What We Are Doing for 2nd Grade and More

So many of y'all have asked the dreaded curriculum question. Many of you I have emailed or sent a super long text or send a ridiculously long facebook message. I thought that I was getting the question enough, that I might as well put it out there on a blog so I can send my friends a link in answer to their questions instead of a super long, overwhelming message. :)

While this blog post will only cover 2nd grade (as I am just making up the Pre-K stuff as I go) my hope is that the links provided will get you to the grade level you need and you will find some great things for your kiddos:: homeschooling or not!

We have to cover a variety of subject in 2nd Grade so I am going to break this post down by subject. This way if you only want information for one subject you don't have to wade through the entire thing. We have been through (and around) a variety of curriculum so PLEASE don't hesitate to ask me if you want advice starting a younger child in a curriculum. I would love to do my best to help you on your way and tell you pros and cons of whatever you are interested...if I know anything about it :)

Okay, here are the subject we are attempting to cover this school year:: Reading, Writing, Spelling & Grammar, Math, History, Science, Geography, Latin, Bible and Art. So here we go!

Here is a quick link list. Then below that is the explanations and more info about how/what we do::

Reading:: Veritas Press & Sonlight

Writing:: IWE

Grammar:: Shurley

Spelling:: IWE Phonics Zoo

Math:: Saxon

History:: Mystery of History & Story of The World

Science:: Apologia

Geography:: Veritas (last year)

Latin:: Song School Latin

To get started each year I check out what Veritas Press suggests we cover in that grade year, which curriculum they recommend (which is typically close to what we follow) and then I start searching around to see if anything better suits our boys for any particular subject. Then I wait for the sales :) (for sale finding I recommend:: CBD, Rainbow, Amazon, Barnes & Noble)

Reading::

We started the year with Veritas Press's More Favorites which included Mouse Soup, Danny the Dinosaur, Sarah Plain and Tall and My Father's Dragon. Between some of these I let him pick his own chapter books like The Magic Tree House. I am finding great comprehension guides for free online along with project ideas for The Magic Tree House books. (here) I haven't exactly mapped out what he will be finishing the year with, I am just making sure his reading is at grade level, comprehending well and that he is developing a love of reading. I will continue to follow Veritas Press's suggested reading or pull from Sonlight's suggested grade level readers to make sure he is on level. This will include all kinds of fun classics. He reads at minimum one chapter a day from a chapter book but often he will do 2-3.

Writing::

Titus has had a lot of hand writing issues because we transferred schools in Kindergarten and the school he moved to already did cursive. This has caused a bit of a set back in writing but he is doing great working on it. As for the subject of writing (as in NOT handwriting but actual composition) we use The Institute for Writing Excellence. (the DVDs that come with it were so good, old school, but good. They are for the parent or teacher and are very insightful) It is recommended by VP to begin in second grade while the actual IWE suggests more like 4th. So we are going very slowly and honestly he doesn't even know there is a curriculum. He just thinks I think of things for him to outline. When we are not doing IWE stuff, I let him "write " a story by him telling me it and we make correct sentences together. Then I write it out then he copies it. Again, trying to not make him hate writing while keeping him at grade level. I sometimes give him writing prompts that are silly and let him make "book" out of them. He really likes this as he can also illustrate it. We simply sit together and outline his story then he makes sentences that complete the story.

Handwriting::

Man, this subject has been quite a deal. Like I mentioned above, Titus transferred Kindergarten mid-semester when we moved to St. Louis. We put him in a school that used Abeka and his previous school did not. So he spent most of Kinder catching up on CURSIVE...I know, crazy, but they were already doing cursive. So being the perfectionist he is, he caught up quickly, but hated writing. :( So when we started homeschooling, I needed to go back and teach him print, as he did not fully learn it. We used A Reason for Handwriting. He really enjoyed it, surprisingly. I have recently been wooed by Handwriting without Tears and plan to start Justus on it this semester and Titus as well when we move into the cursive one next year.

