2nd Grade Curriculum: My Review of the Good & the Beautiful, and more

Curriculum Reviews

My oldest did 2nd grade in 2019 to 2020, and we mixed and matched a few curriculums to cover everything. Here’s a look inside each one, what we loved, what felt a little over his head, and the read-aloud shortcut that also gets the laundry folded.

What you’ll get from this post

  • How My Father’s World covers history, Bible, music and science in one set
  • What we loved and what didn’t work as well for a 2nd grader
  • A money-saving way to buy the My Father’s World books
  • How we use Math-U-See Beta and The Good and the Beautiful Level 1
  • Our audiobook tip that keeps kids’ hands busy

Watch on YouTube

Some links here are affiliate links. If you buy, we may earn a little, at no extra cost to you. We only share stuff we actually use.

Chapters

  • 0:00 Our 2nd grade year
  • 0:20 My Father’s World: history
  • 1:22 Science, Bible and music
  • 2:43 Read-alouds and audiobooks
  • 3:43 Saving money on the books
  • 4:24 Math: Math-U-See Beta
  • 5:29 Language arts: The Good and the Beautiful
  • 7:14 Piano and what’s next

How we scheduled 2nd grade

We do school four days a week, and I’m not sure when we’ll feel the need to change that. Most of our 2nd grade year came from three curriculums mixed together.

If you’d like our lesson plans from pre-k through 2nd grade, they’re in my free Google spreadsheet.

My Father’s World: four subjects in one

My Father’s World Adventures in U.S. History is the set for 2nd and 3rd graders. It covers history, Bible, music and science. It lays out each week’s lesson plans for you, and it’s set up for a four-day school week, which is my kind of schedule.

History

We went through the discovery of America and learned about pioneer life from the perspective of pioneer children. We studied important people from Leif Ericson up to Henry Ford. We also learned the states in the order they became states, with a sheet of fun facts about each one.

Most weeks had a craft or a recipe related to the topic, which really brought the material to life. Disclaimer: we didn’t make every recipe, and that’s okay. Make homeschooling your own.

Science

Science was only two days a week. At this age, they don’t need a heavy science curriculum, so that was fine. The lessons were pretty random from day to day, but the kids loved the experiments. There was usually one a week, and they mostly used things we already had at home. Full disclosure, we didn’t do every single one, but having them laid out was great and helped spark their interest in science.

Bible

There was a new memory verse every other week, and the week’s scripture readings were related to it. I liked the setup, but some concepts felt a little over their heads at this age. We learned different names for Jesus, like the Rock, the Vine and Living Water, which are pretty abstract ideas for a 2nd grader.

Music

Music was usually two days a week. Sometimes we learned a patriotic song, like “You’re a Grand Old Flag.” Other times we learned about a composer, like Tchaikovsky, who wrote the music for Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. Music was probably my favorite part of the whole curriculum.

Read-alouds, audiobooks and a laundry trick

Each week’s lesson plans included a suggested read-aloud book. Honestly, I didn’t feel like reading aloud. I’m done, kids. So if I could find the book on YouTube with someone else reading it, or as an audiobook, I’d go with that. They’d listen for about 20 minutes a day, and we didn’t even do that every school day. (An Audible gift membership is one way to get audiobooks.)

Pro tip: audiobook time is a great time for kids to fold their laundry. If I turn on a TV show, they get too distracted and don’t fold. But when they’re listening to a story, they kind of need to do something with their hands to stay focused. So put some laundry in their hands and let them get to work.

How to save money on My Father’s World

My Father’s World sells a basic package with just the teacher’s manual and student sheets. There’s also a deluxe package with all the books used to teach the material.

A lot of those books are at the library. So here’s what I did:

  1. Look at the book list and figure out which ones your library has.
  2. Buy only the ones your library doesn’t have.
  3. Buy the couple of books you’ll use all year, since those are hard to keep borrowing from the library.

You can also find used deluxe and basic packages on eBay if you’re looking for a deal.

Math: Math-U-See Beta

We’ve used Math-U-See since first grade, and we love it. I love it most because it comes with instructional videos, so I don’t have to worry about whether I’m teaching the concepts correctly.

For 2nd grade, use the Math-U-See Beta book. You’ll need the student pack, plus either the DVD or lifetime access to the videos online. With lifetime access, you only buy the student workbook for each kid after that. You really don’t need the teacher’s manual, because the teacher is on the video.

