Homeschool Crew Review: Grade 2 Lightning Literature Set

My favorite language arts curriculum is Lightning Literature from Hewitt Homeschooling Resources.  I have used elementary, middle school, and high school levels of Lightning Literature and have been very, very impressed with each one.  I was excited to have an opportunity to use and review Grade 2 Lightning Lit Set with my 8 year old daughter.

Lightning Literature and Composition has been used in home and public schools for many years.  They started with upper level grades and in recent years started adding in elementary levels.  Grades 1-4 are available now and Grade 5 is in progress. Lightning Literature will instill a love of reading in your child because it uses wonderful books and other classic literature.  It also teaches deep reading and and writing skills. In addition to literature Lightning Lit also teaches grammar and mechanics and composition.

For this review we received the Lightning Literature and Composition Grade 2 Teacher's Guide and Student Workbook.  When you purchase the  Grade 2 Lightning Lit Set from Hewitt Homeschooling Resources you also receive The Random House Book of Poetry For Children.  This was not included in our review, but I already own it from a previous level.  You can also choose to purchase the Teacher's Guide and Student Workbook separately.  Some of the topics covered in Grade 2 include:

• Learning to capitalize titles and proper nouns
• How to make words plural
• Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, and Adverbs
• Synonyms/antonyms
• How to punctuate dialogue
• What is a subject and a predicate
• How to diagram sentences
• Line, stanza, rhyme, repetition, imagery, rhyme, vivid words in poetry
• Fiction/ nonfiction; fantasy/realism
• Personal essay, explanatory, essay, friendly letter, poem, and biography

There are 36 weeks of lessons with the course intended to be completed in one school year. The lessons are based around wonderful books.  The first several weeks use picture books with those lessons lasting one week and then they move into chapter books with lessons lasting a few weeks for each of those books. Picture books are read at least twice during the week and the chapter book lessons are split up by sections.  Many of the books you may already own or can be borrowed from the library or purchased.  The books included in this level are:

• Max’s Words by Kate Banks
• The Old Woman Who Named Things by Cynthia Rylant
• The Bee Tree by Patricia Polacco
• Teedie, The Story of Young Teddy Roosevelt by Don Brown
• Insect Detective by Steve Voake
• The Three Questions by Jon Muth
• La Mariposa by Francisco Jimenez
• Sequoyah by James Rumford
• Anatole by Eve Titus
• Pop’s Bridge by Eve Bunting
• The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy
• Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
• The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy) by Barbara Kerley
• The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
• The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl
• Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
• Many Moons by James Thurber
• Sam, Bangs and Moonshine by Evaline Ness
• This Is New York by Miroslav Sasek
• The Bears on Hemlock Mountain by Alice Dalgliesh
• A Mouse Called Wolf by Dick King-Smith
• The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
• 26 Fairmont Avenue by Tomie DePaolo
• Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard Atwater

Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne and Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling are optional lessons with assignments given for those books if you choose to do them. There are also 4 selections from the Random House Book of Poetry.  Each week you will read stories to your child.  They will answer comprehension questions, complete grammar and mechanic workbook pages, and have a composition assigned to them.  There are also journal pages, dictionary pages, sentence puzzles, and extending the lesson activities.  A suggested daily schedule is given for a 4 day work week but the course is very flexible and you can make changes as needed. 

The Grade 2 Teacher's Guide is a 350 page paperback book.  The guide explains how to use the program, contains comprehension questions with answers, answers to the workbook pages, and instructions for the composition assignments.  It also has ideas for expanding the lessons including reading assignments for Winnie the Pooh and Just So Stories.

Here are a few photos of inside the Teacher's Guide

And the cover of the Student Workbook.

The Student Workbook is a 358 page paperback consumable workbook.  In it you will find colorful daily grammar workbook pages, journal pages to fill in for the stories, and dictionary pages.  The book is three hole punched with perforated pages that you can remove if you choose.

Here are a few photos of inside the student workbook.

Emmie and I have been loving the Grade 2 Lightning Lit Set.  We have been following the 4 day a week suggested schedule in the book.  On Mondays I read the book aloud or for the books we didn't have listened to them on YouTube, she answered the comprehension questions aloud, completed the grammar page, and chose a topic for the composition.  On Tuesdays we talked about the story, characters, setting, details, and conflict of the story and she dictated to me what to write in her book, worked on the grammar page, and composition.  On Wednesdays we read the story again, answered the questions orally from the teacher guide, completed the grammar page, and worked on the rough draft.  She dictated her story to me and I wrote it for her.  On Fridays we worked on the grammar page and finished up the final draft to the composition.

