I have been thinking about what I want to use for second grade next year, and I'm completely overwhelmed. To make matters worse, I will not have much money to spend on books. She is reading on her own with a little help from me and loves the ETC books so I will continue with those. She's using Saxon math and flying though it. I feel she's not really being challenged and would like to change next year, possibly to Horizons. If you had very little money what would you buy or do?
for one thing start looking in the good will and salvation army stores especially over the summer when teachers are clearing out their stuff. I used so many sites that have second grade work from all kinds of sites. just use your search engine type in spelling worksheets, free, printable math worksheets, free, printable etc...... for what ever you need second grade worksheets, printables second grade lessons www.learningpage.com
http://www.tlsbooks.com/secondgradeworksheets.htm http://www.homeschoolmath.net/worksheets/grade_2.php this is the sister site to homeschoolspot: http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/ http://funschool.kaboose.com/
http://www.g2worksheets.com/ http://gardenofpraise.com/lesson.htm http://www.lessonplanspage.com/Worksheets.htm
No great words of wisdom, accept this: I know one woman does not buy books at all. She goes to the library to do most of her homeschooling every day and does not use any curriculum, except maybe for math. I don't know if I would go as far as that as I like to have a bit more guidance in language arts, but Jessie Wise, co-author of The Well-Trained Mind, stated that on each of her library visits, she had her children check out one book each on history (and social studies), science, art or music appreciation, practical knowledge (how-to, hobby, or craft), biography or autobiography, and poetry, besides books they just wanted to read for fun. Just a thought....
I did second grade on a dime.. litterally. I have to go get a shower and call the garage to see if we can get the car in for an inspection, but I will try to post a bit later.
I agree that the library is a great resource as well as free printables. You can find free unit studies on the internet and just find the books you need at the library. If you want something more structured, check Craig's List for curriculum as well as curriculum swaps that might be going on in your area.
Ok, I spent a totaly of probaby 30-40 bucks to do second grade. I bought a book that had language arts and math in it at Sams. I think it was one of those Comprehensive Curriculum books. I added reading to that from books we had and trips to yardsales/thrift stores (I never seem to make it to the library, so we buy most books we read). I bought The Complete Book of United States History, which we still 3 years later are slowly working through... you can add to this with library trips. I bought The Complete Book of Science grades 3 and 4 and we worked through it over 2 years... you can add lots of books and videos to this as well. There is a FREE downloadable life science book that I would use if I went back and could do it again..http://www.eequalsmcq.com/ For spelling, I just hunted online for a 2nd grade spelling list, it was too easy so I hunted all over this time for 3rd grade.. and that is what we used, but now I totally reccomend http://www.zaner-bloser.com/spellingconnections/practice-pages.html Also I used lots from www.enchantedlearning.com www.schoolexpress.com www.learningpage.com www.rhlschool.com and I'm sure quite a few more. Remember to go every Monday to see if you can use the free product on www.currclick.com (or save it for later), In the Hands of a Child has a free quarterly lapbook that I always make sure to get. You can do SOOO much for so little!
You can easily use Horizon Math 2nd grade without buying the teacher's edition. I own it but only because I have 3 kids all using Horizons and it's easier for me to grade worksheets without having to "think" but I've never used them for instructional purposes just for grading quickly. In hindsight, I could have lived without K-3rd TEs even for grading We love Horizons!
My page is free, so call it self promotion, if you want. I have a page of bookmarks of everything free that I have found... I have a "Quick Start" page that helps you find something for free for each subject. It is like a quick glance outline. It is still a work in progress, but we use most of what is on that page. The link in in my signature below ///////
Thanks for all the responses I forgot to say that I have TONS of links for free printables, but most are pdf and for some reason I can't print pdf files. I will look at all the links provided as there are some I don't recognize. I've only been homeschooling for a few months and I'm still second guessing myself (do you ever stop doing that?). It would really help if I had a list of what to teach, LOL. Like math - your child should know x, y, and z by the end of the year. And the same for other core subjects. Is there anything like that out there?
I would like to second the recommendation to get your spelling lists off of Zaner Bloser's website and then use them on SpellingCity.com. It is free! You type in the lists and then the kids get to play games with their words. You can even print out handwriting sheets using their word lists and they can take their tests online and you can print out the results for your records.
Do you know why you cannot print pdfs? What seems to be the problem when you try to print them? Or, is it that you cannot open them at all? You may need to download adobe reader. It is free. http://get.adobe.com/reader I highly recommend it, as nearly EVERYTHING out there is in pdf format.
When I download adobe it does something to the computer so it doesn't recognize that I have a printer; gives some error message about the printer spooler. I can open the files just fine, but can't print them or any document. I tried all the troubleshooting tricks I found for HP but they didn't work. I am not computer savy and it's on DH's "to do" list. Thanks for the world book link!
Did they send you to Jennifers web site yet? JenniferErix? Cause she would ahve what you need! I would also say Go with the HOrizon we love it! Check homeschoolclassifieds they have great deals there! I think you can also check Craigs list in your area?
There are other programs that open pdfs, that you can print from. (I would hate for you to be without that ability as it seems that nearly everything is in pdf format...) Another reader that is free is this one.. FoxIt http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php photoshop, if you have it, opens pdfs.
Also if you end up in a really tight spot with money when it comes to your books, there is a site that helps families in need of books. Here is the link. http://www.booksamaritan.com/
