Please share your 2nd grade schedule.

[hsing1]

I've been thinking a lot about how many hours a day to hs my 2nd grader. I looked at our local ps to get an idea. I know I don't need to follow their schedule.

 

What time do you start and end each day? How much time would you think would be too little to give a strong academic foundation...and how much would be too much?

 

I'd love to hear what you all think.

 

Thanks!

[TrixieB]

I am going to try to start at 8 AM. Here's what I've mapped out so far:

 

8-9: Bible and vocabulary (together with older sib); spelling

9-10: Math and grammar with Mom while 5th grader has instrument practice time (2nd grader doesn't get distracted by older sib's practice, but the opposite doesn't hold true in our house)

10-11: Reading, free time, maybe instrument practice if Mom is free to help.

11-noon: History & science (together with older sib)

1-1:30: Music appreciation or art, nature walk, outdoor play

 

I haven't figured out where to put Latin in the day. I might put it in at 1 PM and shift music/art/etc to follow. Dh said if our days get too busy, Latin should be the first thing to get dropped.

 

For the record, 2nd grader is using:

 

Singapore math

First Language Lessons

R&S spelling

MFW CTG for Bible, history, science, music appreciation, art (together with older sib)

English from the Roots Up (Greek roots as scheduled in MFW CTG, together with older sib)

Latina Christiana (together with older sib)-- probably just listening and oral participation; this child is pencil phobic

Music lessons 1x week

PE: swimming, ice skating, FitDeck

 

If you're only schooling a 2nd grader, it would be quite do-able to finish in 4 hours or less. Our days are a bit longer due to schooling an older child too. Plus we have 2 mornings each week out of the house for scheduled activities so on those days the dc will work until at least 2 PM and won't do all subjects.

[Karen in CO]

We will start second grade September something.

 

My dd will be in a cottage school one day a week for science, math enrichment, music, art, and Mandarin Chinese.

 

For the other four days a week, we will daily do

Math - 30 minutes

Writing with Ease - don't know how long this will take but no more than 30 minutes. This includes copywork, dictation and narration.

Lively Latin - 20 - 30 minutes. This includes some ancient history, and grammar with the Latin.

 

Two days a week we will do History.

Two days a week we will do literature which may or may not be related to history. These take at least 30 minutes and up to an hour if we are doing a project. These always come after the core academic subjects.

 

We'll do art together on Fridays because my dd loves art.

 

In addition to this, she reads daily and I read to her for about an hour each night.

 

 

I'm not a morning person, so we start with math right after I have my second cup of coffee which is around 9 am unless I am feeling super awake and we start with a read aloud while I eat. We generally finish before lunch. That include working and playing with the younger dd. We usually read poetry during lunch at least twice a week.

[Country Mouse]

We just "officially" started 2nd grade a couple of days ago, so I'm sure this will change and morph as we move through the year. This is what we have been doing recently...

We start doing our "activities" or lessons around 9:30 am after breakfast and all the animal chores are done. We work on handwriting, vocabulary, science, history, math and grammar/language arts. We try to get done by lunch time but sometimes we get hungry before we are done :001_smile:. I would say we spend 3 to 3.5 hours on instruction daily.

I also have a ds that likes to be in constant motion. I start things off with movement (fine and gross motor), I make sure he has gum and opportunities to move around during our lessons.

I think each child is different so the number of hours of instruction one could handle might be inappropriate for another. For us, we are at just the right amount of "school time".

I like having afternoons for free time, playing, reading, listening to audio books, errands, etc.

[Snickerdoodle]

We are doing second grade with my 7yo. We spend 3 hours or so a day and we start by 9am-ish. This does not include reading time or family read aloud time.

[brehon]

I think it would depend on both your educational philosophy and curricula choices. My 2nd grader (ds7) completes about, mmm, 2 hours total of written work in the morning. We focus on Latin, math, copywork/cursive practice. Usually it's a little less. He reads to me when the younger kids are down for their naps and has his assigned (quiet) reading time after this. History and science are done in the afternoons for an hour or so (not both on the same day). Even though ds really enjoys these subjects, they don't form the focus of our school. Piano practice is generally in the evening during dinner prep. There is plenty of time for him to work out the wigglies. Mean mom that I am, I have been known to have him run down to the garden and back 2 or 3 times to burn off energy. His sister (dd5) often accompanies him and it irritates him no end when she invariably "beats" him back to the house. :D

 

We don't start at the same time every day as my work schedule doesn't allow for that. I aim for my kids to complete their written skills work before lunch; but, well, I also have 2 toddlers and you know what they say about the best laid plans....

