Get a head start in preparing your child for 2nd grade

This is list will better prepare your child for 2^nd grade and beyond. I hope you find this helpful. :-)

2^nd Grade Reading Grade Level Essentials:

• Recognizes the features of a sentence (for example: first words, capitalization, and ending punctuation).
• Recognizes the spelling and sound of two letters that represent one sound, such as th, ch, wh (these are also known as digraphs).
• Learns to read regularly spelled one-syllable words.
• Understands short and long vowels.
• Recognizes rhyming words.
• Breaks up longer words into syllables in order to read them.
• Reads first grade high frequency words with fluency.
• Knows the difference between and reads fiction and non-fiction texts and be able to read and understand them.
• Discuss and answers questions about what they read.
• Reads texts aloud at an appropriate speed and with expression.
• Compares different characters, events, or texts.
• Understands the purpose of and uses common features in a book, such as headings, tables of contents, and glossaries.
• Begins to read (grade appropriate) poetry and identifies words and phrases that relate to emotions and the senses.

2^nd Grade Level Math Essentials:

• Adds and subtracts numbers I -20, solves word problems by using objects, drawings, and traditional equations (with the plus and minus signs).
• Adds 3 numbers that add to a number up to 20.
• Solves addition and subtraction problems by adding up or subtracting smaller numbers, for example: 10+4 = 10+2+2 and 15-6 15-2-2-2.
• Learns the relationship between addition and subtraction, for example: 2+3=5 and 5-3=2.
• Counts out and groups objects in order to solve single digit addition and subtraction problems.
• Counts and writes the numbers 1 to 120, starting from any number less than 120.
• Understands and creates numbers using 10 as a base, for example: 12 — 1 ten and 2 1's.
• Compares two 2-digit numbers using the <, >, and signs.
• Adds up tol 00 using objects and the concept of 10's (bundle objects in groups of 10 to make 100)
• Subtracts or adds 10 to a 2- digit number in her mind, without counting, and subtracts by 10 from numbers 1-90, using concrete objects or tools.
• Orders three objects by length.
• Begins to tell and write time using both digital and analog clocks.
• Understands data; specifically, the total number of data points, how many are in each category, and how many more or less there are in a category.
• Understands the definition of and difference between shapes and creates shapes using this knowledge.
• Creates 2 and 3 dimensional shapes.
• Breaks up circles and rectangles into two and four equal parts, and understands that the parts are halves, fourths, and quarters, and that smaller parts make up larger ones.

2^nd Grade Level Writing Essentials:

• Writes legibly with correct formation of letters
• Writes a variety of texts including, opinion pieces, narratives, and explanatory/informational pieces
• Writes with structure, including an introductory sentence, supporting or accurate details, and some sense of closure
• Begins to use digital tools, including computers, to practice and "publish" writing
• Gathers information as a class, with the aid of a teacher, to answer a question or create a shared research or writing project
• Writes on the proper side of notebook paper and includes name

Preparing for 2nd Grade Social Studies

• Recognize that people make choices because of limited resources
• Recognize that people supply goods and services based on consumer demands
• Understand the relationship between consumers and producers
• Recognize that the United States trades with other nations to exchange goods and services
• Identify the Constitution as the document which establishes the structure, function, powers, and limits of American government
• Recognize historical figures and their contributions to society, Discuss current events
• Use different types of maps to identify map elements; Using maps and globes, locate the student’s hometown, Florida, and North American, and locate the state/national capital and the countries in North America; Label on a map or globe the continents, oceans, Equator, Prime Meridian, North and South Pole
• Appreciate diversity among cultures in the community; immigration
• Compare the cultures of Native American tribes from various geographic regions of the United States

Preparing for 2nd Grade Science

• Distinguish human body parts and their basic functions
• Compare and contrast the basic needs that all living things, including humans have for survival
• Identify parts of plants and animals and explain their functions
• Food Chains and Webs, Name classifications of animals
• Study life cycles, perhaps by raising caterpillars into butterflies
• Rocks and Soil
• Weather
• Explore physical science, covering topics such as electricity, magnetism, force and gravity,motion
• Matter: Solids, liquids, and gases