Suggestions for a 2nd grader?

[Pookamama]

DS is 6 now, confidently reading, and flying through Singapore 1B.

He grasps things easily, has a very good memory, strong conceptual skills, and I want him to be challenged but I am very new at homeschooling. I have three younger ones. The five year old will be participating in any subject he can.

I bought TOG for next year but that doesn't science. I am not confident in my planning abilities. I also wonder if it's overkill for a 6/7 year old and if it's something we could institute later when I am more confident in my abilities as a homeschooling mother.

I think I want to stick with Singapore math. DS has been grasping the concepts and most of what we are going through now is too easy for him, thus the vrooming through.

Are there any boxed curriculum that will let me keep my own math, offer an open-up and go and include science, history, Bible, and literature? (And anything else a 2nd grader should be getting?)

Are there any that are Charlotte Mason like? Not absolutely necessary but from what I've read so far there is a lot about Charlotte Mason mindsets that appeal to me. I was reading quite a bit on the Ambleside online page and will look into it more but I want to know what else I can be looking at.

One thing that I feel like I'm hesitant about Charlotte Mason is that science mostly consists of outside time and with lots of little ones I don't know I'll be able to spend a ton of time outside (especially with Oregon's nine month rainy season) and I actually think it sounds fun to learn a bit of chemistry or physics or biology. We've had some Bill Nye videos from the library and DS loves them. So does any 2nd curriculum include that or should I get a separate science curriculum as well?

Ok, that's all the questions I can think of now. I may have more in the morning!

[Rosie]

Sonlight may be what you're looking for. It is Bible, Literature, History/Geography, Poetry, Language Arts - and you can also add their Science, too. The only caution is that their LA seems to have a lot of writing, but it could be done orally if it is too much actual handwriting for your child. If you go with Sonlight, you will most likely want to put your 6/4 yo together and eventually your 3/1 yo together in a separate Core. Core A would probably be a good fit for next year for you, possibly even P4/5.

 

As for Science, we just read a bunch of books for the elementary years. (See if your library has the Let's-Read-And-Find-Out series for starters!) I'm sure there are people who wouldn't think that's enough, and maybe people who think it's too much, but that's how we do it here!

[raceNzanesmom]

As you know we use and love Heart of Dakota. I do add just a bit more science. I have 20 Bill Nye episodes recorded (they're on our PBS station right now at 5 am), probably that many Magic School Bus episodes, and all the new Wild Kratts. I also keep a book basket of sceince-y books and we do any fun experiments we come across.

 

If I wasn't using HOD I'd probably go with Simply Charlotte Mason, or Beautiful Feet history, Apologia science and my own thing.

[Pookamama]

Sonlight may be what you're looking for. It is Bible, Literature, History/Geography, Poetry, Language Arts - and you can also add their Science, too. The only caution is that their LA seems to have a lot of writing, but it could be done orally if it is too much actual handwriting for your child. If you go with Sonlight, you will most likely want to put your 6/4 yo together and eventually your 3/1 yo together in a separate Core. Core A would probably be a good fit for next year for you, possibly even P4/5.

 

As for Science, we just read a bunch of books for the elementary years. (See if your library has the Let's-Read-And-Find-Out series for starters!) I'm sure there are people who wouldn't think that's enough, and maybe people who think it's too much, but that's how we do it here!

 

Thank you! A couple questions about Sonlight:

how much time would it take a day? I really like the idea of combining cores. My 6yo could read independently and that would save a lot of time on my part!

How much of SL is consumables and how much is re-usable? I know they have a strong literature base and that appeals to me. But approximately how much am I going to shell out per student each year for individual workbooks?

Sonlight is pricey but if I can re-use a great amount of it then it becomes a lot more manageable long-term.

Also, does it have scheduling options? Can I do a 4-day week, or shorter days 5-day week? If we wind up putting things off until another day is it pretty easy to track where you are with everything?

 

As you know we use and love Heart of Dakota. I do add just a bit more science. I have 20 Bill Nye episodes recorded (they're on our PBS station right now at 5 am), probably that many Magic School Bus episodes, and all the new Wild Kratts. I also keep a book basket of sceince-y books and we do any fun experiments we come across.

