The homeschool curriculum I have selected for 2nd grade is rich and alive, while being mostly open and go and low stress for the teachers (me and my husband!)
Another year of homeschooling ahead of us and I’m so happy to be living this life with my family.
See what we did for homeschool kindergarten here.
This post is for anyone considering homeschool or for fellow homeschoolers who are on the lookout to see what other families are using and to give ideas to you for your own homeschool!
You never know what might work well for someone.
Homeschool Curriculum Should Always be Flexible. We do not serve the curriculum, it serves us.
For someone who might need to hear this… I like to always remind folks of that above fact. If it isn’t working, you may need to try something else.
Try a different curriculum, try a different approach, or maybe a different learning style all together.
We are not slaves to any certain type of curriculum. We don’t have to stick to a style of education.
That is one of the biggest positives of homeschooling your children.
Now, with that being said, this is simply me sharing what we are using so far this school year for 2nd grade.
I am not telling you what to use, this is just to give you thoughts, ideas and a direction if you find the info here helpful.
See my BIG List of the Best Online Homeschool Resources!
I always love to get ideas and recommendations from other homeschool moms
Even though I was homeschooled myself for 6 years, homeschooling has changed TREMENDOUSLY since then.
Three years ago, when my daughter was ready to start homeschool, I leaned heavily on my homeschool mama friends, and community Facebook pages to decide what I thought I wanted to try.
Another place I did a lot of reading was blogs, just like this one.
Moms share on their blog what they used for each grade, ideas for pre-k, and many other resources.
They have been such a blessing to me as a mom and homeschooler!
That is honestly the thing that got me into blogging myself.
Seeing what an impact women can make by sharing their thoughts, experiences, expertise and struggles with other moms.
So thankful for the blogging community.
Where Can I Find the Best 2nd Grade Homeschool Curriculum?
That is a question that is not one answer for everyone.
Children have different needs at different stages.
Parents also have differing needs from curriculum.
My advise would be to join several good homeschooling Facebook groups and speak with any homeschooling parents you know. Read and listen to a bunch of input from others.
What is the Best Homeschool Facebook Group?
This is my favorite large group I have linked below.
(I would also encourage you to join a group or two that are local to your area. They will be more helpful when it comes to state regulation questions, testing, local events, etc.)
This group is a great place to go for questions about many things.
TGTB Chatter (affiliated with The Good and the Beautiful company) – This group is massive, so lots of people to get ideas from. This group is affiliated with TGTB curriculum company, so you should probably be at least investigating that company for your homeschool to join. But the topics are broad and varied.
The nice thing about Facebook groups is that you don’t always even have to post a question, you can use the group page search bar and look up old posts to see if any answer your question. I do that all the time!
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Now, down to the meat of this post.
2nd Grade Homeschool Curriculum
I will divide this topic into sections by subjects.
Language Arts Core
We are using, for the 4th year in a row, The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts as a pillar of our homeschool curriculum for 2nd grade.
TGTB LA is advanced for the levels, so we are finishing up level 1 still, and will probably begin level 2 sometime after the new year.
If your child is advanced with reading, they may do well with the level their grade is. But the levels are not grade equivalent, so definitely have your child take the placement test that TGTB offers before ordering!
Other LA resources we use for 2nd Grade Homeschool Curriculum
Homeschool Coop (Zoom) Book Club – We are involved with an online homeschool coop that offers online classes. My daughter does a 3x a week book club that is wonderful. The teacher goes over phonics, reading fluency and comprehension with the kids in a fun way.
Explode the Code Phonics – This is something fun that builds on her phonics knowledge. It is a great addition to any homeschool 2nd grade curriculum.
She can do it independently, which is a huge deal since at this age I am still very needed for almost everything else.
Some people complain that the drawings are weird and sloppy in this book, but I don’t give a hoot! I just appreciate the straight forward phonics practice that can be done independently, and my daughter thinks they are really funny.
Handwriting – My daughter really wanted to start cursive, and she has pretty good handwriting, so we went with level 3.
