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2nd grade science and history


Elizabeth86
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I'm feeling really unsure of what to choose for 2nd grade. For K and 1st I have read through the let's read and find out science books, plus lots of random experiments, books, magazines, videos and such. I bought easy classical earth science, but haven't really used it. I liked the idea of it, it is basically a schedule of reading and experiments. Where I don't like it is, you read x amt of pages from this book, then do an experiment from this book, then read this library book optional, but my library doesn't have it and I feel annoyed because I like all boxes checked. I want everything to be more all in one place instead of a dozen books I buy to make the curriculum. I hope I am clear what I'm trying to say??? My son also did an Evan-Moor daily science book that he loved, but it just doesn't seem quite complete kwim? I wouldn't mind something that style but with more text. I am leaning toward apologia young explorers, but have been told it is best for 3rd grade and up. I'm just torn on 2nd grade.

 

 

As far as history goes, we bought the american history primary from beautiful feet books and ds and I just cannot get into it. We both find it boring. History just makes me yawn thinking about it. Its *that* school subject that I dread. So, should I try this curriculum again next year when he is older or does anyone have a good suggestion for. history. or can I just not do history next year? We are working on geography.

 

I appreciate any thoughts on this. If I left anything out you want to know just ask.

 

His dislikes are coloring and crafty type stuff. Easy classical had me get EM workbooks that had him coloring and cutting out and it wasn't very educational. He likes the style of worksheets of the daily science from EM.

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It's not my cuppa and it's expensive, but maybe Nancy Larson?  Books, yes, but everything in one kit and with worksheets.  Very scripted.

 

If you are working on geography, can you just spread that out to be a cultural study?  That's what we did for K, and then segued into ancient history with the same pattern: study one culture for 4-8 weeks with activities from SOTW, and then move to the next.  So instead of bouncing around the book I planned ALL the Egypt stories together along with the mummy, hieroglyphs, etc. The end of the year was a review before moving this year to book 2 as written.

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For history, Veritas press online self study has been amazing! I still read from SOTW and other books we find at the library but if I don't then I feel no guilt at all. My kids do their lesson on the computer and can rattle of timelines, dates, etc like it is nothing. My DD is a walking fountain of Ancient Egypt knowledge. So good!

 

For science that is tricky because so many require additional reading. RSO is fun but experiment heavy. RS4K you might find super easy to implement. No additional resources necessary. Easy to understand textbook with nice experiments that don't require a ton of time and money.

 

Apologia of course is also contained.

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For second grade history, it was SOTW year 2.    Then the matching books from the Horrible Histories boxed set.  Then books from the library.   If I knew how much we'd get through in a year, we'd intersperse the others into the SOTW, but I have no clue.   We didn't do any of the activities and I think they are cool.   So, I've decided for third grade to do a SOTW Year 3 activity class.  

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For history, Veritas press online self study has been amazing! I still read from SOTW and other books we find at the library but if I don't then I feel no guilt at all. My kids do their lesson on the computer and can rattle of timelines, dates, etc like it is nothing. My DD is a walking fountain of Ancient Egypt knowledge. So good!

 

For science that is tricky because so many require additional reading. RSO is fun but experiment heavy. RS4K you might find super easy to implement. No additional resources necessary. Easy to understand textbook with nice experiments that don't require a ton of time and money.

 

Apologia of course is also contained.

Are you kidding me?? I have never looked at vp online self study!!!! My ds and I just looked the samples. He loved it!! Thank you, thank you. I see this curriculum actually getting done!!

 

Also, is there a way to find the topics covered for each of the 5 courses? Do they ever have sales?

Edited by Elizabeth86
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That Veritas thing looks pretty good. Do you know if they have a trial period or some way of seeing what it is like before I plonk down my $$$ ?

Wait, PP mentioned samples, How do you see that?

:drool5:

Let's see. Just search veritas press self pacwd history and it shows the 5 different courses with a learn more button. Click and down below you can view 5 sample lessons.

