Today I’m sharing all the curriculum we will be using this fall with my 2nd grader! All his own core curriculum as well as what we are using for science and history as a family!
Looking back at his 1st grade year (see all the curriculum he used HERE), he had major growth and we learned a lot about how he learns best. He is always busy and creative, but loves to be straightforward and get to the point. This year we are changing a few curriculums for him and I’m really excited to see how well he does!
Keep in mind that while it might look a lot, this is curriculum for an ENTIRE school year, not everything is used every day. I’ll share an idea of our schedule and how we fit everything in at the bottom of this post.
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Language Arts
Essentials in Writing Level 2 (EIW)
Next year we are switching from The Good and the Beautiful to EIW. While TGTB made him an amazing reader, it became too simple for him and there was a lot we skipped (picture studies, narrations, poems, stories, etc.) I know he would enjoy a more straight to the point, no fluff curriculum next year and I feel comfortable moving on since he is doing well in reading.
EIW has a short video lesson the child watches at the beginning of the week and then worksheet pages to practice the concepts learned (just one for each day.) The video lessons are super short, always under 6 minutes. I really like how straightforward and simple the lessons are while incorporating grammar and writing in one.
The first half of the year is learning about parts of speech and grammar and then it covers the writing process and projects in the second half. We will be bouncing back and forth between some grammar sections and writing sections to intertwine them throughout the year.
Lots more information on EIW on THIS post.
Reading
Alongside EIW, I will also be having him read one small chapter book per month. These are the books he will read this school year: (He is an advanced reader, so some of these may be above grade level.)
- September– Magic Treehouse: Mummies in the Morning by Mary Pope Osborne
- October– Big Foot Little Foot by Ellen Potter
- November– Hotel Flamingo by Alex Milway
- December– Secret of the Hidden Scrolls: The King is Born by MJ Thomas
- January– Zeus on the Loose by John Dougherty
- February– Animal Rescue Agency: Case File Little Claws by Eliot Schrefer
- March– Henry Heckelbeck Takes a Swing by Wanda Coven (I think this book might be too easy for him, so I may switch it out.)
- April– Imagination Station: Attack at the Arena by Paul McCuster
- May– Bear Grylls Adventures: Sea Challenge by Bear Grylls
After finishing each book, he will complete a simple book report on an envelope and fill in this Story Elements page to put inside. Check out here how we created the Envelope Accordion book reports to watch their progress over the school year. My favorite!
Explode the Code- Book 4 & Book 5
Explode the Code is what we use for a little bit of extra phonics practice. My kids love these books, and they are very simple to do. They have also greatly helped with decoding words, reading, and spelling practice. You do not need the teacher manual to go with these, they are very self-explanatory.
He started a little bit into Book 4 at the end of 1st grade and will continue that, then will move onto Book 5 whenever he completes it. I typically have him complete 2 pages each day.
Spelling
Evan Moore Building Spelling Skills Grade 2
This will be his first year with a spelling curriculum and I’ve really liked Evan Moore Building Spelling Skills for my older son, so he will be trying it too. We do the “cover & spell” at the beginning of the week as a pre-test and then copy any words they spelt incorrectly. Then they complete one page per day independently to practice the spelling words throughout the week. (*If they spell everything correctly during their pre-test, I’ll let them skip some of the workbook pages. They think this is so exciting!)
Handwriting
The Good and the Beautiful Level 2
For handwriting, he will use the Level 2 workbook from The Good and the Beautiful. I love that they are simple, short, and open & go. I have them complete just one page per day. My boys actually really like the additional mazes, puzzles, and drawings to break up the handwriting, but if they aren’t in the mood for it they skip it sometimes too.
Math
For 1st grade my son used The Good and the Beautiful Math Level 1. While he did just fine with it, he didn’t enjoy how slow it was and all the lengthy stories to teach the concepts. He finished the curriculum early in the school year, so I decided to have him try a Horizons workbook to finish out the year and see how he liked it. He enjoyed it so much more!
The lessons are very straightforward and to the point, quick, and with lots of practice problems. Each lesson is just one page front and back. It is a spiral curriculum, and I like that it spirals through the concepts a lot more often and with a lot more practice, than TGTB did. I do feel like it is a little more advanced or moves quicker, so I had him start with the second book of Level 1. He will continue finishing this book in his 2nd grade year and will move onto Horizons Level 2 after that.
*There is a teacher guide to go along with this curriculum, but I don’t feel it is necessary at this age level. Whenever we come across a new concept, I teach it to him myself using a whiteboard and manipulatives and then he has plenty of practice and repetition in the workbook.
Bible
Renewed (First Reconciliation) and Received (First Communion) by Ascension Press
This year we are using a bible curriculum I loved using for my older son! We are very thankful our church allows us to complete our own catechism courses at home to prepare for his First Reconciliation and First Communion next spring. Renewed and Received by Ascension Press are amazing studies we do together just once a week. (We complete Renewed in the fall and Received in the spring, just one lesson per week.)
Each lesson has a portion you read together, simple workbook activities, and a short video. These videos follow along a girl and her journey preparing for her own first reconciliation and first communion and all the questions she has. These are my favorite! They are so simple, but well done, with super meaningful lessons taught in a way young kids understand.
*You don’t need the teachers guide, that is mostly for a church class/group setting. All you need is the student workbook (has all the readings in it) and access to the online videos.
