Is this too much for 2nd Grade LA?

[Medieval Mom]

Ds reads well above average, but has very average writing skills--albeit beautiful cursive handwriting-- for a boy his age. He'll be just turning 7 days before 2nd grade begins at our home. We'll also have Prima Latina and one other subject, such as Patterns of Nature and BF Geography, which require some writing. The list below does not mention our daily reading, as I consider that a separate subject. CLE Reading is our "ethics" and "pesky LA subjects I'd otherwise forget" program.

 

So far, we're planning:

 

R&S English 2

Delightful Dictation with Spelling

CLE Reading

Optional LA***

 

Is this too much for 2nd Grade LA? Also, which, if any, of the Optional components would you add?

 

***Draw Write Now

OR

***Written Narrations from Readings

OR

***Serl's PLL

OR

***Copywork from readings

OR

*** NONE!

 

Thanks for any advice!! :)

Edited February 28, 2010 by Medieval Mom

[Aurelia]

I probably would drop the CLE Reading and offer the Draw Write Now, or nothing in it's place.

[Dawn E]

We love CLE reading, and I also have a strong reader. I think what you have looks very sound. Draw Write Now on occasion wouldn't be too much...it's like a fun extra.

 

If you don't mind me throwing something else in the mix: Have you looked at the CW Primers? We are using these this year alongside CLE LA 3 and I think they complement each other. I'm not that familiar with R&S, so I don't know...but it might be something to look into. I love the addition of picture study, nature study and narration (things that Serl's PLL would also have, but I think the set up of CW meshes nicely with another grammar...PLL might be too much).

[Tree House Academy]

For LA, we will use:

 

R&S English 2

R&S Reading/Phonics

R&S Spelling

 

We also do read alouds (chapter books), and Draw Write Now (but we use DWN for art only...we don't do the writing). We use Pentime cursive handwriting.

[lovemykids]

I would do copywork in addition to your plan, but I always think that copywork is beneficial for young ones. (even older ones) You wouldn’t have to do it excessively, maybe once a week or so, depending upon the writing workload contained in these programs.

 

The only thing I wouldn’t do would be Serl’s PLL with Rod and Staff. It should be one or the other with those two choices.

 

I would even go so far as to say that you can do DWN and copywork, just rotate and use your best judgment when it comes to the proper amount of assignments for your child. :)

[Lightly Salted]

For 2nd grade LA, I'm planning

 

R&S English 2

R&S Spelling 2 or Spelling Workout

Sonlight Readers 2 int

ETC 4-5

and some WWE-inspired dictation/narration/copywork (probably not all as written)

[Medieval Mom]

Thank you for all the responses. I know I have a tendency to want to do too much. Hopefully I'll have a better idea of what I need after R&S English arrives in the mail. (Maybe it'll be a horrible fit and I'll go back to CLE :lol: )

 

I like the idea of PLL because it'll cover the picture study and oral lessons that I'm assuming is missing from R&S. But I can see how that might be too much on top of R&S...

 

I like the idea of Draw Write Now because it's colorful and fun and could increase ds confidence in drawing... :confused:

 

Hmmm... :tongue_smilie:

[Medieval Mom]

We love CLE reading, and I also have a strong reader. I think what you have looks very sound. Draw Write Now on occasion wouldn't be too much...it's like a fun extra.

 

If you don't mind me throwing something else in the mix: Have you looked at the CW Primers? We are using these this year alongside CLE LA 3 and I think they complement each other. I'm not that familiar with R&S, so I don't know...but it might be something to look into. I love the addition of picture study, nature study and narration (things that Serl's PLL would also have, but I think the set up of CW meshes nicely with another grammar...PLL might be too much).

 

Thanks for the recommendation!

I did look at the CW Primers, but I dismissed them because I thought they'd overlap too much with what I'm planning to use. Delightful Dictation with Spelling covers copywork, dictation, and spelling. I'll be doing nature study every week (and Patterns of Nature from R&S). PLL would give me the picture study that I'm horrible about fitting in. (I have the Come Look With Me series, which I love, but only do sporadically.)

 

I'll take another look, though. Thanks!:auto:

[Dawn E]

Thanks for the recommendation!

I did look at the CW Primers, but I dismissed them because I thought they'd overlap too much with what I'm planning to use. Delightful Dictation with Spelling covers copywork, dictation, and spelling. I'll be doing nature study every week (and Patterns of Nature from R&S). PLL would give me the picture study that I'm horrible about fitting in. (I have the Come Look With Me series, which I love, but only do sporadically.)

