2nd Grade Curriculum Picks for 2024-25 || Second Grade Curriculum I am Thinking About

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Ай бұрын

2nd Grade Curriculum Picks for 2024-25 || Second Grade Curriculum I am Thinking About
I am so glad to have you here!
I'm Dana, wife to my favorite, mama to 4 littles, and a second-generation homeschooler. One of my greatest joys is teaching my children, so on this channel, I share our homeschooling journey as well as simple living and motherhood encouragement. I would love to have you join our family by subscribing below!
/ @oursweetiebirdshome
Items shown or mentioned (and other things I forgot to mention).😬
Hamilton’s Arithmetic: You can print it for free or find a copy on EBay! Here is the link for printing: books.google.com/books/about/...
Ray’s Arithmetic: You can print it for free or get it from Mott Media, ChistianBook or Rainbow Resource. Here are the links for printing and Rainbow Resource:
Printable: raysarithmetic.wordpress.com/...
Rainbow Resource: www.rainbowresource.com/02708...
Simply Charlotte Mason Math Book 2: simplycharlottemason.com/stor...
Grid Notebook (more affordable): amzn.to/45fTR9g
Christian Light Education Math: christianlight.org/curriculum...
CLE Language Arts: christianlight.org/catalogsea...
McGuffey Readers: amzn.to/3XieU9i
Splendid Spelling: amzn.to/3XlLuHn
Eclectic Speller: amzn.to/3Rh3Xkk
FixIt Grammar: amzn.to/3VwrPD0
Explode the Code 4: www.amazon.com/dp/0838814638/...
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#homeschoolcurriculum #homeschoolcurriculumreview

Пікірлер: 99

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Hi mamas! I just had to jump on here and tell you THANK YOU! I greatly appreciate your words of wisdom and insight. It has helped me solidify our picks, and I appreciate you all so much! ❤ Have a beautiful day!❤

@thesewildflowersblooming3974 Ай бұрын

Fix It! Grammar is amazing but the first book is really for the fourth grade level. I found that it works best to just focus on reading for grades K-3 and then introduce grammar in the fourth grade using Fix It! Grammar.

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Thank you so much for letting me know about the grade level! ❤️

@VanessaLStrada Ай бұрын

Came here to say the same thing! My oldest just wrapped up his 4th grade year and we added Fix It Grammar this year and it was absolutely a perfect fit for his age. He was in a much more confident place in his reading and comprehension so reading through the new lesson every week wasn't overwhelming to him.

@bethart1985 Ай бұрын

Yess! I started it with my Second grader and it was way too hard for her so we are going to start it up again in the fourth grade!

@erinashley1910 Ай бұрын

We've been using the McGuffey Readers for a couple of years now, and I feel like I've finally got a handle on how to use just the readers for everything. Spelling, grammar... everything. But, it took me some time.

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

It does take time, but it’s amazing when it’s all put together! Love it! ❤️❤️❤️

@amberleggio335 Ай бұрын

Old homeschool mom here. I love the SCM math. I have used it with my you gest two and it's worked wonderfully. My oldest four two graduated already used Math U See and I have my two you gest on the CM math. Love love both of those math curriculums. The CM math has been so good and such a good relational thing to do with my youngest two. As far as grammar. I am not a huge fan of doing grammar until they are reading really well and being able to understand what they are reading. I would wait until 4th grade and up to introduce grammar. It is very abstract for new readers. Spelling and phonics and narration for young kiddos is perfect.

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with CM math, and your wisdom and insight on grammar. I think I will hold off on it now! ❤️❤️❤️

@Jennajones4 Ай бұрын

Love this ! Can’t wait for the other videos!🎉

@hannahbeeolson Ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing these! I will have a first grader and it helps me to see videos like this one! Love your channel!

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Thank you so much for the encouragement! So happy to have you here! ❤️

@Grace_Filled_Homeschool Ай бұрын

My daughter just finished CLE 2nd grade math. I was looking into other curriculum and she told me that if it didn’t have a “We Remember” she didn’t want it. I was glad she had a strong opinion because it can be so hard to choose!