Emmie working on trying to read it on her own after hearing me read it

What do we love about Lightning Lit?  We love the stories that are chosen. Honestly in all of the levels I have used I have never found one we did not like.  Emmie's favorite so far was The Old Woman Who Named Things.  We had never read that one before and it has really stuck with her.  I love that this is so much more then just a literature program.  It includes grammar and composition as well.  The grammar pages are very age appropriate and fun for the children to complete. The pages are visually appealing without being overly distracting.  The comprehension questions ensure that the child is actively listening to the story.  The composition exercises are a great fun way to get children writing and even if they are not used to writing compositions they can work through the assignments with you and dictate their stories to you.  The program does not need a lot of advanced teacher preparation.  Everything the teacher needs is included in the guide and as long as you have the book on hand all you need to do is open and go.  The course is very flexible and can be tailored to your child's needs. We follow a four day a week schedule in our homeschool so it has worked great for us, but even if you normally work 5 days you can use that 5th day as a flex day to catch up if you need to or do some of the extending the lesson suggestions on the 5th day.

If you are looking for a language arts curriculum for your homeschool, I highly recommend Lightning Literature!  Members of The Crew reviewed several different levels of Lightning Literature and other products from Hewitt Homeschooling Resources.  To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!

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Homeschool Crew Review: Memoria Press Simply Classical Spelling

Memoria Press is one of my favorite companies to review for.  They are a family run company that publishes Classical Christian materials in a variety of subjects for homeschools and private schools.   We have used several different products from Memoria Press over the years and have been very impressed with all of them.  Recently we had an opportunity to use and review Simply Classical Spelling Book One: Step-by-Step Words and Simply Classical Spelling Book Two: Step-by-Step Words.

The Simply Classical Spelling Books for grades 1-3 are part of Memoria Press's Special Needs curriculum, which moves at a a slower pace then their other books and provides a multi-sensory learning experience.  These books are also suitable for children without specific special needs that may need to move at a slower pace or need a review on basic concepts.

 Simply Classical Spelling Book One: Step-by-Step Words  is a76 page paperback book containing 34 weekly lessons.  This book introduces children to the basics of tracing, spelling, and writing simple words.  There is no separate Teacher's Guide.  Instead in the front of the book there are notes to the teacher and a suggested pattern of teaching the words.  Each week the student is given 5 Key Words to learn and 2-3 Words to Know.  The Key Words will all follow the same pattern such as CVC, Silent e With Long Vowels, Two Consonant Team CK, etc..The Words to Know are common every day words such as is, was, I, go, and whose.  There are spaces on the page for the student to copy the words twice, and spaces for extra practice.  During the week it is also recommended they write the words in air or on paper, write the words using letter cards, or write on a whiteboard or chalk, along with practicing saying the words aloud.  There are 1-2 sentences in the workbook of words from the list that are used in context and also 3 word study questions.

 Simply Classical Spelling Book Two: Step-by-Step Words is a155 page paperback book with 34 lessons.  Assessments are added after every 5 lessons.  Book Two moves the student passed simple words into more advanced combinations of phonograms and multi-syllabic words.  As in Book One, students will have key words, words to know, word study, and words in context.  Students in Book Two will have 8 Key Words and 5 Words to Know.  In Book Two, dictation is also added in a three step process.  First students will write letters representing sounds.  Then they write words and composed of the sounds and last they write sentences using the words.  The weekly dictations are found in the appendix along with the assessments, scope and sequence, and certificate of mastery. A suggested 5 day teaching pattern is included in the Teacher's Notes at the front of the book.  In addition to the workbook work they recommend making flashcards and playing simple games like memory and go fish, along with air writing words or writing them on white boards or using sidewalk chalk.

I have been using Simply Classical Spelling Book One: Step-by-Step Words with my 8 year old daughter 4 days a week.  She has never done a formal spelling program before and I really liked the format and simplicity to this program.  Starting out the first few lessons were very easy for her but I wanted to build her confidence and reinforce some skills.  On Monday I had Emmie read the words out loud to me and then spell each letter and repeat the word.  I had her write each word one time and read the words in context sentence.  On Tuesday we read and spelled each word aloud, traced the words, talked about the patterns of the words, and wrote each word again.  On Wednesdays we read and spelled each word aloud and she wrote them all on a white board.  On Thursdays she used the extra practice spaces to write her words and spelled each word aloud for me.

