If you have 2nd or 3rd grader

[Roadrunner]

What does Language Arts look like in your house? Which materials do you use and how long does it take per day? Is 2 hours (including half an hour reading of lit) about right?

How do you minimize wasted time on chatter and fly counting?

[Heidi]

2nd grade LA included Climbing to Good English 2 & R&S spelling 3. It took about 20 min to complete that, plus an hour of reading at night. MY 3rd grader did R&S English 3 and spelling 5, and that took 30-45 min., plus reading 1 hour.

 

EtA: it is a rule here that there is no talking during that part of school. I play classical music to help them focus. I give them three warnings for chatting, then assign extra work as a consequence, usually copy work.

[ByGrace3]

2nd grade: finished ETC 6-8, Sonlight readers, FLL 2, WWE 2, AAS3- part of 4. It took about 1.5 hours a day.

 

3rd grade planned: Sonlight readers, FLL 3, WWE/BW combo, R&S spelling 4-- will probably still be about 1.5 hrs

[Roadrunner]

2nd grade: finished ETC 6-8, Sonlight readers, FLL 2, WWE 2, AAS3- part of 4. It took about 1.5 hours a day.

 

3rd grade planned: Sonlight readers, FLL 3, WWE/BW combo, R&S spelling 4-- will probably still be about 1.5 hrs

How much time do you spend on readers and do you assign any written work for those readers? For example, I have my second grader read k12 lit book and answer questions from student pages in writing. It's usually about three or four sentences, but it's in addition to WWE. Is that overkill?

[raceNzanesmom]

My 3rd grader used AAS (20 minutes a day 3-4x wk), R&S English 2 (10 minutes a day, mostly orally), HWT Cursive (10-15 minutes a day), vocab (1x week, maybe 10 minutes), poetry (10 minutes a day), his reading (about 30 minutes a day), plus I read to him at least 30 minutes a day and he read his devotional to me. 

 

We don't write for reading. He retells or answers some comp questions orally. He wrote a tiny bit for storytime. That writing will ramp up in 4th. He does have a journal (notebook) that he freely writes in. hth.

[SFM]

We just finished "third grade" with my DS. We used WRTR for Spelling, R&S 3 for Grammar, WWE 2 for Writing, and McGuffey for reading fluency and additional copywork.  We also read aloud and had assigned reading this took about one and half hours a day give or take. Typically, WRTR was longer on Mondays when we would analyze all the words for the week. We only did Grammar 3 times a week and WWE was 3 times as well as we combined two days. It worked for us. He read during quiet time or in the evening.

 

[SilverMoon]

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Edited May 29 by SilverMoon

[Marie131]

We just finished 2nd.  We did 7 min of copywork/printing practice daily, 10 min homemade spelling daily, WWE, a bit of phonics review here and there, and reading aloud and silently.  It was a total of about 35 min (not including any reading).

 

For 3rd we are planning on MCT, cursive, R&S spelling and Queens Language Lessons plus reading aloud and silently.  I expect this should take 45 min not including reading.

 

I keep my kids on task by setting a timer for each subject.  For instance, my ds knows that he gets 10 min for spelling.  Once the timer goes, spelling is done and he can play.  HOWEVER, if he fools around or gets side tracked, time gets added to the timer.  They soon learn that it is better to work hard for a short time and have loads of play time, then goof off and have it cut into their playing.

[Roadrunner]

I am going to time everything we do this coming week. Reading everybody's responses I realze that we are just very inefficient. It doesn't help that LOE has massive spelling lists.

 

I have my second grader (he is on a younger side. He will turn seven at the end if Sept.) work though WWE2 and LOE with his older brother (8 year old) + k12 lit.

My third grader is doing MCT lit instead of k12 and reviewing Sentence Island as well as working through Killgallon. That's reasonable, right? Maybe I just need to schedule better. I don't want to overdo at such a young age, but I don't want to slack either.

