2nd Grade Reading List

Last year my dd7 was a struggling reader.  Thanks to All About Spelling {yes, it is a spelling program, but paired with the AAS readers, it is a very effective reading program}, my dd has spent most of the summer checking out books from the library that she can read all by herself !

So for the first time she will be getting her own reading list for the school year.

We will be working through Sonlight’s Core D history program this year.  Many of the readers that I chose for dd7 will match what we’re studying in history, others are just classic, fun readers that match her reading level.

Small Wolf

The Story of Columbus

Small Pig

Owl at Home

Mouse Tales

Mouse Soup

Frog & Toad All Year

Frog & Toad Are Friends

Frog & Toad Together

Days With Frog & Toad

The True Story of Pocahontas

George Washington’s First Victory

Uncle Elephant

Grasshopper on the Road

A Bargain for Frances

George Washington and the General’s Dog

Ben Franklin and His First Kite

Paul Revere and the Bell Ringers

The 18 Penny Goose

Betsy Ross & the Silver Thimble

Sam the Minuteman

Amelia Bedelia

Thimbleberry Stories

Sacagawea and the Bravest Deed

Lewis & Clark: A Prairie Dog

Little Bear

Little Bear’s Visit

Little Bear’s Friend

Thank You Amelia Bedelia

Teach Us Amelia Bedelia

The Statue of Liberty

The Mighty Mississippi

The Long Way to a New Land

The Long Way Westward

Mount Rushmore

Looks like a pretty daunting list…I planned one book per week but I am very willing to slow the pace down if necessary .

Our Curriculum for 2011-2012

We’ve actually been “back-to-school” for a couple weeks now.  We began our new school year on July 18th, just around the time that the 100 degree days started in our neck of the woods .

So I guess it’s about time that I post our curriculum choices for this year…and thanks to the Not Back-to-School Blog Hop I have incentive to do it right now ‘cause it’s curriculum week!

This year I’ll have a 4th grader {ds9}, a 2nd grader {dd7}, and a preschooler {ds4}. 

 

4th Grade

Grammar ~ First Language Lessons 4

Writing ~ IEW Student Writing Intensive A

Handwriting ~ A Reason for Handwriting Cursive

Reading ~ SL Readers Core D Advanced 

Spelling ~ Rod & Staff Grade 4

Math ~ Teaching Textbooks Math 4, Daily Word Problems Grade 4

2nd Grade

Grammar ~ First Language Lessons Level 2

Writing ~ Write Shop Primary Books A & B

Handwriting ~ Italics Book C or A Reason for Handwriting Transition {we have both books, I’m going to let her choose which style she prefers}

Reading ~ Various Readers to match our History studies {I hope to post her  2nd grade reading list soon}

Spelling ~ All About Spelling Level 2 and matching readers

Math ~ Christian Light Education Math Grade 2

Family Subjects/Circle Time

History ~ Sonlight Core D Intro to American History, adding in various activities from History Pockets and Time Travellers

Geography ~ Daily Geography {we have grade 2 & grade 4, I plan to do grade 2 orally with both my 2nd & 4th grader and use grade 4 another year}, State Study/Notebooking

Science ~ Exploring Creation with Botany, Discover and Do DVDs from Sonlight that match our botany studies

Bible ~ Bible Study Guide for All Ages, Keys for Kids devotions

Art ~ See the Light Art DVDs {I reviewed the first DVD while with the TOS Homeschool Crew last year, my kiddos loved it so much I bought the whole set }.

Music ~ We’ll be singing selected hymns and patriotic songs during Circle Time.

Ds4 {the preschooler} will be listening in during most of our family studies {history, science, Bible, read alouds} and doing his own letter study with me during independent work time…hopefully .

So that’s the planned line-up for 2011-2012.

Are We There Yet?

Halfway through our school year that is…I’ve seen many people announcing that they’ve finally reached the halfway point and I am wondering “are we there yet?”

Since we’re using a bunch of different resources and I stagger our start for different subjects, it is hard to determine if we have reached the halfway point yet.  We may be halfway through spelling and writing but not yet halfway through history and science. 