Science
Beast Academy Science- Book 3A
We are SO excited about this science curriculum! I just recently found out that Beast Academy has a new science curriculum and it is just what I was looking for! I wanted something open & go, that I could use with all my kids, lots of hands-on experiments, and multiple topics covered (not just the same unit for an entire year.) We will be starting with the science 3A book this fall that covers motion, weather, and animal survival.
It is recommended for ages 8-10, but I definitely think my 2nd grader can join us easily. Every unit has fun comic book stories to introduce the topic, colorful lessons and information, questions to answer, and so many simple experiments using household items. There are also additional activity pages and game boards you can download on their website.
I think all my kids will love doing this together and it is doable for me without a ton of prep work. I only got one book for us to share, and they will use their own Schoolnest Notebooks to draw and answer questions. If we enjoy this curriculum, we will continue in the spring with the second book (3B) that covers forces, the atmosphere, and traits. *You can see many more sample pages on their website.
Beast Academy Science- Book 3B
History
Unfolding Ancient History- Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece by Little School of Smiths
This school year we are studying Ancient History! I have been working on a new curriculum coming soon to my shop that will cover Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Each guide will be 6 weeks long and use these amazing fold out books (Unfolding the Past: Ancient Egypt for Kids .) If you are familiar with my other history guides, these will be very similar! Lots of great books to read, notebooking prompts, projects, art, recipes, and more!
Ancient Egypt is available now! The others will release during the school year.
Foreign Language– Spanish
Homeschool Languages Spanish 1
This past year we started using this Spanish program from Homeschool Languages and love it! It is so fun and interactive, with lots of games, videos, songs and stories to leam how to speak words and phrases in Spanish. They also offer other foreign language curriculums to choose from: French, Portuguese, Italian, and German.
We have the physical box for Spanish 1 and I highly recommend it! It comes with everything you need, beautifully made, and ready to use!We will continue it next school year. Each lesson is fairly short taking just about 15-20 minutes. We try to do 1-2 lessons per week and review/practice with the workbook on the days in between.
*You can try the first 10 lessons for FREE to see if it is a good fit for your family! Use this LINK!
That’s everything for our 2nd grade year!
Schedule:
All his core curriculum (Math, LA, Spelling, Handwriting) we like to try and have completed before lunch. It really only takes about an hour and a half to get everything done for 2nd grade.
These independent checklists are the biggest help in our homeschool, especially with teaching multiple kids/grade levels. He pulls out his checklist first thing when starting school each day and knows exactly what to get done on his own. Then I will check his work and help him with any lessons for LA and Math. I’ll share an example of his 2nd grade checklist later this summer!
In the afternoon we have an independent reading time for 30 minutes and then complete our science or history studies together as a family. This year we are trying more of a large block schedule for history and science and I’m super excited! For the first 6 weeks of the school year, we will focus on history ONLY! After 6 weeks we usually take a week off, then we will study ONLY science for the next 6 weeks, etc.
I’m excited to just focus on one subject together as a family and not have to worry about getting everything else done at the same time. I’ll only have to gather books, make copies, or prep for one subject at a time. I’ll be sharing more details of this later this summer!
I hope this post was helpful for you and gave you some great ideas! Continue to come back the rest of this week as I share curriculum for my older kids going into 4th and 6th grade! (I shared my Kindergartners curriculum yesterday- see it HERE!)
2nd Grade Curriculum Round Up:
Bible- Ascension Press Renewed & Received
Language Arts- EIW Level 2
Reading and Envelope Book Reports
Explode the Code- Book 4 and Book 5
Spelling- Evan Moore Building Spelling Skills Grade 2
Handwriting- The Good and the Beautiful Level 2
Math- Horizons Level 1 Book 2, Level 2 set
Science- Beast Academy Science 3A
History- Little School of Smiths Unfolding Ancient History (Ancient Egypt coming first this summer!)
Spanish 1- Homeschool Languages
I’m so excited! We just did your American Girl History this last year and my girls loved it! Five girls from ages 12-4, so it was perfect for them.
I wanted to do Ancient History for next year but haven’t found anything we loved as much as your History studies, so I’m thrilled you’re creating some just in time!
Do you think you will release Ancient History in the Fall? We are going to be using Bookshark for World History 1 but you have the BEST hands on activities and resources.
Thank you! Ancient Egypt will be out first late this summer! The others will follow throughout the school year.
Hello! Really interested to hear your book choices for the independent reading you mention, where they will read one chapter book a month. I struggle to find engaging chapter books for this entry level reader stage!
I’m still waiting for a few books to come in but will be sharing some starting this week on my Instagram! Once I have them all posted I will link them here as well! I do have a few blog posts of beginner chapter books for both boys and girls! Search “Books for Boys” or “Books for Girls” in the search bar of my website and they will pop up. 🙂
Hi! Do you think doing both EIW and Jot it down would be overkill?
I think you can totally do both! When we did Jot it Down, we just did one creative writing project each month, so it wasn’t too much and worked out great. EIW would be your daily curriculum.
Thanks for your reply and input! Seems like something fun my daughter would enjoy.
Hi there, I was curious what word ladders is? Is it a game or a book? Thanks! Love this post for my little guy this year.
It is a workbook, you can grab it on Amazon. It is sort of puzzle based where they give you a clue of what each word is and if you need to add or take away a letter as you go up the ladder. It helps a lot with spelling too. My boys really enjoy it!