Language arts in 2nd grade Question. All parts every day?

[ktgrok]

I am just getting a reality check here regarding plans for next year. DD up to this point has had mainly phonics, and she is still a hesitant reader, so that will continue to be the focus, but it's time to have more than just that. (by hesitant I mean she has completed AAR1, is finishing up reading the first I Can Read It book, can sound out things she's been taught but is just starting to be more fluent, where she doesn't have to sound out each letter every word.)

 

I think I know what I want to use, just now how many days a week each should be...would you do all of these every day?

 

Seton Phonics 2 (very very similar to Plaid Phonics)

Reading aloud (I Can Read It or similar....a few pages a day)

First Language Lessons (we just started book 1 doing 2 lessons a day, will move on to book 2 when we get there and slow down)

Writing With Ease 1

Seton Spelling 

Seton Handwriting (she does still need handwriting...probably not every day.)

 

I'm thinking we could alternate WWE and Handwriting? Then do phonics, reading aloud, and FLL daily? Spelling daily? We haven't done any spelling yet. 

[Guest]

Do you use a five day school week?

 

Of the subjects my 2nd grader does, with a six day week, we have things he does twice a week and things he does thrice a week. The only absolute daily thing is hi own reading.

[Clemsondana]

We do a 5 day week, but one of the days is co-op so our regular work is done in 4 days. We have some subjects that we do all 4 days, others that are done 3, and a couple that are done 2 days. I also shift this over the year - when my child was first learning to write, handwriting was done 4 days/week until all of the letters had been learned. This is because we couldn't really do anything else that involved writing until they could write every letter. Once that was mastered, handwriting because a 3 day subject, with the possibility of only being done twice if the week was busy. With spelling, if my child got a perfect score on the pre-test, then we only spent one day doing a select few exercises for that unit (skills that I wanted to practice, like alphabetizing), and we would either do only 2 days that week or, if there was time, we'd do 2 units over 4 days and finish the book early...which left more time in the schedule to work on other things.

[Zoo Keeper]

I would drop the spelling.  If she is still working through a phonics program, the spelling might be overkill.  I usually start a spelling program after the phonics program is done, and handwriting is fluent.  Only one of mine (so far) was ready for this in second grade.

 

I also would be keep an eye on how much writing is in her day--little hands can tire easily. Not a one of my kids would tell me that their hand hurt--they would just get grumpy and declare that they hated ____.  It took me a while to figure out that I had to cut back in order to get decent work done well.  Don't forget there is writing in math, too. That's one reason why I like FLL; so much of it can be done orally. :)

[wendyroo]

I would drop the spelling.  If she is still working through a phonics program, the spelling might be overkill.  I usually start a spelling program after the phonics program is done, and handwriting is fluent.  Only one of mine (so far) was ready for this in second grade.

 

I also would be keep an eye on how much writing is in her day--little hands can tire easily. Not a one of my kids would tell me that their hand hurt--they would just get grumpy and declare that they hated ____.  It took me a while to figure out that I had to cut back in order to get decent work done well.  Don't forget there is writing in math, too. That's one reason why I like FLL; so much of it can be done orally. :)

 

:iagree:

 

We don't do spelling until kids are easily and confidently reading at a strong second grade level.  In your shoes, I might see how the first semester goes and then add in spelling later in the year if it seems she needs more challenge.

 

I also agree about the amount of writing.  Remember that half of WWE is copywork...plus handwriting and any writing that is required in spelling and phonics, plus if she does some writing in math.  It adds up quickly.

 

This year my second grader (who was done with phonics) did 5 minutes of read aloud practice, 10 minutes of handwriting (starting with manuscript and transitioning into cursive mid-year), and about 15-20 minutes of assigned reading each day.  He did writing, grammar and spelling each 2 days a week. 

 

Wendy

[ktgrok]

I would drop the spelling.  If she is still working through a phonics program, the spelling might be overkill.  I usually start a spelling program after the phonics program is done, and handwriting is fluent.  Only one of mine (so far) was ready for this in second grade.

 

I also would be keep an eye on how much writing is in her day--little hands can tire easily. Not a one of my kids would tell me that their hand hurt--they would just get grumpy and declare that they hated ____.  It took me a while to figure out that I had to cut back in order to get decent work done well.  Don't forget there is writing in math, too. That's one reason why I like FLL; so much of it can be done orally. :)

 

 

Ok, I actually kind of was leaning this way, but felt I had to add it in at this point. But she definitely still needs and is doing phonics. And yes, that's why we switched from Seton English to FLL, so that we could do most of it orally. 

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[ktgrok]

ckly.

