How Can I Support my Second Grader in Math?

Second grade students are being introduced to and further developing many basic mathematical skills. Regardless of your child’s current math abilities, the following suggestions can help your child progress in math throughout the year. Please keep in mind that all children progress at varying rates. I hope you and your child will find these ideas helpful this year...

· The best way to practice math skills is with real-world application. If you would like to help your child improve money skills, go to the store or create one at home. If you’d like to help your child with telling time, practice timing activities at home such as cooking or reading.

· Place value is an important skill to master in second grade. Help your child improve in this area by having your child read and/or write large numbers (into the ten-thousands if possible). Also, encourage your child to use the terms “greater than”, “less than”, and “equal to” when comparing large numbers. To young students, the numbers 75,239 and 81,619 can look very similar because they have the same number of digits. Finally, remind your child of the importance of ZERO in place value. The numbers 354 and 3,054 are VERY different! You can call out a number and have your child write the number down. Then have him/her identify which digit is in the ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, or ten-thousands place. You can also have him/her write a number in expanded form (example: 3,764 = 3,000+700+60+4).

· Not all math practice needs to be written down. The car is a GREAT place to practice math skills! You can call out addition/subtraction facts for your child to solve or use the numbers on license plates to make math problems. Even counting cars can be good practice. Try starting at a strange number, such as 583 and counting up from there. If your child is ready for a challenge, try picking a starting number and counting backwards!

· To improve measuring skills, have your child measure different objects around the house. Make sure to have your child measure length in a variety of units including centimeters, inches, feet, and yards.

· Second graders also need to know how to measure the volume of liquids. Your child can practice this by cooking. The best way to understand what a cup of something looks like is to see it! To help your child understand the relationship between the various units of volume, practice pouring water into containers of varying sizes to see how many of one unit it will take to equal another. This can be done with cups, pints, quarts, and gallons.

· Students also need practice with weight. You can have your child collect objects of various sizes and weights from around the house. Encourage your child to make estimates before using a scale to measure the exact weight. Challenge your child to find a small object that weighs MORE than a larger one!

· Learning to tell time is an important skill for second graders to master. However, in our technological society, analog clocks can be hard to come by. Be sure you have one available at home for your child to practice with. It may also be helpful to find your child an analog watch as well.

· Word problems can be difficult for many students to understand. Help your child practice this skill by creating word problems that involve family members or friends. Encourage your child to listen for the specific clues in your world problem that let him/her know whether the answer can be reached by adding, subtracting, or other means. When solving word problems, encourage your child to draw a picture when appropriate to help him/her figure out the answer.

· Having trouble with fractions? Help your child practice by using food! Pizzas and cakes can easily be cut into equal pieces. To practice fractions of a group, use your child’s favorite breakfast cereal. These can easily be manipulated into equal groups, and errors are simple to correct.