[laughing lioness]

Veritas Press has sample schedules on their site: go to resources, then downloads, then free helps.

We don't follow it but looking at what they are doing as I was scheduling a K, 3rd, 9th and 12th grader helped me focus.

[Mallory]

Ours is similar to brehon.

 

For the early grades I try to keep the seat work to about the same # of hours as the grade they are in. So my second grader will have about 2 hours of school.

 

We also do around another hour or so of read alouds, and often some kind of projects or games in the afternoon, but they don't really count as school.

 

We start about 9 and all are done with most of thier seat work by 12 (my 12yo starts earlier). Then we do history and guitar/recorder practice in the afternoon. We school 4x a week with the 3 R's school stuff and on the 5th day do science, art, music appreciation, and scouting and 4-H projects.

[Lori C- Texas]

We have been doing 2nd grade for about a month now. I think we are getting into a groove. I am also teaching a K and a 6th grader.

 

We start around 8 with math. After I teach him the lesson he finishes a worksheet doing the same concept while I work with my K'er and the 6th grader also does her math at this time. When 2nd grader is finished with his math, we do grammar, spelling, latin(just vocabulary and prayer), and some literature/poetry. When 6th grader is done with her independent we all do history and science together. We are usually done with all of this by lunch time. After lunch we have quiet time where my 2nd grader will listen to some of his (Ambleside Yr2) literature, natural history, and history tales on his MP3 player(he loves all of these stories). He listens to a different story each day. After quiet time he reads one chapter of his free reading book aloud to me(current is Mr. Popper's Penguins).

 

This is for 4 days a week. In September we will also be starting a co-op on Fridays. He will do P.E., Art, and a Lego class.

 

What we are using for 2nd:

Math-MUS Beta

Latin-Prima Latina

Grammer-R&S English 2(he completed both FLL last year)

History-Ambleside yr 2 but switching to SOTW1 in a couple of weeks

Science-Apologia Astronomy

Literature-Ambleside yr 2

Natural History-Ambleside yr 2

History tales-Ambleside yr 2

[Jami]

Oh let's see..I should probably get this figured out, since we're supposed to start up again on the 11th!

 

Around 8:30 we'll do our Morning Meeting (got this idea from a fellow-Ambleside user). That includes reading from the Bible, singing our hymn, reviewing scripture and catechism questions, reviewing memorized poetry, my reading poetry, and then reading from a rotating group of subjects--literature, history, Shakespeare, and whatever else I want to read. This is also the time I do narrations.

 

We'll then start with our table subjects, hopefully around 10:00. The usual order is math, copywork/handwriting, grammar, Latin.

 

That's pretty much our day. :001_smile: In the afternoons we'll do artist/composer study and plenty of independent reading. And dh always has a bedtime read-aloud going from my literature lists. We also practice violin sometime in there.

 

We have PE one afternoon a week and violin another afternoon. We have an activity-light schedule this year in preparation for adding a baby and in deference to gas prices.

 

Actual programs we use: math--Rod and Staff; Latin--Prima then onto LC; grammar--FLL; Copywork/spelling/handwriting--my choices, narrations, Memoria Press Copybooks; History--VP OTAE; Everything else--Ambleside Year 2

 

Jami

[eve]

This is what we did or tried to do last year

5Xwk 45 min. Bible, Hymns, Reciting Memory verses (sometimes not every day)

5xwk 30 min right start math

5xwk 30 min RS2 (I will do this orally or substitute with FLL2 and WWE for my other children)

1Xwk 15 min read a poem from whatever author we were working on

1Xwk 15 min picture study

5Xwk 60 min Hist, Geog, Hist RA

5Xwk 30 min Hist or other RA

3Xwk 15 min Greek Alphabetarian

3Xwk 30 min Spelling SWR

1Xwk 15 min RS Science ( I think I will use exploring Creation books in the future but this was easy to use)

1Xwk 30 min PE or walk

[Laura W.]

