Art of Homeschooling Podcast

The Second Grade Basket

• Jean Miller • Season 1 • Episode 187

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EP187: What if stories hold the secret to your child's learning journey? This episode of the Art of Homeschooling podcast reveals how the timeless tales of Aesop, like The Fox and the Grapes, can deeply resonate with the second-grade child, capturing their intrinsic moments of determination and disappointment. We'll delve into the fascinating developmental characteristics of second graders and explore how the Waldorf curriculum can beautifully cater to their needs. Tune in for practical tips on language development, spelling patterns, and hands-on activities designed to make learning engaging and effective for your young learner in language arts, math, and science. Whether you're a seasoned homeschooler or just starting out, this episode is packed with actionable insights and inspiration to help you picture and implement effective homeschooling strategies.

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Speaker 1:

You're listening to the Art of Homeschooling podcast, where we help parents cultivate creativity and connection at home. I'm your host, jean Miller, and here on this podcast you'll find stories and inspiration to bring you the confidence you need to make homeschooling work for your family. Let's begin, hello, hello, I'm so happy you're tuning in today for this podcast episode. We're talking all about the second grade basket. This episode is part of a series all about homeschooling through the grades. We're working our way from kindergarten through eighth grade, building a wonderful library for you to refer back to again and again whenever you need inspiration and guidance. And today we're diving into homeschooling second grade. I'm going to give some examples as well of how the story curriculum meets our children right where they are. The second grader can be a being of extremes, let's say, one minute light and loving, the next minute a mischievous little imp, both adorable and a complete rascal. And that's why fables are great stories to meet them right where they are, to meet our children right where they are. So I want to share a short fable with you here, and then we'll talk more about how this meets children of this age so well.

Speaker 1:

This is an Aesop's fable called the Fox and the Grapes. One hot summer's day, a fox was strolling through an orchard till he came to a bunch of grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained over a lofty branch Just the thing to quench my thirst, quoth he, drawing back a few paces. He took a run and a jump and just missed the bunch. And a jump, and just missed the bunch, turning round again with a one, two, three, he jumped up, but with no greater success. Again and again he tried, after the tempting morsel, but at last he had to give it up and walked away with his nose in the air saying I'm sure they are sour. I just love this little story because it is so like a seven or eight-year-old right. They begin so determined and sure of themselves only to save face when they fail or try to and hide their disappointment. Fail or try to and hide their disappointment. We don't even need to share the moral of the story which is often found at the end of fables, because children of this age can so relate to the story itself and they will take in whatever it is they need from the story, based on where they are developmentally. When my kiddos were this age, they loved acting out the fox and the grapes. I would be the tree and the vine dangling the grapes just above reach and they would be the fox jumping and jumping to try to grab the bunch. And they loved exaggerating that haughty attitude at the end with the sort of never mind of I am sure they are sour stomping off with an air of I didn't want those grapes anyway.

Speaker 1:

This is how the stories suggested in the Waldorf curriculum meet children where they are. I really think it helps children feel seen and heard and even understood, just by hearing a little story like this one. Zooming out from there. What does homeschooling look like then in second grade for these little sweet but sometimes sour humans? Looking at the curriculum, we can see that second grade is very much a continuation of first. So that's continued focus on writing, reading and arithmetic, with some nature stories. This is a year for lots and lots of practice and extending their skills development in language arts and math in particular. So given all of that, I think it's a great year for homeschooling parents to focus some on developing certain qualities in ourselves so that we can meet our children where they are the second grade basket.

Speaker 1:

Let's talk about some of the qualities of a parent teacher that I like to include in this second grade basket. The first is patience and diligence. Second grade children will all begin the journey through this grade at a different level of skill development right, and they'll each progress at their own pace through the year. This is a year with a broad range of abilities among kiddos, and every child is different. You may notice this among your own children, even, as one may start second grade by picking up written language at a very fast pace, while another may still struggle to master the alphabet, and it's all okay. You'll need lots of patience and diligence in your second grade basket this year, no matter where your child starts the year on the literacy journey. Just pick up where you left off at the end of first grade and proceed forward at a steady pace. With math, you're continuing to practice the four processes that you've introduced and you're continuing to lay the foundation for science through nature study and experiences outdoors in nature.

