(Not) Back-To-School Blog Hop: Curriculum Week
Heart of The Matter Online is hosting this year’s (Not) Back-to-School Blog Hop, a four-week showcase of all the (not) back-to-school goings-on of the homeschooling community. I’m excited to get to participate this year! All the posts were very helpful to me last year, as I embarked upon our first official year of homeschooling.
Week One (Aug 2-6) is Curriculum Week, so…
I’ll just jump right in and share what we’re using for Gray’s 2nd grade year.
Math:
Abeka Arithmetic 2.
We used Arithmetic 1 last year, and I can’t rave enough about what a thorough, traditional math program this is. I wanted traditional; any kind of “new” math worries me because I don’t like to experiment when it comes to my kids’ learning of crucial life skills like math and reading. Abeka delivers an extremely solid math program, and it’s also incredibly easy to teach, since the teacher’s lessons are scripted for you. I usually don’t use the scripting to a “t”, but I love having it there as a guide, especially when teaching a concept that’s a bit difficult to explain.
The only con I give it is the rigid 5-day a week scheduling that’s hard to adapt (but we are adapting it this year to a 4-day schedule, regardless). Gray thrived on this math program last year, so despite my hesitations on its rigidity with scheduling, I decided to stay with what works well.
Phonics:
We’re using Abeka Phonics (Letters & Sounds 2).
Again, the same program as last year, but the more advanced 2nd grade version. And again, Abeka rocks the phonics the same way they do the arithmetic. Solid, traditional, and extremely thorough (to the point of tedium, but IMO a bit of tedium is sometimes a necessary evil when it comes to making sure kids know how to read and properly use the English language; the same goes for learning math). This is the final year of Phonics. He has it down, but I’m still using it to give him both a review as well as a thorough foundation in phonics & reading. I’m doubling up on lessons and hoping to finish the course by Christmas, so we can move on to grammar. We’ll see how that goes. If it feels like too much, I’ll slow it down and we’ll save grammar for next year.
Grammar:
Rod & Staff - Preparing to Build - English 2
Once we finish Phonics, we’ll move on to grammar. I searched extensively for a simple, but thorough grammar program that would teach parts of speech on a 2nd grade level. It was frustrating, because basic grammar doesn’t seem to be a popular subject anymore (and oh, how it shows!). I was very discouraged because everything I looked at seemed to be lacking in depth. I know it’s only 2nd grade, but I still want to properly introduce the parts of speech in their most basic forms.
I stumbled upon Rod & Staff through the Well-Trained Mind forums, and was surprised that it seemed to fit the bill. I found used copies in great condition at our local HS consignment store, so I was able to look through the books, and when I did, my choice was confirmed (after also sifting through many positive reviews on homeschoolreviews.com, of course).
Rod & Staff is very much a Christian curriculum. It’s a little odd because it’s very old-fashioned (Mennonite, actually) and its theme is heavily based upon farming and rural family life. Perusing the books is like time-traveling back to the 50s…or before. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It teaches grammar, it teaches it well, and the lessons are short & sweet. It’s exactly what I wanted, and I can’t wait to get to it later in the school year! As I said, we’ll finish up phonics first. If grammar gets pushed to 3rd grade, we’ll be fine.
Reading:
I don’t follow a formal reading curriculum. I wish, wish, wish we could afford Sonlight’s reading program, but we just can’t. So I decided to make my own program as close to Sonlight’s method as possible.
We already have a time each day after our lessons are done, where we sit on the loveseat together and G reads out loud from either a chapter book on his level, or from a book of fairy tales/stories, or something similar. During this time, I correct any mistakes and have him sound out any unfamiliar words on his own. I also try to ask questions to see that he understands what he’s reading, as well as to teach him to really pay attention to what he’s reading.
In the Sonlight tradition, I’ll also be doing daily read-aloud time with both boys, where I read out loud to them from a selected book that is beyond G’s reading level. My first selection this year will be The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which we’re both very excited about! I’ve never read the entire thing myself, and G hasn’t ever heard it all, either. We’re both huge fans of the movies & the story, so this should be really enjoyable.
History:
The Mystery of History Vol. 1. This is the curriculum I’m most excited about diving into. The course is presented in the classical education method. Volume one covers from Creation to the resurrection of Christ. This curriculum is obviously Bible-based, but it’s done with a twist. It covers ALL ancient history, from all over the world, but it lines it up chronologically with what was going on Biblically at the same time. For instance, Daniel was exiled in Babylon at about the same time Aesop was writing his fables, Ruth lived at the same time as Helen of Troy, etc. I find this terribly fascinating, and I look forward to sharing it with G as we both study this unique take on history together.