So I sat down one afternoon last week {while poor ds9 was on the couch/sickbed and dd6 and ds4 were playing} and figured out where we are in each of our resources and here’s what I came up with…

Ds9 {3rd grade}

• Writing ~ currently in week 21 {of 36}
• Spelling ~ currently working on lesson 17 {of 34}
• First Language Lessons ~ currently working on lesson 49 {of 89, plus 21 optional lessons}
• Reading List ~ has finished 15 of 25 scheduled books
• Math ~ has 4 light units left in current grade level {out of 10 light units}

Dd6 {1st grade}

• Reading & Spelling ~ this resource is not really a grade level, we just continue on to the next book once this one is finished
• Math ~ almost finished with 3rd light unit {out of 10}
• First Language Lessons ~ currently working on lesson 49 {out of 100}

Family Subjects

History ~ working on week 19 {out of 36}

Read Alouds ~

• completed 6 {out of the 16 that I plan to read this year} from Core 2
• completed 5 additional read-alouds from Core K
• completed 3 additional missionary related read-alouds and are currently working on a 4th one

Science ~ currently on lesson 6 {out of 14}

Bible ~ this resource does not have a grade level, we just continue to the next unit once this one is completed

So I guess that means that except for dd6’s math curriculum, ds’s FLL resource, and our read alouds {although a few of these read alouds are optional in my mind}…we are officially over halfway through our school year…yay!

Our Planned Curriculum for 2010-2011

Our new school year starts on Monday (Aug 2nd)…I’ve had our curriculum plans simmering for a while, I guess it’s time to make them official :)…

3rd Grade ~

Language Arts:

• Grammar ~ First Language Lessons 3 ~ we loved FLL1 & 2, and we’re hoping to feel the same about FLL3
• Writing ~ Writing With Ease Level 2 ~ ds8 used WWE1 last year, and I don’t feel comfortable skipping to WWE3 yet…so we’ll start with WWE2 and see how it goes
• Spelling ~ Spelling by Sound and Structure 3 (Rod & Staff)…we may also try out All About Spelling
• Handwriting ~ Italics Book D, Character Italics
• Reading ~ 3rd Grade Reading List, Reading to me from selected books

Math:

• Christian Light Math
• Mathematical Reasoning Book C

1st Grade ~

Language Arts:

• Grammar ~ First Language Lessons 1
• Writing ~ Writing With Ease Level 1 ~ dd6 is still a very beginning reader, I don’t plan on starting this program until she progresses a bit more in her reading ability
• Spelling ~ All About Spelling Level 1
• Handwriting ~ Italics Book B
• Phonics/Reading ~ I plan to use our All About Spelling Program in combination with the AAS readers that have been published so far

Math:

• Christian Light Math

 

Family Subjects ~

Bible:

• Bible Study Guide for All Ages ~ this is new for us this year, but I have read some wonderful reviews and I hope this is a program that I can use with all 3 kiddos :)
• Keys for Kids Daily Devotion

History:

• Sonlight Core 2

Geography: We will be studying world geography using a plan created by me (using ideas from the Homeschool Creations blog)…I will be using a combination of resources including:

• Geography Songs
• Rand McNally Schoolhouse Geography and Map Activities (both Beginner & Intermediate)
• Around the World Coloring Book (Dover Coloring)
• Geopuzzles

Art:

• Artistic Pursuits ~ Grades k-3, Book One

Read-Alouds:

• Sonlight Core 2 Read Aloud selections

Science:

• Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy

I am working on Preschool plans for ds3 ~ to begin sometime in October (when he turns 4)…mainly just some fun activities so he can feel like he is a part of our school day :)

We will also be continuing our morning Circle Time…Hopefully I’ll be able to post our Circle Time plans soon :) 

Visit more blogs linked to the Not Back to School Blog Hop for more Curriculum Plans!

Third Grade Reading List

This is the reading list that I have prepared for ds8 who will be entering 3rd grade.  Many of these books come from the Sonlight Advanced Reader Package for Core 2. 