 

If I wasn't using HOD I'd probably go with Simply Charlotte Mason, or Beautiful Feet history, Apologia science and my own thing.

 

Thanks for the tips, I'd never heard of Simply Charlotte Mason or Beautiful Feet. I will look into those.

 

How would HOD work for working with multiple kids?

Is it open-up and go?

And the same questions I had for Sonlight: How much would I have to buy for each kid?

Can I work with the schedule if we can't do it all when it says to do it?

[Rosie]

Thank you! A couple questions about Sonlight:

how much time would it take a day? I really like the idea of combining cores. My 6yo could read independently and that would save a lot of time on my part!

How much of SL is consumables and how much is re-usable? I know they have a strong literature base and that appeals to me. But approximately how much am I going to shell out per student each year for individual workbooks?

Sonlight is pricey but if I can re-use a great amount of it then it becomes a lot more manageable long-term.

Also, does it have scheduling options? Can I do a 4-day week, or shorter days 5-day week? If we wind up putting things off until another day is it pretty easy to track where you are with everything?

it?

 

Core A took us about 30-45 minutes per day (that's not including the LA) and Core B takes us a bit longer, maybe up to an hour (though it's kind of hard to tell because I just take the week's schedule and read what I want to each day, making sure I get the whole week done but not worrying about whether I'm doing the specific day's readings or not).

 

I wouldn't suggest having your 6yo read independently unless he is reading TO you as the topics in the Read Alouds and History can be pretty difficult at times and really are meant for the parent and child to do together (which is why many people use one Core for 2-3 children). Sonlight's LA has readers that go along with the LA package and that is what the child is supposed to read by himself. I've heard that the difficulty of the topics (death, war, sexuality, etc.) steps up in Core D and that's where you especially need to make sure you're having discussions about the books with your kids. Make sure to read Sonlight's 27 reason's NOT to buy Sonlight. That will help you make a decision.

 

Most of Sonlight is reusable. You would have to buy LA worksheets for each child and I think they are around $11 per set. There are a few workbooks in a few Cores (Core P4/5, Core D and Core E are the ones that come to my mind) that would need to be repurchased for later children, but the vast majority of Sonlight is just good books that you can either keep forever or sell to get much of your expense back.

 

Oh, I also think their Science has worksheets. We used them one year and didn't like them at all so now we just read the books from their Science Cores without doing worksheets.

 

Yes, there is a 4-day and a 5-day option and as of this year they are now interchangeable - meaning that you can do 4-day for a few weeks and then do 5-day for a while and then switch back if you want. There are specific books that are only put on the 5 day schedule so that you can pick and choose what you want to do.

 

Also, you don't have to follow the schedule exactly as it's laid out M-F. You can just "do the next day" in the schedule without worrying what day of the week it is. Or you could do what we do and just try to get the week's worth of reading done in a week and don't worry about the order you read everything in. (We like to read large chunks out of one book instead of small chunks out of many books so this way works better for us.)

 

HTH!

[Pookamama]

Thanks, Rose. How does Sonlight have the kids interact with the information you are reading about?

Does it have suggested activities? Do they have included materials for activities? Are there workbooks? Comprehension questions?

Does it have a way that you can get a feel for how they are processing and retaining the information?

What are your favorite results in your kids you've seen using the materials?

I know this is a lot of questions, sorry! I really appreciate your input! There is soooo much out there!

[TKDmom]

Thanks, Rose. How does Sonlight have the kids interact with the information you are reading about?

Does it have suggested activities? Do they have included materials for activities? Are there workbooks? Comprehension questions?

Does it have a way that you can get a feel for how they are processing and retaining the information?

What are your favorite results in your kids you've seen using the materials?

I know this is a lot of questions, sorry! I really appreciate your input! There is soooo much out there!

 

SL has comprehension questions, timeline and map work suggestions included in the IG. P4/5 had some activity suggestions. When we did science 2 (C?), it had a few activities, along with weekly labs. If you use their science materials, they have kits that include almost all the necessary equipment for all their labs-occasionally we needed to provide some easy to find food items.

 

Some of the cores have workbooks, but it's not a focus of the curriculum--I'd just look carefully at the included materials to see what workbooks are included.

