LA help for 2nd grade please

[jens2sons]

I am in the middle of picking out curriculum for my 8 year old son for next school year.  We have signed up for Classical Conversations Foundations to help me out with memory work and socialization.  I am not planning on just handing everything over to CC though.  I'd like to work on LA at home not just memory work review.  I'd like something easy and laid back, so I have chosen Language Lessons for the Very Young.  I figured that since grammar is already going to be memorized, that Language Lessons would be okay with a smattering of this and that.  I have also chosen Spelling You See to go along with it and A Reason for Handwriting.  I have Pathway Readers to practice reading out loud.  How does this sound?  Too much work? Just right?  The only other concern I have is implementing literature and vocabulary.  Maybe this is all too much and there is something better out there.  I'm open to suggestions.  PLEASE.

 

Other curriculum that I plan to use:

 

Story of the World w/AG - Ancients

Rightstart Math - B

Young Explorers- Flying Creatures...

 

 

[SilverMoon]

So you have grammar w/ gentle composition lessons, spelling, penmanship, and readers (phonics practice?).

 

I see absolutely no need for a 2nd grade person to study separate vocabulary. Unless he still needs instruction forming the letters correctly, I'd drop penmanship and let the writing done in his language book double as the penmanship. Decide where the bar for neatness is and require it, sitting near him with an eraser in hand as he copies/writes and erasing messy letters immediately.

 

The only thing I'd add is a stack of high quality children's literature. 

Edited June 17, 2022 by SilverMoon

[beka87]

I agree with Silver Moon.  My daughter is about 3 months into second grade level LA material (we school year round).  We are using FLL 1 and 2 at an accelerated rate, which would correspond to your memory work, I suppose.  We are doing WWE 1 and 2 (also accelerated), alternating weeks with CWP to change things up.  We have Rod and Staff Spelling (though I think we are switching to Spelling You See) and various readers that she uses to practice reading allowed.  We have PLENTY!  My daughter handles the load well, so we're continuing on, but I would not dream of adding vocabulary.  I thought about adding a more formal literature, but that would be dumb...at this age, a stack of good books and making the TIME to read aloud to her daily is all we need.  I think your line up is perfect.  Don't be afraid to cut the hand writing if you don't need it.  My daughter requested cursive, so we spend about five minutes every morning together with that.  If she hadn't requested it, though, we wouldn't have any separate hand writing time.

 

What volume of Language Lessons are you using?  I used some of the series here.  I thought the books were lovely, though needing supplementation, which of course you have. :)  Good luck!

[jens2sons]

I agree with Silver Moon.  My daughter is about 3 months into second grade level LA material (we school year round).  We are using FLL 1 and 2 at an accelerated rate, which would correspond to your memory work, I suppose.  We are doing WWE 1 and 2 (also accelerated), alternating weeks with CWP to change things up.  We have Rod and Staff Spelling (though I think we are switching to Spelling You See) and various readers that she uses to practice reading allowed.  We have PLENTY!  My daughter handles the load well, so we're continuing on, but I would not dream of adding vocabulary.  I thought about adding a more formal literature, but that would be dumb...at this age, a stack of good books and making the TIME to read aloud to her daily is all we need.  I think your line up is perfect.  Don't be afraid to cut the hand writing if you don't need it.  My daughter requested cursive, so we spend about five minutes every morning together with that.  If she hadn't requested it, though, we wouldn't have any separate hand writing time.

 

What volume of Language Lessons are you using?  I used some of the series here.  I thought the books were lovely, though needing supplementation, which of course you have. :)  Good luck!

 

 

So you have grammar w/ gentle composition lessons, spelling, penmanship, and readers (phonics practice?).

 

I see absolutely no need for a 2nd grade person to study separate vocabulary. Unless he still needs instruction forming the letters correctly, I'd drop penmanship and let the writing done in his language book double as the penmanship. Decide where the bar for neatness is and require it, sitting near him with an eraser in hand as he copies/writes and erasing messy letters immediately.

 

The only thing I'd add is a stack of high quality children's literature. Veritas Press has our favorite lists. (We never used VP's guides beyond First Favorites though.)

 

I am needing to start him on cursive at some point.  That's why I'm adding it in.  As for literature, I am still needing to read aloud to him for chapter books. I've looked at the AO reading lists and the SCM reading lists but it has not been clear to me if those titles (Little House in the Woods, Charlotte's Web, etc.) are for them to read alone or for me to read aloud.  As much as I enjoy the Pathway Readers, I'd rather use real literature to practice reading but I'm not sure of the reading levels in those books and if I start as readers would they just end up as read alouds because they end up being too difficult.

