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what do I really need to teach?
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Hi, I have four kids, the oldest is 7 and is in first grade. I am thinking about second grade and wondering what I really need to cover. My youngest is a baby, and I find it challenging to get more than reading, math, copywork, and literature done. We are reading some Thornton Burgess books. My kids love to read alouds. But do I really need to start the history cycle now? Could I just read the Bible and a few living books? I don’t do much enrichment at all…feeling guilty about that. So I guess I am wondering if I can just stick to the three rs until my kids are a little older, or will my oldest miss out? If so, what should I prioritize as far as history, science, and enrichment go?
I think it sounds like you’re doing a great job! I had four children in the same age range as yours when I started homeschooling. Those where great times. Now those four children are 19, 17, 15 and 13 plus I have 5 younger. I handled first grade like you are describing and my oldest did very well in school.
You could still get in many subjects by alternating the types of read alouds you do. After a Burgess book get a D’aulaire book on a famous American like Washington or Ben Franklin. Then read about a composer and play his music while the children eat lunch. Hang up an artist’s painting and talk about it. Give your children each a sketch book and take them outside to find something they’d like to draw. Then if they want to learn about something they drew, left them get a book about it at the library. You can just do one thing at a time but you would cover so much in one school year! I just tried to gradually add more as they got older and by the time my kids where in 4th or 5th grade, they wanted to do some of their reading on their own. You’ll get there. Don’t feel bad about taking it slow. Enjoy this special time with all “Littles”.
I think the 3Rs are the biggest priority for a 2nd grader. After that, just fit in what you can. I think sporadic lessons on the other subjects is perfectly fine at this age.
My plan for the coming year is to focus on just a few subjects, then place anything else I’d like to get to in our morning basket. We will just get to these as time allows, and I won’t feel guilty if we don’t get to them (since our main subjects will get first priority).
Thanks ladies. I am starting to alternate our read alouds. My kids love the living science books. They keep wanting more! We are also reading American history books that they enjoy. I am just still trying to get the hang of narration. They don’t need to write narration at this point right? My son doesn’t like to write. We do copywork, but he doesn’t like it.
NO, they definitely do not need to do written narrations now. Written narrations are usually begun between 9-11 years old. In fact, Charlotte Mason said that you should never require even an oral narration of a child under 6 and in our home I push that up to 7. I have a 6, 7, 8, and 9 year old. At age 6 I require them to be present for school readings but do not ask for narrations unless volunteered. It really helps them to understand what narration is if they have that time to just listen and observe the narration of others before feeling the ?pressure? to do it themselves. Usually, they will be volunteering to “tell back” long before their 7th birthday though.
For copywork, just keep it very short. At that age my children are still practicing correct letter formation (I had one writing sentences then but she loved to write) and copywork is usually about 3-5 copies of a single letter each day and if writing on lines is still difficult then we would just use a chalkboard or whiteboard.
Ok. Thanks. That is so helpful. My 7 year old doesn’t like to write and doesn’t like copy work so knowing how much to expect helps
Would any of you ladies advise me to buy scm history? I was thinking of just reading some living books, but I do like the looks of the SCM guides. I was thinking of starting with the second guide since we read some Ancient Egypt books this year. I don’t know if the Ancient Greece spine would be over their heads right now. Would it be better to wait a few years for that? I have a few books on American history and could just read them, but that’s about all we’d do.
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