Grammar & Spelling::

We use Shurley Grammar and have LOVED it. It is song driven. Shurley calls them "jingles." Each jingle teaches the child a part of speech or an english rule. He has a little book work each day, which Titus doesn't mind at all. My lovely sister-in-law got annoyed with having to write out the sentences they are to outline each day so she took some time to type them out and shared that document with us. It has made Grammar time go MUCH faster and a lot less "teacher heavy." I would suggest it for anyone to do and I will do it for next year as soon as I have the next book!

As for spelling, we do the Institute for Writing Excellence program called Phonics Zoo but are not very strict about it. We will start strong with it in 3rd grade but wanted to intro Titus to it this year. Titus did Abeka in Kindergarden and some of 1st grade so he has a bit of a bad taste in his mouth for spelling. So this year has been about rebuilding his confidence in writing and spelling.

Math::

We do Saxon. We have loved it. He is in Saxon 3 now. He is not good with timed things (by not good I mean he has total meltdowns) but we have learned our own way of using Saxon, completing the work and getting around all the timed sheets while still incorporating them when needed. He is doing well and way above level on Math. As his teacher I have really appreciated the way the Saxon teachers book is laid out:: easy and efficient. We don't do all the recommended daily activities but we always cover the lesson in one way or another :)

History::

We use Mystery of History. We really loved last year (Volume 1) but have found this year a bit harder. Its easier to get through, better laid out curriculum wise, but the material is heavier because of the nature of the dark ages. I really like MofH because it covers all of history including but not limited to the Christian movement. It is all over the globe not just middle eastern/western History. I have found this year that it is better for me to read the chapter first then teach it to Titus instead of how we did last year where he just listened to me read it. He really likes interacting with History lessons and MofH has great ideas after each lesson of thing to do. We usually do one a week. We have a timeline going and plan to make a binder but haven't got around to it yet :) As a supplement we use Story of the World. In retrospect I probably would have gone completely through Story of the World for the first 4-5 years of school then started Mystery of History but doing them together has worked. Titus LOVES listening to the Story of the World CDs. He has no idea it is school...no idea.

Science::

Curriculum wise we use Apologia. We have done the astronomy one and are now on an animal one. But Titus just loves science. He loves it so much that it often is what we skip because I am very confident that he is already learning this stuff. :) As he gets older we will crack down and follow stricter to the books but for now I love that he makes it up as we go. I sorta teach him some and let him come up with experiments to do.

Geography::

This year we are learning the United States and all of their capitals.

We don't use a curriculum. I have big flash cards (these) and small flash cards I got in the dollar bin at Target. As well as 2 workbooks we also found in the dollar bin of Target. We have a states puzzle that twice a week he has to take out all the ones I call out and then put them back in saying the capital. I bought some songs online to help him memorize the capitals and we have yet to listen to them because he is doing great with out them. Last year we did Veritas Press's Legends & Leagues Geography and WE LOVED IT. I highly recommend it to younger students K-2! We have also done some fun projects about where we live (like this one).

Latin::

We use Song School Latin. It is a very fun work book and a great intro to Latin. I also HIGHLY recommend it. It is song based and has a super fun, not time consuming, workbook.

Bible::

This year we haven't followed anything in particular for Bible. Since Justus (our 3yr old) is doing some preK now, we have been doing a verse a week that starts with the letter we are studying. For Titus the verse we cover is his weekly memory verse. We often use it for his handwriting. This year we are focusing on God being Faithful. We have a board in our home that says "God is Faithful. You can be/have _______" and each week we have a different character trait that we can have as believers because of God's faithfulness. We try to line this trait up with the message of the verse he is memorizing. For example, "God is Faithful, You can have Confidence" to go along with Romans 8:39

We hope to start a catechism next year or with both boys when Justus is a bit more attentive.