Along Came a Dog

The Children of the Noisy Village

Emily’s Runaway Imagination

Encyclopedia Brown

Frindle

Henry and Ribsy

The King’s Equal

Little House on Rocky Ridge

A Llama in the Family

Lumber Camp Library

Marco Polo

McBroom’s Wonderful One-Acre Farm

Misty of Chincoteague

More Stories from Grandma’s Attic

Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West

Ralph S Mouse

The Toothpaste Millionaire

The Whipping Boy

Medallion

Ten Boys Who Changed the World

African Adventures

Rainforest Adventures

Three Dollar Mule

Outback Adventures

I basically created a chart that listed these books, with boxes to mark the date the books were completed and a rating for each book.  This chart is posted on the refrigerator.  When ds8 completes one of the books on the list, he gives me a brief synopsis (or narration) of the book and gives the book a rating (1-5 stars).  At the end of the year, we have a handy dandy one page sheet that lists all of the “required” books that ds8 has read that can be filed in his portfolio.

Schoolstuff ~ Circle Time

A few weeks ago I spent an evening planning our next nine weeks of circle time. I had determined over Christmas break that I really, really, really wanted to implement circle time into our homeschool day. I hoped that if I planned the work, that I would work the plan ~ and I did, or should I say we did...

We are currently in our eighth week of circle time. I think the kiddos and I would all agree that it has been a wonderful addition to our day.

I have kept the plans pretty simple. We have a four-day school week, with the fifth day reserved for errands, field trips, and other things that come up. We begin each of those four days with circle time. This time includes a devotional, poetry reading, singing, read-aloud, art study, and AWANA verse review.


Devotional ~ We've been using Our 24 Family Ways by Clay Clarkson as our Bible/Christian character resource. Each week a family way is introduced along with a scripture that reinforces the concept that we're studying that week. For example, on week five the family way is "We love one another, treating others with kindness, gentleness and respect."

The scripture verse for that week comes from John 4:11-12 ~ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (NIV)



Clarkson has also provided more passages of scripture to discuss that week that pertain to the particular family way, discussion questions, and suggestions for prayer time. I have used some of these additional suggestions ~ the ones that I felt my kiddos could handle ~ to add to our devotional time in the morning.



Singing ~ We also have a time of singing during circle time. My dh and I came up with a selection of hymns that we want our kiddos to learn. I, in turn, chose three hymns from that list ~ and we sing one of these selected songs each day. On the fourth day we sing a traditional or folk song, usually one that the kids already know.



Poetry ~ Each week I have been reading one poem from Favorite Poems of Childhood to the kiddos ~ I read the same poem everyday for all four days of circle time. I think Brandy had recommended this practice in one of her circle time posts. I love how we get to really know the poem by the end of the week, just by simply taking a few short minutes each day to read it.

Art ~ One day each week the kids and I study one page from A Child's Book of Art. We simply study the page (each page usually contains two to three works of art), we talk about the people and objects that we see in each piece of art, colors, things we like, etc.



Read Aloud ~ We are currently reading through Little Pilgrim's Progress (4 days) and Old Mother West Wind(1 day ~ science/nature). The kiddos love this morning read aloud time. They have been especially enjoying my reading of Little Pilgrim's Progress. I usually plan to read two chapters each day, and every day the kids ask for "just one more!" I try not to indulge them each time because if they had their way I would finish the entire book in one sitting :)


AWANA ~ We currently have a first year Spark and a third year Spark in residence. While I read the first year Spark's manual with her, our third year Spark is off in a quiet spot reviewing his verse(s) for the week.


And that's it. This has been such a lovely addition to our schoolday ~ it definitely sets a wonderful tone for the rest of our day...if only I had implemented it sooner :)

Upcoming Read-Alouds

We are preparing to enter into week 22 of Sonlight Core 1. I've been making adjustments to the recommended curriculum in order to fit our family's needs. But one thing that we have been following pretty faithfully is the read-aloud schedule. We have yet to be disappointed by any of the read-alouds for Core 1.

The kids loved Charlotte's Web, laughed all through Homer Price, were sorry to see The Year of Miss Agnes end, and were greatly touched by Mountain Born. (We skipped Mr. Popper's Penguins because we read it last year).

We are currently reading Henry Huggins during our nightly read-aloud time. This book will be followed by Detectives in Togas, Follow My Leader, Little Pear, and Understood Betsy (not in that order).