[Soror]

We are working on starting our 3rd grade yr right now, officially started last week but won't be fully going until August. Anyway, ds is an older 3rd grader due to birthdate and local cut-offs.

 

We have a 4 day week daily:

Writing- WWE3- 20 min

Spelling- LoE Essentials-30 min (just doing the spelling working in the book + phonogram practice)

Cursive- LoE- 10 min

Reading Aloud- 15 min (reading to me- I don't always remember this but hope to be more consistent)

 

Still have to add:

Grammar/Vocab/Poetry- MCT- 20 min (not sure on this just guessing)

Latin- GSwL- 15 min

 

Lit- 30 min

 

On Lit I have 30 min scheduled per day, although he generally reads way more than that. For 3rd I have a list I've compiled from AO, Angelicum/Great Books Academy etc. for him to choose. He is reading in History and Science as well, currently about 15 min each for these.

[LindaOz]

What does Language Arts look like in your house? Which materials do you use and how long does it take per day? Is 2 hours (including half an hour reading of lit) about right?

How do you minimize wasted time on chatter and fly counting?

My 3rd grader does the following:

- a LLATL lesson (includes grammar, spelling, writing etc)

- some sort of writing: free writing, copywork, dictation, letters, cursive, writing project.

- read with me from reader and science book

- independent assigned reading for 30 mins.

 

This would probably take no more than 1 1/2 hours - sometimes less. We also have a read-aloud most afternoons.

[Aurelia]

Second grade: Galore Park Junior English 2/3, AAS, WWE2, Dancing Bears, plus 3-5 pages reading aloud from an assigned book.

 

Third grade: MCT Island, Apples & Pears, WWE3, plus one chapter from an assigned reading book and 30-45 minutes reading a book of her choice.

 

Most days the 3rd grade work takes an hour and a half, WWE is only done on Thursdays and Fridays and adds about 30 minutes.

 

 

 

[Crimson Wife]

My kids are on a "loop" schedule for LA. My older-for-grade 2nd grader does AAS every day since I use the dictation for penmanship practice. He also does independent reading every day. The rest of LA is looped. Right now he is finishing up the last bit of "Practice Island" and will start "Practice Town" soon, working through "Grammar Town" (after which I'm planning to try Killgallon SC4E), and "Caesar's English".

 

I'm probably going to have to tweak CE because while he did very well with the roots in week 1, he struggled a LOT with the vocab words in week 2. I wasn't planning on starting him on CE this early but he specifically asked to do it. So what I'm thinking of doing is just the odd-numbered chapters with the roots for now (possibly with Prufrock "Red Hot Root Words"), and saving the even-numbered chapters for later.

[alisoncooks]

What does Language Arts look like in your house? Which materials do you use and how long does it take per day? Is 2 hours (including half an hour reading of lit) about right?

How do you minimize wasted time on chatter and fly counting?

 

We've started 2nd grade (or extended 1st grade, I'm not sure which :p) -- my DD turned 7 in June.

We're using:

• Dancing Bears Reading - 10 min. (or 1 page, whichever we hit 1st) per day
• Apples & Pears Spelling - 1 page a day (10 min.)
• Writing - 2x a week, 20 min.
• "Literature" - 15 min./4x a week (we're doing a fable/fairy tale per week, with retellings/illustrating/etc)

So that's about 30-60 min. we spend on Language Arts.  Our writing program includes light grammar, so I don't do that separately.  I also read them stories during the day, but that's just "mommy time" ... not school time.

 

As far as chatter/fly counting :D ... I don't have any suggestions.  My DD is a foot-dragger, for sure.  But now that she's got pretty clear expectations (we're doing just ONE page in spelling), she goes ahead and gets it done.  Less dawdling.

[Dustybug]

I must be a real slacker.  My oldest will be in 2nd grade this upcoming year and I don't plan on spending more than 2 1/2 hours total on ALL of her lessons. o.O

[5LittleMonkeys]

Consider integrating skills for language arts to cut down on the inefficiency of having to switch from program to program.

