Second grade is when most children will feel more confident as students. For many 2nd graders, this will be their third year at school, after stints in 1st grade and kindergarten. For others who may have attended preschool, it may be their fourth or fifth year of being in a school setting. School routines such as group meetings, sharing stories, doing independent and group work and transitioning between second grade activities will feel old hat.

Subjects such as 2nd grade math, reading and writing will become more complicated. Homework will become more regular and require more time to do (this will be a good time for parents to set up quiet homework areas if they haven’t done so already).

Here is a general guideline of what you can expect to see in your 2nd grader as he tackles 2nd grade math, reading, and other subjects this school year.

Second Grade Social Skills

Your 2nd grader will:
  • Develop close friendships.
  • Be better able to concentrate on lessons for longer periods of time.
  • Better navigate stumbling blocks and demonstrate increased patience and self-control.

Second Grade Reading and Writing
Your 2nd grader will:

Read more by him/herself. Story time (teachers reading to your children) will most likely continue in 2nd grade, but there will also be more emphasis on independent reading, both at school and as part of homework.
  • Read longer, more complicated stories, including age-appropriate chapter books.
  • Predict what happens next in a story.
  • Be a better speller. More emphasis will be placed on spelling increasingly complex words correctly (spelling tests will be a regular part of 2nd grade).
  • Write longer and more complex essays and stories using correct spelling, punctuation and capitalization, and paragraphs.
  • Write letters, keep a journal.
  • Identify parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, etc.).

Second Grade Math

Your 2nd grader will:

Understand place value of numbers (tens, hundreds, etc.).
  • Be able to mentally add numbers up to 20.
  • Handle more complicated addition and subtraction problems using multiple digits (using methods of carrying and borrowing).
  • Work on problem solving with numbers.
  • Be able to do on simple fractions.
  • Tell time on an analog clock.
  • Add and subtract money; learn how to make change.