 

I'll take another look, though. Thanks!:auto:

 

I had never seen Delightful Dictation before and still didn't look at it until this post. Wow! That looks like a neat little program! Yeah, the primers may not fit with all you already plan. We've really enjoyed them, though, so do take another look. I'm going to look deeper into Delightful Dictation...thanks so much for bringing it to my attention!!!:)

[Medieval Mom]

I had never seen Delightful Dictation before and still didn't look at it until this post. Wow! That looks like a neat little program! Yeah, the primers may not fit with all you already plan. We've really enjoyed them, though, so do take another look. I'm going to look deeper into Delightful Dictation...thanks so much for bringing it to my attention!!!:)

 

You're welcome! There is a blank section left on Friday for additional practice with the dictation passages or copywork or whatever. Maybe we'll use that to choose one passage of copywork from our AO readings of the week.

 

So: Copywork? Check. (Delightful Dictation & 1 from readings on Friday.)

Grammar? Check. (R&S)

Dictation? Check. (DDWS)

Handwriting? Check. (All of the above.)

Composition? Check. (R&S)

Spelling? Check. (DDWS)

Read-Think-Write? Check. (CLE Reading)

Syllabification,etc. Check. (CLE Reading)

Phonics ? Check. (CLE Reading)

 

Looks like I don't need to add another LA component just for picture study, does it? :001_rolleyes: I think that all of you are right. I don't need PLL! (This year at least!)

 

I think I'll just have to be more dedicated about using our Come Look With Me series for picture study. I could get Draw Write Now to have on hand...

 

Okay. Off to look at art appreciation stuff instead! :laugh:

 

Thanks everyone!!

[blessedmom3]

Medieval Mom ,

just wondering , I see on your signature that you are using CLE LA . Why you are not considering it anymore for 2nd grade?

[rootsnwings]

What about defining his spelling words for the week? My DS has 15 words/wk, so he defines 3 words/day. This helps with both copy work, handwriting & dictionary skills.

 

HTH! :001_smile:

[Medieval Mom]

Medieval Mom ,

just wondering , I see on your signature that you are using CLE LA . Why you are not considering it anymore for 2nd grade?

 

Well, to tell you the truth, I *am* still considering it, IF R&S English 2 looks like a bad fit when it comes in the mail.

 

I love :001_wub: our CLE LA 100 level, but I decided to order R&S 2 for these reasons:

1. CLE LA had a lot of work for the student in correcting his/her own lightunits. I don't want ds to do this at his age.

 

2. I like being more involved in teaching LA. R&S has an oral review before every lesson in the continuing years. Although CLE LA 1 is teacher-led, the following levels become more and more independent. This wouldn't necessarily be a problem for me, if the teacher's guides in the upper level CLE levels included oral drills and helps for the teacher. But the teacher's guides become *OPTIONAL* at the upper-levels... Now, if R&S doesn't work out, we'll probably switch back to CLE. I'm very comfortable with grammar and languages, and feel confident to teach the subject well. I'd just LIKE to have an excellent Teacher's Guide for foggy mornings and the security of "covering it all." This was a deciding factor against using vintage texts, such as the Maxwell series, on its own, too.

 

3. CLE LA 2 covers topics with which ds is already quite familiar. He already knows cursive (we learned it in K), so the penmanship would be redundant. We're using another program for spelling, too. I also felt that *at this level*, there seemed to be a lot of busy work. I didn't feel like that was true for CLE LA 100 level, and I don't see it in the levels above CLE LA 2, either. So, there again, we could deal with that temporarily if we needed to. I know many people just cross off what they're not going to use. I felt that if I were going to pick and choose what to do every day, I may as well use R&S and pick and choose the assignments there.

 

4. The non-consumable, unchanging nature of R&S appeals to me. I also like the ability to do some of the work orally and require some written work, as my ds increases in ability. It's so hard to gauge at what rate he'll develop. It's nice that we'd be able to use our own, narrower handwriting paper for the assignments, too.

 

5. It doesn't hurt that SWB recommends R&S English, and that I've read SO MANY excellent reviews on the program. But, since I consider CLE to be on par with R&S, this isn't really a deciding factor for most areas. It's the writing instruction that everyone agrees is superior in R&S that swayed me. If we go with CLE instead, I'll just supplement with other curricula at the upper levels...

 

These are all MINOR considerations. I seriously love CLE LA! If R&S is at all disappointing, I'll be placing my order with CLE! I love the etiquette and study habits included, the cute little illustrations. I like that the lessons can be independent on days where our little one needs extra attention. CLE LA 2 includes writing thank you notes and some creative writing that looked fun, too. We're sold on CLE Math and Reading (which I at first thought was busywork, and now really like!). My ds also loves it! He's using the revised version which came out in October.

