I really don't know what to use for the rest of the year

[mlgbug]

my daughter is in ps2 nd, and I'm pulling he out Jan 25- she is advanced for 2nd. I don't know what to buy for just half a year and I am running out of time!!! I am in ny and they are pretty strict! I'm frustrated an overwhelmed

[Clarkd]

She may need some time to decompress from the school experience, there will also be a trial and error period as you figure out what works for both of you. Find some books for read alouds. Have her read to you, too. Get to know your librarian. Add one or two subjects at a time as you get settled in. Here are some possible curriculum suggestions: Nancy Larson Science, Spellwell, Delightful Dictation with Spelling, Zaner Bloser Cursive, Saxon Math or Math Mammoth with Miquon Math. I don't know what for history, grammar, art, or vocabulary. Maybe add some Latin or Spanish instruction? Find your local homeschool groups through Google, the library and Facebook. Is there a local coop?

[Esse Quam Videri]

You might want to start with a boxed curriciulum, which really holds your hand as a teacher and lays out what you need to do every day for every subject. We really enjoyed Heart of Dakota. I would place your daughter in Bigger Hearts if she is advanced second grade. It is definitely a Christian curriculum, so that may not be what you are looking for. If you want something secular, or each subject separate, I would also recommend Story of the World (start with volume 1), Elemental Science, and All About Spelling. We also like Rod and Staff for grammar (but it is also Christian) and Singapore for math (but that may not work well for a child used to ps math). Hope that helps in some way! It all seems overwhelming at first, but you and your daughter will get the hang of everything soon enough :-).

[Izzy]

I pulled my oldest out the middle of 2nd grade and de schooled for a couple of months. I ended up piecing together a curriculum but really wish i would have started with boxed. My 2 choices for boxed would be Sonlight or Oak Meadow. :)

[PentecostalMom]

We used a boxed curriculum when we pulled our two older dc out in 1st & 2nd grade years ago. We used Abeka until I got my bearings (about 1/2way through the year) then switched most things. We did stick with Abeka math which I do not regret.

 

I discovered Sonlight in 5th grade and haven't looked back! We love Sonlight!

[mlgbug]

i feel like a box curriculum isn't worth half a year and figuring out where we are. I'm thinking

SOTW

WEE3

FLL3

elemental science

 

I need a math.....

and I need a reading right?

[anabelneri]

MEP is another option for math. It's a strong program, and works well for advanced kids. There are a lot of posts about it if you search the forum. The whole program is available as PDF downloads for free here: http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/primary/default.htm

If nothing else it'll buy you time to figure out what you want to use long-term. I looked at a lot of math programs before finally settling, and MEP is what we settled on because it was easy for me to teach but challenging enough for dd.

 

English can look very different depending on the 2nd grader. My daughter was already reading really well in 2nd grade, so we skipped the reading lessons and just focused on grammar, spelling, and handwriting. I had her doing her own reading for literature & history, for the most part. If I had to throw something together for English at the drop of a hat, I'd use "First Language Lessons" (level 2 probably), try to continue whatever font she'd been using in school for handwriting or use copywork (copying a phrase or sentence nicely) from our literature, and then pick spelling. Lots of people like All About Spelling; it's open-and-go for the most part, but it isn't the cheapest option. Spelling Workout is an easy workbook program, also open-and-go, and would buy you time to find what you want to use long-term without costing a bundle.

 

For science & history, if I needed to pull something together quickly, I might go with the Intellego unit studies. Your advanced 2nd grader might do well with the 3rd-5th grade materials there (though they do also have K-2 if that fits better, and they also have middle-school level units if that's a better fit). They do have a geography option, U.S. History, and a variety of science options. If you buy the PDF at currclick.com it's slightly cheaper (there's a link on the Intellego site to the currclick page for that item) and you'll get it sooner.

 

Good luck!

[anabelneri]

 

and I need a reading right?

