In second grade your child will build on skills she learned in previous years. She will make considerable leaps in reading, writing and math skills. She will use new vocabulary, orally and in writing. By the end of the year your child should be reading fluently. Work will become more challenging and there will be an increase in the amount of homework. To support your child, set up a class library at home with books and magazines at different reading levels and of different genres. Read plays aloud with your child to build fluency and expression.

In math your child will write addition and subtraction word problems, tell time to the quarter hour and learn about place value in three-digit numbers. To practice these skills at home you can have your child write an addition word problem about how many books he read over a period of time or on another topic.

You can use the summer before second grade to teach your child responsibility for some simple chores. Donna Adkins our teacher consultant explains "One responsibility fits all does not work for all children. Many children are more or less mature than other children their age. You know your child best. Choose a simple chore that that they can do without feeling overwhelmed. Start small and build. To raise a responsible child, it must be cultivated early and continually."

Children pass through a range of social, academic and developmental stages at their own pace. Below are rough guidelines for where your child should be at the end of first grade and what to look forward to in the year ahead.

By the end of first grade you can expect your child to:

• Listen for longer periods of time
• Work independently at her desk
• Listen to longer sets of directions
• Read directions off the board, some children may still have difficulty with this
• Complete homework and bring it back the next day
• Sit in a chair for a longer period of time
• Be able to see things from another person's point of view so you can reason with them and teach them empathy
• Relate experiences in greater detail and in a logical way
• Problem-solve disagreements
• Crave affection from parents and teachers
• Have some minor difficulties with friendships and working out problems with peers
• Distinguish left from right
• Be able to plan ahead
• Write words with letter combination patterns such as words with the silent e
• Read and write high-frequency words such as where and every
• Write complete sentences with correct capitalization and punctuation
• Read aloud first-grade books with accuracy and understanding
• Count change
• Tell time to the hour and half hour
• Quickly answer addition and subtraction facts for sums up to 20
• Complete two-digit addition and subtraction problems without regrouping

In second grade you can expect your child to:

• Begin to reason and concentrate
• Have a better ability to process information
• Work cooperatively with a partner or small group
• Understand the difference between right and wrong
• Want things to be perfect. He may pout if he makes a handwriting mistake. He may not want to expand on his writing if he doesn't know how to spell everything correctly. For this reason it is important to encourage a child when they make a mistake and explain that everyone makes them.
• Make connections between concepts so she will be better able to compare and contrast ideas
• Expand his vocabulary
• Read fluently with expression
• Recognize most irregularly spelled words such as because and upon
• Begin to use a dictionary
• Add single and multi-digit numbers with regrouping
• Tell time to the quarter-hour
• Know the concept of multiplication such as 2x3 is two rows of three.

Looking for more ways to see if your child is prepared for the next grade? Read this GreatSchools article: Is My Child on Track?

Is your child going to a new school next year? Read this GreatSchools article: Making the Transition: 10 Tips for Adjusting to a New School

June 2006