC and Climbing to Good English so I think we have this covered well.

History- We are into early American history right now with a couple different resources but keeping it light, at this age I'm just happy with him getting exposed to some history

Science- Same deal as history, we are covering plants right now but keeping it light. Using lapbooking a lot in this subject.

 

 

 

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dd7 is registered 2nd this year but is actually doing 1st, I am registering her in 2nd again next year. The plan is being formulated slowly (planning out 11th grade for my teens first).  But there is changes in the air.  SHe is missing her Waldorf curric we did for K and asking everyday when it is going to come back.  So we will be starting up waldorf stuff this spring, still deciding between waldorf essentials 2nd grade or oak meadow 2nd.  She wants to keep doing konos too, so I have to make some weird tweaking/melding/alternating days or something.

In addition to the waldorf/konos blend she will be doing:

Math: MUS beta, Math for a living education vol 1(finishing) and 2.  If we do oak meadow she will not do MUS.
LA: LLATL red, HWOT printing power, AAR level 1 (finish) and level 2, R&S 2 (finish), WWE 2

Science: primarily covered in her konos/waldorf mix, but probably apologia zoology 2 and 3 as well because she loves it

History: covered with konos/waldorf
French: Mission Monde ABC
Art: artistic pursuits K-3 book 2

Other:extracurrics: theatre, 4H baking, archery and kids church and hopefully music of some sort again

any lapbooks she wants
lots of free reading thanks to our constant library use

 

Depending on the waldorf curric we choose I will be adding in the handcrafts she is begging to do (started this year), knitting, painting, weaving, & sewing (hand and then machine) 

Depending how well this year's life science projects go we may do them again next year (caterpillars we always do, but this year we are hatching chicks for her first time- last time we did them my oldest was in Kindergarten)

Of course the whole list is subject to change based on how the rest of this year pans out.

 

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I had really wanted to do Science in the Beginning this year. We tried it for nine lessons or so, but determined that it was so good that we should save it for later. My crew wasn't old enough either, and it seemed they would get a lot more out of it in a year or two. We switched to Nancy Larson Science. They do miss the constant experiments, so I ordered them the Magic School Bus kits.

This was our experience, too. Oldest dd liked it, but it wasn't sticking with my first grader.

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Dd just turned seven this week. Officially she is in first grade until September, but has asked to start second grade lol.

This is what we are doing-

 

LANGUAGE ARTS-

FLL 2

LOE (through level D of foundations)

Cursive Copywork made by mommy

ETC 3-5(?)

FIAR Unit Studies at coop

Reading anything she wants, I use the Pathway readers during school time for her to read aloud to mom but she's welcome to read whatever she wants otherwise

Lots of reading aloud...we've read most of Dahl's books and I'm currently reading Dreamer to her. I may start Narnia soon, as my older did will probably be doing FUFI....

 

MATH-

Continue with Miquon

Extra practice with MM units as needed

 

HISTORY-

Continue with coop class, based loosely on MOH (which I'm not crazy about, but they like) and doing projects there

 

SCIENCE-

Mr. Q life science and then?...

Interest led, books, documentaries, experiments, exploring, raising animals, gardening, ect.

 

EXTRACURRICULARS-

Art and Martial Arts at coop

Horseback riding

Awana

Gymnastics Team (10 hours per week currently, I think it will go up to 12 at the next level Ă°Å¸ËœÂ³)

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Lilly will be doing:

 

AAR (hopefully 2 & maybe into 3) - this seems to be working for her so we will continue until she is reading fluently.

 

AAS 1

 

SM 1a (finish) & SM 1b

 

SOTW 1 (she is doing 4 this year with her brother.)

 

RS4K Biology level 1/focus on middle school with lots of supplements, and human anatomy with various living books.

 

Song School Latin 2

 

Rod and Staff English 2

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This will be my third second-grader! My first two were advanced readers and she's more at a typical second-grade level, so practicing reading fluency will still be part of her plan, though it wasn't for my other two.

 

Priority #1 in our homeschool is Circle Time (Morning Time, Basket Time, etc. - ours is primarily memory work). That's something we all do together as a family.

 

Math: MUS. She's halfway through Alpha now, but I don't expect her to finish until well into her second-grade year because I want her to have all her math facts at instant recall before she moves on. She'll keep working in Alpha until she passes xtramath.org's addition level. 

