Second Grade Homeschool Curriculum Picks

We are wrapping up first grade (ugh, the end of the school year is so bitter sweet) and starting to look ahead to plan out next year.  In the fall we will have TWO school aged kids in our home… which is just pure craziness!  I’m a little nervous about making time to invest in both our boys, while having our sweet (yet crazy) girl running wild, but I’m sure we will make it work.

The good news is we are starting to get a vision for what works for our family curriculum and schedule wise.  Year one we just were poking around in the dark, trying to find our way through this new world.  This year a few things seemed to solidify as far as what sort of activities and curriculum really work for us. This has made prepping for next year so much easier than these past 2 years!

 

Here are our 2nd grade curriculum/chosen activities for next year:

Saxon Math

This past year we did Saxon Math level 1 and I had some mixed feelings about the program.  It’s very simple, no fluff curriculum.  I was worried that the repetitive and basic nature of the work/worksheets would get dull for my oldest.

Strangely, the repetition was what he likes most about it.  I love that we know exactly what to expect each math lesson and this has led to him already being able to do a lot of his work independently (win!).  The curriculum spirals, which to me makes it feel slow and I have a math minded kid.  I thought he would be frustrated to go back and review his facts so many times… Yet, somehow the opposite was true!  The repetition and review gave him confidence in his skills and removed a lot of possible anxiety from math time.

I feel like he has a good foundation of basic math skills because numbers and facts were reviewed so thoroughly.  We’ve decided to stick with it (Isaac said he liked it and didn’t want to switch).  I have decided to skip up a level to level 3.  We went through the entire level 1 curriculum without my son making a single error. I think we can move forward an extra level and it’ll add a little more of a challenge for him in 2nd grade.

I also like that the curriculum is affordable. I know there are more flashy kits available but I think Saxon is a good value.

The Good and Beautiful Language Arts

We used the Good and Beautiful level one this year for first grade and enjoyed the format of this curriculum.  It has several components to the daily language arts lesson: spelling, sight words, phonics, poetry memorization, reader and the lesson. We enjoyed how organized and pretty this curriculum workbook is.  I love that it includes art appreciation.

The lessons took a lot longer than I anticipated and we are doubling up and skipping some to get through level 1 by the end of this year.  We’ve easily finished up all the other learning components for Language Arts but the lessons have taken some extra time. This curriculum is, in my opinion, is a bit advanced. The good news is that it offers a lot of rigor.  I checked the first grade Language Arts SOL’s for Virginia and level one went way beyond what is required.  Doing level K for first grade I think would be completely okay!

I am glad we stuck with it though, even though the work was a little harder.  I really think it pushed us forward a little faster than we would have if we had a less challenging curriculum.

ANOTHER, huge benefit of this curriculum is that it’s SO affordable for really good quality (if you can’t tell already, we like affordable things). I already ordered Level 2 and we are excited to dive into it in the fall!

Handwriting

My oldest wanted to learn cursive this year, so we did and he enjoys the more fancy nature of cursive over print.  I decided to merge some of our Classical Conversations review with cursive handwriting practice for next year and bought their prescripts workbook.

Classical Conversations

Pretty much all of the other content we cover is through being apart of a Classical Conversations co-op.  I love that we can be apart of a community of homeschoolers and my kids get to be apart of a class one day a week and get to learn so much content that I would struggle to cover on my own.  During their time at the co-op they learn history, science, fine arts, math, latin, geography and english.

We review during the week at home (some… I hope to do more at home review in 2nd grade). They review and learn new content each week when they go to their classes.

We are huge fans of CC… not long ago my six year old grabbed my phone and was looking on google maps and found the Mediterranean Sea (on his own) as well as several other lakes and countries in Africa and the Middle East he had learned how to find on a map this year.  I’ll be honest, I couldn’t find those things on a map without labels on my own… so I’m happy my kids are getting more than I have to give by being apart of this group!

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For my Richmond Homeschool friends, there a few other great homeschool things we have got connected with that add so much to our time together!

First, is Community Bible Study at Third Church in Richmond.  This location has an AMAZING homeschool program that goes all they way up! This is ALL of our favorite activity of the week.  The kids love their sweet teachers that are teaching them about the bible in truly amazing ways.  I get some me time in core group and at the lecture.  It is the thing that fill all of our cups.  Join and soon because the spots for the kids fill up so fast!

