Plan for 2nd Grade

[jensmom]

Hi all,

Well I have nearly decided on our plan for 2nd grade. As the 1st grade starts to wind down I am looking to settle on my 2nd grade choices. I read somewhere that the greatest loss of retention is from 1st to 2nd grade so we will bridge almost seemlessly over the summer and into the 2nd grade work. Since I used Beyond for 1st grade (probably should have used LHFHG) we will actually use the right side again but with the 2nd grade choices - Singapore 2, Spelling List 2, Emerging Readers/DITHOR, Storytime choices that we did not read this year. (Actually that means we will use the back of the text - not so much the right side. ) I will add a different history, geography and science. We will probably use the Bible Study verses again and continue with Little Visits with God for an additional daily devotional.

History - I actually purchased A Child's Story of America yesterday before I realized that it was an extension book for Bigger. I can always save it for Bigger or use it for 2nd grade if I don't find anything I like better.
Georgraphy - I am hoping to find something at the HS Expo this summer. My brief internet search yesterday did not result in anything that excited me.
Science - I have plenty already but may buy something new. I have a book of animals with questions and activities as well as some Backyard Scientist volumes. This along with some special projects (butterflies, gardening, etc) should suffice.

As far as Reading is concerned, we are coming to the end of Reading Made Easy and will begin the Emerging Readers within a couple of weeks. We will continue with this until it is completed and then start with DITHOR, whenever that falls (somewhere in the 2nd grade year).

Language Arts will be covered with First Language Lessons, 2nd Grade portion as well as the Beyond List 2 Spelling Words.

I love SIngapore Math so we will transition right into 2A and 2B when we finish with 1B. I may add some other Math Mats or Worksheets to bridge the time between end of 1B and start of 2nd grade in August.

I will also add some new poems - possibly from the same authors. Some we will use again. We will also do more of the activities suggested for Poetry that we did not do this year as it was a bit much for 1st grade. Overall, this should be a great solution for 2nd grade. Then we will be more than ready for Bigger in the 3rd and continue with HOD all the way through 8th. Maybe by that time Carrie will have either added a high school program or at least suggested something equally as fabulous.

And can I just add that I am SO VERY EXCITED to meet Carrie this summer at the HS Expo in Atlanta. This is a really great expo and will be even better with HOD here this summer so anyone near Atlanta should plan to attend. I will be more than happy to suggest economical places to stay in the area.

As always, comments are welcomed and expected.

Judy

[jensmom]

Has anyone ever used Abeka History, Science or Health?

Judy

[Jen in Va]

Hi Judy!
The plan sounds great.

If you are doing a history, why not just relate the geography to that instead of doing another whole subject. Just use blank maps/globe and have your child locate the places/events you are studying, shading the map as needed.

If it were me, I'd do some unit study type history before I'd go into a textbook based history curriculum like BJU or Abeka. You had such a rich, varied start in history using Beyond, I don't think you'd be happy with a dry textbook. I could see using a textbook as a spine and then building some real books on what you are studying, but believe me, I've done that, and it's lots of work. (The winter Olympics take place in winter 2010, and I believe there is a unit study out there on the Olympics--that might be one you could try.)

For science, I have been fascinated by Answer in Genesis's God's Design series, but my youngest is too young yet, and my 16 yo is too old. Looks like they have another edition coming out in March. God's Design for Life might be a good fit for your rising 2nd grader.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicS ... 8,191.aspx

There are 3 books (animals, plants, human body) in the set with 35 lessons each. You could choose to do one science lesson a week, and only need one of the three.

Hope I didn't muddy the waters any for you.

[Carrie]

jensmom,

I guess I'm confused by this thread? If you're just finishing Beyond, have you considered going into Bigger Hearts for His Glory? That is the next logical progression with the HOD guides.

If you're thinking that your little one is not quite ready for Bigger, then you could head into it at half-speed to let her grow into it. The skills from Beyond do a wonderful job of prepraring a child for Bigger Hearts. The guides build very well upon one another as well.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Carrie]

Judy,

I'm re-reading this thread today, when I am more alert, and I understand better now, I think! It appears you're doing a transitional year between Beyond and Bigger.