 

Language: Library early readers and early chapter books to build fluency. Plus I'll read aloud poetry and fairy tales and Bible stories to her and her K-1 brother. Sequential Spelling. Beautiful Handwriting for Children - she wants to learn cursive.

 

Content: Covenantal Catechism books 2 & 3, AO science (nature study drawing, reading living nature books w/ narration). She'll join in the Shakespeare studies with us this year. And we'll do geography w/ Geography Songs and filling in blank maps.

 

I'm also working on a list of books I want her to have as "read-alouds," but that reading aloud will come mostly in the form of audio books. 

 

We won't do anything for history until third grade. My main goal before third grade is to get them interested in the world and accustomed to turning to books. I want her to have plenty of outside play and free creative open-ended play.

 

 

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CLE 200 for Math, LA, Reading, Bible, Science, Social Studies

Victory Drill Book

CLE Music Theory 2

Artpac 2

CLE I Can Write Cursive 

Hey Andrew 2

Latin's Not So Tough 2

MAYBE Speedy Spanish Primer (I think that is what it's called)

 

For my child doing it over the summer we may still be on American literature and history topics and anatomy, chemistry, and origins.  For my child doing it in the fall we will be on world history and literature (ancients, Africa, Asia, South America, Native Americans, Canada) and biology and geology topics for science in our home library.  And we will be practicing CC Cycle 1 memory work.  

 

 

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I've been working on this all weekend and yesterday, and I think I finally have a plan. DD will start second grade in August and will turn 8 in October.

 

FLL2

WWE2

AAS 3/4

MM 2B/3A

MEP2

ETC 5-8

Wordly Wise 2

Meet the Masters

Keyboarding Without Tears 2

Building Thinking Skills 1

Prima Latina

NAC1

reading good books pulled from various lists (MP, AO, SL, Bookshark, Mensa list)

IEW poetry memorization

dance (ballet and tap)

American Heritage Girls (maybe)

 

in combination with younger sister:

SOTW (finish 1 and begin 2)

Read alouds pulled from various lists (MP, SL, AO)

SCM picture study

BSGFAA

Nancy Larson science 1

Evan Moor Daily Geography 1

Studies Weekly social studies

art projects from Art Tango website

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Plans so far:

 

Math: CLE 200

Language Arts: R&S 2 (I think)

Spelling: AAS

Literature: Selections from MP and Sonlight

History: Time Traveler units with older brother

Science: delight directed (dinosaurs, weather, astronomy are what have been requested)

Music & Art appreciation with older brother plus piano lessons

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We will go all through the summer, so I'm not sure where we will be in the Fall, but it will be our 2nd/3rd grade year. Dd is 7. 

 

Math- Singapore 2b/3A with math facts drills. I've decided drills are necessary. 

 

Spelling-AAS 2/3

 

History- SOTW 2. We also visit history museums and discuss American history as it comes up, but we keep it outside of our SOTW time. 

 

Handwriting and copywork- This is definitely our deficient area. We will continue with HWT cursive and start including a heavy dose of copywork. 

 

Science- Almost completely child lead as DD is a science geek. Continue to include Coursera classes and mods and monthly trips to the science museum. 

 

Grammar-Scott Foresman 

 

Art- Atelier and artist study 2x month, informal art work whenever they want. 

 

I want to get Latin in this year, but I haven't decided what curriculum yet. 

 

Extracurriculars- 

Gymnastics

Piano

Ballet 2

Homeschool PE (Spring and Fall only) 

Cirque 

Musical Theater

Soccer (summer only) 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Math: CLE 2/3 (we will finish 2 around Christmas and start 3)

LA: CLE LA 200, CLE Reading 100, Writing with Ease 2

Latin: Song School Latin

History: Veritas Press Self Paced History Old Testement and Ancient Egypt

Science: Nothing formal.  We do a class twice a month at the science center and once a month at the zoo.

 

Football and Lacrosse

 

Lots of family read alouds :-)

 

 

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Morning time (circle time) -- we just started this and it is working beautifully. Proverb chapter a day and subjects will be AWANA memory work, copywork, manners book, Hero Tales Vol. 1-2, and usually something I just throw in. 

Math: Trying out different mathematic approaches right now, we used Singapore for 1st but thinking we might try some CLE and R&S and see what we think. 