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Yes! I love their opinions! ❤️

@VintageHomeschooling Ай бұрын

The Gentle Grammar Books from Sherry Hayes are good for introducing grammar concepts very gently. You can download the pdfs for free to see if it’s something you would like to use 😊

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

I love Gentle Grammar! For some reason I totally forgot to add that in! ❤️

@gingerdillard1664 Ай бұрын

Thank you so much for suggesting this! I have never heard of this page and I just downloaded everything....for free!! Thanks mama!

@sharamclaughlin9343 Ай бұрын

I’m pretty sure I saw you at the HEAV convention this weekend 😊 I love seeing your picks!

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Haha! We were there! ❤️❤️❤️

@cortneymckinney9215 Ай бұрын

Love your videos! I’m preparing for 2nd grade as well…undecided! Ha! Sometimes I use a mix of programs. 😅 Love your hair! You are glowing! ❤

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

You are so kind, thank you! Yes! I am hoping to solidly soon but am also just playing around with some combinations! ❤️

@samanthagraveswalters8443 Ай бұрын

Mom delights wrote a book called homeschool sanity and it includes some info on Rays :)

@samanthagraveswalters8443 Ай бұрын

Explode the code , splendid spelling and gentle grammar. That’s my vote ❤

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

I love that combination!! ❤️

@MommyBee1589 Ай бұрын

We used splendid spelling it’s great!

@StephanieMT Ай бұрын

we are using rays athimetic from under the home

@kazmynjohannes5163 Ай бұрын

My core is the CMEC. This is my second year, although I chose to stay with them, this year I feel much more comfortable to heavily swap and fix where my kids’ need it. For math, we’re using Beast Academy, but I’m considering other options that are off line.

@bookinggrooves Ай бұрын

We use and love CLE LA ( and math). We do Penmanship and spelling after math and reading ! We use a different reading program plus the McGuffey’s !

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

That sounds wonderful!!

@user-jq9um8wr5w Ай бұрын

I like that you did this video of thoughts. Not all neat and put together. I ran into the same situation for my oldest, my upcoming 2nd grader. We are continuing in reading, and I don't want to take SO much time on math, reading, and writing while still giving a thorough understanding of math. I want to do CLE for all 3 subjects, but I can't imagine them doing 12 pages per day.

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

So many options and things to think about! ❤️

@Personaltouchmotherhood Ай бұрын

You can save the math workbook as a math assessment. To see what she gained from the arithmetic. I must say I love that the arithmetic books forces kids to think mentally. And not rely on paper

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

You are right! Wonderful idea! ❤️🙌

@jordangholson3210 Ай бұрын

We are doing My Father's World K but my little boy loves math so we are adding in the SCM math book 1. I'm very excited to see how he likes it this year! Even if it doesn't end up being a good fit for his core math I would be tempted to continue using it as a mental math supplement periodically. I think that is such a nice skill it provides.

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

I LOVE MFW for the little years! It’s beautiful! 😍

@KikiP-rb8no Ай бұрын

Thank you for the video! I'm actually going to pair up rod and staff grammar with Mcguffey's. I was worried about picking a textbook style since I'm more of an eclectic CM style of homeschooling. But I think I'll be able to do alot of it orally and it's open and go type so I'm excited to use it. Another suggestion for grammar would be SCM's using language well. That was my 2nd choice to go for grammar 😊 For math, I'm also leaning towards SCM arithmetic but at the same time, using vintage curriculum called First year in numbers by Hoyt and Peet. Have you heard of number stories books? They're vintage curriculum too and land of kakiak uses them for one of her kids. I also wanted to suggest life of fred, (more modern version of number stories). I'd love to see how you end up using Ray's arithmetic. I'm not sure if you've heard of the website called, under the home? It has Ray's arithmetic lessons and how to teach it for free! I might possibly do that too 🤔

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Oh I’ve never heard of First Year, it sounds great! I love that Rod & Staff is a non-consumable solid program as well!