Speaker 1:

The second grade year is really a continuation of first grade, as I said, in terms of these three main subjects of language arts, math and science. So if you haven't listened to that first grade in a basket yet, be sure to check the show notes for a link to that episode. Language development is really key this year, so I encourage you to be patient and carefully observe your child as you progress from introducing the letters of the alphabet through stories and pictures to introducing word families and spelling patterns through the stories that will nourish your child this year fables, trickster tales, the stories of saints and heroes. Be diligent about moving step-by-step along the path. As your child begins to crack the code of written language, it clicks at a different point for each and every child. Just continue on the path. That's really what we want to focus on here Choosing a spelling or word pattern, looking for examples within your stories to bring this pattern to life for your child and explicitly working with the pattern in the words, titles, captions or sentences you compose for your child to copy into his or her main lesson book.

Speaker 1:

And also through hands-on activities like building words with magnetic letters, tiles or even natural materials like stones that have letters and letter teams written on them, printed on them. And don't forget games and oral language. There's so many ways to bring these building blocks of language to life for your kiddos through explicit and creative teaching. By the way, we have a skills development class inside the Inspired at Home community. If that's something you need help with, I'll be sure to link to Inspired at Home in the show notes as well, and you can find those at artofhomeschoolingcom slash episode 187.

Speaker 1:

If you carefully observe your child, you may notice that they'll slowly begin to pick up spelling and word patterns more naturally as you go. For example, if you notice that your child is spelling O-O as in look and book in her free writing and correctly recognizing and pronouncing these words in your shared or partner reading, then you can move past the spelling pattern without dedicating a full two-day main lesson rhythm just to this word family. This is the implicit kind of learning and why we want to use observation in order to assess how our child is doing with some of these skills, the learning that starts to build as you progress along the path and your child begins to crack the code of reading and writing. English In second grade more than any other grade, we move back and forth between explicit learning and implicit learning as we carefully observe our children and spend lots of time immersed in the world of written language.

Speaker 1:

There's a great quote describing the difference between explicit and implicit learning in episode 10 of the groundbreaking podcast Sold, a Story that's all about the latest scientific research on teaching reading. Mark Seidenberg is a cognitive scientist who is thrilled that there's such a strong interest right now in the science of reading. Here's a quote from that podcast episode. Mark Seidenberg's research has shown that the brain has a remarkable ability to learn from statistical regularities in language, such as the frequency of certain spelling patterns in words.

Speaker 1:

Explicit instruction is critical at first. Most kids don't just start picking this up, but research shows that a lot of what a good reader eventually knows about words and how they're spelled and what they mean is stuff they learn implicitly through reading. Mark says the goal of reading instruction should not be to teach kids everything they need to know. It should be to teach them enough so that this implicit or statistical learning can kick in. I'll be sure to put a link to that podcast episode in the show notes too. So patience and diligence, my homeschool friend.

Speaker 1:

Your second grader will start and end the second grade year at their own pace and also know that for many the journey to cracking the code for reading continues well into third grade. And with math the goal is playing with numbers and lots of arithmetic practice. Jamie York of Making Math Meaningful says. Our goals in the early grades include developing a sense of number and an enthusiasm for learning math. The second thing you will want in your second grade basket or toolkit is a generous helping of acceptance.

Speaker 1:

The second grader can be a being of extremes, as I said, one minute light and loving and the next a mischievous little imp. My kiddos at this age would be loving and huggy one moment, then poking fun at and teasing each other the next. Children at this age are literally trying out different behaviors to see what happens, to see what kind of reaction they get, like little scientists with very little knowledge of the consequences of their behavior until after the fact. I find this to be a wonderful opportunity for us as parents to practice accepting our children for exactly who they are and letting go of who we think they should be. The last quality that the parent of a second grader might find helpful is a pinch of detachment. That's right, this is an interesting one. The second grader is a child of seven, turning eight, and still lives partly in that dreamy realm of early childhood. But changes are on the horizon, as this little person will soon begin to approach the nine-year change and grow into themselves more and more leaving behind that protected bubble. We'll talk more about this in the next episode in the third grade basket.