Art::

We don't have a "curriculum" per se but I try to at least have us "make" one thing a day. Draw a picture, paint, model clay, play-doh, build something that goes along with History, photograph, sing, etc. I really hope to do some Art History soon along with Titus doing corresponding art. I have some fun books ( Discovering Great Artists & Drawing With Children) I've bought along the way but just haven't done them yet.

**disclaimer:: after re-reading this post, I feel I should say that we had a good experience with Abeka's Homeschooling curriculum as it helped us start with something Titus was familiar with from his previous school. I think my post sounded like we totally did not like it and that is not the case. It is great curriculum! We have just, since then, decided to move on to others.**

If you have hung with me this long, I hope this has been resourceful! Feel free to pass it along to anyone. I remember the overwhelming feeling as we began the journey of homeschooling. There are so many options and so many opinions!

Happy Schooling!

Titus & Ladan Turn 7

Late June we made the hike back up to St. Louis. We had a good deal of meetings for HVG and Vernon was scheduled to preach the last weekend of June in O'fallon, so we made a week of it. It just so happened that that particular week was Titus' birthday. If you have been around the blog long you know we do parties...and I mean DO parties. We love having people over and making a big fuss over whomever's special day it is. Sooo, since Titus would not get his big party here in TX we through a family party in Missouri! Vernon's sister, Phyills and her family came over from IL and stayed the entire week! It was our nephew Ladan's birthday week as well (phyllis's son) because the boys are only a bit over a week apart!

We had a ball. We did all kinds of things that week:: we played in the water, went to the science center, made stepping stones, the kids watch movies with Grandma, visited friends and much more. Vernon worked, went to meetings, worked some more and Phyllis & I and the kiddos, well, we just had fun!! It was awesome. Here are some fun pictures::

Phyllis and I attempted making Lego cakes.

making stepping stones

movies w/ Grandma

Easter Weekend

We had a fantastic Easter weekend this year. We are showered with good friends who are now as dear to us as family. Living so far from our families is hard at times and holidays tend to make us remember this reality. Last year in MO was the first Easter of Titus life (that he is able to remember:: so since he was 2) that we did not spend the weekend in Irving celebrating with friends and serving South Irving. We were so fortunate to jump right back in to our "tradition" of spending Saturday morning with friends at FBCI and Sunday afternoon at The Durham's. Thanks to all our friends who have warmly welcomed us right back into your lives after being gone 1.5 years. We love y'all to the moon!!! (and our families appreciate your kindness towards us as we are so far from them!)

One of our "traditions" on Saturday morning of Easter weekend, is to attempt to get a decent picture of all the kiddos together. As you will see below, we've come a long way in the past few years :)

2009:: priceless::

2011::

I mean, can you handle this picture! I love it!

And since we are far from home I thought I would include some pictures of the boys in their Easter garb so that all the friends and family could enjoy their cuteness too!

Justus:: 2 years old

Titus:: 6 years old

Every Easter Sunday we go to The Durham's house for a fantastic meal. The Durham's have families and singles over for Easter Dinner who do not have family around DFW to celebrate with. Every year it is such a blast! Pastor John hides a bag of goodies for each person around the house and we all have to hunt...yes, even the adults. Here is a picture of Pastor John playing with Spy Gear w/ Titus after we opened all our goodie bags. He is one of the coolest Pastor's we've ever known. Around The Durham's you, no matter how old you are, always feel important and loved.

Well that's a wrap folks. Its a month late but better late than never.

Chem 6A and The Musings of A Six Year Old Boy

We love to read. We read children's books, classics, new books, fiction, non-fiction, serious and not serious at all. We don't have TV (before you make any assertions, positive or negative, we get plenty of media via a dvd player & the Internet). This is something we love but at times creates hilarious situations. For example, the boys rarely see commercials, so when they do, the advertisement really works. Its like they think they HAVE to have whatever they saw advertised and can tell you EVERYTHING about it after seeing it once on a commercial. So, dear advertising/marketing people, you are still fooling my 6 year old. No matter how much we try to convince Titus that things are not, or may not be as they seem on said advertisement, he is vehement against such charges....I digress.

