Beefing up Little Hearts for a 2nd grader

[Mamamindy]

Hi, I am currently using Little Hearts for His Glory with my 6-year-old and 7-year-old boys (kindergarten and 2nd grade). My plan is to keep these 2 children in the same guide throughout the years using extensions for the older son, but this particular guide does not have extensions. I am wondering if anyone would have any suggestions on beefing up the "Learning the Basics" side of the daily lesson plan for my 2nd grader. We are currently using Christian Light Education for math and language arts. I am happy with the CLE math and plan to continue with it. I am on the fence with CLE language arts books. I am wondering if I started with Rod and Staff now, where would we start and how would I pace him so that when he got to the upper elementary guides he would be on track with the lesson plans? If we did Rod & Staff now, I would still need to cover spelling and handwriting somehow. Any thoughts?

[StephanieU]

Honestly, I would just buy the Beyond guide and use that for the spelling and grammar. It has spelling 4 days a week and grammar one day a week. For handwriting, there is a poem to copy each week, but I would hold off on that. Instead, have your 7yo copy the verse for the week each day. Rod and Staff isn't scheduled until Bigger, so if you start now, you will be 2 guides ahead. Even when you get to Preparing where they have two schedules, you will still be 1 guide ahead.