2nd, 4th Grade and 7th Grade Home School Curriculum

Here are my TOP 2nd Grade Home School Curriculum picks and my TOP 4th Grade Home School Curriculum picks and my TOP 7th Grade Home School Curriculum picks . Homeschooling 2nd grade students and homeschooling 4th grade students and homeschooling 7th grade students is all about gearing up for a bit more school work and always adding in some fun and extra activities!

Whether you have made the decision to homeschool or are still considering the final decision to actually homeschool or home educate your children, one of the most major decisions is which curriculum will be used. The choices can be a bit overwhelming and I have highlighted what I have used over the years. Here are my selections for Grade 2, Grade 4 and Grade 7 (my son skipped Grade 6).

Each August I write a post on what curriculum we will use for the year. Here is my 2012-2013 school curriculum and  2011-2012 school curriculum posts. 

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This summer I have actually relaxed more than I ever have in regards to 'summer schooling'. We schooled full time to the middle of July. Suddenly our summer kicked into high gear and we were busy with vacation bible schools (we attended three separate ones), travel, vacations, events and other activities. I still had the children complete their work in the Kumon Summer Work & Review workbooks, but not daily. They would work about three days a week in their Kumon books. I also had the children ready daily, with weekends free.

This is the most relaxed summer I have ever let the kids have and I think they really needed it. We shall see what skills have been lost due to my relaxed state. But, I truly think the kids had a great summer.

This school year begins in two short weeks. My two oldest are fully prepared on what to expect at academy and my little one will be home with me full time. They will all attend an enrichment co-op on Fridays - provided the tow oldest are not overwhelmed  at academy. I'm hoping for the best, but if need be, we will pull out of the co-op. My little one will be sad a bit on this, but she will adapt. (the reason we would need to pull out is the parents have to volunteer their time if their children are there. There is no way around this and I can't be in two places at once)

Math: Saxon Math (Level 3, 5/4 & Algebra)
Does it work? Yes
Will I continue to use it for 2013-14? Yes.

We are heavy on Math in this house! {As you can see} This is the first summer we have not tutored during the  summer or completed daily work to remain fresh. I'm hoping we can dive right in and pick up where we left off. I will continue to use Saxon Math as I really like this curriculum, the children are familiar with it and it works!

My 2nd grader will begin Saxon Math 3, my 4th grader will begin Saxon Math 5/4 and my 7th grader will finish up 1/2 Algebra and we will either move on to Geometry or Algebra I (he has yet to decide what he wants).

Grammar: Shurley Grammar (Level 2, 4  & 7)
Does it work? Yes
Will I continue to use? YES

This will be my third year using Shurley Grammar. My daughter just started with Shurley Grammar. I have to say it is one of the best Grammar curriculum out there, for us. I'm excited to move my 2nd grader over to Shurley Grammar. My 4th grader actually really loves these books. My 7th grader is bored to tears with Shurley Grammar, but only because he is highly gifted and he thinks he knows everything already.  It is easy for him, but he does learn from it. 

Spelling:
Does it work?
Will I continue to use it? 

I actually have not selected any curriculum for Spelling yet this school year. I've been really satisfied with Soaring with Spelling, but my son has completed all the levels, so I will most likely use Spelling Power - simply because I already have it on hand. The Spelling Power book is for all levels, so I will use it for my girls as well. I don't love it, but it will work for the year.

Handwriting/Penmanship: Classically Cursive

My daughters have wonderful fine motor skills, but their handwriting is not the best. The girls are both lefties and I think they struggle more with where to place their paper in relation to their writing utensil. My 2nd grader will begin Classically Cursive for cursive writing. My 4th grader will continue to improve on cursive. 

My son's Penmanship is HORRIBLE! I can't read anything he writes! His teachers can no read anything he writes. I had him taking Penmanship last year and everything he wrote for this subject was fine, but any of his normal work is just illegible.  I'm at a loss at this point.

Literature/Composition: Second Grade Literature (Grade 2), Classical Composition I: Fable, Classical Composition II: Narrative (Grade 4 & 7) Classical Composition III: Cheria/Maxim (Grade 7)

Grade 2: Mr Popper's Penguins, The Courage of Sarah Noble, Little House in the Big Woods, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Tom Kitten, The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse, The Tale of Benjamin Bunny

Grade 4: Ben and Me, Brady, The Perilous Road, White Lilacs, Where the Red Fern Grows, Snow Treasure, Number of the Stars, Bound for Oregon, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Old Yeller

Omnibus:  SOTW (grade 2), Everything You Need to Know About American History Homework & The History of US (Grade 4), Omnibus II & Primary Book Set: First Semester and Second Semester & Henry the Fifth & The Nine Tailors (Grade 7)
Does it work?  unknown - this is the first year using
Will I continue to use it?  we will see

Grade 7: Sir Gawan and the Green Knight, The Song of Roland, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Dante, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Bondage of Will, Saint Augustine, On the Incarnation Saint Athanasius, Bede, Beowulf, Macbeth, & Eusebius

I will continue with SOTW for my  2nd grader. This will be the third year and it just is awesome. My 4th grader will move to a new curriculum this year at academy, but I'm sure it will be great. My 7th grader moves to the Logic level this year and will have all new curriculum - it will be an exciting change for him.