 

It depends on what level she's reading at. OPGTR goes to a 4th grade reading level, and after that we had to switch to McGuffey's Readers or Webster's Speller to find anything challenging. It worked better for us to choose high-level literature and have her read aloud occasionally. We use the literature at AmblesideOnline.org; it's pretty high-quality and does a good job building reading skills.

 

FLL3 & WWE3 can work out, and should give you enough material to get into next year too.

 

:)

[mlgbug]

She is reading at a end of 3rd begin in 4th fade level. I'm confused about the whole "reading" subjects. I know fll covers grammar, wee cover what and then what is the "reading"'for?

[anabelneri]

WWE covers writing, or more specifically, preparation for academic writing in the future. It's basically learning to do narration & dictation, with some copywork involved.

 

"Reading" is reading instruction for most kids; most 2nd graders still need it. At a certain point you start building comprehension skills (in addition to decoding skills). Decoding = figuring out what the words are, comprehension = being able to understand what you're reading. Oh, another option for reading comprehension is readingeggs.com; your daughter is probably beyond the regular Reading Eggs program, but Reading Express is the comprehension part of it. My dd enjoys it, but honestly we just do comprehension through literature, science, and history.

 

:)

[mlgbug]

Her comprehension is excellent. Even harder grxt she grasps what she has read. So "reading" can also be through our history and science lessons? Wwe I think will be great since she loves to write stories and essays....fll will help complete her grammar. And maybe I'll get a spelling workbook or even just print out spelling list.... That's what her ps teacher does!

[anabelneri]

Since NY is strict, you may need to document that she's doing reading through literature. I'm with a charter school in CA, and the way we do that is I'll have dd narrate back to me what happened in her reading. I can record it or write it down, though as she gets older the school wants it in her own handwriting (which makes her narrations shorter since she doesn't want to write everything she would naturally say). We've also been able to turn in pictures that she's drawn about what she's read, especially if she adds a sentence about what the picture is depicting.

 

Look at the samples of WWE before you commit. We're using the series (we just started WWS, which is the middle school book). But it's not about writing stories and essays at the WWE level. There's a lot of great texts that the kid gets to read, but no real original writing. It really is trying to build skills, and many kids need practice with telling back what they've read, and with holding sentences in their heads long enough to write them down, and those are the skills WWE builds. Honestly we skipped it in 2nd grade because we were doing AmblesideOnline where the child is expected to narrate *every* reading, and it was silly to also do WWE. WWS is a whole different ball-game, though, because it's doing more than those basic skills. But it's not something that a 2nd grader needs, either.

 

:)

[ChicoryChick]

For math I would look into Singapore (if you want asian) aka Primary Mathematics since you can get a 1/2 year of that with their A & 8 books. You will need the textbook (which is paperback but nonconsumeable) and the workbook and possibly the word problem book and HIG.

 

If you want a more traditional math you might want to look at Horizons.

 

My biggest diificulty when I homeschooled my oldest for first grade in NY was filling the necessary 5 hrs a day with "school" related things. Seat time doesn't usually take a lot of time in the early grades. Outdoor play became "PE", Bedtime stories were considered part of Language Arts. I included listening to music, drawing on paper and watching "The Magic Schoolbus" (she really learned her planets with that) and "Between the Lions" so please don't feel that the required hours has to be strictly scoolwork as long as she is learning it is "school hours".

 

I, personally like your other choices so far.

[fourisenough]

Sounds like she is beyond the 'learning to read' phase and is 'reading to learn'. I would, as others have suggested, ask her to read aloud to you daily (for about 10 minutes) and narrate her silent readings/or your read-alouds to assess comprehension. That, paired with WWE and FLL should cover most areas of language arts, with the exception of spelling and handwriting. You can easily download resources for those on line or buy an inexpensive workbook for each to start.

 

SOTW and Elemental Science are great choices for history/geography & science.