We did math three days a week. On day one, we watched the video and he did one worksheet. Then he did two more worksheets later in the week. Each lesson has six worksheets, so if he needed more practice on a concept, he did more before we moved on.

Language arts: The Good and the Beautiful Level 1

For spelling, handwriting, language arts and reading, we were still working through The Good and the Beautiful Level 1 Language Arts. That was okay, because the older version had a lot of advanced, second-grade concepts in it, so we were right on track.

The set came with the course book, phonics cards and a book of short stories. It also includes literature and art appreciation, which is the “beautiful” part. The new edition is available as a free PDF download. How amazing is that?

Each lesson tells you exactly what to read and how to teach it. Lesson one, for example, has you read a poem together, do an activity and some phonics, and then your child reads on their own for 10 minutes. The rest is independent work: spelling, homophones, more spelling, art appreciation and writing.

The new edition is set up so that one lesson a day, four days a week, finishes the book in one school year. Each lesson can take about an hour if your child is focused. But half of that is independent work, and you’re knocking out several subjects at once, so it’s pretty efficient.

Piano, and what we’re looking for next

Our one other weekly subject was piano. We love Hoffman Academy on YouTube. My son watched one lesson a week and practiced the other days.

As much as I loved My Father’s World, and I’d recommend it, this year I’m looking for a video-based science and history curriculum. That’s one less subject for me to teach, so I’m free to work with my other kids.

Key takeaways

  • You can mix and match curriculums. We used three for 2nd grade.
  • My Father’s World covers history, Bible, music and science on a four-day week, with crafts, recipes and simple experiments.
  • Some of the Bible concepts were abstract for a 2nd grader.
  • Borrow My Father’s World books from the library or buy used to save money.
  • Math-U-See’s videos mean you don’t need the teacher’s manual.
  • Audiobook time doubles as laundry-folding time.

What viewers say

Wow! So helpful!

@yensyguerrero8881 on YouTube

Yes to finding books on YouTube! Love the tip of getting them to fold laundry!

@StaceyYoder on YouTube

All great choices! My Father's world sounds amazing.

@mommyonthemove25 on YouTube

Things we mentioned

Planning your 2nd grade year? Come hang out with our crew on YouTube. Subscribe to The Johnson Crew on YouTube.

FAQ

What does My Father’s World cover for 2nd grade?

The Adventures in U.S. History set covers history, Bible, music and science, with weekly lesson plans for a four-day school week.

Is My Father’s World expensive?

There’s a basic package and a deluxe package with all the books. We borrowed what we could from the library, bought the rest, and you can also find used packages on eBay.

What Math-U-See level is for 2nd grade?

We used Beta for 2nd grade, with the student pack and the instructional videos.

Do you need the Math-U-See teacher’s manual?

We didn’t. The teacher is on the video.

How long does a Good and the Beautiful language arts lesson take?

About an hour if your child is focused. Half of it is independent work, and it covers several subjects at once.

More from our crew

Full transcript

Hi everybody welcome back to my channel if you're new here I'm Sara I have four kids between the ages of 8 and 1 and have been homeschooling them since preschool days and today I'd like to share with you what we used for second grade my oldest son did 2nd grade last year so that's 2019 through 2020 and let's go ahead and jump in I will start by saying that we do school four days a week I'm not sure when we'll feel the need to change that if you are home schooler I'd love to get to know you leave me a comment below tell me what ages your kids are

And how many days a week you guys do school the next curriculum I want to show you actually covers four subjects history Bible music and science my father's world now we got the set for second to third graders which is adventures in US history and this curriculum very conveniently lays out each week's lesson plans for you and it's set up for a four-day school week which is my kind of school schedule for history we went through the discovery of America we learned about pioneer life from the perspective of pioneer children we learned about important historical figures from Leif Ericson up to Henry Ford we also learned about the states

And order of when they became a state and they'd have a sheet with lots of fun facts about each state there would usually be a craft or a recipe each week related to the topic which really brought the material to life and we really enjoyed those disclamer we didn't make every recipe and that's okay you can make your homeschooling your own science was only two days a week at this age they don't need a heavy science curriculum so this was fine but I will note that the lessons were pretty random