@user-fb5ze9fx7e Ай бұрын

We're facing the same dilemma. I just bought CLE Language Arts, but I also have several other lovely language arts materials that I was excited to use. CLE is so thorough and I know my child will learn from it, but I like the other items too. Arrgh!! Can't decide!!

@bookinggrooves Ай бұрын

It’s hard! I’ve looked at many LA programs and always come back to CLE, plus my boys (will be 2nd and 5th) literally begged me not to switch their math and language!

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

I know! I will be trying a few over the summer to see which one to stick with!

@AndeeEve Ай бұрын

I just love watching your videos and your process of choosing curriculum, finding new ones… So- for math I just wanted to share with you that we have used Wentworth’s math (a vintage math curriculum- I found it on Sherry Hayes’ website. I have also tried a few others that are free in the public domain. We absolutely love them! I think I started my son on them when he was at the end of second grade. I also used them in conjunction with the video and book from Simply Charlotte Mason for how to teach math using CM methods. The video was made before SCM released their math curriculum and they use Ray’s Arithmetic! We have gone back and forth with my son who just completed 4th grade. Similarly to the way you have dipped in and out of CLE, we have dipped in and out of Masterbooks math, and I like it for the open and go element. However, this spring my son said that he likes the vintage math and the math notebook method more than the workbooks. So…that solidified it for me. For my daughter (just finished 1st grade) we stopped Masterbooks math in late fall and did Wild Math which worked great. But I can feel that she is ready to do more “book-based” math…so we have started back on a vintage curriculum with her- written by Baird. Loving it. Teaching both kids using the SCM method and applying it to the vintage math is great. I finally bought the SCM arithmetic book for my son- and we love it!! It’s even easier to use a book that is already formatted with teacher helps that align with the method taught on the SCM videos. I think I will be getting SCM book one now for my daughter! We do mostly oral, and if she’s doing well, she writes in her math notebook as a treat! For phonics/reading we use Word Mastery (underthehome.org) in combination with Mc Guffeys for my daughter. We use Ruth Beechick’s method for that. I did Splendid Spelling with my son a few years ago and loved it. This year we are going to g to try Spelling Wisdom and Using Language Well from SCM for him. He is transitioning to reading to himself now, but I still like him to read to me once a week from McGuffey’s or Reading-Literature or Brooks Readers. Both kids do the Lesson Book with their Reading. Sorry this is so long! Again- I just love watching your videos- you feel like such a kindred spirit to me- so many similar likes and preferences! Hope you and your family are enjoying your summer!

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

This was so incredibly helpful, thank you so much! ❤️❤️❤️

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Thank you so much for being here and watching! It means so much!❤️🥰

@OurMessyHouse Ай бұрын

We have been using rays this summer. We decided to use it as a summer only practice and get math u see for the coming school year. It took only a month to go through all of the addition lessons and maybe 2-3 weeks to go through subtraction. We do like it though!

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Yes, it’s very quick! I think I am learning more towards the CM with Rays as a supplement if needed. ❤️

@OurMessyHouse Ай бұрын

@@oursweetiebirdshome that’s how I would do it for sure! It helped a ton though on getting us through the season we needed without workbooks.

@kita3256 Ай бұрын

For math, my daughter is visual though, In was thinking of doing BJU math videos. But I like your picks too!!! I’m torn! I have a second grader in the fall too!

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

There are so many wonderful options out there! ❤️

@SandyyLee1 Ай бұрын

Thank you for always sharing your amazing homeschool curriculums, ideas, and experiences. I would hold off on Fix-It-Grammar. Your kiddo will definitely benefit from it by 3rd grade. And regarding the CLU's Language Arts, it will provide great support for your daughter than Explode the Code which can be used as a Supplement. Currently, we are using the two and it's going well. I hope that was helpful. God bless. ❤️

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Thank you so much for sharing your insight! I am definitely going to hold off on it now. ❤️❤️❤️

@CP-fo5sy Ай бұрын

I like Beauty and Truth math which is CM. My son who likes to learn with me prefers it, but it has been difficult for me to find the time daily to teach him. We are using CLE now. Maybe we will go back to Beauty and Truth in the winter when I have more time. My youngest prefers workbooks. For language arts, we piece it together, but use CLE readers. I do like Gentle Grammar. For spelling we are using Spelling You See.