 

Use a passage from literature, history, science, or poetry for copy work, penmanship, grammar, and punctuation. Pull unfamiliar words for vocabulary and misspelled words for spelling.

[Gentlemommy]

I must be a real slacker. My oldest will be in 2nd grade this upcoming year and I don't plan on spending more than 2 1/2 hours total on ALL of her lessons. o.O

We just finished 2nd grade and that was about what we did too.

[Roadrunner]

My kids are on a "loop" schedule for LA. My older-for-grade 2nd grader does AAS every day since I use the dictation for penmanship practice. He also does independent reading every day. The rest of LA is looped. Right now he is finishing up the last bit of "Practice Island" and will start "Practice Town" soon, working through "Grammar Town" (after which I'm planning to try Killgallon SC4E), and "Caesar's English".

 

I'm probably going to have to tweak CE because while he did very well with the roots in week 1, he struggled a LOT with the vocab words in week 2. I wasn't planning on starting him on CE this early but he specifically asked to do it. So what I'm thinking of doing is just the odd-numbered chapters with the roots for now (possibly with Prufrock "Red Hot Root Words"), and saving the even-numbered chapters for later.

I have stolen your LA ideas :). I was planning on going from SC4E, then Paragraph writing series through EPS and then starting MCT Town. I see you are opting for MCT Town before SC4E. I don't won the Town level yet, so I am wondering if there is a specific reason for your progression. I am also wondering how long I should except SC4E to take us. I really want to start town around New Year.

[Roadrunner]

We just finished 2nd grade and that was about what we did too.

Can you give me a general idea what your typical school day looked like?

[Occasionally]

I must be a real slacker.  My oldest will be in 2nd grade this upcoming year and I don't plan on spending more than 2 1/2 hours total on ALL of her lessons. o.O

 

It's similar here, too. DS7 would implode if he had to spend an hour and a half only on language arts.

[swellmomma]

My ds (3rd grade this year) and my dd(K this year) each did a lesson in LLATL, a lesson in AAR and a lesson in HWOT. ds also did AAS, R&S and WWE (we started with those before adding LLATL and he likes them all so we keep going with them)and dd did language lessons for little ones(well she finished 1/2 so far).

 

Next year for grade 1 and 4 it will be much of the same.

 

language arts took about an hour a day (it was the focal point of our seat work for those 2) and then we would read 1-2 chapters of a read aloud later in the day sometime before bedtime.

 

When ds finished up with AAR this year we will switch to just oral reading each day, and when He finishes with level 2 of AAS he wis switching over to R&S spelling like the big kids. WHen dd finishes with learning language arts for little ones this coming year we will not replace it, but she is starting with WWE in the fall so her day doesn't really get any shorter.

[ByGrace3]

How much time do you spend on readers and do you assign any written work for those readers? For example, I have my second grader read k12 lit book and answer questions from student pages in writing. It's usually about three or four sentences, but it's in addition to WWE. Is that overkill?

I have her read about 30 minutes a day. Occasionally I had her answer some comprehension questions or do an oral narration or an illustration but I don't require anything written.

[chepyl]

We just finished second grade. It took us 2.5 hours, max to complete everything. R&S 3 for grammar, McGuffey for reading, spelling plus with dictation and homophones, SOTW, RS4K, Prima Latina, SM 3-4. Silent reading is not included in that.

[Soror]

I must be a real slacker.  My oldest will be in 2nd grade this upcoming year and I don't plan on spending more than 2 1/2 hours total on ALL of her lessons. o.O

Ds only did about 2 ish hrs last year, about 1 hr each for Math and LA, lots of reading on his own and content informally.