And topic every day but they loved the experiments there was typically one experiment for each week and they were usually pretty simple using stuff that we already had around the house again in full disclosure we did not do every single experiment but having those already laid out for us was a great option and definitely helped to pique their interest in science in general for a Bible they had a new memory verse every other week and then all the scripture that we would read throughout the week would be related to the topic that memory verse I liked this set up

But I will say that I felt like the concepts were a little over their head at this age we learned different names for Jesus like the rock the vine living water and these things are pretty abstract ideas so I felt like they were a little bit hard for this age for music this was typically two days a week where we would learn a new patriotic song this is your grand old flag and then other times we would be learning about the composer cha cha Chi Chi Chi cops Tchaikovsky who composed the music for Swan Lake ballet The Nutcracker ballet

And lots of others this was probably my favorite part about the whole curriculum okay also in the lesson plans every week there was a read aloud book that was suggested that I honestly didn't feel like reading aloud I'm done kids so if I could find that book on YouTube where someone else is reading aloud or maybe find it as an audiobook then I would opt for that I would have them listen to this audiobook like 20 minutes a day and we didn't even do that every single school day which protip it's a great time to have them fold their laundry because usually if I have them like turn on a TV show they're super distracted by it

And don't end up folding their clothes but when you're listening to an audiobook you kind of need to do something with your hands so that you can stay focused at least for kids and so put some laundry in their hands let them get to work my father's world sells a basic package with just the teachers manual and the student sheets or you can buy the deluxe package which includes all the books that they use to teach all the material a lot of the books that you can get from the library

So the way I did it is I looked at the list of books and figured out which ones we could get from the library and then I just bought the ones that we couldn't get from our library and then I did go ahead and buy a couple of the books that you're gonna end up using throughout the whole year because obviously that would be hard to just be using library books for that you can also find used deluxe packages or basic packages of this material on eBay

So check there if you're looking for a deal for math we did math you see and have done that since first grade and we loved it I loved it most of all because it comes with an instructional video so I don't have to worry that I'm teaching the concepts and correctly for second grade use the Veda book which I've linked to below you'll need to purchase the student pack and you can either order the DVD or you can purchase lifetime access to the videos online this is great because we don't have to buy the entire package for each next kid who's gonna go through it just the student workbook side note you really don't need the teachers manual because it comes with a teacher

On the video so we would do math three days a week the first day we would watch the instructional video and he would do one worksheet and then he would do two more worksheets throughout the week now each lesson actually has six worksheets in the workbook so if he needed more practice to better understand a particular concept then I would just have him do more worksheets before we moved on to the next for spelling handwriting language arts and reading we were still going through level one from the good

And the beautiful of their language arts book which is okay because the older version had very advanced concepts in it a lot of second grade concept so we were still right on track if you saw my video about our first grade curriculum then you've already seen inside this set which I'm getting ready to show you now I bought the set and it came with the course book phonics cards to practice with and a book of short stories for the child to read this book also includes literature

And art appreciation that's the beautiful part of it now they have a new version online that you can download for free how amazing is that so here's the PDF of their new edition you work through one lesson per day which tells you when to have them practice with the phonics cards and when to read a short story so just a quick look at lesson number one they always write out what you are to read to the child how to instruct them we read a poem they've got an activity to do with the poem

And then we go and do some phonics learning then they are to read for 10 minutes on their own and then the rest of this lesson is independent work they've got some spelling practice some homophone practice and then another spelling activity and then some art appreciation and writing so I'll link to their site below the new Edition says that it's set up where if the child completes one lesson a day for four days a week then they are set to complete the whole book within one school year part of the lesson is instruction time

And the other part is independent work which I love each lesson can take about one hour to complete if the child is focused but remember half of that is independent work and you're knocking out several subjects all at one time so I feel like it's pretty efficient okay so that covers our core subjects the one other thing that we would do each week was piano lessons which if you've heard me talk about before we love the Hoffman Academy on YouTube that he's amazing so my son would watch one lesson per week

And then practice the other days and that sums up our second grade year as much as I loved the my father's world curriculum and I would recommend it I am this year looking for a science and history curriculum that's video based so that it's one less subject that I have to teach which will free me up to work with my other kiddos so if you know of any great science or history curriculums that are video based please drop it in the comments below I would love to check that out

So if you enjoyed today's video please give it a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe as always thank you for joining me today I'll talk to you soon

You may also like