Sorry, back to reading a lot. When the Narnia films started to make their way into the theaters, we decided we wanted to read the series to Titus before we let him see the films. We did pretty good with Lion, Witch and The Wardrobe and then we read The Magicians Nephew, as we predicted wrong and they produced Prince Caspian next. So we got behind. And Titus had to wait to see Prince Caspian. This is where the hilarity comes in. We were out searching for a version of The Voyage of The Dawn Treader that had bigger pages and more pictures. (non film version pictures) and Titus said, "why are we reading them first anyway, there are so many things that the book got wrong anyway." I am sure I gasped loudly in the store and sternly put him in his rightful place. (joking.......kinda :) Since this moment he has not let up. Titus is convinced that the books are wrong and the movie is right. We have explained it every which way, even down to time lines but alas he will not give in. He even brought it up to a group of friends we went out to dinner with a couple nights ago, like he thought those adults would surely agree with him and speak some sense into us. Little did he know they all, of course, sided with us and that the book in fact DID come before the movie. He was astonished. He could not believe people would think so illogically. It is quite hilarious how worked up he gets about it and how good of arguments he has! This kid!

All of this reminds me, as always, of a song. My life is pretty much themed in songs...if you haven't already gathered that around my blog. That evening around the dinner table with our friends as Titus tried to convince them of their logical fallacies my good friend Stacie, who is my switchfoot-junky-partner-in-crime, leaned over and said, "this reminds me of a certain Switchfoot song," I smiled and nodded as I knew she was certainly talking about the first Switchfoot song I ever heard back in 1998:: Chem 6A. In it is the ever popular line, "I don't wanna read the book, I'll watch the movie." A line I will hear for years to come as we weed our way through the classics of literature. Lets just pray until then that he comes around on his logic skills. ha!

for now, enjoy this video of teenage switchfoot:: you're welcome :)

He's Got Moves



Titus loves dancing. Most of the time he does it with out any music. He just makes the music up as he goes. Today I caught his dancing on video. Later today I put it to Lecrae's "God Is Enough" and couldn't help but post it. If you didnt know you would think he was actually dancing to the song. It must have been the song that was in his head. :)

Just Take It (pt2)

So...as I mentioned in my last post, I was challenged to start bringing my camera along instead of always wishing I had it. Here are pics from Day 2 of taking my camera...just in case you needed a little extra encouragement to lug yours around. We went to the park to play and decided to explore. We found a great trail around a pond and lots of rocks to play on. Titus, just this week, learned to ride his bike with no training wheels...so the trail was a perfect spot for him to showcase his new talent!

Titus on the trail::



and take 2 of Justus fitting as we leave, poor little buddy loves outside::

Just Take It

So yesterday I was reading the girltalk blog and was encouraged by one of my fav photographers/moms. She wrote about how much it helps just to ALWAYS have your camera. She talked about how instead of always saying "I wish I had my camera" actually HAVE IT.

As I have said in other recent posts, since I got my iphone, I pretty much STINK at taking my camera anywhere. The last 8 months are the least photographed months of my families life!

So I decided today would be a good day to start and I am so encouraged! As we played outside I got some quick fun shots, not even forcing them, just honest shots! So hopefully this will give me the encouragement I need to remember! I just love photography that is honest, real to life and unedited. So this time I packed my 50mm and let it do its magic. I had little to no editing to do!

Here are some I got at one of the parks we went to today::

The boys are at a fun age. Both are old enough to play alone but are finally able to play together!



Here are some of Titus (6) loving being outside in the fall!




Here is Justus (2) he is mr. crazy.

Titus is sooo into camping/hiking/survival gear. Today he got a monocular and he was trying it out at the park.

It was a fun evening that ended like most all fun evenings these days:: Justus saw that we were leaving and tried to let me know it was not time to leave yet.

I won. We left.

So dont be shy, pack your camera tomorrow and see what you get!! You will not regret it!