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We are having so much fun with my 2nd grade daughters’ curriculum this year! Last year I would get so frustrated going from working with my other kids who were using Total Language Plus for their Language Arts to working with my then 1st grader who was on different curriculum. It just didn’t work as well. It wasn’t all connected, things were introduced for no apparent reason and if I had to read those dumb stories one more time I felt like I would scream!
So I went to conventions looking for a good Literature based Language Arts program that included it ALL, by all I mean reading, writing, copy work, grammar, spelling, thinking and vocabulary. At my TLP booth I had many other moms looking for the same thing for their younger children as well and it pulled at my heart. I wanted what my older kids had for my daughter so I started writing. I think that is what God intended all along!
Our first book we did together was A Kiss For Little Bear. She is enjoying it and so am I! We enjoyed reading the book and as an enrichment read another Little Bear book too which she made a booklet to retell in pictures. She made pictures of being happy and sad just like Little Bear’s happy picture that he sends to his Grandmother. The Princess and the Kiss was a great tie in to the “kiss” theme so we read it and discussed which book treated the kiss the way she’d like to treat it. On line we researched a pond which was in the story and printed labeled pictures for her to color of a pond and all the animals that live around ponds. We layered these and made it into a booklet.
We took all her booklets and pictures she made and glued them into a file folder (not refolded like a lapbook) and placed it in her binder. At the end of the year we hope to have one for each of the books we study, then she can just chose the tab she wants to look at or show someone and we’ve got her whole years projects neatly organized.
Oh, plus we copied scripture that related to the story, reviewed short vowels, started a study on verb endings and more. She looks forward to it and so do I. Her older sister wants to know when I’m writing one for her. (She doesn’t know but I have my eye on Crispin the Cross of Lead to do for her TLP style for next fall!)
So if your bored, frustrated or disappointed with what your doing don’t be afraid to fix it, even if you have to do it yourself. YOU know your child best!
Gina
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