2nd Grade Reading Log 2015-16

This is my youngest daughter's reading log for this year. Books marked * are required for school. I will add books as she reads them.

1. Tornado (Betsy Byars)*
2. In the Garden (Sarah McKenzie)*
3. The Adventures of Laura and Jack (Laura Ingalls Wilder)*
4. The Story of Ferdinand (Munro Leaf)
5. The White Stallion (Elizabeth Shub)
6. Molly's Pilgrim (Barbara Cohen)
7. The Magician's Nephew (C.S. Lewis)
8. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis)
9. Susan's Journey: Step Through the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis Pte, Ltd)
10. Dick Whittington and His Cat (Eva Moore)
11. Meet Samantha: An America Girl, Book One (Susan S. Adler)

Summer Reading:

12. The Boxcar Children (Gertrude Chandler Warner)

2nd Grade Curriculum 2015-16

My youngest is almost a 2nd grader!  This will be my third time with this curriculum.  I don’t think there are too many changes.  Do keep in mind, in case you think I have an awfully large number of subjects here, that many of these will be rotated so that not every subject will be taught all in one day (heaven forbid!).

1.  Math:  Singapore Math—Primary Mathematics 2A and 2B (U.S. Edition).  I’ve used Singapore Math for K-3 with all of my kids, and they have done very well with it. 

2.  Reading:  Reading to Learn series—Happy Hearts and Helping Hands (2 readers).  I’ve used this series for grades 1-3 with each child, and we really have enjoyed it.  These readers are advanced, but my youngest read through the first grade reader so quickly that she’s been reading other books the last half of the school year.  She’s already reading chapter books in fact!  I still plan to use these readers for 2nd grade, but if she gets through them quickly, then I’ll come up with a list of chapter books for her to read.

3.  Spelling:  All About Spelling—Levels 2 and 3.  This is our favorite spelling program.  She’s already finished part of Level 2 in 1st grade, so she will probably get to Level 3 during 2nd grade.

4.  Handwriting:  Pictures in Cursive Primer—I used this with my daughter’s older sister, and we enjoyed it.  The painting reproductions are very nice.

5.  Language:  Language Lessons for the Elementary Child, Volume 1—This is where I’m changing things up from what I did with the older two.  With them, I didn’t use this book until they were in 3rd grade; however, I think my youngest will be able handle it easily.  We’ll try it, anyway.  She literally whizzed through all of her 1st grade work each day, so I think she’s ready.

6.  Writing:  Journal--There are writing exercises in the language book; however, since she already loves to write, I will probably have her keep a journal.

7.  Poetry: Poems for Memorization—She is very good at memorizing, so we’ll try working on some of these poems.  I intended to use it with my older two, but somehow we never got to it that often.

8.  Science:  Our Father’s World—We used the second grade book along with her Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory program (Heart of Dakota), so I’m using the first grade book this year.  We’ll probably supplement it with experiments and nature study.

9.  History:  The Story of the World, Volume 1: Ancient Times—All of my kids have used this program, and we really like it.  Because the book has only a few Bible stories, I do add a lot to the program.  We use the accompanying activity book and supplement with plenty of books.  To top it all off, we will take her to the British Museum in London, something I’ve done with my older two when they studied ancient history.

10.  Geography:  With my older two kids, we did three years of geography units on different countries, plus one year on states.  Now, my older two are finished with our geography units, and my youngest gets to start them for the first time!  I love geography, so this is a favorite to teach.  My units are on my blog (right side bar), but they may vary a little depending on what resources we have available.  My youngest will begin with the following countries:  Iraq, Egypt, Ghana, Israel, Greece, Italy, China, India, and Turkey.

11.  Bible:  Grapevine Studies—Stick-Figuring Through the Bible: New Testament Overview, Beginner Level and Seeds Family Worship (Bible verse memorization).  Our family has enjoyed these!

12.  Story Time:  I’ll be reading aloud to her from nine books as follows:

Biography:  Squanto: Friend of the Pilgrims (Clyde Robert Bulla)

Adventure:  (Still working on this one)

Historical Fiction:  Little House on the Prairie (Laura Ingalls Wilder)

Fantasy:  Rabbit Hill (Robert Lawson)

Mystery:  Ghost Town Treasure (Clyde Robert Bulla)

Nonfiction:  If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon (E. Levine)

Humor:  A Bear Called Paddington (Michael Bond)

Realistic Fiction:  Misty of Chincoteague (Marguerite Henry)

Folktales:  Dick Whittington and His Cat (retold by Eva Moore)

13.  Seatwork:  Spectrum Test Practice, Grade 2—Just for skill practice.

14.  Thinking Skills:  MindWare Brainteaser books—Analogies, Venn Perplexors, and Logic Links.  Also we will use a variety of thinking skill games.

15.  Music:  Singing Made Easy, piano, other.

16.  P.E.: Family Time Fitness

17.  Art:  Joseph the Canada Goose and Draw-Write-Now books

Click on links to view my 2015-16 curriculum for 6th and 9th grades.

This post is linked to iHomeschool Network's 7th Annual "Not" Back to School Blog Hop.

