Take a detailed look into our Timberdoodle 2nd Grade Custom Curriculum Kit and get some great ideas for your homeschool curriculum this year.
We did hours of research before picking out our homeschool curriculum for next year. With one year of homeschooling under our belt, I have a much better grasp of my kids’ learning styles. Now the challenge is to select the right curriculums to match the way my kids learn.
We are so thankful for Timberdoodle’s curriculum kits for giving us wonderful ideas of fun and interactive ways to homeschool my children. I love browsing the nonreligious curriculums to check out homeschooling resources I might have missed that would be super valuable in my kids’ education.
My favorite part about Timberdoodle is the Custom Kit Builder that allows you to take an existing curriculum and modify the contents to suit your kids’ needs. To learn how you can build your own curriculum, check our detailed review of the Custom Kit Builder here.
Unboxing Timberdoodle’s Custom Kindergarten Curriculum Kit
We received our Timberdoodle 2nd grade custom curriculum kit today. The kit comes in a box with adorable images on the sides. My kids were so excited to take out the box’s contents and see what’s in store for them this year. Honestly, I might be even more excited than my kids to flip through the books!
For this particular custom curriculum kit, I ended up ordering Language Arts, Math, Thinking Skills, and STEM items. I did make a handful of substitutes because we already have some of the resources at home or that my son needs the next level up.
In this Timberdoodle curriculum kit unboxing and review, I’ll give you a peek at what a 2nd grade custom box might look like.
Nonreligious 2nd Grade Handbook + Scheduler
The custom curriculum kit comes with a Timberdoodle Curriculum Handbook + Scheduler. I was so happy when I read the handbook because sometimes using so many homeschooling resources can be confusing. How many hours should we be spending on each resource a day? A week?
The handbook goes through each resource in detail and give you suggestions on scheduling. For example, for Spelling You See Level C, the handbook says “never spend more than 10 minutes on spelling per day… We highly encourage you to start a timer when you begin the day’s work and stop where you are when it rings.” That’s a totally different method than how I homeschool and I am excited to try it!
Each handbook has a code on it that you can input in Timberdoodle’s Custom Schedule Generator to digitally plan out your homeschool schedule.
Language Arts
- All About Reading Level 4 Full-Color Edition: We are currently going through All About Reading Level 3, and at the pace we are going, I expect to finish the curriculum within 6 months. Since we love the reading program so much, I decide to get the All About Reading Level 4 so we jump right into the next level after we finish Level 3.
- Daily 6-Trait Writing Grade 2: Last year, we used Daily 6-Trait Writing Grade 1 and my son liked the short lessons that took about 15 minutes a day. Since writing is not his favorite subject, I am thankful that we have found a book that teaches him trait-based writing skills such as organization, word choice, sentence fluency, etc. without overwhelming him.
- Spelling You See – Level C: We have been using All About Spelling to learn spelling rules and loving the curriculum. However, I just wanted my son to get a little more practice with spelling. Therefore, we are going to incorporate Selling You See – Level C in our homeschooling schedule this year to help my son become a confident speller.
Math
The recommended curriculum for math is Math U See. However, we have tried Math U See Beta last year for our first-grade math curriculum and it turned out too simple for my son.
Since then, we have tried a couple more math curriculums, and we have not yet found one that really suits my son’s learning style. He is ahead when it comes to math and loves a good challenge. Therefore, I selected Horizons Math 3 with the hope that the brightly illustrated course and interactive problems will renew my son’s love of math.
I really love how Horizons Math 3 uses the spiral learning approach where new concepts are introduced while all the fundamental concepts learned in previous lessons are reviewed and reinforced for mastery. As an engineer with plenty of math courses under my belt, I believe this is the best way to learn math concepts and establish true competency.
Thinking Skills
- Critical And Creative 2: I have been eyeing the Critical and Creative series for a while. I love how the activities in the book require both imagination and intellectual ideas to solve the brain teasers and logic puzzles. It helps kids exercise the skills they need to be a successful leader.
- GridBlock: We have so many logic games at home, and our favorites are the ones that are challenging for both kids and adults so we can all play as a family. GridBlock is a wonderful game with simple rules so that even preschoolers can participate, but require strategy, critical thinking, and planning skills so that adults will also enjoy the challenge.
- Q-bitz Solo: Single-player games like Q-bitz Solo are perfect for road trips or plane rides. Education on the go! I also like to use it to keep one of my kids occupied while teaching the other. The object of the game is to rearrange the cubes on the wooden tray so that the pattern matches the one on the card as quickly as possible.
STEM
- Fischertechnik Advanced Universal 4 with Engineer: My 7 years old is a big fan of LEGO, so I am excited to give him the Fischertechnik Advanced Universal 4 kit to take building models to the next level. Unlike LEGO, the components in this Fischertechnik kit includes realistic parts to construct 40 different models. Your kids will get a glimpse into what parts are necessary to build a transport helicopter, crane, forklift, and more.
- Wile E. Coyote Physical Science Genius, 4-Book Set: I was such a big fan of Wile E. Coyote and his relentless attempts to capture the Road Runer. My kids saw a couple of episodes of the Looney Tunes and thought the Coyote was one of the funniest characters they ever saw. That’s why I am super excited to teach my 2nd grader physic principles through the hilarious illustrations!
My son couldn’t wait to start with the Wile E. Coyote Physical Science Genius books! He got started reading the books right away. I hope to use the 4 books included in the set to teach my son important physical science concepts and pair them with fun science experiments.
Excited to get started with building your own custom homeschool curriculum kit? Head over to Timberdoodle and check out the items in the nonreligious second grade curriculum kit today!
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