[Crimson Wife]

I have stolen your LA ideas :). I was planning on going from SC4E, then Paragraph writing series through EPS and then starting MCT Town. I see you are opting for MCT Town before SC4E. I don't won the Town level yet, so I am wondering if there is a specific reason for your progression. I am also wondering how long I should except SC4E to take us. I really want to start town around New Year.

I'm only doing "Grammar Town" before SC4E (plus the CE that my DS is insisting he wants to do now). The reason for doing that is because my oldest did Killgallon "Story Grammar" before MCT "Grammar Town" and not knowing the various phrases & clauses made it difficult for her to get the sentence structure of her Killgallon imitations correct. After she did MCT "town", she had a much better grasp on things like participles, infinitives, appositives, gerunds, dependent clauses, etc. that made Killgallon "Grammar for Middle School" a whole lot easier. I don't actually have a copy of Killgallon SC4E yet

 

In terms of the writing, DS isn't quite ready for EPS' "The Paragraph Book" series. In the fall, after we receive the materials I've had our virtual charter school order, he's going to be doing Singapore "Sentences to Paragraphs" books 3 & 4. I haven't used those books before, but they look like a good bridge between MCT "Sentence Island" and EPS TPB Vol. 1.

[MinivanMom]

2 hours is how long it takes us to finish everything (except independent reading)! For lang.arts we do:

 

2nd grade: 30-35 min daily (plus 1 hr silent reading)

HWT 3 & 4 (cursive instruction) - 10 min daily

Independent writing using the writing process - 20 min 3x per wk

Spelling (studying lists of most common words) - 10 min 2x per wk

Journal writing - 10 min 1x per wk

 

3rd grade: 30-35 min daily (plus 1 hr silent reading)

Independent writing using the writing process - 30 min daily

Cursive copywork - 10 min 2x per week

 

We wait until 4th grade to start formal grammar (MCT), so our lang.arts is probably lighter than some at this age. For my kids 2nd & 3rd have been that magical age in the middle where they can read anything and write easily. They no longer need phonics instruction or even heavy spelling instruction, yet we are still holding off on grammar and more formal writing. I use it as a time to really nurture their love of reading and writing by focusing on independent reading (always books of their own choice) and independent writing (where they choose their own projects). It has helped us build confidence and motivation before I increase the workload in 4th.

[mamamindy]

2 hours is how long it takes us to finish everything (except independent reading)! For lang.arts we do:

 

 

Independent writing using the writing process - 20 min 3x per wk

 

 

We wait until 4th grade to start formal grammar (MCT), so our lang.arts is probably lighter than some at this age. For my kids 2nd & 3rd have been that magical age in the middle where they can read anything and write easily. They no longer need phonics instruction or even heavy spelling instruction, yet we are still holding off on grammar and more formal writing. I use it as a time to really nurture their love of reading and writing by focusing on independent reading (always books of their own choice) and independent writing (where they choose their own projects). It has helped us build confidence and motivation before I increase the workload in 4th.

 

This sounds nice. :)  So, what exactly is independent writing using the writing process?

[Mom2TheTeam]

My older second grader (8 in Oct) does:

 

Rod and Staff Spelling - 5-10 min each day

WWE1 moving onto 2 - 10 - 15 minute each day

FFL1 - moving onto 2 - 10-15 minutes each day

copywork of some sort, often done with WWE - 10 minutes or so most days

working on incorporating phonics review 2-3 times a week for 10 minutes or so.

 

So, that's about 40 minutes a day.  We break it up and he doesn't seem to mind at all. I tend to stager things, like I would be more inclined to do phonics review on a day when his copywork is WWE.  That helps not to take on more time.

 

We spend about 2-2.5 hrs on school work total for him. 

 

That does not include his independent reading.  I have him read for at least 30 minutes a day.  I'm working on having him do it aloud 2 days a week.  I don't have him write anything for his independent reading.  I will often ask him questions about what he read though or just generally ask him to tell me about the book.