For my rising 2nd grader, my tentative plan is:

 

M, T, Th, F

9-10am - Bible, science, and copywork

10-10:30 am - FIAR

10:30-11:30 am - Time4Learning (math and LA)

11:30-noon - independent reading

 

W

Language and culture study (we moved to Africa a year ago, so we make sure the whole family spends a lot of time in the community on this day to help learn these things).

 

Blessings,

 

Laura

[camibami]

The "plan", as it stands now.

 

She starts at 9-ish, she is a late sleeper (doesn't get home from gymnastics until 8:30-9 pm).

First we buzz through the sit down stuff as one big chunk, or at least try:

 

Math-4x week (Saxon)

LA-4x week Sonlight Core 2 readers and writing program, FLL part 2, ETC/PP, SWO,

Then she does independent work- some Mind Benders, math facts sheets or games, handwriting (all 4x a week)

 

read alouds with big sister (Core 7 and modern times SOTW)

1-2x week she does science (my own space unit and ocean stuff), a history project (something hands on), art, music appreciation, Korean, Latin and geography. All those are afternoon classes, we are usually done by 3. Only the morning activities are me, her and a textbook though- even Latin is with Big Sis and "fun". Or "funner". I aim for not too much seat work for her, don't always succeed!

[King Alfred Academy]

I also have a ds that likes to be in constant motion. I start things off with movement (fine and gross motor), I make sure he has gum and opportunities to move around during our lessons.

 

 

I have one of those too!!!! Have you seen this? We use one for my son and it helps tremendously!!!!!!! Seriously. It allows him to have the movement he needs in order to pay attention without having to get up out of his seat. My friend let me use hers and I had seen such a difference in his concentration and just being able to sit in his sit for more than two minutes without having to get up and dance, run, hop, you name it! Then she moved and needed it back. Being without it for a couple of months was a challenge. I have yet to get another one, but in the mean time we greatly deflated a large playground ball for him to sit on. It's great to be able to get through a meal without having to ask him to sit in his seat a million times!!

 

****if the above link doesn't work, cut & paste....https://www.schoolspecialtyonline.net/search/intermediateDetails.jsp?catalogPartNum=109052094&catalogCode=234820&returnURL=/search/mainSearchResults.jsp&catalogProductId=42729163

 

*************Okay...they link is not working, but it is a 16' core disk...just try googling it

[Trivium Academy]

This is what we did:

http://bp3.blogger.com/_Zcx2PX0Mu5Q/R7eCFLiSVYI/AAAAAAAAAWE/dAFXOqjPUkk/s1600-h/Testschedule.jpg

 

from about 8a-12p, and you can see Fridays are light.

[Denainms]

I get up at 6am and have time for myself for 30 min. get the kids up at 6:30 and we eat breakfast, from 7-8am the kids get dressed, make beds and do their daily chores. We start schooling between 8 and 8:15 and we go straight through until 11 am(dh comes home for lunch everyday). We school 4 days a week, dh is off on Tuesdays. If we have not finished our work we continue after lunch for about 30 min. to an hour, but most days we are finished.

 

We always make sure that the main subjects are done first, then we do the rest. The afternoons are for their nature studies, computer time, free time, etc.

 

here is what we are using:

 

Christian Light for Math, Reading

All About Spelling

HWT cursive

I Can Do All Things Art

First Language Lessons

My Father's World Adventures (sometimes we wait until the afternoon to do an activity or craft)

[iquilt]

Along with my dd4 and ds3, my 2nd grader (7yo) will be doing the following:

8:30-9 Bible

9 - 9:45 math

10-10:45 Language (FLL, WWE, handwriting, reading rules)

11- 11:45 independent reading /read aloud time

12-1 lunch/free time

1- 2:30 - Mon. and Tues. History - Wed. and Thurs. Science - Fri. art

She will also be starting piano in September and will spend 30 minutes daily practicing the piano.

 

HTH

[kristavws]

Along with my dd4 and ds3, my 2nd grader (7yo) will be doing the following:

8:30-9 Bible

9 - 9:45 math

10-10:45 Language (FLL, WWE, handwriting, reading rules)

11- 11:45 independent reading /read aloud time

12-1 lunch/free time

1- 2:30 - Mon. and Tues. History - Wed. and Thurs. Science - Fri. art

She will also be starting piano in September and will spend 30 minutes daily practicing the piano.

