My youngest child is starting 2nd grade soon and I’ve just finished finalizing the list of materials that I plan to use for her second grade year. As eclectic homeschoolers, we tend to use a little of this and a little of that instead of a simple plan with a few resources.
My daughter and I sat down together and had a chat about her first grade year and what she wanted to learn in grade 2. She told me that she wants to learn about birds, electricity, and make stuffed toys from her pictures. She also requested to learn more about the history of English and alphabets. As a result, I’ve purchased a cute read-aloud book about the history of the English language and I’ll be putting together unit studies on electricity and birds.
Because we use lots of different resources, I use a loop schedule to keep things organize and create variety in our days. I’m looking forward to this upcoming year!
Math
- Main curriculum: Singapore Standards Edition 2A and 2B, Singapore Challenging Word Problems 2, and mental math exercises from the teacher’s manual.
- Fun supplements: Double Tangoes, Math War Addition and Subtraction, math apps, living math books, and Zometools Lesson Plans
Science
- Finish Magic School Bus unit study
- Birds unit study
- Electricity with Snap Circuits unit study
- How It’s Made episodes
History and Geography
- Finish Africa unit study
- Central and South America unit studies
- Maps, Charts, and Graphs: United States and Its Neighbors Level E
- Story of the World 1 audio with activity book (partial)
Language Arts
- Vocabulary: The Word Snoop
- Handwriting: Startwrite software
- Writing: Just Write 1
- Spelling: Finish All About Spelling Level 1 and then start Rod and Staff Spelling by Sound and Structure 2
- Grammar: Rod and Staff English 2 (grammar only) and living books.
Read Alouds
2nd grade – Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Peter Pan, The Reluctant Dragon, American Tall Tales, Heidi, Runny Babbit, James and the Giant Peach, Just So Stories, The Jungle Book, and The Little Princess
Readers
Finish this list before starting on this list: Henry Huggins, Paddle to the Sea, My Father’s Dragon trilogy, The Hundred Dresses, The Apple and the Arrow, Number the Stars, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, The Enormous Crocodile, Yearling, Phantom Tollbooth, Caddie Woodlawn, BFG, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Misty of Chincoteague, Johnny Tremain, A Wrinkle in Time, Matilda, Wizard of Oz, Old Yeller, and Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Foreign Language
I’m taking a dabbling approach to foreign language for now. We rotate between these languages. Around 5th grade we will cut it down to 2 languages.
Greek
Arabic
Chinese
French
- Bilingual Beginners: English/French
- Bilingual Songs French/English Vol 1-3
- French kid’s shows
German
Fine Arts
- Music Ace Deluxe
- Piano
- Sewing – Make stuffed toys
- Art Appreciation
- Cooking Competitions
Bible
- Jesus Storybook Bible – (Reader)
- 52 Names of God study
- Missionary biographies read alouds
- Bible story videos
Logic
- Dot to Dot Super Challenge
- The Amazing 50 States Maze Book
- Ultimate Maze Book
- Chess Academy for Kids by Geek Kids iPad app
Great Arabic referral
I admire your approach. We are finishing up our send year HSing, and our guy will be in 2nd as well. I’m finding your resources invaluable. Thank you so much for taking the time to document them for other families.
We’ve got one in second grade next year too. I haven’t even started planning! I’m excited to check out the resources you’re using for some ideas! Thanks for sharing