 

English: Rod and Staff English 2, Spelling by Sound and Structure (R&S spelling), WWE2, homegrown handwriting using a variety of resources

 

Latin: Sing Song School Latin 1

 

History: SOTW Vol. 2, with added literature and readers

Science- Nature and Astronomy and Earth Science (mom made) 

 

AWANA

Piano

Co-op

Choir

maybe gymnastics (we are still thinking on it).

 

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I'm just in the very earliest of early stages of planning and mostly shopping my shelves, hard drives, and friends' hand-me-downs so far but:

 

Math: spine is Saxon again, I have the second half of the worksheets and I think he'll be ready for them by the time we get that far. I don't need a meeting book because my word processing skills were up to looking at a used one and DIYing, so my joke is that I saved $15 by spending several hundred dollars on miscellaneous computer hardware.

 

           Life of Fred: the library has these; we read them for bedtime stories

           Theonni Pappas

            Janice Van Cleave

           Math Wizardry

           Peggy Kaye games

           Family Math

 

I also have some Calculadders  and wrap-ups.

 

Reading: Ball-Stick-Bird, ETC, library books, looking over my shoulder during read alouds, video games, and foreign films with subtitles

 

Handwriting: HWT, Ready Writer

 

Grammar: Shurley and/or Easy Grammar

                 Mad Libs

 

Typing: Tux Typing

 

Writing: Writing Strands, Peggy Kaye games, Families Writing, Kids Have All the Write Stuff, don't really need BraveWriter but will probably check it out some other year

 

Latin: GSWL again; it goes back on the shelf when it gets too hard/boring for him and then we pick it back up when we want to, wash, rinse, repeat

 

Greek: Hey Andrew if his fine motor co-ordination is up for it, if not it can wait another year

 

History: it's not really his thing just yet, but we'll probably give Egypt another try with secularized Greenleaf and/or continue meandering and rabbit trailing through Konos

 

Science: it IS his thing, so we'll be dusting off a bunch of Usborne books, Janice VanCleave, and checking eBay for Wild Goose Science kits that tie into our leisurely secularized stroll through Konos

 

All subject to change without notice, of course. Ds is 7 with a winter birthday.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sorry to bring back this thread but I went looking for it and found it. :)

 

I love reading what everyone is doing and seeing how we are all doing something different! That is just SOO cool to me!

 

My son did a second grade like curriculum this last year. However I don't think he got all he needed this year and some testing that I have done with him on my own sort of proved that. So he is doing a mixture of things that I am basically calling second grade.

 

What we did this year:

Singapore Standards 2A - this we finished 2 weeks ago and today he begged me to start Shiller Math, which we got in the mail yesterday - He had fun and I got 3 lessons into him! :D

 

LLATL Red - This we will be continuing though this year we supplemented writing, and now I am supplementing spelling (started this week as well), so it has turned into a reading program for him. He did learn to read with this and Blue last year.

 

HWT - book 2

 

History Odyssey level 1 middle ages - This we started with him, then we stopped for a bit because I kept getting sick. Now we have started it up again. We will continue with this and this program.

 

Artistic Pursuits book 1 - This was also on hold for a bit. We have started it up again and will continue with this program.

 

REAL Science Odyssey Earth and Space - Many experiments with this have failed us, but we are chugging along. We had stopped this for a bit too.

 

Outside the home:

Swimming at the YMCA (year round), t-ball (spring), German Language classes (in the traditional school year)

 

What we are hoping the new year will look like:

Recitation period - from MP (starting next week)

Reading - MP Literature 2nd grade (starting in August)

Writing - ARF handwriting level T (starting next week)

Latin - Prima Latina (starting in August)

Math - Shiller Math (starting with book 1 and hoping it will go quickly)

Science - ARF Science 1 (we are starting with 1 because he loves science and will likely want to do it on breaks - starting in August)

History - HO middle ages, in September'ish moving to Early Modern

Art - Artistic Pursuits book 1 moving to book 2 when needed

Enrichment - MP 2nd grade Enrichment - I am mainly doing this for the art, music, poetry and reading. (starting in August)

 

Outside the home: Homeschool Swim class at the Y, maybe one more physical class at the Y or elsewhere, German instruction, maybe baseball but have to see if German on Saturdays will be a problem. German is a priority. 

 

For me figuring out what to do with my younger son has been just as important as what I do with my older. The 20 month old stops schoolwork a lot so I needed activities for him so I can teach my older son. 

 

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Sorry to bring back this thread but I went looking for it and found it. :)

 

<snip>

 

Don't apologize!  Keep bumping it; I might be ready to post my plans in July, lol. 