Emmie is my child who loves workbooks and loves writing in workbooks.  She was so excited when I told her these spelling books were for her, she couldn't wait to get started.  I think the amount of words each week was perfect for her.  Our lessons took only 15 minutes or so each day.  I liked that there were two separate lists, one with a recognizable pattern and the other basic words that students just need to know.  I loved the word study questions.  For example it might ask " Which consonant team is in each word? " or " Does silent e make a vowel short or long?" It helped her to really think about the words and the patterns of the words.  Simply Classical Spelling will suit a variety of learners.  Students hear the words and letters by repeating them aloud.  They see the words and letters in the book and when they write them.  By doing activities such as air writing and writing and building the words with letters cards they have hands on activities as well.

Members of The Crew reviewed a variety of products from Memoria Press including: The Wars of the Jews set, The Story of the Thirteen Colonies & the Great Republic Set and 200 Questions About American History set, and Simply Classical Writing Book One: Step-by-Step Sentences (Bible Story Edition) and Simply Classical Writing Book Two: Step-by-Step Sentences (Bible Story Edition) with Teacher Key.  To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!

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Our Week in Review (June 3rd-9th)

Most of this week can be summed up in 3 letters VBS.  It was VBS week at our church so Monday through Friday from 8:30-12:15 we were at church.  I was the Science Leader again this year and had Anthony and Christian as my youth helpers.  We picked up Chelsea and Liam and brought them with us.  Nick was the Recreation Leader (someone filled in for him Monday when they were on their way home from D.C.)  Alex was a floater working wherever they needed him, mostly crafts.  Our VBS theme this year was ROAR which focused mostly on the Israelites in the Old Testament with one lesson on Jesus in the New Testament.  We learned that When Life is Unfair...God is Good!  When Life Changes...God is Good!  When Life is Scary...God is Good!  When Life is Sad...God is Good! When Life is Good...God is Good!  We had a great group of children this year and amazing adult and youth helpers. 

The science station was a lot of fun.  On Monday we played with tumble drums, dominoes, and marbles.  On Tuesday we played with catapults, and hoopoe birds and watched an amazing egg experiment.  On Wednesday we played with presto changos, made elephant toothpaste, and did a color changing water experiment.  On Thursday we played with optichromes and made an optical illusion with fish in a fish tank.  On Friday we made slushees in a bag (I will never do this again with this many children!) and did the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment (they love this one!)

Other Activities this Week


Monday the boys finally got home.  I say finally because when they were about two hours away one of the vehicles traveling with them had car trouble and they were stuck on the side of the road for quite awhile.  They got home about 3 hours later then we expected but they made it.  We found out their ranking in the competition later in the week.  In the obstacle course they placed 71st in the challenge course they placed 46th and in their engineering notebook they placed 46th with an overall rank of 62nd out of 84 teams in their category.

Anthony waiting for the car to get fixed

Wednesday there was a 4 H Leather Making workshop from 9-2 that Lily, Christian, and Alex were very interesting in attending.  So I dropped them off and then took the rest of us to VBS.  When we were done we took our sack lunch and went to the EH House to eat and wait for them to finish up.  They made, stained, and painted two coasters, a key chain, and a bracelet. 

Thursday after VBS the girls had their music lesson.  Later that evening our AG agent came out to help give one more shot to the pig to hopefully completely clear up the pneumonia.  She is eating great and acting what appears to be normal for a pig.

Friday after VBS we went grocery shopping and then had pizza and a movie that night.  It had been several weeks since we have all been home to do that on a Friday night.


Lily and I finally  had a chance to play with our embroidery machine this week.  We practiced making a few designs on some scrap fabric and learned how to download designs to our computer and transfer it to the machine with the usb.  This is a design we downloaded and transferred.

I was trying to get some pictures of our baby goats all lined up.  They were not real cooperative.  Sugar and Frank were the twin brothers and are almost 6 weeks old.  Frank (the red goat) is a monster, he will be a really big goat.  Sugar (the goat with the light colored face) was the runt and is much smaller.  Betsy (white with the darker colored face) is 3 weeks younger then the boys and is almost as tall as Sugar, wider, and feels like she weighs more. 