 

HTH

 

Our tentative schedule is very similar to this. We will be starting on the 11th, so it hasn't been put into practice yet. We school at home 4-days a week, and will be at COOP 1-day

 

8:15-8:45 Bible

8:45-9:15 Math

9:15-9:30 Math Flash Cards

9:30-10:00 Independent Reading (relates to history or science)

10:00-10:15 Break

10:15-10:30 Handwriting

10:30-10:45 Grammar

10:45-11:00 French (done orally or by listening)

11:00-11:15 Spelling

11:15-11:30 Writing

11:15-12:00 Lunch/Break

12:00-1:15 History M/Th Science T/F

 

Violin practice with my dh after dinner.

 

Krista

[TwinMominTX]

I have twin dds who are 7. The girls are participating in the Classical Conversations program so once that starts, we will do school four days per week.

 

We try to start as close to 9am as possible, but sometimes it is 9:30am or even 10am when we finally get down to business. I am hoping to improve this as we progress!

 

Math (Saxon 2) - 40 minutes - we do the entire meeting and both sides of the worksheet

 

Break - 5 minutes - mommy needs coffee

 

Handwriting (Handwriting Without Tears Cursive) - 15 minutes - we are taking this very slow as they are still somewhat young for cursive, but have asked to learn

 

Spelling (All About Spelling) - 15 minutes - we started with level 1 are going along at a good pace and do approximately 1 step every other day. We will quickly progress to level 2 where I expect we will slow down.

 

Grammar (First Language Lessons) - 25 minutes - this is where we also do our copywork so I budget a bit more time than normal. We started at level 1, but we are doing approximately 3-4 lessons per day and skipping many of the narration exercises. I expect to slow down when we get to level 2.

 

Bible (Bible Study Guide for All Ages) - 20 minutes - I just ordered this so I am guessing on the amount of time to budget.

 

Break - 15 minutes - I encourage my girls to get outside and do something active...jump on the trampoline, ride bikes, etc.

 

Memorization - 30 minutes - this is where I will work with the girls on reviewing memorization for their Classical Conversations weekly meeting. Right now we are using it as review for other subjects.

 

History/Science (Winter Promise American Story 1/Noeo Science) - 90 minutes - we do history on Monday/Wednesday and Science on Tuesday/Thursday. I love doing it this was as it allows us plenty of time for experiments or crafts. Doing each subject everyday was too hard for us and we skipped many fun activities.

 

Done with "formal" schooling for the day - total time is approximately 4 hours

 

Also during the day at some point the girls are expected to read for 30 minutes on their own and we also do a read-aloud for approximately 30 minutes. This is done at our leisure during the afternoon/evening.

[HootyTooty]

This is what our week looks like:

http://thecornerstoneschool.wordpress.com/20082009-schedule/

 

Basically start at 9:30 end by 1:30/2. There are breaks and lunch in their and Fridays we go to co-op.

[DeeDeeMarie0]

We start around 9:00 and finish around 2:00. My 2nd grader has to work around the schedule of three others, so he has several breaks in there where he goes out and plays.

 

We are using

Singapore 2B and 3A

Handwriting Without Tears (he wants to start cursive)

FLL

Science at co-op

American History at co-op (although he will be sitting in on SOTW 4 with brothers)

Music - Piano Lessons and Practice

PE - co-op and team sports

Spanish - co-op

Religion - whole family

Latin - he will sit in with brothers, but is not expected to do any writing

ETC

 

We do not do all of these subjects every day.

[annabanana1992]

I am HS DD7 for the first time this year - this is such a big help!

[Homeschooling6]

My 2nd grader

• Spelling AAS Level 1
  
• Reading- The Reading Lesson once done R&S Reading
  
• Writing- WWE Workbook 1
  
• Phonics-R&S 2 & ETC 1 1/2, 2 1/2 & 3 1/2
  
• Math- Singapore 1B/2A
  
• Bible/History/Art/Science MFW 1st Grade (minus the phonics) and listening in on CtG
  
• Read Alouds-From SL-Core-4 (when we can fit them in)
  
• Learning Spanish & Greek Roots
  
• New American Cursive

Because I have 5 different grade levels this year he's doing a little bit of this and that. He happens to be a middle child:001_huh:

 