 

Oh well, just in case....

 

Probably Ambleside Online finish year 1, start year 2

math - maybe Singapore

mostly copywork/narration - ETA - thinking about Classical Writing Primers

maybe SWO

maybe Elson readers

piano lessons

sewing lessons. 

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So far, it looks like the following.  We've got a mix of 1st/2nd right now and are heading into a mix of 2nd/3rd.

 

Language Arts: Almost done with Saxon Phonics 1.  After that:

     FLL1 at an accelerated rate, then FLL2

     WWE1 alternating weeks with CWP Spring (because I love both programs and couldn't decide which would fit my daughter best... :) )

     R & S Spelling, grade 2

     Dancing Bears A, which will be too easy, then on to B and C...hoping if we start easy it will help build her confidence

     Read out loud to mom or dad every day with what I've got here and at the library...hoping to avoid buying readers

     Cursive with Peterson Handwriting, grade 2

 

Math: First a review period with MM and lots of facts practice (xtramath, mabe RS card games?)  When facts are more solid, we're on to Singapore 2A and 2B,           using CWP1 and MM for review

 

Science:We'll finish RSO earth and space move on to RSO chemistry

 

History:  Finish HO level one Middle Ages and move into Early Modern

 

Geography:  Finish Maps, Charts, and Graphs C (this is boring...I need a replacement) and start Legend and Leagues set 2

 

Art: Finish ARTistic Pursuits K-3 book 1 and move into book 2

 

Music: Continue recorder/learn to read music lessons with mom, looking to add an appreciation component (any suggestions?)

 

Gaelic: Home made with a variety of online resources.

 

Morning Time: This is the priority.  We pray, learn a song (think old Irish ballads and early American folk tunes), practice Gaelic phrases, memorize poetry from The Harp and Laurel Wreath with IEW's system (every poem, every day, etc), read about a saint, read aloud from My Book House...and anything else I might add.

 

Horseback riding, sewing, LOTS of reading aloud.... And more I can't think of.

 

 

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Beka87, I'd love to know more about your Gaelic resources if you get a chance to elaborate, either here or in a private message.

 

It turns out that you can still get Scholastic Discovery Boxes on eBay and I think that they are more age-appropriate than the Wild Goose kits, which are recommended for ages 8+. I just don't have enough planning time to assemble a project based science program myself right now and ds is the kind of kid who is more likely to read independently for information than for entertainment.

 

I'm thrilled to see an explosion in ds's imaginative play, so I need to remember to leave enough space in our days for that. ds has lots of open ended toys that don't need to sit untouched on shelves and in boxes because I am too busy planning structured activities to spare the time to teach him how to put them away when he's done playing with them.

 

I really enjoy these threads. It's been 16 years since I've had a second grader and it helps a lot to see what other people are doing and what a wide variety of "normal"s there are for this age.

 

 

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Ugg just as I have things figured out something gets thrown off! 

 

We have decided to hold off on the MP Lit and focus more on reading. I know I want to make sure my son gets good comprehension but I also need to make sure he can read fluently too. I feel like I could spend a year just researching all the english stuff that they need to learn! Phonics, reading, grammar, comprehension, spelling...

 

Anyway, I just purchased AAR level 2. I think my son can do it. The placement test put him a bit off but not by much. Some of the things he just hasn't been taught yet like what are the vowels. However we are going to hit that this week with his spelling (AAS) so I think he will be fine. 

 

However now my hubby thinks he doesn't need latin as it would confuse him. I am not so sure, however since I wasn't going to start that till the summer we have time. 

 

This curriculum I am doing is VERY hands on. I think I will have to write a blog about hands on learning. LOL

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Guest valoriesporleder

We are looking at for our 2nd grader a way behind handwriting, moderately advancing finger counter advanced reader.

Habits:  Laying Down Rails

Religion: Baltimore Catechism and Catholic Heritage's 1st Communion set, Child's Bible History

Math: Ray's Arithmetic with random worksheets for practice

Spanish: Song School Spanish

Latin: Minimus

History: Story of the World Volume 1.  Book of the Centuries.

Science: Science in an Ancient World (keeping it correlating to the Story of the World), Burgess Animal Book, Local Coop once a                        month at the local Nature preserve. (Continued from this year) Nature Journaling.

Grammar:  Primary Language Lessons

Reading: Catholic National Reader Book 2

Spelling/ Copywork and Dictation from the CNR2 book or Literature selections.