 

I would recommend Math Mammoth for math. It is a great blend of Asian style and more traditional math. It works especially well for my 8-year old accelerated learner. It is cheap, straight-forward and very, very conceptually strong.

 

Art, music, and PE can be accomplished easily at home without a curriculum for the remainder of this year. Good luck!

[LBoogie]

For what it's worth (I am a newbie like you!), I am doing the same thing-- my 2nd grade daughter starts school at home in January. I started making the decision to homeschool in September, so I have basically been researching and picking curriculum for four months. Here is what we are doing:

 

Math: Math Mammoth and MEP (for extra math)

Grammar: Rod and Staff

Spelling: Rod and Staff

Phonics: Explode the Code workbooks

Reading and Narration: books from library

Extra Reading Comprehension: Evan Moor workbook

Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears

Copywork: Draw Write Now and bible verses

History: Story of the World, Volume 1

Science: interest-led (Magic School bus DVDs and books, Let's Read and Find Out Science books, lapbooking)

 

We are going to start Writing With Ease later, but right now, we need to focus on the actual mechanics of handwriting.

 

In planning, when I started to freak out, I just tried to focus on a few things... first, all she really needs right now are the 3 R's. Readin', writin', 'rithmetic. Everything else is icing. Second, I think we all know how much time is wasted in the school classroom. I needn't worry about not doing enough. If I have the basics covered, she will do fine. Third (and this will be the toughest for me), I can relax. We are not on the school system's schedule or track anymore. We are allowed to have our own priorities and pace ourselves accordingly. I am allowed to enjoy this journey.

 

Anyway, hope that helps! Again, I am new also, so take what I said with a grain of salt!

[LBoogie]

BTW, I researched math til the cows came home and settled on Math Mammoth. It looks like everything we need: mental, not overwhelming or drill-like, complete. You can pace yourself how you want, but if you do one lesson a day, you can also be finished by June. It is also very affordable. (And MEP is free!)

[Ellie]

You know, I'd just keep it as simple as possible for the rest of the year. She needs some de-schooling time, and all you need to do is make it look good on paper.

 

Go down to your local teacher supply store and pick up assorted workbooks and whatnot. NY regs have lots of words, but they're really not all that difficult to follow as long as you read them carefully and follow them *to the letter*. You don't have to provide a list of instructional materials, or provide samples of student work, and you're not required to test until 4th grade. Using some inexpensive stuff for the rest of the year will give you some time to do more research, and give you and her some wiggle room.

[RootAnn]

If I had to throw something together for English at the drop of a hat, I'd use "First Language Lessons" (level 2 probably),

 

 

I wouldn't use FLL2 for an advanced 2nd grader. I'd go right to FLL3 if you feel you need to have a grammar program. (Or do Grammarland or something similar this year. Someone even put together worksheets for Grammarland.)

 

Remember that even if you only have half a year to go, you don't have to stop what you are doing just because the brick & mortar schools are taking a break or going to the "next grade level." While you might take a break for summer, you can pick back up with the same materials in the fall if they are working for you. On the other hand, if you find that what you purchase isn't to your (or your daughter's) liking or it isn't working, you can restart in the fall with new material.

 

We've always done "reading" (once we are out of "phonics" territory) as part of our core subjects + free reading on the side. Use the Sonlight (or Oak Meadow, etc.) website(s) & the Charlotte Mason sites to help you with book selections. We use the library system extensively.

 

I echo that WWE isn't writing stories & essays. It is valuable, but it isn't what you'd traditionally think of as a 'writing curiculum.'

 

** If you plan on using SOTW1, check out CHOLL (upper grammar stage + teaching pages). It combines WWE-style narrations, literature, reading comprehension, vocabulary, handwriting, and activities with your history work. Oh, and it is completely FREE (other than printing costs - and don't print the entire thing out, just print the pages you need). **

 

Then, I'd just let your daughter continue to free-write her essays & stories for this year.