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Yes, this was the thing for me as well, so I am glad I got the CLE math in case we are not able to pull off the CM math! We will see how it goes!❤️

@rachaelpierson3470 Ай бұрын

Would HIGHLY recommend holding off on the formal grammar (fix it) until 4th/5th. The concept is pretty advanced for a 2nd grader. I believe IEW recommends it from 3-5th grade.

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Thank you so much for your insight!❤️❤️❤️

@rachaelpierson3470 Ай бұрын

@@oursweetiebirdshome fellow McGuffey user as well :) love your videos!! Can’t wait to see what you decide for math, my 1st grader sounds the same as your 2nd grader. She wants things short and more hands on the better (mostly to keep her attention). I too have waffles on what math to use next year. I’ve looked at apologia (but the price 😬) I actually have the second book of SCM math and used it with my older. It was great til we got to multiplication and then she was really confused (however looking back, I also had a newborn and I really didn’t have the time to sit with her). I’ve also looked at number stories (another vintage math curriculum).

@cortneymckinney9215 Ай бұрын

I do agree that Fix it Grammar is a little much for 2nd grade…I think we started it at the end of 3rd grade or beginning of 4th. 😊

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Thank you so much for your insight. We are going to put it on hold now thanks to all the wonderful advice! ❤️🙌❤️

@StephanieMT Ай бұрын

i like rainy days if its just rain no storms becasue tornadoes are scarry

@courtneysimon444 Ай бұрын

I’m kind of in the sane boat as you. I too use the McGuffey readers with the lesson books. I feel like I want a very open and go LA since the McGuffey and lesson book together I think is the true “meat” of her LA. I’ve been doing a lot of looking around today and I think Easy Peasy LA seems the best to accompany the McGuffeys. One concept a day so it’s not too much at all. 😀

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

I’ll have to look at that one too! ❤️

@roonie85 Ай бұрын

I also recommend waiting on grammar. We love Gentle Grammar and will be using that and Primary Language Lessons this year (and that whole series). We have tried CLE LA and it was just too much and not CM enough for me. We have also used Fix It Grammar but to me, it only makes sense if you are using IEW's writing program. A lot of the stylistic techniques are included in the grammar, and you really need the context of the writing program. We use CLE math now and highly recommend it. I will say though, I regret not switching to it earlier because we have had to back track to fill in gaps. It has so much practical application of math in it.

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Thank you so much for sharing your insight. I will be waiting. ❤️❤️❤️ Yes, CLE is hard to beat!

@gingerdillard1664 Ай бұрын

What age / grade would you recommend starting Gentle Grammar? I just viewed it online but it sounds like you have experience with it and I would value your insight! Thank you!!

@gbcflower Ай бұрын

I homeschool all of my children and I'm getting ready to do second grade for the 4th time. I would strongly encourage you just to use Gentle Grammar for your little girl. That along with Explode the Code, reading from Mcguffey's and maybe some handwriting will be more than sufficient to cover what she needs in second grade. Christian light is an amazing curriculum, but if it seems like it's just going to be too much for her, then you are absolutely right to try to do things differently. For my own children, I don't begin spelling instruction until they are done with phonics. Praying that you have direction on the right way to go for your family.

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Thank you so much for sharing this. It was more of exactly what I needed to hear! ❤❤❤

@arose5682 Ай бұрын

I second waiting on Grammar till 4th or 5th grade. Have you read the book For the Childrens sake? Or the Charlotte Mason companion? It really will open your heart to how Jesus might be leading you to educate. Short peaceful lessons etc. I have an almost 12 yr old and we started grammar last year at 11. No regrets. Glad we waited and gave more time to areas that were more developmentally appropriate.

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Thank you so much for sharing! I will definitely be waiting on it now!❤️🥰

@rewise73 Ай бұрын

We really have the same brain dump here! I have simply Charlotte mason, rays arithmetic and CLE math in front of me that I’m trying to decide between for math and also the McGuffey’s and CLE language arts! I feel like I could talk these things out for hours along with you! They’re all great choices which is a nice problem to have but it’s still hard!