 

(I also really love the vintage grammar books on google, and would consider using these if R&S is a flop. But CLE or R&S just give me more security that everything is covered.)

 

For some reason, deciding on LA for next year has been very difficult! Maybe it's just that it's that time of year :willy_nilly:

[Medieval Mom]

What about defining his spelling words for the week? My DS has 15 words/wk, so he defines 3 words/day. This helps with both copy work, handwriting & dictionary skills.

 

HTH! :001_smile:

 

 

Good idea! I *think* he'll get have enough of this practice with CLE Reading, R&S English (we'll do the dictionary work unit throughout the year) and in his other subjects. But I can remember to add this to our work on Friday if we haven't done it in other subjects that week. Good idea! Thanks! :)

[blessedmom3]

Thanks MM ! I have the same thoughts about R&S and CLE LA . I finally decided on CLE for 2nd grade. My 6yo is a "Competent Carl" ( CAthy Duffy's term) and he likes to do things independently . He is also a visual- print learner so I was thinking that probably CLE would work better for him. However, I will have to supplement or replace the spelling as the 2nd grade seems way too easy for him.

 

I would be interested to know how R&S works for you in the future :001_smile:

[Medieval Mom]

Thanks MM ! I have the same thoughts about R&S and CLE LA . I finally decided on CLE for 2nd grade. My 6yo is a "Competent Carl" ( CAthy Duffy's term) and he likes to do things independently . He is also a visual- print learner so I was thinking that probably CLE would work better for him. However, I will have to supplement or replace the spelling as the 2nd grade seems way too easy for him.

 

I would be interested to know how R&S works for you in the future :001_smile:

 

Mine too! He loves independent work... So, we'll see how this goes! I can't wait for the mailman to come! :lol:

[lovemykids]

Thank you for all the responses. I know I have a tendency to want to do too much. Hopefully I'll have a better idea of what I need after R&S English arrives in the mail. (Maybe it'll be a horrible fit and I'll go back to CLE :lol: )

 

I like the idea of PLL because it'll cover the picture study and oral lessons that I'm assuming is missing from R&S. But I can see how that might be too much on top of R&S...

 

I like the idea of Draw Write Now because it's colorful and fun and could increase ds confidence in drawing... :confused:

 

Hmmm... :tongue_smilie:

 

Oh yes, I see the PLL dilemma. Well, if you are comfortable skipping around, you can use all of them. ;)I think most people have a problem with skipped pages, or with only using portions of books. But I love to educate in this manner: I can take a 36 week schedule and only use 8 weeks of it, while I am blending it with three other programs, lol, and still feel good about it. It depends on your personality and if you like juggling curricula or not. :lol::lol::lol:

[SilverMoon]

I would consider dropping CLE reading, and only add copywork for the beginning of second grade. By the second semester I'd try wiggling in the child's own narrations for writing, between copywork days.

[Medieval Mom]

Oh yes, I see the PLL dilemma. Well, if you are comfortable skipping around, you can use all of them. ;)I think most people have a problem with skipped pages, or with only using portions of books. But I love to educate in this manner: I can take a 36 week schedule and only use 8 weeks of it, while I am blending it with three other programs, lol, and still feel good about it. It depends on your personality and if you like juggling curricula or not. :lol::lol::lol:

 

Hah! How did you know I spent the better part of yesterday piecing together fun lessons from various vintage grammar books for using in third grade?? :smilielol5:

 

Here I thought I was "wishy-washy"; but if I say to myself that I "blend various curricula" I sound rather clever!! :coolgleamA: Thanks! I needed that this morning!!!

[ele325]

For 2 grade LA we use

 

WWE2 moving to 3

FLL2 moving to 3

Sequential Spelling

Writing Strands 2 moving to 3

Wordly Wise

Vocab for Classical Roots

Rummy Roots (card game for learning greek and latin roots)

 

We get plenty of copywork with WWE and We do copywork with our history narrations and poetry memorization.

 

We quit using ETC and Draw, Write, Now when we starting using WWE and WS.

[stephanie78]

We have the Draw Write Now books. We have been able to work some of the exercises into our history and science work as well. We don't use them daily or even weekly just from time to time. My kids really enjoy them, and it's something I pull out when the kids complain that they are bored.

[Medieval Mom]

We have the Draw Write Now books. We have been able to work some of the exercises into our history and science work as well. We don't use them daily or even weekly just from time to time. My kids really enjoy them, and it's something I pull out when the kids complain that they are bored.

 

This is good to know! Thank you! :)