Anyway, you may still wish to consider doing Bigger at half-speed as a back-up plan, as Singapore 2, Spelling List 2, the Emerging Reader's Set, and new Storytime choices and plans are all included in Bigger. New poetry selections are also included in Bigger. So, there's no need to reuse Beyond to get those items in.

If your child is ready for A Child's Story of America for history (which is in the Extension Pack of Bigger), then she could easily listen to the Eggleston read-alouds that are scheduled in Bigger's Economy Package. The science in Bigger also sounds like what you are currently searching to find. It includes living books that focus on animals within their habitats, various people groups, and biographies of scientists. Last, the geography in Bigger ties to the history, so that would solve your geography problem.

Anyway, you know best what you're looking for, but I wanted to give you some food for thought.

Blessings,
Carrie

[jensmom]

It appears you're doing a transitional year between Beyond and Bigger.

Anyway, you may still wish to consider doing Bigger at half-speed as a back-up plan, as Singapore 2, Spelling List 2, the Emerging Reader's Set, and new Storytime choices and plans are all included in Bigger. New poetry selections are also included in Bigger. So, there's no need to reuse Beyond to get those items in.

Correct if I am wrong in my thinking but I am fairly certain that I will need to do a transitional year at some point if I don't do it in 2nd grade with a quasi-Beyond year. If I use Bigger for 2nd then is Preparing really ok for 3rd? I feel like after looking at the upcoming levels that the best year to do a transition will be for 2nd grade.

Or am I mistaken and we can go forward with the programs as they are...but wouldn't we finish up with HOD programs after 7th grade instead of the 8th as it should be able to work out? I am trying to work out using HOD through the 8th as it stands (and as the plans are laid out now). I think I need the transition year because we started with Beyond....

Judy

[my3sons]

O.k. - this is very strange. I typed a very long response to you earlier this week - and POOF, it is gone! I have a feeling I hit "preview" instead of "submit". Well, Judy, I really wanted to respond to you because I had a similar situation, several times over actually. I had wondered if my ds would be able to go into Bigger when he finished Beyond because he was very young for Bigger. Well, we decided to give it a go, and it went great! The first month took more of me and was more of a transition, but after that it was smooth sailing. I had the same thing with my middle ds - only he finished LHTH early and I started him half-speed in LHFHG. This brings me back to you and your dc - I think you should do Bigger half-speed. If you do Bigger half-speed, you would still be gaining a year but would also still keep the skills fresh from Beyond. If Beyond was too hard for your dd, then perhaps a transitional year is needed - otherwise - I think she'd do great easing into Bigger half-speed, doing the left side of the plans one day, and the right side of the plans the next day. What do you think?

In Christ,
Julie

[lmercon]

Not that it probably matters a hoot to you, but I'll be using Bigger with my 2nd grader next year too. Just wanted to let you know that you aren't alone or weird. Well, maybe we're both weird, but at least we're not alone. LOL!
Laura

[my3sons]

Judy - I ran out of time last night when I was typing my post, so here's a few other things to consider. If you did Bigger, you would still be able to do your plan: Singapore 2A/2B (only you'd have all of the awesome hands-on plans and the pacing to use with 2A/2B in the Bigger Guide), Spelling List 2, Emerging Readers/DITHOR, Storytime choices that we did not read this year (you could just use whatever you didn't read from last year - the plans in Bigger are based on genre, like Beyond's are, so that would work just great). You wouldn't have to use the Bible study all over again (fresh is nice for us moms and our dc too), and you could either continue with your Little Visits with God - or you could do the devotional in Bigger, which is linked to the history theme and Bible used in Bigger once each week. For science, if you might purchase something new anyway, why not purchase Bigger's science and have it match the history, the Bible, the poem, the art, and the geography. Which brings me to geography, that's already planned in Bigger and it's awesome! It matches the history too.

For Grammar, you could just still sub in First Language Lessons daily, and then add on second year of Bigger (half-speed) you could do R & S 2 (or a different grammar if you wanted). As far as the poetry - no need to search that out either. It's part of Bigger, and it's a great set of poems by timeless poets - and it goes with the history theme. I think you'd find your dd older and more ready for the poetry activities this time around. I think that you can do your plan with Bigger half-speed, and have all of the great connections still, while also having a seamless flow of learning from Beyond to Bigger (important for carryover of learned skills, I believe). I have been in your situation several times, and been glad I moved on with the next guide at half-speed. Unless Beyond was way too difficult for your dd, I think you'd be happy moving on too. You could also add A Child's Story of America as a read-aloud following the pace in the Appendix if you wanted to - and it would be much more doable at half-speed. I'll be praying for you as you consider your options - I know God will lead you to the plan that is best for your dd! I just wanted to share what happened in our home, since it was a similar situation, and it has had a happy outcome!

