Second Grade - Reading And Math And Overall Curriculums

The second grade curriculum focuses on consolidating the skills your child developed in first grade, while significantly improving her abilities in reading, writing and math in particular. Teaching second grade involves dedicating time to other subjects such as science, art, music, physical education and technology too. Homework will become a more important feature in your child's life. You can expect her to receive enough homework to keep her busy for 20 to 30 minutes every evening.

Second Grade Literacy

This year, your child's teacher will work hard to take your child's reading and writing skills to the next level. Targets for your child's second grade reading include: being able to read stories out loud with expression; gaining confidence using specialized readers developed specifically for children at second grade level; being able to make realistic choices of fictional and non-fictional books for herself; and being able to show she understands the material she's reading by predicting the outcomes of stories.

In terms of writing, you'll find that the second grade spelling words your child is expected to learn include high-frequency words such as prepositions ("of," "before," "to," etc.) and possessive pronouns "his," "hers," etc. By the end of the year, she'll also be expected to be able to identify verbs, nouns, subjects, etc. (these are called the "parts" of speech). She needs to be able to use punctuation and capitalization correctly and to write in paragraph form. A fun part of second grade writing is enjoying the work your child produces as she learns to write basic poetry, fiction and narratives.

Second Grade Math

In second grade math lessons, your child will learn to use numbers up to 1000. She'll be expected to master mental addition and subtraction of 2-digit numbers, and to learn to tell the time in 15-minute increments (12:15, 13:15, etc.). She'll also begin working with 3-digit numbers, doing sums using dollars and cents, and using simple graphs.

Supporting Your Second Grader

Second grade is an important time in your child's education, when nurturing her self-confidence and supporting her learning are key factors to ensuring a successful experience in third grade and beyond. Helping your child to become a confident learner involves giving her the confidence to try something new and make a mistake if necessary, so that she can learn from her errors and succeed in future. 

Second Grade Homework

There are a number of ways to support your second grader, and one of them is being available to her to help her with homework. There is a fine balance to be struck between answering questions and giving your child the answers to her homework. The most important thing is that the finished product is your child's own work. If you see that she's made a mistake, point out to her the places where she may want to think about her answers again - you can do this in a concrete way by asking her to show you how she got her answers. If she does the task again and still gets it wrong, it may be better NOT to correct it. Your child's teacher needs to know she's child's having difficulties in a certain area of her learning, therefore the teacher needs to see and be aware of her mistakes. If you're unsure of your role in your child's homework sessions, make an appointment with her second grade teacher to discuss the best way you can cooperate in this area.

Second Grade Resources

There are lots of resources available to parents who want to encourage their child's educational achievements by recreating the second grade classroom in their home. Second grade lesson plans and worksheets can easily be found online. If you want to make sure your home support is always up to date with the progress through the second grade curriculum at school, ask your child's teacher for some second grade worksheets that directly compliment the lessons he or she is teaching at the moment.

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