Speaker 1:

I think it's so important to protect this stage of childhood as much as possible in second grade by allowing the child to play imaginatively, explore and create their own imaginative worlds and experience a fair bit of boredom. Even. This is sometimes something that takes some conscious detachment on our part to let our children find their way into this imaginative space without direction from us. Here's where having your own purposeful work can really be helpful. As the parent, you can be present nearby without focusing fully on your child, letting them move through their world of play while you're within earshot, but focusing on your own tasks. You can reassure them with your presence while maybe knitting or doing something else of your own. It could be a knitting project for a neighbor's new baby, cooking a meal for elderly neighbors or working in the garden Whatever is nourishing and within reach for you, with a good balance of rest and activity. Modeling this focus for your child gives them an example to follow in their own work and play, and then also in their lessons. During this year, you can set your daily rhythm to allow for lesson time along with plenty of play time, with a pinch of detachment on your part, your little second grader can soak up all the goodness of early childhood while still building the skills needed to grow and learn in future years.

Speaker 1:

Here's a recap of highlights from a Waldorf-inspired second grade year, and this comes from our free guide Ages and Stages. If you don't have a copy of that yet, I'll link to it in the show notes because you'll want to be sure to grab it. It has a whole page description of each year, kindergarten through eighth grade, with some of the activities and story topics that we bring at each age. So here's a little recap, or highlights, from the second grade year. Lots of activities to stimulate the child's whole being, enliven the will and spark deep connections with the story and learning material. The development of skills through playful learning and games. Here are some block topic possibilities Animal legends and fables, stories of saints and heroes. Revisiting all four math processes addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. An introduction to place value through story. Practicing the times tables 1 through 12 with rhythm and movement, introducing time days of the week and the calendar. And continuing along the path of writing and reading development. Plus, of course, a generous dose of the lively arts.

Speaker 1:

Remember, this podcast episode is one of a series and if you haven't listened to Kindergarten in a Basket or First Grade in a Basket yet, you'll find links to those previous episodes in the show notes. For this one at artofhomeschoolingcom, slash episode 187. In this series we're diving deep into each grade, working our way from kindergarten through eighth grade, in order to build a wonderful library for you to refer back to again and again whenever you need inspiration and guidance. We like to wrap up each episode with three resource recommendations for you. So here are three resources for your second grade basket. The first is a newer book called Writing to Reading the Steiner-Waldorf Way Foundations of Creative Literacy in Classes 1 and 2 by Allenson and Teensmoke. I'll be sure to link these in the show notes. The second is a good book for Aesop's Fables or other fables if you wish. A wonderful one is Aesop's Fables by Jerry Pinkney and I'll be sure to link that in the show notes.

Speaker 1:

I would go to the local public library and get a book of Aesop's Fables there, and then for math resources from Jamie York. So two things I want to mention here. One is among his free downloads on his website and it's Math Curriculum Overview for Grades 1 through 8. Wonderfully helpful to give you just the big picture of how math progresses through the grades. And then the second is a book of his called Making Math Meaningful Sourcebook for grades one through five. It's way more in-depth and has a lot of curriculum and activity ideas for you for teaching math concepts in these grades.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much for tuning in today. I hope this second grade in a basket has helped you picture imagine what homeschooling this grade might look like at your house. Be sure to subscribe to the Art of Homeschooling podcast so you don't miss any of the upcoming episodes on how you can create homeschooling lessons you love that are simple, inspiring and doable, and I'll see you next time. Thanks for joining me. That's all for today, my friend, but here's what I want you to remember Rather than perfection, let's focus on connection. Thanks so much for listening and I'll see you on the next episode of the Art of Homeschooling podcast.