*I receive the BookShark Curriculum in exchange for sharing our Homeschool journey with you. All opinions are my own.*
I was filling out our weekly planner last week and I realized we just hit the halfway point of our Homeschool 2nd Grade journey. My mind was completely blown, because sometimes it feels like we just started. But, here we are learning and having SO much fun, that it doesn’t feel like work. I’m not going to lie- we have hard days. But, they are way overshadowed by the good ones!
These little milestones that we reach really make me so thankful for the curriculum that we’re using. Because, even though it sometimes feels like I’m a homeschool newbie- BookShark helps me not be nervous about whether or not we’re learning enough. I even met with my cousin, who teaches 2nd grade to make sure we’re learning up to the standards of what we “need to be”. And it’s spot on! We’re exactly where we should be- even excelling in some areas. Especially since we do more in depth Science and History lessons.
My son is SO into Science now, he asked for Science books and experiment kits for the Holidays. He even has been wanting to include Daddy in on our History lessons, because as a family of History buffs, we’re really enjoying going back through the ages together. We just finished up learning about the middle ages and medieval times, and it was such a blast!
Because BookShark is literature based, we spend a lot of time reading together. (And we’ve really LOVED all of our read-alouds this year!) Which has translated really well into independent reading. I am amazed at Steven’s vocabulary and reading level now. He’s picking up chapter books for free reading time and we’re constantly at the library picking up more books to go even more in depth with what we’re learning during our Homeschool day. This has lead to really great conversations among our family. Most nights we’re discussing History and what we’ve read at dinner time.
Homeschool 2nd Grade Time Table
Our actual “Homeschool Day” is done in usually under 2 hours, but because of the extra reading and discussing, I feel like we’re constantly learning together. Cooking as a family, playing board games, even watching the movie versions of books that we’ve loved- our whole day becomes a learning opportunity. And that’s one reason I’m so thankful for this Homeschooling journey.
I can’t wait to see what the 2nd half of our 2nd grade year brings- and I’m looking forward to learning even more together as a family. I’m already researching what we’ll be learning next year, and planning out 3rd grade. It’s so bittersweet- but I’m so thankful to get to be a Homeschool family.
Writing
(I’m also working on another post about how BookShark’s gentle approach to Language Arts is helping my struggling writer. Boys and writing don’t always mix well, but BookShark has given me some great tools to help my wiggly boy cope with his writing woes.)
What else would you like to know about our Homeschool journey. I’m all about being transparent and sharing the things that have worked well for us. Stay tuned for lots more Homeschool content this year!