Frank and Sugar

Betsy and Frank

Sugar, Betsy, and Frank

Sugar and Betsy

Alex has been working with his new show goat some now that they are used to us. 

I hope you had a great week!

Happy Homeschooling!

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Our Week in Review (May 27th- June 2nd)

It has been a week!  A lot of good things, but a lot of very stressful things too. 

Monday was Art's birthday.  He had to work so we didn't do anything very special.  The girls had music lessons because we were not able to have them the Friday before.

Tuesday was the Nature Seekers 4 H Meeting.  We went to Grandview and went canoeing.  The children had a great time, I think they would have stayed all day!  I even went canoeing for the first time ( I don't love being out in the water) and I had fun too. 

Wednesday we went berry picking with 4 H at the Southwest Arkansas Research Center in Hope.  We were able to pick a few strawberries and lots of blueberries and blackberries.  Some of the berries 4 H kept for our jam and jelly workshop next week and some went home with all of the 4 hers. 

We had lunch and then I had to say goodbye to my boys who were heading to Dallas to fly out to D.C. the next day.

And yes they were well taken care of as I knew they would be and yes they are old enough to go on a big trip but this mama missed her boys and it was very hard for me not to go with them.  I could not be in two places at the same time or split myself in half.  They were completely fine to go without me but it was very, very hard for me.

Thursday morning Christian and I went out to take care of all the animal chores and noticed there was something wrong with the pig.  She had not touched her food from the night.  I changed it out and fed and watered the rest of the animals.  At lunch I went back to check on her and she still hadn't eaten and then she started coughing.  Bad.  Then she threw up.  I took a video of her coughing and sent it to Nick (they had just gotten off of the plane) and he showed it to Samantha (trip chaperone and Ag agent) who called the vet and told him what was going on. She was pretty sure it was pneumonia.  They prescribed some medicine and I had to run and pick it up.  But...I had never given a shot to a pig.  Googling it did not make me feel more confident, actually it made me a lot less confident.  So Samantha called her husband to come over and help me give the pig her shots. While we were doing that Emmie was getting ready for her first recital rehearsal.  We were there for about 3 hours.

Friday morning the pig still had not eaten and when she tried to stand up she started swaying.  I thought she was dying. So I called the vet again and made an appointment.  The girls had music lessons and then we ran to the co-op and Walmart.  I bought a dog cage to carry the pig in because my three oldest boys were gone and I could not hook up the livestock trailer by myself.  As soon as we got home we loaded the pig up (who had not moved since that morning) and ran her to the vet.  It was definitely pneumonia and he gave her a second antibiotic. Raising livestock is NOT for the faint of heart.

When we got home from that I had to get Emmie's hair and make-up done for pictures and dress rehearsal.  We were there until 9:00 that night.

My boys in D.C. did send me a few texts and pictures.  Friday was their free day and they got to go to the zoo and the Smithsonian Air and Space museum and see the Washington Monument, WW 2 Memorial, and go by the White House.

Saturday the pig was still not eating but was coughing less.  The boys competed in the Obstacle Course Challenge.  Samantha FaceTimed me so I could see what was going on.  They ran it in 2 minutes 19 seconds, 35 seconds faster then at Regionals.

And it was Recital Night.  Emmie won a trophy for perfect attendance.  Her ballet was to How Does a Moment Last Forever and tap was to You've Got a Friend in Me.  The finale was The Greatest Show.

Sunday the pig finally ate!  She is still coughing but acting much better.  The boys completed the Challenge Course and I was on FaceTime again ( I couldn't see anything but Samantha could tell me what was going on.)  They got more points then they did at Regionals.  But, there were 199 teams at this contest and they did not end up placing in anything.  It was a great experience though and they will take what they learned to next year's competition.

I do not know what all they got to do on Sunday afternoon because the biggest exciting thing they texted me about was getting to see the President in his car!  You can just see President Trump in the back window.

We had our VBS Kickoff Party at church Sunday night.

We did a little bit of Math this week and Christian completed his MineCraft course on Code-a-Kid.

The boys are on their way home.  I can't wait to see them and hear all about their trip!!!

I hope you had a great week!

Happy Homeschooling!

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