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2nd Grade Curriculum Picks: 2025-26

I can’t believe my oldest is entering 2nd grade! These past few years of homeschooling have taught us a lot and we can’t wait to enter a new one.

I truly believe one of the greatest things about homeschooling is being able to customize curriculum to meet your child’s needs. My oldest son has ADHD, so being able to take more breaks and scale back in places he needs has been on of the greatest things. My goal this year is to find a balance with our schoolwork and pursue his interests!

If looking at all of this seems like a lot, just remember that this is what we’ll be using for the whole school year! Some subjects we’ll only be covering once a week and some of these things are only going to be used for extra enrichment when we find time to add them in. I added everything to this post so I could share all the links.

Here’s everything we’ll be using for 2nd Grade in our 2025-26 school year.

Family Curriculum (History, Geography, Science, Art, Bible)

We’ve always been eclectic homeschoolers. We have dipped our toes into every style of homeschooling (unit studies being my favorite). Last year, I felt myself being pulled more towards a Charlotte Mason style approach of education. I’ve really felt the desire to slow down, simplify our homeschool, and focus more on learning through literature and nature. So this year, we’re doing just that by focusing more on a literature based family study for the year.

We’ll be using….

  • Playful Pioneers ! We are so excited to read The Little House on the Prairie series this year with Playful Pioneers! Playful Pioneers covers history, geography, science, and art for the whole year. The only thing not included will be our core subjects (Language Arts and Math). Some of the things this study covers are:
    • U.S. states and landmarks
    • Immigration in America
    • Famous people and events of the time period ((including Leif Erickson, Squanto, Benjamin Franklin, Harriet Tubman, Clara Barton, Thomas Edison, Tecumseh, and more!)
    • Weekly nature study
    • Science experiments
    • Cooking projects
    • Poetry, art, bible readings, and hymns

I really love how The Peaceful Press has set up this curriculum guide and I can’t wait to learn through literature this year.

Language Arts

  • Handwriting. The Good and The Beautiful Handwriting 2. We love these handwriting books! My son usually does this on his own and he loves the puzzles, coloring, and activities at the bottom of the page.
  • Reading. The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts Level 2. This will be our third year using TGATB for Language Arts. This program has made my son a really strong reader and I really enjoy the readers that come with it! If you’re looking for an open and go curriculum, this is a wonderful option. One other thing I love about this curriculum for beginning readers is that it comes with a free app with fun reading booster games. There great for extra practice!
  • Spelling. Evan-Moor Building Spelling Skills 2. While TGATB does teach spelling, I’m not a huge fan of the way it’s taught. So, this year we’re going to be using this book to learn spelling this year. Each day there’s a page for kids to complete and at the end of the week, kids complete a spelling test.

Math

  • TGATB Math Level 2. To be honest, we we’re on the fence about continuing TGATB math this year. My son had no complaints, but I was wondering if we should switch it up. We decided to try out Beast Academy for the summer. My son loved it at first, but then it got very challenging and he decided it wasn’t for him. So, this year we’re sticking with TGATB Math. I really think it’s a great math program and I see the benefits of a spiral approach to learning math!

Science

As I mentioned, Playful Pioneers does cover some science. However, the one thing I’ve read is that it often doesn’t seem like enough. So, I wanted to have an option incase we want to add in more science (especially since my oldest loves science)!

  • TGATB Little Hearts and Hands: Bones and Stones. We have used a lot of the Little Hearts and Hands books and we have loved all of them! This course covers paleontology, dinosaurs, stones, minerals, volcanos, maps, and more. I love that some lessons have audio narration that kids can follow along with. There are also stories from the Big Book of Science Stories that correlate with lessons. Lessons are short and sweet, and I think they are a great introduction to science!

Enrichment

These are all things that we do only when have extra time. Sometimes, it’s after lessons are all finished up and there’s free time or when I’m busy teaching one kid and the other needs something to do. We don’t stress if they don’t get done, but the option is there if we need something educational!

  • Spanish. My oldest has been expressing interest in learning a new language. We plan to try out an introductory Spanish class with Outschool ! We’ve used Outschool before, and have loved their classes.
  • Night Zookeeper. We’ve been using this app for awhile now. It’s interactive and a great way for kids to get extra spelling, writing, and reading practice while having fun. My son begs to play this game and loves exploring the Night Zoo!
  • Beast Academy. As I mentioned earlier, this summer we tried out Beast Academy online to see if it was a math curriculum we might pursue in the future. My son loved the comic style learning and the interactive online platform. Beast Academy is very advanced and for children who are gifted in math. We learned that Beast Academy does math a little different than we’re used to, so at times it could be challenging. We decided that switching our curriculum to only Beast Academy may not be a good fit, but instead we’re going to use it as a supplement to what we’re already learning!
  • Crunch Lab Boxes . My 2nd grader loves STEM and anything science! We started our Crunch Lab subscription last year, and my oldest has loved getting these boxes. We receive one each month. I love that he learns about the engineering behind the build before building what’s in his box.

Something else I signed my boys up for this year is….

  • Homeschool Art Factory. The boys will both be attending a homeschool co-op one day a week at a local Art Factory. They’ll spend a few hours doing art, playing outdoors, and playing with other kids. They’re very excited to try this out and I’m looking forward to seeing how they like it!

That’s a wrap! Looking for last years curriculum picks? You can find all of our 2024-25 Curriculum picks here!