[beka87]

I suppose the best way to see what books would work best for your son is to go to the library and try it out.  If they are too difficult, don't push.  I started my daughter with something too easy and worked her up a little at a time.  It really helped her confidence.  Unless he is a natural reader.  Then he may not need to ease into real books quite so much.  It was my impression that AO lists for literature were meant to be read aloud, at least until much older grades.

[SilverMoon]

Are you familiar with Lexile.com? Most kids classics are in that database. Find for a book your DC can read well on his own to get an idea of his current Lexile level.

 

The Scholastic site has a similar function.

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

I think handwriting, esp with cursive is important. Your plan looks good. I would make sure he is getting literature in, but it doesn't have to be super formal. At this age, vocab can be two words a week you pick and teach him dictionary skills once a week. Fairly informal. Maybe you add two vocab words to his spelling list each week. Maybe they are words he encounters through reading. Just keep a section in his notebook for when he comes across a word he doesn't know. I think a more formal vocab study can be done when he transitions out of spelling in the logic years.

 

If he is not yet reading chapter books, that is one of your primary goals this year. Your child may surprise you too. My son had all the ability, but he still wanted to read picture books until he found some interesting chapter books and took off. Measure his reading ability and just keep plugging away at his level. Some easy chapter books we liked to ease into them were the Nate the Great, Frog and Toad, Amelia Bedelia, Magic School Bus, Encyclopedia Brown, etc. The Classic Starts books are great once they start chapter books to introduce classic literature to them. Then I would recommend some audio books so he is hearing the more advanced literary language.

[jens2sons]

Are you familiar with Lexile.com? Most kids classics are in that database. Find for a book your DC can read well on his own to get an idea of his current Lexile level.

 

The Scholastic site has a similar function.

 

I have not heard of Lexile.com!  I will check it out.  Thank you :)

[jens2sons]

I think handwriting, esp with cursive is important. Your plan looks good. I would make sure he is getting literature in, but it doesn't have to be super formal. At this age, vocab can be two words a week you pick and teach him dictionary skills once a week. Fairly informal. Maybe you add two vocab words to his spelling list each week. Maybe they are words he encounters through reading. Just keep a section in his notebook for when he comes across a word he doesn't know. I think a more formal vocab study can be done when he transitions out of spelling in the logic years.

 

If he is not yet reading chapter books, that is one of your primary goals this year. Your child may surprise you too. My son had all the ability, but he still wanted to read picture books until he found some interesting chapter books and took off. Measure his reading ability and just keep plugging away at his level. Some easy chapter books we liked to ease into them were the Nate the Great, Frog and Toad, Amelia Bedelia, Magic School Bus, Encyclopedia Brown, etc. The Classic Starts books are great once they start chapter books to introduce classic literature to them. Then I would recommend some audio books so he is hearing the more advanced literary language.

 

I do have the Frog and Toad set and the Little House on the Prairie set (from when I was a kid) as well as many others.  We read all the time to him but it has been very informal and done especially at bed time.  I'd like to do something a bit more formal and incorporate comprehension and vocab (as needed).  Maybe just narration and using the dictionary on words he doesn't know as you suggested.

[jens2sons]

Does anyone on here use the Sonlight reader lists for literature?  

[jens2sons]

So I went to the CC 3-day practicum this week and after learning about the trivium stages more, I have decided to go back to using FLL instead of Language Lessons for the Very Young.  I came home and flipped through it and realized that LLftVY was way too easy and he probably would get bored after a couple weeks.  I also purchased the CC Prescripts beginning handwriting book to use instead of A Reason for Handwriting.  I like that I dont have to feel that I'm behind if I miss a day or two with the Prescripts.  I returned the Pathway Readers and have ordered The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading to help him with his phonics.  I guess we will just use the library for easy readers to practice.  I still have SYS so we will see how this works.  I am planning on notebooking for science instead of using a set curriculum like the Apologia Young Explorers series utilizing copywork and also doing copywork for Bible.  I dont think we really need WWE since we will be doing copywork across the board.  What do you think?

[Peaceful Isle]

My ultimate favorite Language curriculum for second grade is Voyages in English. It comes in workbook form, is very colorful, includes some writing, and it is just so fun and easy. :)

[Kiara.I]

WWE 2 isn't just copywork, though.  It's also narration (working on summarizing the main narrative thread of a passage, or summarizing the highlights of a description) and dictation.  But you can easily add those in across the board as well, if you want.

[jens2sons]

Well, I'm planning on doing the narration with SOW.  I just don't want to buy books that we don't really need.