[LMD]

My 3rd grader does daily:

 

1 Classical Writing Aesop lesson (about 15-20 minutes)

MCT Language arts work (another 20 minutes)

Cursive copywork (5 minutes)

Assigned reading (about 20 minutes)

 

The first 3 are done in a LA block, for which I schedule 1 hour.  The reading is done in quiet time, I generally assign number of pages then she can choose what else to read for the rest of quiet time.

 

 

 

How do you minimize wasted time on chatter and fly counting?

 

Haha, threats usually!

[MinivanMom]

This sounds nice. :)  So, what exactly is independent writing using the writing process?

It's just a fancy way of saying that they choose their own writing projects and work through them at their own pace.

 

I make up a "Writing Folder" for each child at the start of the year. On the left inside of the folder I staple a list of writing ideas: a column of fiction ideas (story, poem) and a column of nonfiction ideas (personal narrative, autobiography, biography, history report, science report, letter). I always leave several blank lines at the bottom of each column so that they can brainstorm some ideas of their own at the beginning of the year. As they finish each project they check it off (or write it in and then check it off). They are always free to come up with their own idea and add it, but the list helps keep them from claiming that they don't know what to write.

 

On the right inside of the folder I staple several pages of reference materials to help them with their writing (stapled just at the top so they can easily look through all the pages without losing any of them). The top page is always the steps of the writing process (Prewrite, Draft, Revise, Edit, Publish) and instructions for how to edit (Say every word, Point with your pencil, Proofread twice [1st time for spelling, 2nd time for mechanics], Have Mom proofread). For 1st grade I also add a page that explains the parts of a story (beg, middle, end) and a page that shows correct formatting for a letter. For 2nd grade I expand the parts of a story to explain the basics of conflict and plot, and I add in a page explaining the parts of a paragraph, a page listing poetic devices, and a page that shows correct formatting for a letter. With each grade I add a little more to the reference materials.

 

I spend a lot of time in 1st grade teaching them how the writing process works: how to organize a prewrite, how to skip lines on a rough draft, how to edit. I teach them to write with pencil, revise with a blue pen, and edit with a red pen. We have a spelling dictionary, and I spend a lot of time in 1st grade teaching them how to find the correct spelling on their own. My goal is to help them work toward becoming independent writers. By 2nd grade they are pretty much independent. At the start of our writing time I will ask what they are working on today, but then they work pretty independently unless they need me to do a final edit of their work. I do step in and explain any of the new reference materials when they are pertinent. For example: I include a reference page on the parts of a letter in 1st grade, so the first time they write a letter I would go over the sample letter with them and watch to be sure they were formatting their rough draft correctly. I do try to encourage them to choose a variety of projects, but I try very hard to leave it up to them. I also buy lots of high quality blank books (I like the ones at Bare Books) and nice adhesive covers to protect the books. They love making their stories into real books at the end of the process. I also keep lots of report folders and things like that on hand. It gives us a polished final product.

 

It's sounds complicated, but it works very smoothly. More importantly, my children write very well and they love writing. I mean they really, really love writing. It's their favorite part of our day.

[Julie Smith]

Youngest does, including reading about two hours a day. This covers all his subjects except listening to me read books he wants, or listening to his current book of choice at bedtime.

[Kathie in VA]

Last year my 2nd grader finished AlphaPhonics and then read various leveled book till we just started a graded reader.  We also went through FLL and some of WWE.  She did Rod and Staff Spelling and a handwriting book.

 

For 3rd she will use CW Aesop(for grammar, copywork, dictation, writing), lots of practice reading since she still doesn't like it, R&S Spelling 3, cursive writing.

 

It's hard to know how long things take as we have a little one to watch over and older kids to keep focused.  I'd expect about 1 to 2 hours.

[Tress]

It's just a fancy way of saying that they choose their own writing projects and work through them at their own pace.