 

This year my second grader (who was done with phonics) did 5 minutes of read aloud practice, 10 minutes of handwriting (starting with manuscript and transitioning into cursive mid-year), and about 15-20 minutes of assigned reading each day.  He did writing, grammar and spelling each 2 days a week. 

 

Wendy

 

That sounds about right. I think we will alternate WWE and Handwriting, and probably take one day off from both on Fridays. I think we can do FLL daily, as it is much less writing, or I can scribe for her. Also probably taking at least one day off a week. 

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[HomeAgain]

Drop spelling. It should be either/or, spelling and phonics.

 

Our tentative plan for next year is this:

 

Every day: reading, literature, dictation.

Every other day: copy work, grammar.

 

Free writing will happen in other subjects this year.

[ExcitedMama]

Are you going to drop AAR? I can't speak to Seton anything but with AAR they recommend starting AAS while still doing AAR. At first I was hesitant to start DS doing formal spelling so young but it was a great fit and helped cement the rules he had learned in AAR. For that reason I disagree with the advice to wait on spellling.

 

For DS his handwriting practice is in writing for AAS, ELTL, FLL and WWE so I think you could easily drop handwriting as a subject or alternate it with a subject like WWE where there is writing.

[rutheart]

This year, my second grader started out the year barely reading Bob books. We were wondering if we needed to spend money on a dyslexia coach. Now that we only have a few weeks left to our school year, she is reading fluently and is reading a mixture of picture and chapter books....in her free time! Her progress this year was more than I had dreamed possible.

 

We did:

phonics instruction 5 times a week

readers 5 times a week

spelling 5 times a week (my perfectionist kid was begging for it)

grammar 2-3 times a week, mostly done orally

composition 3-4 times a week (mostly journaling on story paper, but some writing assignments over the spring)

handwriting 4 times a week

literature read aloud 5 times a week (in addition to bedtime stories)

 

The biggest difference I saw was midyear when I started using the CK12 free language arts program. They have free pdf readers included, and I think getting daily practice with those stories made her realize she could read "real" books. The readers alternate a full page of (large size) text with illustrations. At first, I would cover up all the lines of text except one, but after a couple weeks, she realized she was reading the whole pages and was no longer intimidated by how much there was to read on each page.

 

Ruth

[strawberryjam]

Is using AAS an option to use for spelling? It works well with AAR. It's so quick and painless.

[SilverMoon]

My typical 2nd graders did grammar, writing, spelling, and literature everyday. If they were learning cursive penmanship would be in there too. That had us finished with FLL 2 early. Depending on the year and/or child we'd either start the next level or let grammar fall off the schedule until 3rd.

 

My late bloomer focused on phonics, reading, and writing in 2nd. She wasn't reading as well as yours until mid-2nd grade. I didn't add spelling until she was ready for the spelling book to take over her phonics instruction, and then it replaced phonics in the schedule. We also held off grammar until 3rd, where she went through FLL 1/2 at hyper speed and started FLL 3 around Christmas. By 5th grade she was solidly at level or ahead in everything, fwiw. :001_smile:

[Um_2_4]

This year, my second grader started out the year barely reading Bob books. We were wondering if we needed to spend money on a dyslexia coach. Now that we only have a few weeks left to our school year, she is reading fluently and is reading a mixture of picture and chapter books....in her free time! Her progress this year was more than I had dreamed possible.

 

We did:

phonics instruction 5 times a week

readers 5 times a week

spelling 5 times a week (my perfectionist kid was begging for it)

grammar 2-3 times a week, mostly done orally

composition 3-4 times a week (mostly journaling on story paper, but some writing assignments over the spring)

handwriting 4 times a week

literature read aloud 5 times a week (in addition to bedtime stories)

 

The biggest difference I saw was midyear when I started using the CK12 free language arts program. They have free pdf readers included, and I think getting daily practice with those stories made her realize she could read "real" books. The readers alternate a full page of (large size) text with illustrations. At first, I would cover up all the lines of text except one, but after a couple weeks, she realized she was reading the whole pages and was no longer intimidated by how much there was to read on each page.

 

Ruth

 

Ruth, could you tell me more about these?Link?? I looked on the CK12 website and did not find anything like that?? I would love some pdf readers, for if we take a trip, for my 2nd graders next year. Thanks

 

 

 

ETA: Oops, forgot I was here answering a question LOL. 

OP, Next year my twins will be in 2nd and will have daily phonics, reading outloud to me, handwriting, spelling, and narrations (from content subjects).

2-3x a week will be FLL (sometimes we do 2 lessons/session, depends).

Of course they will listen to read alouds/audio books daily. 

I am also planning to do once a week projects from Jot it Down (so writing).