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Are you kidding me?? I have never looked at vp online self study!!!! My ds and I just looked the samples. He loved it!! Thank you, thank you. I see this curriculum actually getting done!!

 

Also, is there a way to find the topics covered for each of the 5 courses? Do they ever have sales?

Seriously, as I write this I have dinner on the table and DD just said "please mom, just let finish this last lesson before I come" all 3 kids love it.

 

You will need the pack of cards for whatever level you choose. That is it unless you want the supplemental books. There are 32 events and if you do it 5 times per week you cover 1 event a week. There are interactive characters, games that test knowledge, quizzes etc. My daughter adored the hieroglyphic week. It starts at creation and goes to Alexander the Great leading Rome to conquer Egypt. Anyone who has done Ancient Egypt will now have the timeline song running through their head. All of my kids rattle that timeline off constantly. It is catchy!

 

In December and April they tend to have a $99 dollar sale. If you buy in April you can postpone your start date until September for example. We got Greece and Rome in December and postponed until June when they will finish Ancient.

 

For my kids it is like history crack. They do multiple lessons if I let them. My DD was telling DH all about the middle kingdom in Egypt, some of the pharaohs, Hammarabi's code and just knows a ton of info. She is actively seeking more knowledge too at the library. She likes SOTW but it never made her hungry for more like this does.

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Seriously, as I write this I have dinner on the table and DD just said "please mom, just let finish this last lesson before I come" all 3 kids love it.

 

You will need the pack of cards for whatever level you choose. That is it unless you want the supplemental books. There are 32 events and if you do it 5 times per week you cover 1 event a week. There are interactive characters, games that test knowledge, quizzes etc. My daughter adored the hieroglyphic week. It starts at creation and goes to Alexander the Great leading Rome to conquer Egypt. Anyone who has done Ancient Egypt will now have the timeline song running through their head. All of my kids rattle that timeline off constantly. It is catchy!

 

In December and April they tend to have a $99 dollar sale. If you buy in April you can postpone your start date until September for example. We got Greece and Rome in December and postponed until June when they will finish Ancient.

 

For my kids it is like history crack. They do multiple lessons if I let them. My DD was telling DH all about the middle kingdom in Egypt, some of the pharaohs, Hammarabi's code and just knows a ton of info. She is actively seeking more knowledge too at the library. She likes SOTW but it never made her hungry for more like this does.

Ds asked me if he could watch the sample again tomorrow. I told him he could watch a different sample tomorrow. This honestly may be the only way history would ever be enjoyable to them. History gives me hives :lol: Dh is a history buff, but he has no time.

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Found it, finally. I was searching within Veritas Press and I got a different screen. But, googling it, I saw the screen with it. Now I just have to wait until DD wakes up.

Glad you found it. Ds asked to do history very first thing this morning! I owe you big time nixpix5!!

 

*I* could never make someone ask for history!

Edited by Elizabeth86
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I find do my own science frustrating of that reason.  I tried Elemental Science too, and I like it, but I always get behind.  I also found that I don't love reading from encyclopedias.  However, I would consider using it again under certain circumstances.  

 

While I don't want a boring textbook, I came to the realization that I do want an explanation, and I want hands-on science, but I don't want to be overwhelmed by science with tons of messy experiments every week.  RS4K met me here, and it has been the only curriculum that really fit me.  There are experiments, but only ten per semester.  So I buy it all in advance as much as I can and assemble our kit, and then I just suck it up and find the time.  They love experiments, and I do too, but it's hard to balance our time with it sometimes.  What I love is the text.  It explains things in scientific terms clearly in an age appropriate way with pictures and graphics, etc.  It is not overly chatty, as I find Apologia and others, and it is not dumbed down.  It's concise and complete.  I feel they learn by reading the text, and the science notebook is set up in such a way to guide them through the scientific process for these experiments.  A couple were not as exciting as others (usually the first one), but the experiments are useful and not just busy work.  