 

For us SL was mostly just reading together. If you are drawn to CM philosophy, I would do oral narration with each read-aloud everyday and daily copy work exercises.

[Rosie]

Thanks, Rose. How does Sonlight have the kids interact with the information you are reading about?

Does it have suggested activities? Do they have included materials for activities? Are there workbooks? Comprehension questions?

Does it have a way that you can get a feel for how they are processing and retaining the information?

What are your favorite results in your kids you've seen using the materials?

I know this is a lot of questions, sorry! I really appreciate your input! There is soooo much out there!

 

There are discussion questions/answers in the Instructor's Guide as well as vocabulary/definitions to look out for when reading the chapter/pages. I'll be honest and admit that we gave those up pretty quickly. It didn't feel natural to have to ask questions from binder and I'm too lazy to look at the vocabulary before we read. I just tell them the meanings of words I don't think they know and I have them narrate afterwards in either the CM way or the SWB way. Usually for science and history, I'll ask them to tell me 3-5 things they remember from the reading. For Read-Alouds (or History/Science in narrative form) I'll ask for a retelling.

 

There are also maps that go along with the daily readings. They were black and white and I had photocopied them and had my kids color and label the places we were reading about. This year they have redone the maps to be in color and supposedly clearer so I guess we won't be coloring anymore! I think color maps will be nice, though!

 

Sonlight has a Timeline book that you use for all Cores. They sell Timeline Figures which you cut out and have the kids stick in the Timeline book when you are reading about those particular events/people. This has helped my kids get a better grasp of when theings happened in history in relation to other things. Actually, it's helped me, too!

 

I believe that for the lower level Cores they each come with a CD of tips with hands-on activities for those who need them. We don't do much hands-on stuff here so I don't use the CD and can't comment on its usefulness.

 

As far as workbooks, P4/5 includes Developing the Early Learner workbooks which we found helpful, though I don't think you'll actually need all 4 - probably 2-3 would be fine. And I know Core D and Core E have 2 workbooks each about American History, on about Canadian History, and one about South America. That is in addition to the Core reading. I think some people just read through those workbooks and do the questions together orally. We haven't done those cores yet so that's all I know right now.

 

 

 

Hmmm, favorite results in my kids....

 

I really love that my kids love to have me read to them. We go through the Read Alouds faster than scheduled because they always want more, more, more! That makes me happy.

 

I also really appreciate what a good grasp of History and Cultures that they have so far. They actually KNOW about Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece and Ancient China, etc. whereas their peers may have heard the words "pharoah" or "myth" or "Roman numerals" or "silk worm" before but only have a dim idea of what they mean. I love that they are interested in peoples form other places in the world. They are very interested in China right now and asked me if they could learn Chinese! They understand a lot about India from our past readings and from some videos that Sonlight put up last year from a missionary who went to India. I do add in library books on the subjects we are studying and they listen to The Story of the World 1 Audio CD when they play sometimes so I'm sure those things help, but Sonlight is our foundation.

 

My kids are curious about the world and that is in large part because of the quality books we read. I would never want to go to a textbooks curriculum after our wonderful experiences with real books.

 

The other thing I really love about Sonlight is that it truly is open and go. NO PREP. Sometimes I like doing extra things but many times I just don't have the energy to plan and that's when I really appreciate that Sonlight is there with a plan all ready to go. I don't have to worry about anything. I just open the binder, find the books for the day and we're off.

 

 

I agree that there is SO much out there. And there may be something you end up liking better, but sometimes you just have to start with SOMETHING before you know what fits your family and what doesn't. You certainly could do worse than Sonlight!

 

(I sound like an infomercial, don't I? LOL! Make sure to read the 27 reasons not to buy. It really is important that you know what you are getting when you buy Sonlight so you aren't disappointed by certain things later on - things that I find a blessing but that you may not.)

[Pookamama]

Rosie, thanks again. I really want to hear from people that have used it. And your comments help me wrap my brain around it. As much as I like customizing things, I am a busy mom and inexperienced at homeschooling so I lack the ability to customize homeschool as much as I like.