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Oh my goodness! My curriculum twin! Let me know what you decide. They are all so good!❤️🥰

@rewise73 Ай бұрын

@@oursweetiebirdshome I will! They really are so good!

@taylourcurtis7246 Ай бұрын

Love reading all suggestions! I will have a second grader as well! ❤ This is what we decided on, maybe: Our main spine: The Playful Pioneers “the kind kingdom” Math With Confidence 2 Beautiful Italics Handwriting For Children Pathway readers for grade 2 Explode The Code We follow the 2nd grade outline on Simply Charlotte Mason website mostly! And won’t behind grammar/spelling until 3rd grade.

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

This lineup sounds absolutely lovely! ❤️😍

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

I’ve heard so many wonderfully things about the Playful Pioneers!

@samanthagraveswalters8443 Ай бұрын

I vote gentle grammar ! lol

@StephanieMT Ай бұрын

if you aready have it all try something first and if it doesnt work you can always switch to the other curriculums.

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

❤️

@samanthagraveswalters8443 Ай бұрын

You could make notes on what yall did in a day. That may helps your brain :)

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Yes! Haha! ❤️

@SuelenBowman Ай бұрын

Hi Dana, How different are those 3 math resources (hamilton, ray and simply charlotte mason) compared to math with confidence curriculum?

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Hamilton and CM are very similar in the type of questions that they ask. Rays (at least the primary math) is just adding and subtracting.

@JMU2512 Ай бұрын

I’m in the same boat. Except I dropped CLE and went with Rod and Staff. I think I made a big mistake. My soon to be 2nd grader loves explode the Code and the McGuffey’s for Reading and Spelling. However I just got the Ray’s and I’m so thinking about just doing rays . Not sure. Just want simple and not so workbook heavy.

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Yes. Simple is what I am going for as well. ❤️

@TheMoreYouSew Ай бұрын

I'm interested in Hamilton's, but don't trust myself to teach everything well... especially with math!

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

This is me as well. We will see how it all goes!

@captain7471 Ай бұрын

Fix it grammar is more for fourth grade level so I would not do that now, even if it starts simply it ramps up with difficulty. Unless she is a solid reader I wouldn’t push spelling much and just keep Explode The Code and the McGuffey. Something else to think about for math is you have to do the teaching, so that takes away time from other things, where if you did CLE you can hand it over and cook lunch like you said. If you sit and do math with all your kids like that how long would that take you? Is that something you can do in this season of life? We didn’t end up liking SCM math because after a couple months it got tedious for my child and she got frustrated with it so we had to switch. Think about how much time you have to sit and do school for all your kids each day, along with trying to do things like history and science, jumping kid to kid, your younger kids interrupting, having to make food, any outside commitments you have, and how long you want your school days to be. I think just doing McGuffeys, Explode the Code, some occasional Splendid Spelling (I wouldn’t do the McGuffey spelling for now), and whatever math you pick is plenty for now

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

Thank you so much for this advice! I appreciate the perspective so so much! ❤️❤️❤️

@kita3256 Ай бұрын

Hello, I would love to see what you do for science. Where can I find that video? 🙏🏼

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

I’ll be sharing that in my family curriculum picks on Monday! ❤️❤️❤️

@amiewood2769 Ай бұрын

I am planning on doing CLE language arts for my 1st Grader next year. I was wondering if anyone could answer my question. Do we NEED the Teacher's Guide? Or can it be done with the Light Units alone? I was also going to supplement in Explode The Code. I would really appreciate it if anyone knows if the Teacher's Guide is necessary for CLE Language Arts 1.

@oursweetiebirdshome Ай бұрын

I bought it, but to be honest, only used it once. Same with the second grade. ❤️

@therelatablehomemaker Ай бұрын

I used the Teacher’s Manual for most lessons in CLE Language Arts but I like to use the teaching tips they offer. I felt more comfortable teaching LA with the manual. If you are using the Learn to Read program, I would definitely use the Teacher Manuals.