 

I make up a "Writing Folder" for each child at the start of the year. On the left inside of the folder I staple a list of writing ideas: a column of fiction ideas (story, poem) and a column of nonfiction ideas (personal narrative, autobiography, biography, history report, science report, letter). I always leave several blank lines at the bottom of each column so that they can brainstorm some ideas of their own at the beginning of the year. As they finish each project they check it off (or write it in and then check it off). They are always free to come up with their own idea and add it, but the list helps keep them from claiming that they don't know what to write.

 

On the right inside of the folder I staple several pages of reference materials to help them with their writing (stapled just at the top so they can easily look through all the pages without losing any of them). The top page is always the steps of the writing process (Prewrite, Draft, Revise, Edit, Publish) and instructions for how to edit (Say every word, Point with your pencil, Proofread twice [1st time for spelling, 2nd time for mechanics], Have Mom proofread). For 1st grade I also add a page that explains the parts of a story (beg, middle, end) and a page that shows correct formatting for a letter. For 2nd grade I expand the parts of a story to explain the basics of conflict and plot, and I add in a page explaining the parts of a paragraph, a page listing poetic devices, and a page that shows correct formatting for a letter. With each grade I add a little more to the reference materials.

 

I spend a lot of time in 1st grade teaching them how the writing process works: how to organize a prewrite, how to skip lines on a rough draft, how to edit. I teach them to write with pencil, revise with a blue pen, and edit with a red pen. We have a spelling dictionary, and I spend a lot of time in 1st grade teaching them how to find the correct spelling on their own. My goal is to help them work toward becoming independent writers. By 2nd grade they are pretty much independent. At the start of our writing time I will ask what they are working on today, but then they work pretty independently unless they need me to do a final edit of their work. I do step in and explain any of the new reference materials when they are pertinent. For example: I include a reference page on the parts of a letter in 1st grade, so the first time they write a letter I would go over the sample letter with them and watch to be sure they were formatting their rough draft correctly. I do try to encourage them to choose a variety of projects, but I try very hard to leave it up to them. I also buy lots of high quality blank books (I like the ones at Bare Books) and nice adhesive covers to protect the books. They love making their stories into real books at the end of the process. I also keep lots of report folders and things like that on hand. It gives us a polished final product.

 

It's sounds complicated, but it works very smoothly. More importantly, my children write very well and they love writing. I mean they really, really love writing. It's their favorite part of our day.

Awesome! I'm going to print this and keep it for inspiration. I wish I could be this confident in teaching writing. I'm using CW Homer with my oldest and that is going very well...but that has more to do with her being a natural writer :D. My second dd is going to need something completely different and that scares me.

[Guest]

I have 2 at this level. This is what it looks like every day here. 

 

viewing BJU DL English grammar lesson: 15 mins.

workbook pages {front and back of one page}: 10 mins.

WWE: 10-15mins.

Lit guide: 20 mins.

Spelling: 10 mins.

 

I need to have them do some assigned reading and read to them. That is my goal for the coming month. They free read a ton.

[Roadrunner]

I am most impressed how quickly everybody is accomplishing writing. We worked through WWE2 today and by the time we read the selection, went through questions, had each of my boys narrate it, write it and also learn all vocab they didn't know and give an example of it in a sentence, we were looking at 40 or 45 minutes. I guess tomorrow will be the easy section of it.

[MrsBanjoClown]

My 3rd grader is currently doing:

MCT Grammar Island - 10-15 minutes/day (4 days/week)

Rod & Staff Spelling - 15 minutes/day (4 days/week)

Handwriting - 15-30 minutes/day (he is very slow because he works hard to get it just right - 4 days/week)

Literature - 30 minutes/day (4 days/week)

 

Total: about 2 hours/day for 4 days/week

 

Later in the year I am going to transition him into doing some IEW writing in place of the handwriting.  Then it will be handwriting 2 days/week and IEW 2 days/week.  We just started our new school year yesterday.