Handwriting: would be covered under copy work but she is also beginning American Cursive Book 1

Literature: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath and/or Anthology of Children's Literature

Geography CHC's Continents, Fifty State Fun Swap 

Art: Local Coop program on a new artist each month (continued from this year)

Music:  I am breaking down and hiring a Piano teacher as I stink at teaching her via the internet.  :(  Composer studies and music                   appreciation via CDs that I have purchased.

Many, many living books for read alouds and free reading.

Archery club twice a week, junior beekeepers meetings at least once a month and soccer in the spring and fall.

Field trips as often as possible

 

The plan is the 4 "R"s daily (Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmetic, Religion) with 2-4 other things in a day depending on my work schedule.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We are looking at for our 2nd grader a way behind handwriting, moderately advancing finger counter advanced reader.

Habits: Laying Down Rails

Religion: Baltimore Catechism and Catholic Heritage's 1st Communion set, Child's Bible History

Math: Ray's Arithmetic with random worksheets for practice

Spanish: Song School Spanish

Latin: Minimus

History: Story of the World Volume 1. Book of the Centuries.

Science: Science in an Ancient World (keeping it correlating to the Story of the World), Burgess Animal Book, Local Coop once a month at the local Nature preserve. (Continued from this year) Nature Journaling.

Grammar: Primary Language Lessons

Reading: Catholic National Reader Book 2

Spelling/ Copywork and Dictation from the CNR2 book or Literature selections.

Handwriting: would be covered under copy work but she is also beginning American Cursive Book 1

Literature: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath and/or Anthology of Children's Literature

Geography CHC's Continents, Fifty State Fun Swap

Art: Local Coop program on a new artist each month (continued from this year)

Music: I am breaking down and hiring a Piano teacher as I stink at teaching her via the internet. :( Composer studies and music appreciation via CDs that I have purchased.

Many, many living books for read alouds and free reading.

Archery club twice a week, junior beekeepers meetings at least once a month and soccer in the spring and fall.

Field trips as often as possible

 

The plan is the 4 "R"s daily (Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmetic, Religion) with 2-4 other things in a day depending on my work schedule.

 

I see you're doing Latin and spanish. Have you always done both? I wanted to ramp up our Spanish study as we attend church that's mostly in Spanish. However I tossed out the idea of teaching Latin and my husband said "YES!" quite emphatically and so now I'm wondering if a gentle start with that be ok, or too much at once. DH doesn't get all that into homeschool planning so I was a bit shocked and want to run with it!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well we got AAR 2 and ds couldn't read the review words. Ă°Å¸ËœÂ­Ă°Å¸ËœÂ­ So I panicked and ordered AAR 1. Then last night he read a book about cars ON HIS OWN! I don't know what is up with him!

 

Clearly he doesn't need much so we are going to do AAR 1 and save it for his brother. Honestly the way my baby is going he is going to need it in about 2 years. He is almost 5 years younger but is VERY verbal.

 

Still planning on going to ARFS-A and Prima Latina in the summer. Who knows, we may also be at level 2 with spelling and reading by then. We have a week off at the end of the month.

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I Think I might finally have a plan for 2nd grade:

 

History: SOTW2

Science: A Child's Geography for Earth science. 

Language Arts: MCT Grammar Island Level plus the MUD trilogy and other reading as assigned. 

Math: McRuffy

Music: Story of the Orchestra

PE: Dance class

Language: Prima Latina

Art: I don't have the money for anything here after buying the other things I need, so we will just do this across the curriculum like the last 2 years.

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As I posted in the 4th grade thread, I'm not there yet. I want to plan. I keep looking at things to plan but this school year just needs to be done first. That said, anyone else find this age a difficult one to plan skill subjects? Reading skills throw me for a loop. I want to plan all these fun books. The curriculum sellers out there show that they should be reading fun books independently. Once again I've got a kid who just isn't there yet. She can read but the maturity required to assign a chapter a day and expect her to read it just isn't there yet. Anyone else?

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I am having just difficulties in general so I am with you there Liz! 