[boscopup]

I started homeschooling mid-year in first grade. Note that you do not have to finish what you start this school year! You can pick up where you left off when you start up again. So don't worry about that. We did SOTW for history, and since we school year round (with a 3-4 week break between "school years"), we finished SOTW1 in October of the following school year. Then we started SOTW2, which we actually finished at the end of 2nd grade. So it all worked out.

 

For math, use a placement test. We use Singapore, which has A and B placement tests, so a child can place in the middle of a school year, though coming from public school, she may or may not place into her current grade. We used Math Mammoth when I pulled DS out of school, as he is very advanced in math and needed to get to where he really was. MM was a cheap way to do that. I like Singapore better, but we had to use multiple levels of MM in one calendar year, so it saved me a lot of money to use MM at first.

 

For "reading", my son was reading at a beginning 4th grade level when I pulled him out. I did not do "reading instruction". I simply gave him books that were pushing his reading level a bit. In the meantime, I also gave him phonics-based spelling. Learning syllabication bumped him beyond the 4th grade level words, and now I don't even do "reading" except to hand him some interesting books to read. He reads a lot on his own anyway. We use Sonlight now, but the readers don't challenge him in the least. He's reading to learn, not learning to read, so that's ok. He reads harder stuff on his own for fun.

 

Your SOTW/WWE/FLL combo looks good. Did you do a placement test for WWE? It's pretty rare for a child to start in WWE3, especially if they're 2nd-3rd grade age. WWE2 is a more typical starting point, unless you've already been doing narrations and dictation. The dictation gets crazy hard in level 3. I don't think *I* could do the dictation in level 3 without having done 2 first. :tongue_smilie:

 

Anyway, just start whereever your child is, and stop when you decide to have a break. Pick up where you left off when you're done with your break. You don't need to start/stop books at a certain time of year. My oldest is all over the place in his different books. He'll be starting a new math book in April, right before we break at the end of May! He'll probably be halfway through his spelling book (he starts a new one in a couple weeks), etc. He'll be finishing up some books at the end of the year, but he's just not one grade level across the board, and I'm guessing that your DD probably isn't either. ;) And history/science don't need to start/stop at a certain point, so I wouldn't worry about those crossing year boundaries.

[Chris in VA]

Honestly, I'd not worry about reading at all.

Pick some interesting books to read to her, and when you pick up the book to begin the "next section," ask her if she remembers what had been happening, in a casual way--("So where were we?")

 

Let her free read an hour or two a day, or more if she wants. I do monitor the junk reading, but some candy is fun and not harmful, imo

Tie some of her school reading to her history and science. Have her narrate to you once in a while.

 

SOTW is excellent, and really fun. Do a notebook page and a map from the AG every week or so, and pick an activity once in a while.

 

You might want to start a math curriculum--you can test to see where in Saxon she'd fit--it's a nice teacher-friendly curriculum that gives you a script and is heavy on the facts. There isn't much to figure out. Or, maybe talk to her teacher and see where she is in the scope and sequence she's already using. You may even be able to just continue with her book.

 

Other advice:

Keep it simple, develop a routine (but think rhythm, not schedule, iykwim), and enjoy each other.

She may need deschool time--some field trips, some domestic routines, a little at a time.

Make her a schultulte for the first day of homeschooling and have a special breakfast--let her look over her new materials, play a game, have her take the Saxon test (or other placement test), then read to her. Day One finished.

Keep the TV and the computer off--set the routine from the beginning as far as they are concerned.

 

Good luck! Wish I was back there--it was a sweet year with dd.

[mlgbug]

I do like the looks of math mammoth and will be printing the test. My other option is my sister is a 2d grade teacher and gave me her schools text and homework book that I could use to finish the year...

 

Now I'm not sure about wwe3 or 2 and what about fll2 or 3. She knows all the punctuation rules ect.....

 

I look foward to sotw and will usenet for my K child lightly as well.

