In the second grade, the math curriculum becomes increasingly challenging as children begin to tackle more complex mathematical concepts. Second graders begin to work with fractions and expand on their knowledge of addition, subtraction, measurement, and geometry. It’s important to keep your children stimulated through games and hands-on activities to ensure that they understand the connection between the concepts they learn in school and daily life activities.
Second Grade Math Standards
In the second grade, children must have a strong foundation in addition and subtraction because they will be adding and subtracting with two-digit and three-digit numbers. It’s essential to work with your children at home to reinforce their knowledge of addition and subtraction so they can keep up with the pace of their second grade math classes. By the end of the school year, your second grader should have addition and subtraction facts memorized.
Fractions are introduced for the first time in second grade math. Your second grader should thus understand the difference between halves, thirds, quarters, and eighths. Starting with any number less than 1000, second graders should be able to count forward or backward by 1s or 10s. Children in the second grade should also be able to skip count by 2s, 3s, 5s, 10s, 25s, 50s, and 100s as a pre-requisite for learning multiplication. Practice describing the attributes of two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes with your children to strengthen their knowledge of geometry and move beyond just recognizing shapes.
Use coins with your children to practice adding up the values of pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half dollars of up to a dollar or more. Children in the second grade will also learn to measure length, distance, weight, and capacity in both customary and metric systems of measurement so get out the scales and rulers.
Practice telling time with your children using both analog and digital clocks. Make sure your children understand the concepts of minutes, half-hours, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. Use both Farenheit and Celsius thermometers to practice measuring temperature.
Play second grade math games with your children to make math a fun subject to learn rather than a chore. When you build your children’s understand of math by playing fun math games at home, they will be better equipped to handle the mathematical concepts they encounter in the second grade classroom.