In Christ,
Julie

[jensmom]

Thank you for all of your advice for our next year. I definitely think dd can do the work. She is right on target with being challenged with Beyond and the 1st grade spelling, Singapore 1A&B, etc. So I think moving into the 2nd grade choices will be fine for her. She is a reluctant learner but once we get past the hesitate or just plain stubborn attitude, she can do the work.

The dilemma is that I am afraid that we will run out of HOD programs a year sooner than I would like to. I do like the idea of starting Bigger at half speed if I were to move on to that one since I am going to try to continue over the summer and not take an actual "break" for too long. I may even slow down a bit on Beyond to stretch it out a bit if it looks like we are going to finish too soon. I don't want to have too long of a break for fear of losing momentum and also the possibility of too much retention loss from 1st to 2nd grade.

My "Ace in the Hole", so to speak, is that I will get to meet Carrie (and maybe Julie) in July in Atlanta and speak in person about my concerns and the dilemma about deciding on the right plan of action. I am really looking forward to seeing all of the programs up close and personal.

On a personal note, I have recently reconnected with several high school classmates on Facebook. There is a surprising number of my classmates who are also homeschooling their children. We graduated from a Catholic high school and large numbers of us had children later than most and also many choose to school at home. Wow, I just thought that was pretty cool.

Judy

[Mommamo]

I know you've had some great advice, and I know you are feeling comfortable with your decision, but I just thought I'd share what we're doing anyway.

We started dd last May with LHFHG when she wasn't quite 5. We have planned to school year round with breaks as we need them, so I figured we would be done about April. Well... I was wrong! We're going to be done in 2 weeks because I've found that she enjoys it so much and just does better with shorter breaks. That put me in a similar situation to you. She's not even "supposed" to be in K until next year because of her birthday, but we have no reporting here, so we were just considering her in K but finishing LHFHG this early and starting Beyond early will put her finishing all that Carrie will write in 6th or 7th grade. So... I'm going to start DD on Beyond in April. I am going to do it half speed, probably 4 days a week. Even if we only take short breaks, that will still stretch it for about 2 years. But if she does really well and NEEDS more, then we'll just do it full speed 4 days a week. And honestly, I am personally not to concerned about finishing all the guides early. I know that life happens and it's nice to have some built in room. Also, if she does finish a year early, then we can just take that year to do literature unit studies or wherever else her interest lies. I think I'm fairly laid back about this kind of thing though. Anyway, I hope this helps you a little bit. I know whatever you choose will work out great!

[jensmom]

I know you've had some great advice, and I know you are feeling comfortable with your decision, but I just thought I'd share what we're doing anyway.

Thank you! That helps a lot, actually.

Judy

[Mom2Monkeys]

Just for another option...if we end up finishing a year early, I think I'll use My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures to cover the world geography prior to starting the more intense 4 year history cycle in high school. Maybe then my kids will know the basic geography of the areas they are studying as well as their religions and current prayer needs with a missions focus. That's just my own personal cushion I would make ECC a little more independent though and add some to the science of course.

[8arrows]

I also would rather fill in at the older age range than the younger. I would worry about 8th grade when you get there.

[Carrie]

Ladies,

I will just hop-in here and agree that one HOD program does a great job of preparing the child for the next HOD program. So, it makes sense to just keep on going forward with them, unless your child really struggled with the current HOD guide. It is surprising how fast those little ones grow into the new skills required in each guide though, with just a steady nudge in that direction.

I also agree that it is easier to create "your own" 8th grade year in preparation for high school, then it is to create a solid transitional year in the early grades. Once kiddos hit 8th grade, they hopefully have the 3R's in place and are more able to have a schedule which focuses on their unique interests and needs. We will be having our own 8th grader this coming year who will not have an HOD guide written for him, so we can always make recommendations for those of you with a year to fill at that point.

Blessings,
Carrie