 

Reading i will have her read good quality litature. I know that whatever we do at home is gonna be alot better thn in school..... Which is basically nothing

 

 

[freesia]

Actually, you don't have to test until fifth grade in NY. NY looks strict, but is more annoying than anything else. For reading you can just have a plan: "Reading instruction will focus on reading comprehension and include books at X's reading level." Alternately, you could list books that your plan to have her read. Then, in your Quarterly report, you would list the books she read.

[Tracy]

I see some recommendations here for a boxed curriculum. I just want to say that if you have an advanced student, run from all those boxed curricula! Most advanced children are not equally advanced in all areas. Specifically, their writing tends to lag behind at this age. So if you get a 2nd grade boxed curriculum, she will already know everything. If you get a 3rd or 4th grade curriculum, you will need to adjust the writing requirements. And as a new homeschooler, you want to do as little tweaking as possible.

 

I agree with Ellie. Just pick up some workbooks to do while your dc recovers from her school experience. This will give you time to fully research what you want to do next year.

 

Also, remember that the beauty of homeschooling is that you don't have to match up what you are doing with standard school years. If you want start at the beginning of a 3rd grade math book now, for example, and finish it in the middle of next year, that is okay.

[Ellie]

Actually, you don't have to test until fifth grade in NY.

That's true. You have to test every other year beginning with fourth, so fourth could be your "other" year. :-)

 

For reading you can just have a plan: "Reading instruction will focus on reading comprehension and include books at X's reading level." Alternately, you could list books that your plan to have her read. Then, in your Quarterly report, you would list the books she read.

 

See, I wouldn't even go that far (listing books read). I'd stick with "Reading instruction will focus on reading comprehension and reading a variety of genres appropriate to her age level," and in the quarterly report something like "Made satisfactory progress in reading comprehension; read several works of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction."

[Walking-Iris]

I agree with those that said give her some deschooling time. Maybe do some fun things at first. Pick up a few books at the library and do some science experiments. Read together lots of books; picture books and chapter books. Something like The Read Aloud Handbook or Books Kids Will Sit Still For would give you ideas. Honestly some of the reading selections in WWE are way advanced. It wouldn't hurt to do WWE1 and 2 piggybacked on each other. Especially since it's likely she hasn't had much exposure to copywork or dictation and narration in ps. WWE isn't graded, it's leveled. So there would be no harm starting a 2nd grader on the 1st WWE imho. You could even combine days and work through it sort of fast. I wouldn't start a 2nd grader, even a gifted one, who is just freshly out of ps, on the reading selections and dictation in WWE3. Just my thoughts.

[boscopup]

Now I'm not sure about wwe3 or 2 and what about fll2 or 3. She knows all the punctuation rules ect.....

 

FLL2 teaches noun/verb/adjective/adverb, but... FLL3 also teaches those things and adds in direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, predicate adjective, prepositions, etc. It starts from the beginning, so you can jump in at that level. If she picks up grammar easily, I'd just start with 3. I used 3 for my son in 2nd grade, and it was still easy for him.

 

The placement tests for WWE are here. I would guess WWE2 would be correct placement. Remember that WWE is not associated with grade levels necessarily, and you can go straight from WWE3 to WWS, so if you do 2 now, you can do 3 next year, then WWS in 5th grade.

[CatholicMom]

You know, I'd just keep it as simple as possible for the rest of the year. She needs some de-schooling time, and all you need to do is make it look good on paper. Go down to your local teacher supply store and pick up assorted workbooks and whatnot. NY regs have lots of words, but they're really not all that difficult to follow as long as you read them carefully and follow them *to the letter*. You don't have to provide a list of instructional materials, or provide samples of student work, and you're not required to test until 4th grade. Using some inexpensive stuff for the rest of the year will give you some time to do more research, and give you and her some wiggle room.