 

Each Focus on unit is ten weeks long, and that gives me time for weeks when life happens.  I can even do one during the summer.  I supplement with self-contained ScienceWIz kits for my older and Magic School Bus kits for my younger and other fun kits, like solar robots, and I have time for them.  

 

The thing I like the most is that my older student can learn the same subject with his own age appropriate text and experiments that are meatier than the elementary, and I don't have to do a bunch of tweaks and supplemental reading.  It's all included and more in depth for the middle school.  

 

Science is my biggest struggle because my kids love it, and I want to give them quality, hands-on science but struggle with time constraints.  No curriculum is perfect, but this one is the best match suited to our family's needs.

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Here's the thing with science. I'm looking for something short and sweet and very very typical 2nd grade level so i can feel I have *done* science so I can do extra projects and books that interest us. i know I could just do interest led stuff for science, but in my mind I must have a plan to consider science done. kwim?

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I find do my own science frustrating of that reason. I tried Elemental Science too, and I like it, but I always get behind. I also found that I don't love reading from encyclopedias. However, I would consider using it again under certain circumstances.

 

While I don't want a boring textbook, I came to the realization that I do want an explanation, and I want hands-on science, but I don't want to be overwhelmed by science with tons of messy experiments every week. RS4K met me here, and it has been the only curriculum that really fit me. There are experiments, but only ten per semester. So I buy it all in advance as much as I can and assemble our kit, and then I just suck it up and find the time. They love experiments, and I do too, but it's hard to balance our time with it sometimes. What I love is the text. It explains things in scientific terms clearly in an age appropriate way with pictures and graphics, etc. It is not overly chatty, as I find Apologia and others, and it is not dumbed down. It's concise and complete. I feel they learn by reading the text, and the science notebook is set up in such a way to guide them through the scientific process for these experiments. A couple were not as exciting as others (usually the first one), but the experiments are useful and not just busy work.

 

Each Focus on unit is ten weeks long, and that gives me time for weeks when life happens. I can even do one during the summer. I supplement with self-contained ScienceWIz kits for my older and Magic School Bus kits for my younger and other fun kits, like solar robots, and I have time for them.

 

The thing I like the most is that my older student can learn the same subject with his own age appropriate text and experiments that are meatier than the elementary, and I don't have to do a bunch of tweaks and supplemental reading. It's all included and more in depth for the middle school.

 

Science is my biggest struggle because my kids love it, and I want to give them quality, hands-on science but struggle with time constraints. No curriculum is perfect, but this one is the best match suited to our family's needs.

RS4K is my favorite too. The textbook is so perfect for a quick yet meaty read aloud. I then choose library books on that topic (or not if there isn't enough time). They are great.

 

We started with Geology last year and did it along with Geology Rocks activities. It always got done. Easy.

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Here's the thing with science. I'm looking for something short and sweet and very very typical 2nd grade level so i can feel I have *done* science so I can do extra projects and books that interest us. i know I could just do interest led stuff for science, but in my mind I must have a plan to consider science done. kwim?

 

I think that the Mystery Science will be good for that.  

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How about Abeka science. It has a few hands on stuff in the student book and more in the teacher book. Its very short and easy to do...

Great idea!

I was thinking about abeka. Here is the thing, I want to go over with him what is typical second grade science even if it is easy, basic, cheesy whatever, so I know I've done the minimum even if it isn't the most fun because science will be supplemented for sure. If I only have a small amount of work to do for school it will make us both happy because then we can just follow our interests. Now if course I realize I could just follow our interests and call it school, but nope not in my mind. : :lol:

Edited by Elizabeth86
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I like Abeka for that reason too;) it makes me feel happy that I am "covering" it. I read it with my 1st and tag along 4 year old 1 or 2 times a week. We do the extra stuff if we want to. Then we are reading about birds and do some bird watching and color bird pictures because that is what DS is interested in;) I also am planning to pull in extra books on simple machines this week to go along with abeka because I know he will like to learn about machines:)

Edited by Rjha
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Elemental Science - Intro to science. It covers many topics from weather to gravity to plants... The go along books are Mudpies and Magnets, the Handbook of Nature, and library books on each topic. It's simple, painless, and fun to do. The experiments and activities don't require crazy things and my boys enjoy it. They are 7 and 5.