 

It seems every time I do one thing, something else shows it's head and I play whack a mole for a bit till things calm down. LOL I think we are getting there. DS is happier doing his school work then he has been in a LONG time. And he is loosing the "NO I don't want to do schoolwork!" attitude so I really can't complain. It will be a test this month though after my in-laws come out and he doesn't do school work for a week. Normally that is where the attitude rears it's ugly head. It will not help that they come in on a Tuesday afternoon and leave on a Tuesday evening. Do I do schoolwork on Monday? Tuesday mornings are normally swim time so Tuesday is completely out. I can't have my kids wanting to go to bed early that first night. 

 

Now that I am off topic I will stop. :P However I am with you that this is a difficult age to plan for, but I have nothing to compare it to. So I assume they are all like this. 

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I have no idea where ds is going to be in the Autumn with Language Arts, just no idea at all.

 

This will be my third homeschooled second grader. As far as reading skills go, I had one who threw a temper tantrum when I told her she had to wait for the latest Babysitter's Club book until I could get it from the Scholastic book club lady because we couldn't afford the prices at the mall every single time she ran out of twaddle and another who asked me to read him unabridged Dickens and Stephen Hawking for bedtime stories but was still struggling with CVC words during his phonics lessons.

 

Both of them are now adults who are gainfully employed and doing well as part time college students and lifelong learners.

 

The curriculum publishers say that our kids should be able to write a paragraph with proper capitalization and punctuation by the end of first grade but Louise Bates Ames, a well respected expert in child development,  says it's fine if they still write in all caps and don't always remember how to spell their first names.

 

There is a wide range of normal at this age and their learning is not always linear--sometimes it comes in the form of "lightbulb moments" and quantum leaps.

 

It's not like they're going to stop selling curriculum between now and September. We have time.

 

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^^^ Wow, wide range of normal indeed! DD is just now becoming anxious to read. She's currently conquering Frog and Toad (second time through). I'm excited about where she could be come fall, this reading thing has been a long hard slog. Though, overall none of the things I have planned really depend on her reading ability. I can tell she wants more subjects and some variation to our days. I would be really happy if she could take over in some areas with a new baby coming, but I'm expecting to be reading aloud for hours a day and *right* there with everything.

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90% done planning.

 

Reading: AAR2

Spelling: AAS1

Math: RS2B

Grammar: FLL1/2

Handwriting: Copywork, Draw Write Now

Art: Drawing with Children

Science: Coop and Special Units: Knowing Our Body, Weather, Nature Journal

Other: Build Your Library for 2nd grade

 

I have We Choose Virtues and would really like to use it more, but it isn't as simple as I hoped. I only bought the cards and the chart -- hoping to incorporate some deeper discussions about it and find an easy way to bring it in more.

 

Edited with updates and changes. It's so nice to make a decision.

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I think I have an idea of what we'll be doing come fall. It will be interesting to look back and see how much of this changes!

 

 

Math: SM 2b/3a, maybe start beast

Spelling: AAS 1/2 - not sure where we'll be in 1, we're starting it next week.

Cursive: continue with New American Cursive

General LA: Time4Learning.com

Science: Nancy Larson 2 (still not 100% on this one mainly due to cost. I do think it would be a good fit, though.)

History: Elemental History Adventures in America

Spanish: Song School Spanish

Art: Home Art Studio

Music: She wants to get back into piano lessons. We shall see.....

PE: Highland dance, Tumbling, Soccer in the fall and spring, swimming in the summer

 

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Rays Primary Arithmetic

Math flash cards

Websters and/or McGuffey Speller

Primary Language Lessons

LNST 2

HA 2

McGuffey Reader (depending on level)

classical music cds

Drawing books

Atlas

The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady

New England Primer

A Child's Story Bible

Hymnal

Catechism Songs by Holly Dutton

Home library or library card

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Hoping to start 2nd Grade soon with my dd6!

 

First Language Lessons 2

Grammar of Spelling 2

Writing with Prayer (CLP) Cursive (only because it was free)

Horizons Math 2 (still have a little left in 1, though)

R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey: Earth & Space

Story of the World 1 Ancient Times (literature, art, music & copywork from this time period)

My own Myths & Fables unit study

Abeka Health Reader 2

Classical Conversations

Catechism & AWANA for Bible Memory

Piano & Dance Lessons

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My 3rd will be in 2nd next year and she will use:

HOD Beyond(we started this already but will continue and finish next year.)

Phonics Pathways

HOD Emerging Readers

SM 2a/2b if we finish 1b before the end of the school year that is.

R&S Spelling 2 possibly starting R&S English 2

Draw Write Now

AWANA

Swim lessons, Soccer, etc.