Next, we do Chesterfield Homeschool Sports the older my crew gets the more amazing this activity feels for our family.  It’s a really low key and inexpensive way for our kids to play soccer and t-ball.  Even though the league is not ultra competitive, it’s a lot of fun and gets us outside in the afternoons!  My boys love it.

We also try to attend all the Pocahontas State Park Homeschool Happenings. The rangers offer a monthly class for homeschoolers that is only $3 a student!  The lessons are always science or nature focused and are very hands on.  It’s a great way to supplement all the other things and get out of the house!

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Hope these reviews/suggestions help you as you find your way through this homeschool stuff!  I’ve found that all the decisions you have to make for your kids can feel heavy but prayer, getting advice from those a little ahead of you and talking it over with your spouse go a long way in making it all feel just a bit easier.

Look out for my Kindergarten picks (coming soon) because my second starts this fall (all the tears) and we are taking a different approach for his Kindergarten than we did with our oldest.  

Love,

Amanda

 

For the days you wanna quit..

A thing happens in life, you hit ruts.  You have days you want to throw your hands up in the air and just give up…you hope to try something, anything new…. just as long as your not doing the same old thing.

On occasion this impulse, this pulling can nudge us into new spaces.  Push us to take that amazing leap into the unknown.

But sometimes it’s just the devil.

Honestly, it can be hard to tell the difference.  When is discontent a character flaw and when is it a vehicle into a better future?

I had one of those days the other week.  A day when I woke up feeling like I was failing at all the things.  I was so sure I need to change everything… I just knew I wasn’t made for the life I’ve been living.

So, I prayed.

I hate to admit, this isn’t always my first response.  I’m a logical kinda girl.  I like to solve my own problems.  I don’t always consult God, as much as I should.  But, this was one of those I really need help kinda days.  So, I prayed.

I asked that my inclination to give it all up, to take a new course would become the right choice for me.  It seemed like the right path, I mean obviously what I’ve been doing was not working.  Yet, I couldn’t make such a HUGE change without peace. I wanted clarity.  peace..

Guess what! God answered me.  I also hate to admit, I really didn’t expect Him to….  I hoped but me of little faith was unsure I’d hear much back.

Bloom where you are planted

That’s the cheesy, overused phrase that let me know, what I needed to know.

Here’s something I see about the place I’m in… I’m gonna have to learn and grow alongside my kids.  The ones I’m spending, giving so much life to.  This is about me, learning, just as much as it is about me giving.

What else am I this passionate about? 

That was the second question that made my place in my life feel clear again.  What else do I have a greater passion for in my life, in this time, that I’d give my time to?

This helped me so much because it made me see that things could change. (no one likes feeling trapped)  I really could feel like I’m called out of our home and into the world to give elsewhere, at some point.  Right now, there truly is nothing I’d exchange this opportunity for.

There are many days I feel ill equipped for the job I’ve been given but there is nothing else I’ve rather be striving for.

So I share this, first so I’ll remember.  I’ll remember these thoughts that helped me feel like I can grow into the place I’ve been called to.  That helped me evaluate my trajectory.  I think these are thoughts that will help me the next time I’m wondering what the what I’m doing with my life.  I also share because I’m guessing I’m not the only Mom, woman, wife, etc.. that wonders if she’s cut out for the life she’s in.  Moments, even wholes seasons can feel crushingly hard.  Often, it’s hard to really know that your dialed into the right stuff.  Be better than me and ask God before you hit that sinking place. Ask Him to help you know the plans He has.  ❤

Love,

Amanda

 

Lovable Penguin Craft

This past month with lots of time off and together as a family there has been some extra TV time happening at our house.  In an attempt to infuse some education into this down time we have been watching the Planet Earth series on Netflix.  I have to confess, I love the series.  Nature amazes me! Anyways, this inspired our animal craft from Pinterest this week at Cartwheels and Coffee.

the completed project, added to our wall of kids work 

I found the inspiration for our easy craft here. The prep just took a few minutes.  I cut out several large ovals on black construction paper for the body.  Next, I cut out stacks of orange hearts from construction paper for the kids to use as feet and a nose for their penguin. Finally, I pre-cut one large heart for the belly out of white construction paper.  I gathered up some googly eyes and we were ready to craft.  For the little ones, I helped by applying the glue for their pieces and they helped with assembly.  The big kids just needed a visual to copy and could glue and assemble on their own.