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Elemental Science - Intro to science. It covers many topics from weather to gravity to plants... The go along books are Mudpies and Magnets, the Handbook of Nature, and library books on each topic. It's simple, painless, and fun to do. The experiments and activities don't require crazy things and my boys enjoy it. They are 7 and 5.

This my boys exact age in September. I will take a look at it.

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This my boys exact age in September. I will take a look at it.

I do want to throw out that Elemental Grammar Stage has alot of crafts, their experiments come out of a separate book most of the time and they focus mostly on writing. For example, biology is reading about habitats and various animals and writing facts for the first third of the book along with craft projects and some science experiments that don't work well. My kids loathed it, I loathed it as well. It was the first curriculum ever that I chucked in the trash. It could have just not been a very good fit for my super science crew but I wanted to put this out there just in case.

 

On the flip side, I tossed biology but I also own Chemistry grammar stage and haven't used it. The set up looks similar. It sits collecting dust so if you want it just pm me and I will pop it in the mail for you.

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I do want to throw out that Elemental Grammar Stage has alot of crafts, their experiments come out of a separate book most of the time and they focus mostly on writing. For example, biology is reading about habitats and various animals and writing facts for the first third of the book along with craft projects and some science experiments that don't work well. My kids loathed it, I loathed it as well. It was the first curriculum ever that I chucked in the trash. It could have just not been a very good fit for my super science crew but I wanted to put this out there just in case.

 

On the flip side, I tossed biology but I also own Chemistry grammar stage and haven't used it. The set up looks similar. It sits collecting dust so if you want it just pm me and I will pop it in the mail for you.

Thanks for the warning about the crafts. My kids like arts and crafts when it just randome, but when it seems scripted and planned they hate coloring and crafts.

 

I keep going back to apologia astronomy as ds keeps asking for astronomy. The way I look at it, we could just go at out own pace and if it took longer than scheduled that would be ok too. If it turned out to be too much we could save it for next year.

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Thanks for the warning about the crafts. My kids like arts and crafts when it just randome, but when it seems scripted and planned they hate coloring and crafts.

 

I keep going back to apologia astronomy as ds keeps asking for astronomy. The way I look at it, we could just go at out own pace and if it took longer than scheduled that would be ok too. If it turned out to be too much we could save it for next year.

Quite honestly, this is what I would do. Nothing says you have to do all of the experiments or the Jr. Notebook. You could read a section and if you happen upon another fun book on that particular topic of the day then do that one too. Some of the activities are so simple. For example, one of the first ones you get a bag of balloons and blow them up to varying sizes based on planet scale size. Then you can arrange the planets in order from the sun. My kids thought that was a ton of fun. I got them a pack of balloons and a hand balloon pump from the dollar store. Cost me 2 bucks and then I set them loose.

 

I think you are on to something with this idea ;)

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Quite honestly, this is what I would do. Nothing says you have to do all of the experiments or the Jr. Notebook. You could read a section and if you happen upon another fun book on that particular topic of the day then do that one too. Some of the activities are so simple. For example, one of the first ones you get a bag of balloons and blow them up to varying sizes based on planet scale size. Then you can arrange the planets in order from the sun. My kids thought that was a ton of fun. I got them a pack of balloons and a hand balloon pump from the dollar store. Cost me 2 bucks and then I set them loose.

 

I think you are on to something with this idea ;)

Thanks! Yeah, I just can't shake the idea of giving it a try at least. I really want apologia and he really wants astronomy. I also plan on getting the audio cd so I can relax and nurse the baby while someone else reads. Edited by Elizabeth86
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