How We Schedule 2nd Grade || A Day in the Life with Timberdoodle Curriculum Kits

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Timberdoodle Curriculum Kits have changed our homeschool from unorganized chaos to orderly and (mostly) smooth days. We use the 2nd grade custom curriculum kit, and a Tiny Tots kit for my toddler and every day is scheduled a little differently based on our activities: co-op, work, park day, appointments, and play dates all get plugged into different spots.

However, unlike past years, this 2nd grade year has seen a great deal of progress and I contribute that to utilizing a few different scheduling tools.

A special thanks to Timberdoodle Company for sponsoring this homeschool series of posts by graciously sending us this complimentary curriculum kit to see what we think. All opinions are our own!

5:00 AM

My watch vibrates an alarm for me at 5:00 AM and I attempt to sneak out of bed without waking the toddler. If I’m lucky, he stays asleep and I get my day started with breakfast, Bible reading, a shower, and tending to our guinea pigs and rabbits.

7:00 AM

The kids have an OK to Wake clock with an alarm that goes off at 7:00.

Now it’s time for getting breakfast for the kids, getting dressed, and a few chores. We have a weekly menu that lists what’s for breakfast each day of the week and this eliminates a lot of early morning conflict! While I do the dishes, my 2nd grader is instructed to make her bed and clean the rabbit’s litter box.

8:00 AM

While the toddler spends some time with dad, every day at 8, my daughter and I sit down at the table and begin our school day. We start with Bible, where I read a daily selection from The One Year Bible for Children and we practice her AWANA verse for the week.

Then we move on to Math-U-See Alpha, where we go over one lesson at the beginning of the week and complete one work page each day for the rest of the week.

Finally, we pull out Happy Cheetah reading system and do 1-2 lessons in language arts. To see more on how we use Happy Cheetah, check out our review here.

9:00 AM

Two days a week we have co-op and work events that require us to be gone for a few hours in the morning or most of the day. Those are light school days and the remaining three days are heavier loads. After the daily “core three” (Bible, Math, and Reading), I used the Timberdoodle Online Scheduler to create a loop-like schedule for the other subjects.

We typically follow this schedule:

Thinking Skills – Tuesday (games) / Thursday (workbook)
Reading Challenge Books – Tuesday / Thursday
History & Geography – Wednesday
Art – Wednesday / Thursday
Science & Health – Monday / Friday
STEM – Friday

Between 9:00 and 11:00 AM most days, the toddler goes down for a nap and my daughter and I work on these designated subjects, marking off each box in our Scheduling book that lists the week’s assigned lesson or page range.

In addition to the Scheduling book, I also keep records in the Homeschool Adventures Planner. I find it so helpful for myself to write down our attendance and the pages we complete each day. It makes a very nice visual of our progress over the year, which helps me as a visual-kinesthetic learner. I love writing in my planners with my Frixion Fineliner erasable pens.

We are working on my daughter’s ability to do independent work, so often I will present the page she needs to complete and leave the room for a few minutes to allow her to work by herself. She is still learning to read so she needs quite a bit of help yet, but I’ve already seen a lot of growth this school year.

11:30 AM

After school and nap time, everyone has an appetite and it’s time to prepare lunch. We keep it very simple with sandwiches and fruit.

1:00 PM

After lunch, my 2nd grader is usually ready for some free time and often goes outside to play, or to her room for awhile. I like to take advantage of this time to do tot school with the toddler. We read books, pull out sensory toys, or work on building sets together.

2:00 PM

After the toddler goes down for a nap, I try to fit in some work time while my daughter keeps herself occupied with projects, crafts, and friends.

Because our school day is on average 2-3 hours long each day, people are often amazed that my 2nd grader has so much free time for activities, imagination, and play. Even at her age, play is so incredibly important. And she doesn’t just play alone.

She plays with her little brother, learning cooperation and caretaking skills. She has a weekly co-op day with 30 other families and a park afternoon with that same group. She attends Kid’s church on Sundays and mid-week Bible class. And she calls her friends on video chat nearly every day (I guess that’s what has replaced the telephone of my day??).

4:00 PM

As I start dinner the kids often get some TV time while they play with building sets, balls, and their Pikler Triangle in the living room.

6:30 PM

After dinner, we have a family cleanup time to reset the house for tomorrow. It’s not perfect, but we call it good enough. Then we do the dishes, feed the critters, and get ready for bed.

8:00 PM

We all head to bed at 8 for stories, snuggles, and lights out. In reality, sleep doesn’t occur until closer to 9, but the consistent routine keeps things predictable.

How We Store Timberdoodle Curriculum

I’ve tried numerous storage systems over the years for our school curriculum, and this year we settled on a winning solution! These 10-drawer craft storage carts (easily found at Michaels and online retailers) are simple to set up and keep each subject area neatly stored away.

Books and games fit in the drawers, but larger manipulatives must be stored elsewhere. Our Math-U-See blocks are in a clear plastic drawer on top, along with Clixo Create, Fischertechnik blocks, and other sensory fidgets.

My daughter chose the rainbow colors for her curriculum, and my son’s tot school is stored in the teal drawers.

And that’s a day in our homeschool! The beauty of homeschooling is flexibility, but there still needs to be a routine and schedule if anything is to be accomplished!

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