We do a small family co-op once a week with varying topics and field trips.

 

 

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What I am looking at so far:

 

Math - SM - we'll start off from where we finish this year, probably 2A.

 

Writing - R. has been slow on handwriting so far, and I think we will be able to pick up on this a little this year.  We've been working on cursive and will carry on with that.  I would like to be able to move on to short sentences.

 

Reading - we will just carry on with reading books as her ability increases.  I would like to be able to transition her to more independant silent reading.

 

LA - we are going to use English for the Thoughful Child, but most will be done orally.

 

Literature - just reading every day.  We switch up literature, history, science, religion, poetry, really whatever.  I tend to try and do some of each every week, but we also go with what we are interested in.  We tend to pick memory work from these books, especially poetry.

 

Science - nature study.  Her sister in grade 5 will be focusing on insects and weather and R. will be able to sit in on that.

 

Art - along with her sister we will be doing artist study on, I think, Emily Carr, Durer, and one TBD.  I am also going to look at some simple drawing books, probably just from the library, R. has shown some real ability in this area.

 

Music - we are going to move from a group lesson directed to children to a private lesson with the same teacher her sister goes to - in part for practical reasons.  She will carry on with choir.  She's been doing some guitar and really likes it, but it may be outside our budget.

 

PD - there is a karate class at the local elementary school that both girls can go to together.

 

I am looking at getting the academic stuff done in about an hour a day, less than two for sure.

 

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I'm going to have three 2nd-ish graders next year! Plans so far: 

 

All together: 

  • Ambleside Y2, with some tweaks. I'll be dropping their selections for history and subbing SOTW 1, and moving a couple of things around in their lit selectors to accomodate us being in the Ancients instead of the middle ages (where some of the Y2 lit better fits).  Can I still say I'm using AO if I'm changing that much? Debatable. LOL 
  • All that good Charlotte Mason stuff--art and music appreciation, poetry teatimes, nature study with journaling, handicrafts, etc
  • Salsa Spanish 

My oldest (will be newly 8 at start of school year, has learning disabilities): 

  • MUS (continue wherever we leave off at the end of this year--can't quite tell where that will be, somewhere toward the end of Alpha, I suspect)
  • AAR/AAS (again, continuing, probably finishing 1 and starting 2, may be moving to Barton)
  • copywork and Bravewriter Jot It Down 

My twins (will be newly 7 at start of school year): 

  • Singapore 2A/2B
  • Bravewriter's Arrow units for LA 
  • Bravewriter's Jot it Down, maybe transitioning to freewrites as the year progresses 
  • Song School Latin (finish 1, begin 2)

Plus family read alouds at bedtime! 

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She'll be doing a lot of combining with my 1st grader. Here's what I'm thinking so far.

 

Morning basket- poetry, Shakespeare for kids, SCM picture studies, nature reading, Sonlight read alouds A

 

Math- she finishes CLE 1 this week and is a little burnt out on workbooks. I have math on the level so I'll test run that for the rest of the year and then choose for next year.

 

Language arts- Bravewriter and Reading Horizons, HWOT

 

History- Finish SOTW 1 and continue on to 2

 

Science- either BFSU or the magic school bus video schedule that was posted on here.

 

Art- outside music, art, and piano classes and never ending home projects

 

PE- ballet and Family Time Fitness (this winter was crazy long and my group of preschool-early elementary loved this- we called it wiggle workout)

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Here is our plan:

 

Math-BJU 2/3

 

LA- Bravewriter, Pentime, Rod and Staff Spelling

 

History-Story of the World

 

Science-Science Fusion

 

Art- Klutz press drawing and clay book

 

Music- Calvert Discovering Music

 

We will still use our Spanish tutor, go through any Tin Man Press books we can get our hands on, and enjoy lots of read alouds.

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I <3 planning threads!!

 

So far we have decided on:

 

Math: RightStart C (at least half for this year)

 

Phonics/reading: OPGTR

 

Writing With Ease 1 -- hoping we can handle this by the fall. Handwriting is a real weak spot.

 

History: Story of the World 1/2 and Activity books -- realized I liked SoTW late this year so we will finish up 1 and move on to 2 but since we school year round it should be ok

 

Science: Nancy Larson 1 (again, late curriculum decision so starting now, finish in fall and if we like it move on to level 2 or switch again)

 

French: Tatou le Matou 2

 

Music: piano lessons

 

PE: MiniMites ski lessons and some sort of marital art has been requested.