P.S.  As I hadn’t published a blog post in several months, I experienced technical difficulties when I tried to publish this post via my Windows Live Writer.  If you experience this issue, this post was most helpful:  LEHSYS Side Notes

Moriah's 2nd Grade Reading Log

I just realized today that I've kept up reading logs for Isaac last year and this, and yet I've neglected to do the same with Moriah. I trust Isaac to read on his own, but Moriah needs to read aloud to me since she's still learning. She reads aloud daily from her reading book, but I haven't had her read any extra books up until now. Anyway, this post will be a reading log for Moriah--a place to record all the books she reads this year. I will add to the list throughout the year, as she reads each new book. My only rules for Moriah is that she may not read books that are obviously for toddlers (like simple board books or books which have only a few large-print words on each page). Although she's in 2nd grade and definitely able to read at that level, she's not very confident and needs practice. I'm happy to allow her to include 1st-grade level books in this list; however, I hope to be able to encourage her to read longer and higher-level books as the year progresses. One more note: The books on this list were chosen by Moriah. They are not books required for school.

Moriah's 2nd Grade Reading Log (2011-2012):

1. The Cat in the Hat (Dr. Seuss)
2. I Can Read With My Eyes Shut! (Dr. Seuss)
3. The Foot Book (Dr. Seuss), hmmm maybe this one was too easy...
4. Green Eggs and Ham (Dr. Seuss)
5. Dr. Seuss's ABC (Dr. Seuss)
6. Fox in Socks (Dr. Seuss)
7. Robert the Rose Horse (Joan Heilbroner)
8. A Turkey for Thanksgiving (Eve Bunting)
9. Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? (Dr. Seuss)
10. Frog and Toad All Year (Arnold Lobel)
11. Little Runner of the Longhouse (Betty Baker)
12. The Thirsty Moose (David Orme)
13 Henry and Mudge and the Happy Cat (Cynthia Ryland)
14. The Best Nest (P.D. Eastman)

Summer Reading
15. White Bird (Clyde Robert Bulla)
16. Cosmo's Story (Sarah Hawkins)
17. Six Dinner Sid: A Highland Adventure (Inga Moore)
18. Mind the Gap (Roger McGough)
19. Dogger (Shirley Hughes)
20. The Miracle of the First Poinsettia (Joanne Oppenheim)
21. Moi and Marie Antoinette (Lynn Cullen)

Our Curriculum Choices 2011-12

This is a post that I’ve put off for awhile because I’ve only just now finalized all my choices and finished my ordering.  Just a note on these curriculum lists—not everything will be done daily! Anyway, here’s what I’m planning for this year:

Isaac (5th grade)

Math:  Teaching Textbooks 5

Reading:  Drawn Into the Heart of Reading (using the following literature selections):

Biography—The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk (Donald J. Sobol)

Adventure—Escape to Liechtenstein (Ed Dunlop)

Historical Fiction—Amos Fortune, Free Man (Elizabeth Yates)

Fantasy—Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Robert C. O’Brien)

Mystery—The Invisible Friend (Lois Walfrid Johnson)

Folk Tales—Knights, Kings and Conquerors: 20 Stories from British History (Geraldine McCaughrean)

Nonfiction—Christian Liberty Nature Reader, Book 4 (Lindstrom and McHugh, eds)

Humor—Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Roald Dahl)

Realistic Fiction—Swallows and Amazons (Arthur Ransome)

Language:  Learning Language Arts Through Literature (The Purple Book), Language Lessons for the Elementary Child 2 (finishing from last year), English Grammar and Stories with Cartoons for Young Children, and various Mad Libs books.

Writing:  WriteShop Primary C

Vocabulary:  Vocabulary Cartoons and Rummy Roots game

Bible:  Discover 4 Yourself Series:  Lord, Teach Me to Pray for Kids, Wrong Way, Jonah!, Bible Prophecy for Kids (Rev. 1-7), and A Sneak Peek into the Future (Rev. 8-22)

Spelling:  All About Spelling, levels 3 and 4

Thinking Skills:  Building Thinking Skills, Level 2 and various games

Science:  Apologia:  Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day (only the flying insects section, to finish from last year), Exploring Creation with Zoology 3:  Land Animals of the Sixth Day and Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology. 

History:  Story of the World, Volume 3:  Early Modern Times.  Also, we’ll complete History Pockets: Native Americans, which we never finished last year.

Geography:  I teach geography units in a similar style to Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations.  I come up with my own lesson plans, which I don’t mind since geography is my favorite subject.  However, the ideas I include in my plans aren’t always my own.  I get a lot of my ideas (and printables) from other websites and blogs.  I chose a list of countries from those mentioned in our history program.  This year, I’m planning 2-week long units on the following countries and 1 continent:

Canada, Haiti, Peru, Venezuela, Argentina, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Czech Republic, Iran, Mongolia, Burma (Myanmar), Korea, Angola, South Africa, Antarctica.

In my plans, I try to use literature, YouTube videos, notebook pages, art or craft projects, music, food, maps, drawing, resource books, websites, science projects, games and sometimes lapbooks.