Updating our School Plans

I recently updated some of the links in my sidebar for resources that we use in our homeschool. Since the beginning of the schoolyear we have switched math programs, added a reading program, added a writing program, and added a grammar program into our school day. I know, that sounds like a lot of change, and it is, but it was definitely for the better. I really, really feel good about the resources that we are using right now ~ finally!

So here is a glimpse into our homeschool resource line-up for ds7 (2nd grade) for the upcoming term (Winter 2010):

Reading & Language Arts ~

• Pathway Readers ~ Ds7 and I read one chapter aloud per day (4 days/week), we take turns reading (I do this just to keep track of his reading skills, plus I love the stories in these readers).


• Christian Light Reading 2 ~ I love the Christian Light readers, and since I have a number of them sitting on my shelf (collected through PBSwap), I wanted to make use of them. These are books that ds7 reads silently ~ he then uses them to complete the Light Units.
  
• Spelling by Sound & Structure 2 (Rod & Staff) ~ I LOVE this simple spelling program.


• First Language Lessons Level 2 ~ We completed level 1 in the fall. This term we will work through level 2. I have been tweaking this program to fit our needs, for instance, ds7 does not complete any of the writing assignments.


• Writing With Ease Level 1 ~ This simple writing program has been working wonderfully for us. In level 1 we have been working on narrating (guided by questions) and copywork that is pulled from classic literature.


• Italic Handwriting: Book C ~ ds7 completes about 2 pages per week from this resource, he's really looking forward to transitioning to cursive this term :)

I know that this portion looks a bit overwhelming, but each component takes only about 10 minutes to complete.

Math

• Christian Light Math ~ I have been struggling to find a math program that I like and that works for ds7 since the beginning of our homeschool journey. I really wanted to like one particular program, so much so that I have attempted to use it two different times in our three years of homeschooling ~ but it just does not work for us. This past fall, I purchased CLE Math and I absolutely love it! It fits my teaching style, it fits ds7's learning style, and it is simple ~ yet challenging.

History

• Sonlight Core 1 ~ we have found that we don't use some of the resources in this program (Usborne history books), but we love others (Missionary Stories with the Millers, Akebu to Zapotec, A Child's History of the World). We use the read-alouds as our before bedtime read-aloud, and the readers have been incorporated into ds7's free reading list.

Science

• Sonlight Science 1 ~ We had been using Sonlight's Science 1 until we began our co-op class in the fall. At co-op the kids (dd5 & ds7) took "buggy science" (they completed an adorable lapbook in this class) ~ so I dropped science for the remainder of the fall term. We will probably pick SL Science back up ~ of course, tweaking it to fit our needs.


• Nature Study ~ I love the Handbook of Nature Study blog, I hope to incorporate some of the challenges into our schoolwork this term.

Circle Time ~ I have always wanted to add a circle-time into our homeschool day, and this time I typed up a detailed plan for 8 weeks of circle-time which includes Bible, Character-Training, Poetry, Hymns, Traditional Songs and Art Study (I was greatly inspired by Brandy's recent Circle Time Plan). Hopefully since I planned the work, I will work the plan!

A Box Full of Books...Our New Curriculum

The kids and I were so excited when our box full of books arrived a few months ago...

We're in our 3rd official year of homeschooling. This year our school consists of a 2nd grader, a k'er and a busy, busy preschooler.

Up to now we've done an eclectic mix of curriculums - concentrating mostly on reading and math. Towards the middle of last year we transitioned to using Ambleside Online's Year One Curriculum - and ds7 loved our Ambleside reading time. However, I was unsure how dd5 would handle the content of much of Year One's reading selections. And I really did not want to start down the Ambleside path if it was not one we would continue longterm - so I began to consider Sonlight.

The funny thing is, Sonlight is the curriculum that I was absolutely sure we would use when we first began to research homeschooling - I loved their literature-based approach to learning. But for one reason or another, we never tried it. But this year, with my husband's blessing, we made the plunge and bought Sonlight's Core 1 Curriculum.

We've just completed our 4th week of Core 1 ~ and so far it's been a perfect fit for our family.

The MACHE Convention

One convention down, one (or maybe two) to go...