English/Vocabulary/Language: Rod & Staff (Grade 2)  &  Daily Paragraph Review (Grade 2)
Does it work? yes
Will I continue to use it?  yes

I actually really like the Rod & Staff curriculum. It is a lot of repetition and my little one sometimes gets really bored with it. However, the curriculum works.

We are also using Daily Paragraph Review this year opposed to Daily Language Review, which I have used every year thus far. I enjoy this, this kids enjoy this. It is simply a daily page of review lessons that is easily completed. Evan Moor pages are quick, easy and a great reminder for kids.

My two oldest have heavy reading load with Omnibus and Lit/Comp, so I will not pick anything further for them.

Science:  Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics (Grade 4), Apologia General Science. (Grade 7) & Christian Kids Explore Biology & R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey, Earth & Space (level one) (Grade 2)
Does it work?  YES
Will I continue to use it? Yes, We all love Apologia, Christian Kids & R.E.A.L. curriculum.

My children adore Science and I'm happy to fill their brains up with whatever they want.  We all adore Science and I will continue to be Science heavy in this house. My 2nd grader will have two different Science books this year simply because she loves Science so much. If I find out later on the workload is too much, we will drop one on the books. My 4th grader will have Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics at our Academy and she is excited. EDITED: Since my children love Science so much, my 4th grader participated in her grade 2nd sister's class sessions. She listened to me read her assignment and if there were any experiments, she did those as well. AND vice versa for the 2nd grader participating in the 4th grader Science class sessions. My little one loved Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics that I went ahead and ordered her a junior Notebooking Journal so she could work on the same assignments as her sister. Literally, they would school Science ALL afternoon some days!! If you are wondering IF you NEED the Notebooking Journal to go along with these textbooks - the answer is YES!

My son loves Science and has General Science plus the Notebooking Journal though the academy as well. I already know he is going to want to be included in his sister’s 2nd grade and 4th-grade work. And yes, it may seem entirely too easy for him, BUT I will feed whatever information in his brain that he wants to absorb. 

Biblical Studies/Religion/Memory: God's Great Covenant, OT Book 1 (Grade 2), How the Bible Came to Us & Heaven for Kids (Grade 4), Bible Doctrine, Essential Teachings of the Christian Faith, Arminian Theology (Grade 7)
Does It Work? GGC - yes
Will I continue to use?  yes

My 2nd grader will use the GGC book this year and she is excited to begin. I love the GGC books! My 4th grader will have new curriculum this year as will my 7th grader, who has moved up from Grammar to the Logic level.

Logic:  Introductory Logic Student Text & Socrates Meets Jesus (Grade 7)
Does it work? first year
Will I continue to use? ?

This is the first year at this level, so everything is new here.

Foreign Language:  Prima Latina (Grade 2), Via Latina I (Grade 4), Latin for the New Millennium Level 1 (Grade 7)
Does it work? yes
Will I continue to use? Yes

Latin is always a struggle and I know we will have many hours of studying this year! But, we shall persevere!

Art & Music:  Guitar & Violin, Symphony Orchestra for my 4th grader, Art classes at co-op(grade 2, 4 & 7), Nature Study at co-op (grade 2), Cooking & Crafting at co-op(Grade 2), Lego at co-op (Grade 7), Tool Time at co-op (Grade 4 & 7), Lit Study at co-op (grade 2), Geography at co-op (Grade 4 & 7)
Does it work? Yes
Will I continue to use? Yes 

Co-op:   Art classes at co-op(grade 2, 4 & 7), Nature Study at co-op (grade 2), Cooking & Crafting at co-op(Grade 2 & 4), Lego at co-op (Grade 7), Tool Time at co-op (Grade 4 & 7), Lit Study at co-op (grade 2), Geography at co-op (Grade 4 & 7)
Does it work? Yes
Will I continue to use? Yes

Field Trips/Extra Activities:

We have many, many field trips since we live in a great city with numerous museums. Field Trip day will always be the favorite.

Here’s a post on our workboxes and how we use them in our homeschool classroom! I also have some printable workbox tags.

I really hope this helps in planning your homeschool curriculum for 5th grade and 7th grade homeschooled students! Make sure to check out my other homeschool grade curriculum picks.