During these cold months easy go to crafts are a lifesaver.  Hope this simple idea helps bring some peace to those long winter indoor afternoons.

Love,

Amanda

Easy Winter Mitten Craft Idea

Every Monday my kids and I facilitate craft time for Cartwheels & Coffee, a local coffee shop with a play land for the kids (awesome, I know).  My kids love getting to participate in making the crafts.  My son often helps me brainstorm ideas of what to make. It’s really a great gig.  Anyways, since I’m already coming up with the ideas, I should go ahead and share them.

This week we created a mitten with handprints.  Our mittens turned out to be totally easy to make and adorable! This is one you may actually want to keep.

The prep for this is super simple. I grabbed some construction paper, printer paper, extra large stamp pad, sharpie and glue.  I pre-cut the construction paper into the shape of a mitten and printer paper into the shape for the fluffy mitten ends.  I let the kids glue together the mitten and the white mitten ends.  Once that was complete we added the handprints and their names for a finishing touch.  Here is our completed product:

For my older son I had him write his name himself.  He loved stamping his hand. 🙂

I’m sure you could jazz yours up with stickers or jewels.  We wanted to keep ours looking clean and simple so the sweet handprints stood out a bit more.

Hope you and your littles have fun making this sweet craft.

Happy Holidays!

Amanda

Five Reasons you Should Consider Joining a Homeschool Co-op

This year we began our adventure in homeschooling! I entered this year with a lot of fear.  Unsure if we had made the right choice.  Scared I was taking something from my child by choosing this road less traveled.  Waves of doubt and worry come and go but one thing that has strengthened my confidence and resolve to continue homeschooling has been our co-op.

As a person who loves being with people, having a community to connect our family to has been invaluable.  Seeing how real and amazing other families are that have made the choice to homeschool is so encouraging!  It gives me hope this can work. Here are my top reasons why a co-op is an important addition to your homeschooling routine!

1. Community- I touched on this already but having people in your life who have been at this thing longer is gold. There is a lot to navigate in the homeschool world- curriculum, field trips, routines, parenting issues and so much more! Having a group of other Mom’s who have worked out some of this stuff successfully is so helpful!

2. Another Teacher for your kid- We are apart of Classical Conversations, which is a more structured co-op. I love this. I love that my kid has another “teacher” ( they call them tutors but for the little ones it’s a teacher). I want my kids to have practice receiving input, correction and learning from a variety of adults. This is one thing that can be missing in the mix as a homeschooling family. I want them to see our worldview stretches past our home. That there are rules that we follow in a class because following them shows kindness to others. That adults in our lives deserve respect. Also these tutors have skills I don’t. They explain things in new ways. They correct behavior with creativity. They offer more depth to my kids learning.

3. More friends! More friends! – We love people. We’d go crazy without lots of chances to love on people in our week. We may have forced this on our kids but they are the same. They love making friends. They love being around other kids. Our co-op just gives me and the kids more chances to make friends. We may not be best friends with everyone but just being apart and around a group fills us up. I’ve heard many people say their kid is too social for homeschool. We are kinda all like that. Momma’s too social for homeschool. Knowing that we cast a big net and take what could be a problem and turn it into an opportunity! Side rant- school doesn’t allow that much time to actually make friends. We can take our time. We lunch, we play, we go on field trips. There is time to really make friends. ❤️

4. Accountability- Joining a group invites more voices into your homeschooling journey. For us my guy has a tutor. She seems how my boy is doing and I can ask her if she feels he’s on track. It also ensures we cover a bunch of content each week that I probably would never get to on my own. Latin? Science experiments? Skip counting?

5. Breaks the “homeschool stereotype” – we all have in the back of our heads, that Mom. The actual terms of what it is we don’t want to become may vary from person to person.  Confession: I hate when people hear about our lifestyle and comment, “oh I could never do that.” The comment may be honest but for me it makes me feel other, not relatable anymore. Honestly, one thing that held me back from wanting to homeschool was becoming that mom. The Mom’s I’ve met are so far from whatever crazy model of a homeschooler I had in my head. Even is ones that actually have seven kids! These families are amazing. They all have different backgrounds, reasons for choosing homeschool, they are smart, happy and full of life! Seeing their families thrive in this lifestyle is soooo  encouraging.  Especially at this stage in the game, where most the folks we know are starting public school and we haven’t got far enough along to see the results of our investment.