Dash Into Learning Book Set 3 – I adore this company, the book sets are lovely. They are partially what got my daughter finally interested in reading and gave her confidence a boost. We started with the first set and worked our way up. I’m so glad I have them to use for my son in a few years!
My Spelling Dictionary – I love this little booklet, it has been great in facilitating my daughter’s independent writing. It is not overwhelming like a big kids dictionary would be, and has lots of common words plus space to write your own you want to reference again.
MAth
We are using The Good and the Beautiful Math course Level 2 for this year.
Still loving TGTB math, this is year 3 using it. It is anything but boring! My daughter enjoys the games and hands on learning, and I love that the lessons are open and go. No teacher manual or prep work!
We also supplement with Life of Fred math, which is a really cool story form math curriculum. This is a series of books that uses silly stories to teach tons of great math skills in a sneaky way. The series goes all the way up through high school math!
Science/Nature
This year I have Botany and Arthropods planned. We go at our own pace, a lesson here and there as it fits in. You can make these guides fit your own needs for different age children.
Raising Butterflies – This is something fun that we do every year in the spring. We work a little butterfly study unit around it, checking out butterfly and metamorphosis books from the library and watching videos about it on YouTube. SO FUN!
Magic School Bus Kits – I have been impressed with the Nature kit we ordered last year and will definitely keep these in mind for coming lessons! They are inexpensive and have a bunch of fun activities and supplies in each box.
If you are looking for great children’s nature books to incorporate into your science and nature studies, check out this book list of my favorite nature books for children!
Bible
Leading Little Ones to God – This is in our morning basket and I read it with the kids.
Our 24 Family Ways – We use this as a family devotional.
The Adventure Bible – This is my girl’s first real Bible of her own. I really like the New King James Version, and the colorful features inside.
She loves having her very own Bible, and she reads passages from it to us during our studies. We practice looking up different scriptures and where the books are located, and I think the rich language of scripture is so wonderful for kids to hear and read.
History for 2nd Grade Homeschool Curriculum
Early American History Primary Teacher Guide – This book is our guide, and the books needed are available via the library, or Amazon throughout the year. They sell large packages with all the books upfront, but I opted to get them one at a time.
This is a literature based curriculum. There are book suggestions, video and online resources suggestions and then discussion topics, facts, activities and prompts.
You could for sure use this in a family teaching style, where multiple ages learn together.
Enrichments
Extra curriculum I like to work into our school year includes art, music, nature, physical activity, and practical life skills. Many lessons in these areas just come naturally in our days living life together.
Cooking together, teaching them how to do common household tasks themselves, going on nature walks around our home, playing with friends…
Art –
Water coloring is a huge art staple around here, along with drawing. We are loving this 10 Step Drawing: Nature book!
Favorite water color paints and good quality paper is a must. And while we paint, we love to listen to…
Music –
Listening to lovely music all the time, anytime is important in our home.
Classical, folk, jazz, bluegrass, hymns, praise, oldies, country, we love it all!
Clean and wholesome choices, of course.
We like to use Amazon Prime Music to listen to may different artists and genres of music.
I am also old school, and like to pick up cheap cds at thrift shops for usually less than $1. I have found lots of great music that way!
Hymns are a way I love to teach my kids about music, theology and singing. They are so rich in lyrical truth, beautiful melodies and scriptural promises. We try to learn one new hymn a month.
I love this resource, and these books.
Physical Activity –
At the age my kids are, 4 and 8, I don’t really have to facilitate too much in this department. They run and play busily by themselves for the most part.
But we do like to go on walks, ride bikes at the local track, visit the playground, and swim when we can.
It doesn’t have to complicated, just getting fresh air and lots of active time everyday is where it’s at!
My daughter did play 3 seasons of county soccer. It was a huge blessing and she enjoyed it very much. Check out your county recreation departments options and also local churches sometimes offer sports.
Grandparent Time –
There is a special afternoon one day most weeks that involves my kids getting some sweet one on one time with Nana and Papa.
Crafts time, games, chatting, playtime… They just soak it up.
For those that are close to family members that you have a healthy and safe relationship with, who would like to spend time with your child, this is a special way to give your child time with someone else, and priceless memories made with loved ones. Good stuff all the way around.
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