Charlotte Mason Second Grade Homeschool Curriculum Choices (2023-2024)

“We spread an abundant and delicate feast in the programmes and each small guest assimilates what he can.” (Charlotte Mason, Vol. 6, p. 183)

Charlotte Mason believed that children need to be fed a feast of knowledge and good ideas. And that is just what we try to do around here.

Today, I am sharing the feast I have planned for my second grader for the 2023-2024 homeschool year, and I’m excited to tell you all about the curriculum and resources I have picked out.

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Charlotte Mason Second Grade Curriculum Choices for 2023-2024

Listed below are the charlotte mason-inspired curriculum choices I have picked out for my second grader for reading, writing, math, literature, nature study, picture study, poetry, and more.

Reading and Language Arts

For reading, I will have my daughter continue with the Pathway Readers, and Busy Times and More Busy Times are up next. She will be reading those aloud to me, but I also plan to assign 10-15 minutes of daily independent reading. The goal this year is to really just continue to improve in her reading skills.

We will also be doing a basic introduction to parts of speech using Mad Libs Junior and Mad Libs. I have a feeling my kids will really enjoy this.

I may also print off lessons from The Good and the Beautiful’s Language Arts Course if there’s anything specific I want to cover with my second grader. They offer their Language Arts Curriculum as a Free PDF, and I love having this resource as an option.

Handwriting

My daughter will be finishing up Level 2 Handwriting from The Good and the Beautiful and will then move on to their Level 3, which is when they start to learn cursive.

She also enjoys the Draw Write Now program, so she will continue through Book Six, which is about animals and habitats. I also plan to purchase Book Four: Polar Regions. Not only do these books work on handwriting and drawing, but they also cover science, social studies, geography, and reading.

Math

We switched from Simply Good and Beautiful Math to Math with Confidence last year and have never looked back. This math curriculum is perfect for my eldest daughter. It is mostly mastery-based with some spiral. It incorporates a ton of games and includes book recommendations that go along with the math concept they’re learning. The student workbook is colorful, and the instructor’s guide makes it easy to explain the concepts. Highly recommend!

Literature

Now this, of course, is subject to change, but here are the read-alouds I have picked out for the year as of now:

Composer Study, Artist/Picture Study, and Foreign Language

We will be studying two composers and two artists this year. I’m cutting it back from three (each) to hopefully make time for other subjects that we really didn’t get to last year. Our composers this year are Bach and Vivaldi, and our artists are Leonardo Da Vinci and Beatrix Potter.

We will be checking out books from our local library and utilizing YouTube for music and biography videos. We will use the Simply Charlotte Mason Picture Study Portfolio for Da Vinci, and I plan to purchase the Beatrix Potter Art Unit Study from Wildflowers by Sarah. I’ve also been eyeing the My Artist Boxes from Kids Art Box.

Foreign language will be very informal once again this year. We will be learning Spanish as a family through books, songs, and games. My husband and I will try to incorporate Spanish into our everyday communication with our children as well.

History and Geography

For history this year, we will be trying out The Story of the World. We will be starting with Volume 1: Ancient Times, which begins with the earliest nomads and ends with the last Roman emperor. I purchased the accompanying activity book that includes coloring pages, map work, games, project ideas, and more.

For geography, we will be trying Simply Charlotte Mason’s Visits to Africa again. We only got through lesson four last year, but we’re eager to try it again. My daughter specifically requested to learn about Africa, so I’ve got a book list ready to check out from the library and our continent box filled with flags, figurines, and pictures. I’ve also been thinking about trying some recipes from African cookbooks.

Bible

My husband and I will be doing daily Bible lessons with the kids, whether that be reading directly from the Bible, reading stories from their children’s Bibles, memorizing scripture, or doing family devotions. My kids’ favorite devotional is The Big Book of Animal Devotions.

Habit Training

We will be putting more of an emphasis on habit training this year, using Laying Down the Rails and Laying Down the Rails for Children. With little ones in the house, I think our two top habits to instill will be attention and obedience.

We will also be covering etiquette and manners with the help of Connoisseur Kids.

Nature Study, Art, and Handicrafts

Nature study is one of our favorite subjects. We love getting outdoors, exploring, and nature journaling. Resources we use for journaling include:

We will attempt to do nature study once per week. Some of these times we will be attending homeschool nature classes at our local nature center. Some topics we may learn about include leaves, soil, and bacteria.

For art, we hope to get back into watercoloring and learn how to color with block crayons (utilizing Colour Dynamics and Coloring with Block Crayons). My kids are also into drawing, so I plan to let them watch tutorials from Art for Kids Hub.

For handicrafts, we are planning to melt homemade crayons, create with modeling beeswax (this stuff smells SO good), bead necklaces, fold origami window stars, and sculpt with air-dry clay.

Poetry

I am going to do my best to be more intentional about having poetry tea time for my children this year. This is one thing we all really enjoy, and we need to do it more often! My goal is to have it at least once a month this year.

I also want to incorporate some poetry memorization and maybe learn about one or two poets this school year. I will be looking at Ambleside Online for some ideas.

Here are our favorite poetry books:

Physical Education

My daughter will be participating in gymnastics again this year, and we will also be trying out a homeschool ninja warrior class.

Music

We are still undecided on exactly what we plan to do for music this year. My daughter is either going to start formal piano lessons or learn how to play the ukulele. But either way, we are going to start our school year with learning how to read music.

What About You?

Are you excited about this upcoming homeschool year? Do you have your curriculum picked out? Share your second grade choices in the comments below, and be sure to share this post with all your homeschool friends.