This past weekend, my husband and I took our 7-year old on a date ~ after dropping the two younger ones at Grandma and Papa's for a day of fun, we headed over to our small local airport for some plane-watching and a bit of lunch.

From there it was a very short drive to our small local homeschool convention. This was the first year that we brought our son along ~ we thought he'd enjoy checking out the many books and toys (educational, of course!) on display.

When we arrived at the convention, my husband and son headed off on their own while I took my prepared list and began my browsing.

Here's what I brought home:

Charlotte Mason's Elementary Geography

First Language Lessons

Whaley 4 or 8 Subject Plan Book

CLP's Nature Reader Book 5

Getty Dubay Italics Books (A & C)

and a very cute set of little nature readers

I also picked up a couple of miscellaneous items...but I am pleased to say that I stuck to my list.

After speaking with one vendor (and veteran homeschooling mom) I decided against adding a spelling program for now, we'll continue to work on copywork and revisit spelling when planning his third grade year.

I was not able to find a copy of StartWrite, so I plan on ordering that program on-line at some point.

There are still some things on my list that I was not able to purchase this time around, so they will remain on the list for our next convention - less than 2 weeks away :)

Oh, and in case you were wondering if the guys found anything interesting at the convention...

yep, my son is the proud owner of his first civil war style cap gun!

Preparing My List

Our first homeschool convention of the season is quickly approaching and even though we already have most of our curriculum for next year, there are a few more resources that I would like to examine and maybe purchase. I've found that I make much better use of my time at these conventions when I have a plan and a shopping list.

Language Arts: I've been debating about whether I should add some spelling next year for my oldest (7) ~ two resources that I want to check out are Sequential Spelling and Spelling by Sound and Structure.

I'm also considering adding in an English resource like Primary Language Lessons or First Language Lessons.

My 5-year old daughter will be officially joining us for school next year. She is currently working through Rod & Staff preschool workbooks. Once she finishes those, I plan to use the same Kindergarten language arts program that I used with my oldest.

Handwriting: DS7 just completed the Italics Workbook B - not sure whether I want to go on to Book C or just move on to creating all of my own copywork. Either way, I do want to purchase some kind of font/copywork program ~ I definitely want to check out StartWrite.

For my k'er I need to purchase a new copy of the Italics Workbook A.

Literature: We are currently about 1/3 of the way through Ambleside Online's Year One - but I guess it couldn't hurt to make a list of Year Two's books and snag them if I can find used or bargain copies while we're shopping.

I just completed a "free reading" list for my 7-year old and I put together a book basket that contained some books from this list. However, he is a voracious reader, and I know that he will probably go through these books very quickly. Now would probably be the perfect time to put together a list for next year so I can take advantage of the used book sales at the conventions.

Math: We are using Mastering Mathematics for my 7-year old's math curriculum - and we own all of the workbooks needed through about 6th - 7th grade, so math is covered for my oldest.

For my upcoming K'er - I plan to use Singapore's Early Bird Math workbooks - we have 1A and 1B, so I guess I could/should add 2A and 2B to my list.

Science: Covered ~ Ambleside includes a number of living science books in it's curriculum. We are also trying to do some of the nature study challenges posted on the Handbook of Nature Study blog.

History: Covered by our Ambleside curriculum.

Misc: I need to choose my plan book for next year. This year I used a very basic plan book and I loved it - not sure if I'll be able to find the exact one or if it would even work next year because I'll be adding my k'er in...

Now, that's a list of our homeschool "needs", and this year, the "needs" list isn't very long. Because the list is so short this year, I do believe that there may be some room in our homeschool budget to indulge some of my homeschool "wants" - you know, the fun stuff. This year my "wants" list includes:

• Charlotte Mason's Elementary Geography
• a markable USA Wall map
• Christian Liberty Nature Reader 5 (we have all of the others)
• more Draw Write Now books (we have 1,4 & 7)
• more Rod & Staff reading books (these are storybooks, not readers)
• one or two Opal Wheeler composer books (to complement our composer studies)
• misc paper supplies (construction paper, journals, etc.) - I love the Miller Pads & Paper booth for these types of supplies

How about you other homeschoolers, are you planning on attending any conventions this year?