We are involved with a Classical Conversations co-op in our area.  This is great for us! The good news is there are so many options.  Find your people! The best part of this journey is there is no “one size fits all” way to do it.  Happy Learning!

Love,

Amanda

Perspective I Gained from Teaching

In “my old life” (pre-kids) I worked for four years in a inner city failing Title I school that was primarily populated by African American children.  I taught special education. I entered my new career as a teacher with only a provisional teaching license. I was entirely clueless, only armed with my eager willingness to serve my students.  This time of my life was both incredibly challenging as well as totally eye opening.  I am a middle class white woman who grew up in a loving safe home.  Prior to my time in this job I approached the world with unending optimism and little appreciation for the complex issues that the poorest of the poor in our communities face.  The school building I worked in was over 100 years old.  It had documented patches of black mold in the the basement I taught in, which sent me home with powerful headaches on many occasions.  We sent home a supply list each year and almost never had parents actually purchase the items on the list.  Paper was rationed to teachers and once we ran out of paper, pencils, dry erase markers, etc. it was up to us teachers to fill in the gaps.  Doors were left open to the building on a regular basis, making it difficult to prevent parents from entering the building without checking in. IEP’s were handed out generously to “problem students” because it was the only way to attempt to help or at least remove these students from the general education classroom.  Our playground, once was new, within months was burnt and vandalized with profanity.  Does this sound anything like the school your child attends?

 

I will never forget my first student.  She captured my heart.  She came in each morning unkept, smelling of urine and often delivered to me before the end of breakfast due to obnoxious behavior.  When life felt like too much for her (which was often) she would throw herself on the floor, yelling and screaming.  Seeking the attention of anyone who would notice.  I remember sitting with her one afternoon her screaming at the top of her lungs for no apparent reason. I tried everything I could think of  to calm her down.  Finally, I just decide to try hugging her. As soon as I embraced her she stopped immediately and broke out into laughing tears. All she needed was love.  

My last year teaching I taught a third grade inclusion classroom.  One day a student saw a picture of my backyard on my phone.  Their first question was, what park was my son playing at? When I explained it was our backyard they commented how lucky my kids were. It was the first time it dawned on me, my kids get a park in their backyard. My children honestly have no clue how blessed they are.  How lucky they are to have bedtime stories, a yard to run wild in and piles of toys in every corner of our home.  

Even more than those things my kids get to be generally safe in their home.  For a period of time we lived in the neighborhood adjacent to the school I worked at.  At the end of our time there someone shot off a round of bullets into our home.  One came in just inches above where my son was sleeping.  We sold our home immediately and bought a home in a quieter area.  Once when teaching  I asked a group of 5th graders what experiences they had with emergency workers such as police and firemen.  They all had a story about a shooting to share.  All of them. Once again my heart broken for these children.  I knew how traumatic shots ringing in your home could be.  We were lucky, we could move.  We can have the power to bring keep our children in generally safe spaces.  These families don’t have the same options.   

I share these snippets of my time in this setting to help you see what I see now.  First of my family is incredibly blessed. I am more thankful than ever for the opportunities we get to give our children.  I hope to help them appreciate the privileges they have been given.   

Next, the struggles these children faced each day are so foreign to me because their lives are so different from mine.  I cannot pretend to know their story, what they need or how to solve the complex problems their families face.  All I can do is listen and love.  We so often write the stories of others in our mind based on what comes across through the media or even worse based on prejudicial stereotypes.  No one person is the same.  We have to acknowledge we are different.  We have to acknowledge each person’s uniqueness. If we want to be the hands and feet of Jesus that my first students, literally was screaming out for, we just have to humbly show up.  Don’t pretend to have all the answers.  Acknowledge it’s not fair.  Just show up.  

Finally, when I talk about issues of politics I am slow to accept the headlines.  Slow to see one way to solve the issues our world faces.  I try to avoid conversations that pit one group against another.  The truth is I don’t know what it is to be living in poverty, how can I speak on behalf of this group?  I am weary of politics that lump groups together and create a us vs. them story. Essentially, I think public spaces need a lot more humility and a lot more listening.  I hope I can model this in my life.  