Writing:
Writing With Ease 2.
Writing is G’s weakest subject, having “only” scored in the 94th percentile compared to other students his age. We used Abeka’s Language 1 course last year, and while it did give plenty of opportunities to practice writing, it was sorely lacking in instruction on HOW to actually write. For instance, it would present a blank page with a picture of a cute puppy, with the instructions, “Write a story about a puppy.” G would linger over the page for 15 minutes, finally producing 3 or 4 weak sentences that described the puppy and what he might be doing. I felt like there should be more instruction on exactly how one should go about “writ(ing) a story about a puppy”, so I decided to ditch Abeka’s lacking Language program for 2nd grade.
In my search for a solid writing program, I found that most all curricula missed the mark on teaching the “hows” and “whys” of good writing. There were plenty of writing assignments, but no good, thorough “how-to” instructions.
And then I found Writing With Ease. It’s a completely different take on teaching writing; perhaps a bit experimental, even, but after careful research, I’ve decided to give it a try. WWE takes a slow, gentle approach in the early years by teaching young students first how to copy, then narrate, and then finally, to dictate passages from classic literature. In other words, it spends a couple of years exposing them to good writing, teaching them to “hear” exactly what good writing sounds like before ever asking them to write something original from their own minds. Original writing is gradually introduced in later elementary years, and then is demanded in the middle school years and perfected in the high school years. It’s all very much in line with the Classical Education method; it was, in fact, created by the author of “The Well-Trained Mind” (Susan Wise Bauer). The reviews were excellent, and I’m curious to try it for a year (or two) and see what it does for G. If it doesn’t deliver, then he still has plenty of years in which to learn writing via another method.
At the suggestion of a teacher friend (thanks Stacey!), I’ll also be having him do journaling at least a few times a week. Because I feel he should at least do some creative writing without any rules or pressure, and let that skill grow informally in the meantime.
Handwriting:
For the first part of the year, I’ll continue having him practice his manuscript daily, as he’s done for the past couple of years. We’ve never used a curriculum for handwriting; I taught him how to write when he was 3, just by sitting next to him and helping him learn to form each letter, then having him practice regularly on his own. His manuscript handwriting is quite nice when he’s really trying, so I think he’s ready to move on to cursive sometime this 2nd grade year. I’m thinking later in the fall or perhaps after Christmas. And for teaching cursive, I decided on A Reason for Handwriting, book C. It’s a Christian curriculum, with each week’s focus on writing letters, then words, and finally a complete Bible verse. On the 5th day (we won’t be doing a 5-day week, so each “week” will be split up for us), G will get to copy the week’s Bible verse onto a picture-lined page and color it. Then, he gets to choose who he’ll give the final, decorated sheet to. It’s suggested that he give/send it to a friend, a family member, or even to take it to a nursing home or hospital to give it to a patient who needs cheering up. We’re both excited about this aspect—getting to share something sweet with a new person each week! The weekly give-away sheet is good motivation for using his best handwriting. I can’t wait to use this curriculum!
Science:
No official curriculum for science this year. I want to get these first years of heavy reading instruction out of the way and then we’ll focus more specifically on science; in the meantime, G has no lack of interest in many scientific subjects, so he will be assigned to read a bit each week about whatever scientific subject he’s interested in at the moment, via his own books, his magazines, our encyclopedias, or from library books.
Bible:
I don’t have an official curriculum for Bible; I haven’t found anything I really like for our needs & schedule. However, we’ll still be doing short Bible lessons daily. I plan to read them a quick Bible story & related lesson each morning over breakfast. We can discuss for a few minutes and then move into our other studies once we finish that and our breakfast. If anyone knows of any quick, easy Bible lessons for homeschoolers, please do share.
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One final thing to note is that even though our school year has begun, we’re not using most of these items yet. The only subjects we’re covering at this time are Math and Phonics; everything else we’ll begin in September, when our full school year starts. Normally, we’d start the entire year at the first of August, but since I have surgery and then weeks of recovery all during August this year, we had to do things differently; I had to break some things up and get started early on the two main subjects for the year (math & phonics). Otherwise, we’d fall behind in those subjects.
So I can’t personally attest to how great many of these curricula are…yet. 
I’m just going by the positive reviews I’ve read, as well as what I can tell by flipping through the books and seeing what they have to offer. Later in the school year (maybe halfway through?), I’ll do an update and report on how each subject’s curriculum is working for us.
). The only thing I wish I could do is hang posters, which I don’t want to do in our dining area, but would do if we had a separate room. That’s the only negative I’ve found after a year of homeschooling in this space. Which, in the big picture, is nothing to complain about! I love our space and thank God for allowing us to have it.