 

I agree on keeping it simple for the rest of the year. However, remember that you do have to provide *either* a list of materials used OR a plan of instruction in your IHIP. I think a plan of instruction is riskier (more for them to nit-pick, more details to potentially not get done), so I always list materials for most subjects and that is what I'd recommend for you. I only write a plan of instruction for subjects which I use no materials for like PE and art. In that case, I write "Plan of instruction includes watercolor painting, holiday crafts, collage-making, sculpting with clay." I don't say "...study one artist per lesson, twice per week, etc, etc" because whenever I list a plan of instruction I don't want to leave room for myself to not accomplish what I said - especially since you are supposed to give a reason if you ever accomplish less than 80% of what you set out to do. You can always DO more than you say. For PE I say "swimming lessons, soccer skills, bike riding, calisthenics." For Math I would simply list "Teaching Textbooks 4."

 

If you want, I could email you samples of my IHIPs and quarterly reports. Or you might be able to find a completed one online. I think it would help to see it in front of you. One tricky thing at first is figuring out how to line up NY's subject requirements with the materials you're using. Like if one of your programs covers a couple of subjects on the list, which do you put your program under, etc. Once you figure this out it will be much clearer.

 

Actually, you don't have to test until fifth grade in NY. NY looks strict, but is more annoying than anything else. For reading you can just have a plan: "Reading instruction will focus on reading comprehension and include books at X's reading level." Alternately, you could list books that your plan to have her read. Then, in your Quarterly report, you would list the books she read.

 

Ditto. I plan to send in the first test results in 5th.

 

i feel like a box curriculum isn't worth half a year and figuring out where we are. I'm thinking SOTW WEE3 FLL3 elemental science I need a math..... and I need a reading right?

 

I agree. I wouldn't go with a box curriculum especially since you're only trying to finish out the year for now. I wouldn't spend the money when you might only use half of it and not want to continue with it. Also, I think boxed curricula takes more getting used to than using a simple program for each subject. Personally. And you just want to get started.

 

Here are the subjects you need to cover per NYS requirements, and some ideas/examples to go with them:

 

English Language (Grammar, like Evan-Moor Grammar & Punctuation workbook. I don't know if Handwriting is technically required because it's not listed, but I always throw it under English Language)

Math (Saxon or whatever you will use)

Science (Evan-Moor Daily Science? Or just pick a few interesting books you can commit to reading. Check Sonlight.com)

US History (List a text)

Geography (list a workbook)

Spelling (I would probably pick a cheap workbook so I could list a material and then follow that list. Otherwise you will have to figure out how to explain which word families you are going to cover. I can't think of a simpler way to write a plan of instruction, so I would try to list a material.)

Reading (I list "Sonlight Reader Package 3." Or what about Memoria Press's Grade level lit guides? Or if you want to write a plan of instruction, I would write "reading fluency, comprehension, intro to children's classics."

Writing (WWE, or whatever program you choose)

Health (Usborne Encyclopedia of the Human Body)

PE (sit-ups, jumping-jacks, simon-says, bike-riding, sledding)

Art (air-dry clay sculpting, watercolor painting, holiday crafts)

Music (Classical Kids CDs)

 

If one of your programs will cover 2 required subjects, great. Just list the same program twice, once for each subject you need to cover. Like if you were using Smith English (I made that up, lol) and it covers Writing, Reading, and Grammar, just list Smith English three times.

 

Writing- Smith English 3

Reading - Smith English 3

Grammar - Smith English 3

Math - Saxon 2

etc.

 

For plan of instruction think of the *big skills* you are planning to cover. Not every detail. But, like I said, I think it's simpler and preferable to list materials whenever possible. And there, too, just the big ones. Not every library book you will read along with your main science text. Just list the main texts or spines. Only what you know you will get done.

 

Hope that helps. If you have specific questions, let us know!

 

I know you are a bit frazzled. I hope you can get off to a good start. Try to relax and enjoy. Once you do it all once it won't be such a mystery and you'll be able to picture everything more vividly. Good luck! Soon you will get your letter that says your IHIP is approved and you will feel like, "All that, for this?"