Hope this offers you a new side to the story, maybe one you haven’t seen for yourself. One that grows humility, thanksgiving and compassion in your home.  

Love,

Amanda

Our Kindergarten Homeschool Routine

Once you share with your friends and family that you are homeschooling one of the first questions that comes up, is what does your week look like? Honestly, I also am super curious to know what other Mom’s are doing.  It’s so hard, especially when you first start to know what your day should look like.  How much time should school take? How many subjects should you cover? Etc. Etc.

We are about a month and a half into our school year and are starting to form a routine that works well for us.  Here it goes:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Craft Time Library Lunch Table School Work (1:30 – 3pm ) Subjects: Words Their Way Letter Sort, K-5 Abeka Phonics, Handwriting, Math, Read Aloud: Science and History Library Books OR Story of the World Listen- Spanish Rest/TV Time	Table School Work Lunch Soccer	Bible Study Fellowship Lunch Table School Work Rest/TV Time	Classical Conversations Lunch Soccer or Rest Time	Errands/Park Time Lunch Table School Work

Bedtime: Read Aloud Library Books – (one fiction, one nonfiction book)

What I’ve already learned about this schedule is that I have to be flexible.  Sometimes opportunities to go and do things out weigh the need to get our table work done.  This week we spent our Monday at a local art museum rather than completing the lessons I had planned for us to do.  Re-writing my lesson plan for the week sometimes is tough for me.  I want to make sure we are advancing quickly. I’ve already often had to give myself a reminder talk listing the reasons why we are doing this.  The number one reason being that we allow our kids to be kids longer and expose them not only to content but experiences.  The other thing that disrupts our plans are things like doctor appointments or sick little ones.  My other children are preschool aged to check ups and ear infections have completely ruined a few weeks.  Ultimately we strive to make the most of our time without being too rigidly stuck to our schedule.

We kinda of randomly chose to buy the Abeka K-5 Phonics, Handwriting and Math grade level kits.  We did a lot of browsing online and this kit seemed to have the most bang for the buck.  Lots of materials, good reviews and a teacher’s guide that would take the pressure off of me.  So far it is working well! We have been doing two lessons a day in each subject unless we have a busy day. We didn’t purchase the full grade level kit with Bible and Social Studies because we also do Classical Conversations and Bible Study Fellowship. The lessons are pretty quick to complete.  It’s great for our boy because the language they use to teach the letters is very imaginative. He loves thinking of the letters as silly things.  He seems to enjoy the work pages, they aren’t too long and are very colorful.  We don’t use all the games but when we do my son enjoys them.  He also is a perfect Kindergartener, as far as his academic level.  The curriculum starts with letters and numbers and that is just right for us.  If you had a very advanced Kindergartener this may not be the best fit for you.  The lessons do not have a summary of what you cover at the start so you have to read through them to find out what objectives will be covered.  It wouldn’t be good for someone looking to start later in the lessons, it would be very hard to figure out what had been covered thus far.

We also do Words Their Way once a week to help reinforce the letters and concepts being learned through the Abeka Phonics.  I bought the K student workbook on Amazon for less than $5. I just choose a sort that correlates with the letters we are learning that week.  I like it because it’s an easy activity he can do on his own.  It helps him practice working independently and gives other context for the letters we are learning.  Also the sorts get more advanced as you go and there are tons of ways to use the program in the years to come.

For our other subjects we are just using the library to fill in the gaps.  I choose books that expand on the ideas introduced during Classical Conversations.  We also are starting Story of the World, which expands on the timeline cards they use in CC.  We are on cycle 3 for CC so we have started the year reading lots of books about human anatomy and early America.  My guy loves science experiments so when I get excited we throw those in too but mostly we just explore his interests.  If you don’t know what Classical Conversations is this last paragraph probably made no sense to you! We are huge fans of CC though, it’s a great way to expose your kids to so much content! They also do all the things I’m not sure into like fine arts and science.

I hope that helps give you some ideas on what a day for you could look like if you are thinking of homeschool.  There is no one way fits all way to teach your kids.  Thus far we are so glad we made the choice to give homeschooling a try.  My kids have had the luxury of time together.  We have made some wonderful homeschool friends.  This feels like a good thing for our home.

Love,

Amanda