As a classical educating homeschool mom of four, I have always appreciated the Charlotte Mason method, especially her focus on reading quality literature through living books and the emphasis on nature play for children. While I certainly do not follow her method to a tee, I loosely incorporate her ideology.
Charlotte Mason Curriculum for 2nd grade
My seven year old daughter is currently in 2nd grade and this is the curriculum choices we have used this year and are all working well.
Language Arts / Reading
Language Lessons for a Living Education 2 by Masterbooks. My daughter LOVES this book. She can work on in fairy independently and always cheers when it’s time to get this one out. I love that it’s simple but also provides activities such as making a short story to go along with the work.
Explode the Code 5 1/2 and Spellwell B both by Nancy Hall. We use these series for all ages, this is just where she happens to be currently in 2nd grade. Both books are black and white graphics which I personally like the simplicity. We have had great success with phonics and spelling using these books.
Math-u-see has been by far the most successful program we have used. This program uses videos taught by the creator, Steve Demme, which correlates with a workbook and fun colorful blocks which is by far my kids favorite part. My children have all started with the Primer level which I start during preschool. You can test your child’s level for placement on their website. Right now my daughter is in the Gamma book.
I teach History with all my children together. We are huge fans of Story of the World – highly recommend it. While this is a bit above my five year olds level, she LOVES listening to the lesson and participating in all the map work and projects.
We use Apologia for our science curriculum and are currently we are in the Astronomy book which my kids have absolutely loved. My favorite part of Apologia are the workbooks full of engaging actives which correlate with the textbook readings.
While we use Apologia for our main curriculum, we also incorporate a lot of nature studying/journaling for Science.
There you have it, my choices for a great 2nd grade year with a Charlotte Mason curriculum. Be sure to spend plenty of time studying and playing in nature as well as reading living books.