Has your first grader transitioned to the second grade and you are looking for the best second grade curriculum to use? As with the First Grade Homeschool Curriculum, we are here to give you a few tips to help you make the best choices for your family.
What Is a Typical Second Grade Homeschool Curriculum?
The typical second grade homeschool curriculum includes the following:
- Math: Your child will learn to add and subtract two and three digit numbers, start learning multiplication and division, round numbers, measure length and weight, solve word problems, etc.
- Language Arts:
- Reading: Your child will become a fluent reader in chapter books, comprehend main ideas, and will also begin to read silently.
- Writing (includes Spelling and Grammar): Your child will write complete sentences with the correct punctuation and even write short stories.
- Science: Your child’s knowledge of science will depend on the choices you make for your family. Unless your state requires a specific knowledge for second grade, you can determine what you would like your child to learn. Most curricula include a variety of subjects like the human body, plants, animals, matter, energy, space, and others.
- History: As with science, your choice of history curriculum will determine what knowledge your child acquires in their second grade. Whether you choose your country’s history, the world’s history, or a combination of both, rest assured that your student will begin to make mental links between various eras, people, and events. Many second grade curricula combine social studies, history, and geography into one package.
Some second grade homeschool programs also include PE, art, and music.
How to Choose the Best Second Grade Homeschool Curriculum?
In How to Choose the Best Homeschool Curriculum we describe the best practices for choosing a curriculum based on your state’s laws, your purposes and goals, how much time you want to spend teaching, etc. In addition to the basic points, there are three specifics to keep in mind when choosing the curriculum for your second grader:
- Is the curriculum engaging and taught in a clear and fun way?
- Does the curriculum include regular reviews in order to reinforce the material taught?
- Does the curriculum encourage problem-solving skills?
Keep in mind that your child is only seven or eight years old. They have their whole learning career before them. Unless they absolutely LOVE workbooks, include more hands-on activities rather than sitting still at the table with pen and paper.
Our Second Grade Curriculum Journey and What We Would Do Differently
Just like the first grade, we very much enjoyed our second grade. We continued to ensure that we learned to love learning. One time in a co-op class a science teacher asked the children what their favorite subject was and I heard my son name four or five of them because he couldn’t pick just one. No matter which curriculum you choose for your second grader, please make sure your child learns to love learning.
Following are the first grade homeschool curricula that we used:
Note: As I am more of an eclectic homeschooler, we have combined a number of curricula from various resources. However, if you prefer using a complete curriculum set, Abeka and BJU Press are some of the most popular ones (but there are many others!). These packages will provide you with all textbooks, workbooks, tests, teacher’s manuals, etc. so that your only time investment will be familiarizing yourself with the material.
Reading:
My son continued to build on his basic reading skills from kindergarten and first grade. You can find the curriculum which got him started on his reading journey in Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum. We used two main curricula for reading in the second grade:
- Busy Times, More Busy Times, and Climbing Higher by Pathway Readers, including workbooks: This curriculum presents a child with beautiful, real-life wholesome stories and keeps the reader excited to continue reading.
- Stories About God’s People, More Stories About God’s People by Rod & Staff Publishers (Grade 2 Reader): This curriculum is a completely Bible based reading program that we used not only as additional reading but also as a Bible program. We didn’t include workbooks with this curriculum.
Note: All these readers can be found for purchase on second-hand sites like Ebay or Thriftbooks for a fraction of their original cost.
RELATED: Why Read?
Math:
Primary Mathematics 2A & 2B, Standards Edition by Singapore Math: We followed the same curriculum that we used in kindergarten and first grade. To learn more about the benefits of Singapore Math, please read a detailed description at Singapore vs. Saxon Math – Which Is Better?. Also, you can read about our personal math journey in Singapore Math? Really?.
Because we finished the second grade Singapore Math earlier in spring, rather than jumping in the third grade curriculum right away we opted for ixl.com math practice. It was lots of fun and it kept the numbers rolling in my son’s brain.
English:
Climbing to Good English 2 by Scholaid: This is a Christian based curriculum, easy to use and very economical. The series takes the student from the first grade all the way to the eighth, but can be joined in any grade. It is very complete and thorough and encourages independent learning. We used it for several years before switching to more hands-on English program in middle school, which became more suitable for us at that time.
Penmanship:
We continued with I Can Write – Manuscript by Christian Light Education that we started towards the end of the first grade.
After finishing I Can Write we dove into Draw, Right, Now! Book 1: On The Farm, Kids And Critters, Storybook Characters by Marie Hablitzel, Kim Stitzer. This is the first book in the series and combines both drawing and handwriting. It provides step-by-step instructions for completing the illustrations. We thoroughly enjoyed this curriculum and drew pictures together as a family.
Note: No matter how much we enjoyed both of these penmanship curricula, looking back we would opt for cursive handwriting right from the early elementary years. Based on my 11+ years of homeschooling experience and research, I am now fully persuaded of the benefits of cursive handwriting as the primary choice.
Spelling:
Second grade was our first year of incorporating spelling into our daily school work. We have opted for Spelling by Sound and Structure 2 by Rod & Staff Publishers. It is a very affordable, phonetics based program, however it is not very suitable for children who do not particularly enjoy filling out workbooks or who need more multi-sensory approach. We continued with the same curriculum through the fourth grade, but then we switched to another program that seemed to be more suitable for my son’s needs.
Looking back, we would choose more of a multi-sensory curriculum like All About Spelling by All About Learning Press that provides a variety of teaching approaches to spelling.
Science:
We started the year with various science experiments we found in the local library on DVDs. It was so much fun creating a volcano or electric circuits.
Because we already owned Singapore Earlybird Start Up Science but completed only book 1 of 4 in first grade, we decided to finish the series in the second grade. It is a full color curriculum aimed at introducing students to scientific concepts. The lessons include subjects about living and non-living things, the human body, different creatures, plants, and more. For some reason, my son didn’t like this particular curriculum. It just didn’t seem to be the right fit for our family.
Next, we read Nature Reader, Book Two by Christian Liberty Press. It provides the most delightful stories about crabs, wasps, bees, spiders, shellfish, and worms and helps the children increase their knowledge of God’s wonderful creation. I can whole heartedly recommend this exceptional book.
History:
History has always been one of my son’s favorite subjects. In the second grade we were given an opportunity to spend an entire semester taking part in the local Prairie Museum history series. The organizers did an amazing job taking children into the past and introducing them to the first settlers and their way of life. Even though such programs may not be available in your area, I strongly encourage you to look for programs your location offers. These are invaluable resources and experiences that the children remember for many years to come. They also help them connect the dots between history, geography, social studies, etc.
In our private time we studied lives of men from various eras, for example D. L. Moody, Alexander Graham Bell, Marco Polo, John Wycliffe, Mackabees, John Hus, Martin Luther, etc.
Another program we participated in during our second grade was a study of Middle Ages in our local co-op group. I still remember my son’s presentation of Raphael, an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance era. Initially, I thought it would be too difficult for children of such a young age to dig into such deep subjects. But I learned throughout the years that the little ones are capable of comprehending much more than we would give them credit for.
History Stories for Children by Michael McHugh and John W. Wayland was another book we started in the first grade and continued to enjoy in the second grade. This book presents children with a wide variety of wholesome stories based upon famous historical events and personalities from the Bible, America and around the world. It is an excellent read and will engage any young child.
Geography:
One thing I determined before I even began homeschooling my son was to teach him geography. Second grade was the year we fully dove in! We found Kathy Troxel’s Geography Songs and enjoyed them tremendously. Oh how we sang, “Portugal, Spain, Andorra…” and “Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Moldova…” We also played computer games filling the blank maps with names. It was a great joy and I can heartily recommend this curriculum!
Bible:
In addition to reading the Bible itself, we continued our studies on the Tabernacle of Moses we started in the first grade. It was a delightful study that we revisited again in higher grades.
We also used Greenleaf Guide to the Old Testament History by Rob and Cyndy Shearer. It presents a very organized and enjoyable study of the Old Testament! It includes 196 readings with discussion questions and teaching suggestions which introduce men and women of old through whose lives we can discover God’s character.
Arts & Crafts:
We continued with Art with a Purpose, Artpack 1 that we started towards the end of the first grade. This curriculum includes simple coloring skills, color-by-number, cutting and pasting, and simple drawing. I highly recommend it.
Music:
When I was growing up, playing piano seemed to be the “must” for a well-rounded education. I played all my school years and carried the love of music into my adult life. Because of my musical background, I made an agreement with my son that he would give two years of his best effort to playing the piano and then move on to anything else he chooses. My main purpose in “making” him play was to give him a basic understanding of music, and piano is the most visual instrument for doing so. We found Hoffman Academy online and dove in.
Whether you play a musical instrument or not, Hoffman Academy is very easy to use and will teach your child more than just fundamentals of music. It is the best program I have seen so far. Thanks to Hoffman Academy we extended our two year learning agreement to four years and ended up with an excellent music foundation.
PE:
Our local Christian co-op was an absolute blessing when it came to PE. In general, I found PE very challenging for our particular homeschool environment. Of course, we would ride bikes and play ball in the back yard, but I always struggled with the thought that we were missing something in our physical education. One time I even purchased a homeschool PE program but soon put it on the list of “hardly ever used” curriculum. Joining a co-op proved to be exactly what we needed. They provided gym activities, swimming and soccer classes, ice skating, and much more, and all of that for very reasonable prices. I cannot emphasize enough the advantages of a good co-op community as an excellent addition to your homeschooling journey.
In summary:
When creating a perfect homeschool curriculum for your second grader, please keep in mind that school should still be lots of fun. Include as many hands-on activities as possible and allow your student a number of short breaks throughout the day. Also, I highly recommend joining a local co-op for PE and other fun activities. It provides a much needed break in a school week for both you and your child. And now the last thought – have fun!
