I'm officially dubbing second grade, the year of the books. My son has really progressed in his reading skills throughout these carefree days of summer--he's zipped past early readers and is just about ready to dive into illustrated chapter books.
When he's ready, we'll start with all the best ones, of course: Bears of Hemlock Mountain, My Father's Dragon, and Tornado. From there, it will only be a matter of time before he'll be ready for middle-grade fiction.
In addition to reading great books, he'll also be discovering and doing many grand and glorious things. Here's what he'll be learning this year in 2nd grade. Since we only homeschool 4-days a week, you can assume that each of these subjects will only be covered four times each week unless otherwise indicated.
(This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details.)
Content-rich Subjects
As always, he'll do all of his content-rich subjects like Morning time/Bible, history, science, art and creative writing with his older siblings. You can see those curriculum choices here>>>
Personal Devotions- every day
Language
- A Beka Letters & Sounds 2
- A Beka Language 2.
- All About Spelling Level 2
- Read for pleasure. (every day)
- Read a book that I assign to him each month. These will include classics, biographies, and exceptional fiction. For a complete list of our monthly picks, be sure to check out What We're Reading.
Math
- A Beka Arithmetic 2
- free online review games and apps (like Math Mateer and Monkey Math) for math process review (every few days) OR
- a flashcard drill with one of his brothers for 5 minutes
Handwriting
Typing- 1x a week
Life Skills/Extra Curriculars
- He will continue his child-of-the-day privileges and responsibilities.
- My Book about Me- 2nd grade is the perfect age to fill out this personal scrapbook of childhood. By second grade, most kids are old enough to read all the writing prompts and fill in the narration without needing any assistance from mom. (1x a week)
- Lessons in Responsibility for Boys level 1 (1x a week)
- Clean his room and make his bed each day.
- Daily chores: sweep one downstairs room, empty the dishwasher with his older brother, empty all the bedroom and bathroom trash cans
- Help make lunch and dinner (Fridays)
- Weekly Chores: three chores that he randomly selects from our chore jar
Co-operative Learning
When I could not find a homeschool co-op in our new city, I decided to start one of my own. Currently, we are 25 families strong and are all set to launch into the school year with a great line-up of classes.
We'll meet the 1st and 3rd Thursday mornings of each month with an optional field trip offered on the 5th Thursdays. My son will be in the 1st-3rd-grade group and will enjoy the following classes during the first semester:- Art/Artist Study
- World Cultures/Geography
Second-semester classes will be determined towards the end of December.
Second grade starts in just a few short weeks. I don't know what seems more impressive at this point--our shelves lined with potential learning adventures or the size of his eyes as he stares in anticipation at it all!
Quick question, why don't you use LLATL Red for second grade? I know some of your older kids use LLATL. And you just about knocked me over when I saw the My Book About Me. I had one when I was growing up and I have such sweet memories of filling it out and reading and rereading it! I am so happy to know you can still get them. I have to get one for my 4th and 2nd grader!
ReplyDeleteMy second grader has also blossomed this summer and is now an official Reader!!!! We are so excited for this upcoming school year!
Good question! I always use Abeka through second grade because I feel like reading is the most important skill to foster in those early years. I'm not as concerned with grammar/mechanics/writing skills. In my opinion, Abeka teaches phonics/reading skills like no other company. Once a child learns to read, he/she can then begin to read to learn--that's when I shift to grammar.
DeleteI have never heard of the Lessons in Responsibilities for Boys book before. I had a hard time finding samples of the content. Could you share a little more about that?
ReplyDeleteEach lesson focuses on one manner/skill/habit. The lessons are in large print, easy to read, and contain discussion questions and/or an action step at the end.
DeleteJamie, Do you buy any of the tests or teacher curriculum (large spiral bound lesson by lesson curriculum) from Abeka also? Or do you do the workbooks alone?
ReplyDeleteNo. We use the workbooks for review. The teaching comes through me with the help of the teacher's guide. At this age, there is no point to giving a test to a homeschooler. Tests are designed for classroom use only.
DeleteHere is a post that sums up why I don't give the tests.
https://www.theunlikelyhomeschool.com/2017/06/tests.html
oh, thanks so much! Are you referring to the teacher answer keys when you say teacher guide?
DeleteNo. The answer keys are like the student books with the answers written in. The teacher's guides are the lesson plans with the teaching/review suggestions.
DeleteWhat do you do for Vocabulary learning?
ReplyDeleteReal books. Until around high school, I rely on our robust reading life to introduce vocab in a real context. All of my children score at least three grade levels above their actual grade in vocabulary on their annual achievement tests each year, so my theory appears to be working.
DeleteHere is a post that talks more about it and an idea for adding a bit more vocab if you feel there's a need.
https://www.theunlikelyhomeschool.com/2015/01/the-great-vocabulary-challenge-learning.html
That makes so much sense! Thanks!
DeleteJamie,
ReplyDeleteMay I ask why you switch at 3rd grade from Abeka Math and LA?
Here is the answer for math>>
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theunlikelyhomeschool.com/2014/08/a-beka-arithmetic-vs-teaching-textbooks.html
And here is the answer for language>>
https://www.theunlikelyhomeschool.com/2014/03/abeka-vs-bju-language-why-i-switch-mid.html
Do you buy the flashcards or any of the extras for Abeka Arithmetic 2. I'm trying to decide what all I need to buy. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHello, I am wondering what you would use for “history” lessons at this age? We don’t do a co-op so I wonder what extra thing you would do at home if anything besides the the Rs. My oldest is in this age range but not sure if I should be doing more.
ReplyDeleteI highly recommend the following for history at any age:
DeleteTruthQuest history (although this one requires a really great library system), Learning American History Through Literature by Common Sense Press, and Beautiful Feet Books