 

Art: ?? Looking for something creative, not artist study but I don't know what yet. Needs to be complete and suitable for a perfectionist with not so impressive fine motor skills.

 

Did I forget anything??

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We'll be starting some of this over the summer since it will just be a continuation of what we are working on now.

 

Language Arts

  • AAR 3 (we will likely start AAR 4 mid year)
  • AAS 3 (AAR and AAS have been AWESOME for us!)
  • FFL 2
  • WWE1
  • HWT - start cursive mid year
  • Reading Literature in History and Science

Math

  • Rightstart Math B (We've done Math-U-See Primer and Alpha as well as Math Mammoth LB grade 1, but neither have really clicked with dd. Math is a struggle!! I took the plunge and spent the money on Rightstart thinking the hands on, less worksheet approach will click with her. I don't want to move on until she gets a solid understanding of the basics. If we work through B, I may supplement with Math Mammoth LB grade 2 in the second half of the year before moving on the C)

History

  • SOTW 2 (this is working well for us)

Science

  • AIG - Heaven and Earth (trying this after doing Elemental Science Biology in 1st. I may supplement with additional science experiments if necessary)
  • Also planning a unit study on clouds

Fine Art (art is HUGE for dd)

  • Artistic Pursuits (continuing from 1st)
  • Drawing with children
  • Home Art Studio - 2nd grade
  • Maestro Classics CDs
  • Violin lessons

PE

  • Rhythmic gymnastics
  • Swimming lessons
  • CrossFit kids
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Still deciding for us. We'll school year round so 2nd grade will start in the summer.

 

Math- Singapore 2a/2b, CWP from 1 as a review, dreambox supplement

 

Writing mechanics- HWT, start cursive (HWT or Loops and Other Groups)

 

Writing composition- Considering Bravewriter

 

Typing- KWT

 

Spanish- Salsa for fun, maybe SSS, talking with DH

 

Reading/spelling- continue Recipe for Reading. Hours of daily read alouds. Some computer supplement support (using Lexia currently but DS dislikes it).

 

Literature- Finish Mensa K-2(3?) list, continue Suppose the Wolf were an Octopus. Fluff as able.

 

Science/engineering- trial of RSO Chemistry, unit studies from GEMS or as inspiration strikes, engineering is elementary units, maybe science competition?, documentaries, science museum

 

Social Studies- SOTW audio on constant rotation in the car, light world geography with flag/food/fun.

 

Art- local art studio, art living books, home art studio, science art (just a smattering here and there, one about every 1-2 weeks)

 

Music- possibly guitar or piano, music appreciation with Classical Kids CDs.

 

PE- gymnastics, swimming, maybe karate

 

Extra- scouts, maybe JFLL.

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We start in the fall.....not much, I think, is going to change for next year. Priorities are reading (he's starting to break through finally) and focus. Math remains a strength, so we'll see where we end up there. He's on the wait list for evals, so that may change things a bit. 

 

LA:

Dancing Bears

Reading/Copybook following The Wand (I found their phonics not explicit enough for my kids)

HWT

Lots of read alouds-mythology, history, novels, bible, Shakespeare (going surprising well) with continued work on narration. We're up to one paragraph of narrating back. 

I'll probably leave spelling to Grade 3, we'll see how things go

 

Math

MM 2B should be done, or close to done. Finish that, and do units on Addition/Subtraction with big numbers and all the place values, then BA. 

 

Science: Nature Study

 

French: Les Loustics through our Alliance Francaise. 

 

Music: Suzuki violin

 

PE: swimming. I'd love him to try a team sport-he's a social little dude, but nothing has sparked his interest yet

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OK, so may be, just may be if I'll put it out there, it will be done

 

AAS2

WWE2

FLL1 - debating on this.  I have the books, but am craving to go with ELTL

Reading - various books.  May be start independent reading.

Russian - various books

 

Singapore Math 2A2B

LOF

 

Science....We started RSO Life and did about 8 units last year.  Now we just switched to Mr. Q.  So, I am not sure what we will be doing.  I also have RS4K books.   I am all over the place, I wish someone would hold my hand and give me a plan!!!!

 

History  - SOTW 1

 

Art - weekly classes and Home Art Studio and may be Meet the Masters

 

Music - may be weekly classes and various books and CDs

 

I would really like to start Latin.

 

And I would really like to add Wordly Wise as well

 

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