HTH,

[TN Mama]

We start next week - first week will be a light week of review and "welcome to homeschooling." :) Beginning the following week, I hope our schedule will look something like this:

 

Math (CLE 2) 5x week for 30 minutes

plus Challenging Word Problems 1x week 10 minutes

Reading (BJU 3) 5x week for 30 minutes

LA (CLE 2) 5x week for 30 minutes

WWE 4x week for 15ish minutes

Latin (Prima Latina) 4 x week for 15-20 minutes

History (SOTW1) 2x week for 30 minutes (not counting read alouds)

Science (Life Science/Bio) 2x week for 30 minutes

Poetry/Literature (Tanglewood suggestions) 5x week for 30 minutes

Logic (Critical Thinking) 1x week for 10-15 minutes

 

Quiet reading time will be done before bedtime and is not figured into our "schedule". Our short days are approximately 2 and 1/2 hours and our long days are an hour more. She will also attend a tutorial/enrichment group 2x week for art, music, pe, hands-on science, etc. While there she will have two 45 minute sessions of seat work so we won't be trying to get all of our work done at home afterwards. This schedule may or may not work for us, but we won't know that until we try it out.

[Marsha SC]

We have already started school, so here is what we are doing (and still tweaking):

 

Mathematics 3 (ABeka)

Spelling Workout D

Science (using the First Encyclopedia of Our World as a spine then library books to fill in the gaps)

History (Story of the World I - still finishing)

Language (English 3 - Rod&Staff)

Geography (some cheap workbooks and geography games - also done during Story of the World lessons)

Spanish (informal right now with workbooks and a friend of mine to help but soon Rosetta Stone)

Reading (following the list in TWTM)

Logic (on Fridays - workbooks, and games)

 

Its been taking us between 2.5-3 hrs to complete each day. We do Geography on MWF and Spanish TuThurs, everything else we do every day.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Marsha

[MamaMamaMama!!]

I waited to test my new schedule before I posted.. Its vary similar to what we did in First grade except I wasnt very consistent and we rotated more subjects and worked 5 days a week. I think that is why i wasnt consistent so I switched to just 4 days a week.

 

Curriculum for 2nd Grade

Math: Horizons 2

Reading: Free Reading (she picks her own), and reading orally (2x's)McGuffey's 2nd

Writing: Nothing.. Yet.. Im still thinking of adding a formal writing..maybe..I did find a cute summer link workbook with some writing excersizes that we are practicing on before I buy something.

Logic: Still thinking

Grammar:Primary Language Lessons 1st half (2xs)

Penmanship: A Reason for Handwriting T (learning Cursive)

Spelling: We were doing Explode the Code but that is more phonics and I think she needs spelling so I ordered Spelling Work out B and we'll start that soon.

Science: Exploring Creation with Astronomy 2x's a week and Burgess Animal Book 2x's

History: Sonlight Core 1 I believe I went with 4 days a week schedule (its still coming)

Art: Come look with Me books and Draw Write Now

Music: still thinking

 

How we do it..

AM Routine (No time slots)

Wake up get dressed

Breakfast

Morning Manna with Dad

Room Check

Table Work Math, Penmanship, Spelling/Phonics, Grammar or Reading Orally

30 Min Break

History and Science

Lunch

Reading Aloud

*If we wake up late and do not finish our History and Science on time then we will have a catch up time in the afternoon.

Free Reading (Bible and Chapter Book for Natalie)

 

 

 

 

Well that's it in a nutshell. We like to ease into school work so this week we've only started Table Work. Next week we leave on Vacation to Colorado and I hope to take our table work with us since its so easy to do on the road. Then when we come back we'll add science. Then the following week we'll add History. (I just ordered our history so I havent had time to lesson plan it yet. ;))

[Lynn in Silicon Valley]

3 hours a day for 2nd grader, with a few mini breaks in between subjects to do cartwheels, trampoline jumping, and snacks. we're usually done by lunch.

 

Bible - 10 min

Math - 30 min

History - 30 min

Science - 20 min

Grammar - 10 min

Writing - 30 min

Spelling - 15 min

Handwriting - 10 min

Piano - 20 min

[hsing1]

Thanks everyone. These are great. It's given me so many great ideas.

 

Blessings,

[Laura Corin]

I think mine is still in my siggy.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura