i can't believe we're just about done with our 2nd year of homeschooling! time truly does fly by especially when you're having fun ;) haha.
i recently posted a live review on my instagram page of the curriculum we used this year, what we loved and what we're letting go but i thought i would also post a review here on my blog so that you can have easy access to all the information and links i mentioned.
so let's begin...
first up, singapore math, dimensions, level 2a and 2b... this is our second year using this curriculum and we absolutely love it. when we originally began homeschooling we went with the good and the beautiful however we quickly found it to not be a good fit for our family. for us, we found that it just jumped around too much and we needed a curriculum that had more of a mastery approach. something that allowed us to learn one topic at a time and to master it before we moved on to something else. for us, that was singapore math, dimensions. i can't say enough about this curriculum. i love that it has both a teachers manual and a textbook for us to use to learn a concept and work through it. i also love that with some topics it shows different ways to teach it to the child. if the child isn't getting one way of learning something, you can present it in a different manner that the child may then comprehend. the curriculum also offers a workbook for each level. we originally used to use both the textbook and the workbook for each lesson, however after a conversation with a friend (gotta love those brain storming sessions with other homeschool mamas, so thankful for them too) i realized that we were spending way too much time on each topic and since the textbook offers a practice area after you learn a concept, that was plenty review and practice for each lesson. so now we only use the workbook if i see that my little is either struggling with a lesson or if he simply needs more time and practice with it. we will definitely be continuing with singapore math, dimensions for 3rd grade.
next up we have all about reading, level 2. this is a great curriculum. it teaches foundational skills that will have your child confidently reading in no time at all. however, we also use all about spelling, level 2 and because of that i found the two curriculum's overlapping with each other and teaching similar skills. my son has been reading since he was 3 years old so thankfully he is a great reader and already has that solid foundation. so because of that i decided to stop using all about reading and instead focus on actually reading. choosing longer books, chapter books and really dive into strengthening his narrating skills. we also used reading skills, grade 2 by harcourt family learning. this is a great workbook to get a child used to reading comprehension and to also understand how to answer different questions about the story they just read. its also great practice for states that require testing. we'll continue with the reading skills workbook through out the summer for practice but once we begin 3rd grade we won't be using it anymore since we plan on taking a new approach with language arts, however more on that in a different blog post ;)
next, all about spelling. i love this curriculum. we've been using it since 1st grade and it has been a great way to build my sons confidence with spelling. the english language has so many rules and different ways of spelling sounds and words that sound the same. all about spelling really breaks all those rules down in a way that is easy for a child to not only understand but remember. each lesson begins with a concept review so you're going over what you learned in the previous lesson and it also gives you the opportunity to choose using letter titles for each lesson or you can download the app and use the letter tiles on there which is what we did along with using our wood spelling board to change things up sometimes. I 100% recommend this curriculum and we will definitely be using level 3 for 3rd grade.
writing and grammar... our pick for 2nd grade was bju press english 2. its a great curriculum, very well written and very detailed. however, for us this wasn't the right fit. english, specifically writing is an area where my little needs to put in more effort and time, so we needed something that was more fitting to his needs and more engaging. something with less moving parts and more to the point. after some research, we decided to go with on online curriculum called time 4 learning and it was honestly exactly what he needed this year. it taught him concepts in a fun and interesting way through songs, cartoons, engaging programs, etc. it really built his confidence and taught him a lot this year. although it worked out so well this year, we won't be continuing with it for 3rd grade since we plan on moving more towards a charlotte mason approach in our homeschool.
social studies / geography / history.. we used our america by abeka this year. it was a good curriculum, taught us many facts about america. but that was also one of the issues i had with it. let me ask you this. do you remember the "facts" you read in your history textbook in elementary school?! doubtful. now let me ask you this. do you remember some of the books you read in elementary school? or the stories about people in history that your history teacher maybe told you about? i bet there were a lot more of you responding yes to those last questions and a whole lot of no's to remembering those facts you read in your history textbooks back in elementary school. fact is, we remember stories way more then facts so long story short that was one of the reasons i just didn't love our history curriculum this year. next year we will be using a literature based curriculum that we are very excited to explore!
next up, science. this year we used a curriculum by abeka called enjoying god's world. since we take a unit study approach with science i used the curriculum more as a guide to know what topics we should cover for 2nd grade. i also use a book called what your 2nd grader needs to know as a guide when choosing the topics we would cover for the year. the curriculum was good and served it's purpose however, i wanted my son to cover more and dive deeper into each topic, so we used unit studies that i put together to do that. we absolutely love unit studies and how we approach them (i'll share how we cover unit studies in another blog post). so next year we won't be continuing with this curriculum but we will definitely continue our unit study approach. we will also be adding a curriculum that covers a lot of experiments and another curriculum that covers a lot of nature study. don't worry, i know it sounds like a lot (it really isn't) but it's seriously going to be pure magic and we're both so psyched about it!
the last curriculum i'm reviewing here today is our handwriting workbook by the good and the beautiful. we did not plan on using a handwriting curriculum for 2nd grade however, by midyear i noticed that my little guys handwriting was getting a little sloppy so i decided to add some handwriting practice into our school day. the workbook is great. i actually didn't purchase the actual workbook but instead downloaded the pdf and just put it into a binder. we don't use it daily but we make sure to at least get some practice in weekly and we will continue using it through out the summer.
so that's a wrap folks. it has been a great homeschool year. we've learned a lot and not only about subjects but about ourselves, what works and what doesn't work, what needed some adjusting and how to get our daily rhythm flowing the best for our home. you truly can't figure this stuff out in one day. it takes time, being open to adjustments, patience, love and and lots of tea, or coffee if that's your thing ;)
just remember, this is your homeschool and that my dears is the beauty of homeschooling. you can do whatever works for your child and your homeschool. if you purchase a curriculum but then see that it's not working for your child or children, that's ok!! it happens. what matters the most is that you take the time to find what's right for them and keep going!
you got this! trust yourself (and in the good lord's plan)!
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