Storytime:  Read-aloud classics.  Here’s our list of books we plan to read through this year, if possible (though I may add or subtract some): 

Anne of Green Gables
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Little Lord Fauntleroy
Heidi
Around the World in 80 Days
Treasure Island (Junior version)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Extracurricular Rotation 1:  I’m not sure how I’m going to work this, but I’m planning to rotate these subjects by school quarter (we’ll see how it goes):

Art Appreciation & Handicrafts—Study paintings (M), reproduce paintings (Tu), do handicrafts (W), study architecture (Th), Art Appreciation notebook (inc. architecture)(F)

Music I—Composers, using A Young Scholar’s Guide to Composers

Art—Drawing Textbook

Music II—Piano (4 weeks), recorder (4 weeks), singing (with Singing Made Easy) (Fridays)

Extracurricular Rotation 2:

Physical Education—Various activities and games (I do plan to include some daily exercise for the whole year)

Typing—Continue with Typing Instructor PC/CD

Health & Safety—Website SuperKids Nutrition and possibly others

Technology—Coming up with my own plans

 

Moriah (2nd grade)

Morning Seatwork:  Spectrum Test Practice, Grade 2

Reading:  Helping Hands and Happy Hearts (Reading to Learn series)

Math:  Singapore Math:  Primary Mathematics 2A and 2B

Spelling:  All About Spelling.  Right now, Moriah is in the middle of level 2, so we’ll work up as far as we can this year, up through level 4 if possible.

Phonics:  Explode the Code (books 4 and 5)

Language Arts Rotation:

Handwriting:  Pictures in Cursive Primer (M/W)

Language:  My own plans (Tu/Th)

Writing: Journaling (Fridays)

Poetry:  Poems for Memorization (daily)

Rotation (Science/Thinking Skills):

Science:  Our Father’s World and nature study (M/W/F)

Thinking Skills:  MindWare brainteaser books:  Analogies, Venn Perplexors, Logic Links, and various games (Tu/Th)

Bible:  Grapevine Studies Stick-Figuring Through the Bible: New Testament Overview, Beginner level and Seeds Family Worship, Volumes 2 and 4

History:  Story of the World, Volume 3:  Early Modern Times (along with Isaac)

Geography:  Same as Isaac (see above)

Storytime:  I’ll read aloud books from 9 genres:

Biography—Squanto: Friend of Pilgrims (Clyde Robert Bulla)

Adventure—Sword in the Tree (Clyde Robert Bulla)

Historical Fiction—Little House on the Prairie (Laura Ingalls Wilder)

Fantasy—Rabbit Hill (Robert Lawson)

Mystery—The Railway Children (E. Nesbit)

Nonfiction—If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon (E. Levine)

Humor—A Bear Called Paddington (Michael Bond)

Realistic Fiction—Misty of Chincoteague (Marguerite Henry)

Folktales—Dick Whittington and His Cat (retold by Eva Moore)

Rotation (Electives):

Music:  I may do Moriah’s music along with Isaac.  We have a keyboard now, so I’m planning to give her beginning piano lessons.  We’ll also do singing, using the program Singing Made Easy.  I’ll probably do some stuff on composers, music appreciation, and musical instruments as well.

P.E.:  With Isaac

Spanish:  Teach Them Spanish, grade 1 (if we finish that, we’ll go on to grade 2)

Life Skills:  Life Skills for Kids

 Art:  Joseph the Canada Goose,  Little Annie’s Art Book of Etiquette and Good Manners, and Draw-Write Now books.  May also do some Art Appreciation.

Gabriela—Preschool/Tot School

I’m not really sure where I’m going with Gabriela yet.  She won’t be 4 until October.  In the US, age 4 is preschool, and in the UK, age 4 is Reception (Kindergarten).  In either case, Gabriela would turn 4 too late to be enrolled in school if I had her in public schools.  So, this is a case of “wait and see what she’s ready for.”  In some ways, I feel she’ll be ready for preschool, but in other ways I feel she still needs Tot School.  I’ll figure out at the end of the school year whether I feel she’s ready for Kindergarten.  With Isaac and Moriah, I used the program Early Education at Home for Preschool.  With Gabriela I’m planning to use that program along with Tot School trays/Montessori activities AND Before Five in a Row…sort of.  I don’t actually have the book BFIAR, and I don’t plan to purchase it because it’s hard to get in the UK and expensive (not to mention that some of the required story books are out of print).  However, I like the idea behind it, and I have several of the books.  So, I’m going to come up with my own activities for those books and cover one a week.  I may even add some different books, if it goes well.  For Montessori activities, I use the book Teach Me to Do it Myself, by Maja Pitamic, as well as several Montessori blogs I follow online.  The Early Education at Home book covers the alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes, and various theme units.  To supplement the alphabet section, I’ll be using the Letter of the Week preschool curriculum from Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler.  For Math, I also use Math Play! and Singapore Math: Earlybird Pre-School Mathematics.  I have lots of early learning math manipulatives, too. 

When I get Gabriela’s preschool plans finalized, I’ll do a separate post!