I was wondering-I had DS take the reading test on the website and that placed him at a reading level Core 4. I have no idea what that comes out to-the suggested ages were advanced 9-12, but that's also just his reading level. He went through HOP and has been practicing and learning on real books ever since. He needs spelling rules and grammar and writing skills. So I think I should get the level 2 LA program...Would that be complete for him?

Would it be crazy to substitute a subject or two with one of my own choosing? Would it throw things off?

Like let's say I want to do Mystery of History instead of Sonlight's history, or if I wanted to do Apologia Science instead-how much of it is integrated with the rest of it?

[Pookamama]

OK, I think I answered partially my own question-it looks like History and Geography is integrated where science is not, right?

[keyjoh62080]

Hands down....Heart of Dakota!!!

[Rosie]

Rosie, thanks again. I really want to hear from people that have used it. And your comments help me wrap my brain around it. As much as I like customizing things, I am a busy mom and inexperienced at homeschooling so I lack the ability to customize homeschool as much as I like.

I was wondering-I had DS take the reading test on the website and that placed him at a reading level Core 4. I have no idea what that comes out to-the suggested ages were advanced 9-12, but that's also just his reading level. He went through HOP and has been practicing and learning on real books ever since. He needs spelling rules and grammar and writing skills. So I think I should get the level 2 LA program...Would that be complete for him?

Would it be crazy to substitute a subject or two with one of my own choosing? Would it throw things off?

Like let's say I want to do Mystery of History instead of Sonlight's history, or if I wanted to do Apologia Science instead-how much of it is integrated with the rest of it?

 

Yes, Sonlight's LA can be tricky with kids who are advanced readers. My oldest was reading chapter books at 5 but could hardly write her ABCs so we didn't do the Sonlight LA in the younger years. We are just now incorporating some of LA 3 for her (She's now 8) and her 6yo sister. Unfortunately, Sonlight has included their LA in with the Core package this year so if you buy a full Core, you have to also choose a LA level as well. That may cause issues for people like you who have advanced readers and may need another option for LA at some point. One way you could get around it would be to not buy a full core package and just piece together what you do want. You might want to look for the books used or on Amazon so you can get a better deal. It would be more work but you wouldn't HAVE to use their LA.

 

That's not to say their LA is bad - it is just heavy on the writing compared to the reading level in the lower Cores. If you go with SL LA, people usually recommend to choose a LA level based on your child's writing level, not reading level. Then just get extra books for him to read from the library throughout the year. So, yes, LA 2 would probably be a good choice.

 

From Cores D on up, the LA is integrated with the History and really should be used along with it.

 

No, it would not be crazy to do some substituting, though some things would be easier to sub than others. Sonlight's strongest points are their History and Literature. I don't see how you could substitute these things at all and still do Sonlight. But you could substitute almost any other area. My girls and I did not particularly like the Bible/Devotional book from this year's Core so I've decided to skip a bunch of it and we do a different book instead. We also do Poetry once per week with whatever poetry books we have and want to use that day instead of doing the specific poems from the specific books that the Core schedules. Yes, you can absolutely substitute Science with something else, and, until this year, you could substitute LA if you wanted to. That's the only tricky thing and I hope they change that back next year to how it was before - where you don't HAVE to buy LA along with the full Core.

 

Hope that answered your questions well enough!

[raceNzanesmom]

Kids probably need to be close in ability to group in HOD, placement is key. Math and reading/phonics are at the child's level. HOD recommends placing the younger and adding for the older. There's info, including samples, on the HOD website as well as a link to the official HOD forum. I will say tho, many moms teach multiple levels with ease and many group with ease, so it can be done. I'm only schooling one so it's easy. I do have younger day care kids here. They listen in when they want and often do the projects with us.

 

HOD is very open and go, Bible ties in multiple subjects, we love it! We're using Beyond Little Hearts for 2nd grade. It takes us about 2-2 1/2 hours and that's adding AAS and the readers. Some of the rotating box (art, science, geo) seem simple, but I'm truly amazed how much my ds learns from it (and retains it!). He can give details of things he did the first week of Beyond, or even last year in Little Hearts. Those little, seemingly simple, super easy projects are the glue that sticks the info in his head.

 

Did I say I love it?! :D