Edited May 12, 2017 by Um_2_4

[nixpix5]

Is using AAS an option to use for spelling? It works well with AAR. It's so quick and painless.

I agree with this. Spelling lists and formal spelling would not be a good idea when a child is not fluently reading but AAS doubles as a phonics program in and of itself. Reinforcing those phonics rules and practice analyzing words would probably benefit her greatly. We use Abeka language 1 program here to teach reading and it is reminds me of an AAR/AAS hybrid. All of the vowel marking, special sound circling and word examining is what has made all the difference for my kids. My ASD guy would not have learned to read so quickly without that double down focus on word analysis.

[Mom27kidz]

Everything every day spelled burnout for us.

 

So we alternate.

Phonics/English.

Spelling/Cursive.

(Although spelling = dictation for us).

 

And reading daily. :)

Edited May 12, 2017 by Mom27kidz

[ktgrok]

Are you going to drop AAR? I can't speak to Seton anything but with AAR they recommend starting AAS while still doing AAR. At first I was hesitant to start DS doing formal spelling so young but it was a great fit and helped cement the rules he had learned in AAR. For that reason I disagree with the advice to wait on spellling.

 

For DS his handwriting practice is in writing for AAS, ELTL, FLL and WWE so I think you could easily drop handwriting as a subject or alternate it with a subject like WWE where there is writing.

 

For a few reasons we are switching to Seton for now. She likes doing workbooks, so we will give it a try, especially given the cost difference. She's started Seton Phonics 2 already and so far so good (just review so far). 

 

I do want to keep handwriting as she still has some issues forming letters in the right direction, and keeping it as a subject will help when we start cursive. But yes, I think alternating with WWE is a good idea, thanks. 

[fralala]

Everything every day spelled burnout for us.

 

So we alternate.

Phonics/English.

Spelling/Cursive.

(Although spelling = dictation for us).

 

And reading daily. :)

 

Agree with this, only we alternate weeks for grammar and writing: Week 1 we will be doing grammar daily, Week 2 writing. But that's just my preference for those subjects; when it comes to handwriting, phonics, and reading practice, even just 5-10 minutes of each daily works better for us than double or triple that every other day.

[ktgrok]

. All of the vowel marking, special sound circling and word examining is what has made all the difference for my kids. My ASD guy would not have learned to read so quickly without that double down focus on word analysis.

See, I almost think she needs the opposite. She's SO focused on breaking it down, sounding out each part, getting it perfect, etc that she is slowing herself WAY down. She actually doesn't really think she can read, or didn't until recently. Now that she is reading daily from the I Can Read It book she's starting to become more fluent and trust herself. I think she needs more practice actually reading more than anything...she seems to pick things up easily from that. So that's why the switch to something a bit less complicated, using Seton, plus more reading practice. 

[rutheart]

I mistyped, so no wonder you couldn't find it! It does require your email address, but I didn't sign up for the newsletter and I haven't been spammed from it:

 

https://www.coreknowledge.org/curriculum/download-curriculum/

 

If you filter to second grade and language arts, the pdf readers will be in the units 1-6 that are marked as Skills (i.e. "CKLA Unit 1: Second Grade Skills-The Cat Bandit"). Some of the listening and learning units are nice read alouds, but I got the most use out of the readers. The "ancillary" materials were a waste for me. My second grader loved units 1-4. We didn't use unit 6 since we're covering a different era of history right now. I also cut Unit 5 short, since the story got kinda dark, and I didn't want to end the year on a sour note.

 

Ruth

[knitgrl]

My dd is reading well, but I have learned we need to do spelling at least 4x/week to keep it fresh in her mind. If your dd still needs phonics, I would work on that every day. I whole heartedly agree with other posters about keeping writing to a minimum, and narrations, too for that matter. I try to keep it to one bit of copywork per day (about 8-10 words), 5 minutes of cursive practice about 3x per week, since she is still learning the letters, and generally  not more than one narration per day.

[Um_2_4]

I mistyped, so no wonder you couldn't find it! It does require your email address, but I didn't sign up for the newsletter and I haven't been spammed from it:

 

https://www.coreknowledge.org/curriculum/download-curriculum/

 

If you filter to second grade and language arts, the pdf readers will be in the units 1-6 that are marked as Skills (i.e. "CKLA Unit 1: Second Grade Skills-The Cat Bandit"). Some of the listening and learning units are nice read alouds, but I got the most use out of the readers. The "ancillary" materials were a waste for me. My second grader loved units 1-4. We didn't use unit 6 since we're covering a different era of history right now. I also cut Unit 5 short, since the story got kinda dark, and I didn't want to end the year on a sour note.

 

Ruth

 

Thanks! That looks like an interesting site....