The Parent's Guide to Second Grade

What can you expect from second grade? From big leaps in reading, to a more complex, there's a lot of development that happens this year. Keep learning interesting, with cool activities from crazy science experiments, to paper mache puppets.

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Developmental

School and Academics

Social Graces: What to Expect in 2nd Grade

When it comes to learning about manners in grade school, parents are the number one resource. Your second grader can't pluck politeness from the ether. You need to set the stage.

How a 2nd Grader Thinks

Your second grader has figured out the ins and outs of elementary school, but even though he’s practically a school pro he’s still developing mentally. What are second graders capable of understanding? Here's what one expert has to say on the topic.

Second and Third Grader: Talking Milestones

What's typical in terms of speech development for a second or third grader? Here are the milestones to look for-- from telling complete stories, to using more complex and accurate language to work with others.

2nd Grade Science: What to Expect

Second grade science teaches your child to plan and conduct simple investigations. Learn what your child should know at the beginning and end of second grade science.

Writing Milestones: Second and Third Graders

What to Expect in 2nd Grade

Second Grade Summer Reading

2nd Grade Writing: What Happens

Second and Third Grader: Listening Milestones

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Social and Emotional

Your 2nd Grader's Social Life

If your second grader is an angel at home and a dream in the classroom, it's easy to assume that there's smooth sailing ahead. But second grade marks the time when children begin to establish a sense of identity, and it's this process that will lead to the tumultuous years ahead.

Physical Development Milestones: 2nd Grade

For many students second grade is a time of leaps and bounds in PE class. It 's easy to see that they are growing up and getting ready to take on bigger challenges, and it's oh so fun to watch them learn! Here's a checklist of new movement abilities that second graders are exploring.

Ain't Misbehaving

Your second grader may have a hard time finding the right words to explain how he feels. And sometimes not knowing how to ask for what he wants can lead to acting in a less than ideal way. Here's what might be behind all that misbehaving...

Mastering Second Grade Math

Most second graders aren't begging their parents to let them do more math work at home. However, it's very important that your child continues to learn outside of school walls.

Gender Differences: 2nd Grade

According to the School Psychologist: 2nd Grade

How to Talk to Your 2nd Grader

Growth and Development, Ages Six to Eight: What Parents Need to Know

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Milestones and Development

Reading Milestones: Second and Third Graders

By second grade, most kids are reading. But there's still a lot of growth that happens in second and third grade reading. Here are the reading milestones parents should look for, and suggestions on how they can help.

2nd Grade Math: What Happens

Second grade math starts with a review of the basics from first grade and then moves to a series of new skills. Find out what your child should know entering and ending second grade math.

2nd Grade Reading: What Happens

So, your child's reading! You're done, right? Not so fast! Things are just starting to get interesting. Learn what your child should be able to do at the beginning and end of second grade reading.

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Our Essential Second Grade Gift Guide

We've looked high and low for the best toys, books, games, and gadgets to make gift-giving easy. Check out our gift guide for top picks that combine learning value, staying power, and major kid-appeal!

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Ivy and Bean Secret Treasure Box

by Annie Barrows

Bean thought playing with her neighbor Ivy would be like taking the next train to Boring. But she quickly learns that bookworm Ivy is just as feisty a troublemaker as herself! The perfect gift for a second-grader, Ivy and Bean's adventures are sure to keep the pages turning.

Toy Dance Party

by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinksy

This early chapter book is a delightful look into the secret lives of playthings. Lumphy the buffalo, Stingray the stuffed stingray and Plastic the bouncy ball will capture your child's heart, and their silly antics will have your whole family laughing. Great as a read-aloud or a read-alone.

A Practical Guide to Dragon Riding

by Lisa Trutkoff Trumbauer

A follow up to the runaway hit, "A Practical Guide to Dragons", this delightful tome details everything your child needs to know in order to find, train, and raise a dragon, including in-depth directions for diet and exercise. Enter a fantastical world and set your child's imagination soaring!

What could be cooler than leather? Not much! This kit gives your kid all the tools and materials she needs to experiment with it. She can dye and buff pieces to make a key chain, lace the leather together and craft a unique wallet, or braid strips to make a funky bracelet.

This gift-giving, consider giving your child a Barn Buddy Sponsorship, which provides feed, board and medical care to one very special animal, such as Mama, a Bay thoroughbred rescued from a semi-truck accident, or Pepe, a black sheep who was bottle-fed after his mother rejected him.

This ingenious collection of six popular games is sure to be a traveling parent's best friend! Games include Checkers, Tic-Tac-Toe, Snakes and Ladders (similar to Hasbro's Chutes and Ladders), Mancala, Backgammon, and Chinese Checkers.

Storytelling is an important activity for second graders, who are beginning to read more complex chapter books and write their own short stories. This fast-paced memory game is a great way to get the literary juices flowing!

This is Razor's newest innovation. Instead of standing on one foot while the other one "pumps," a child puts both feet on colorful red side "wings" equipped with wheels on casters, and shifts weight from one foot to the other to get the scooter rolling. A toy to keep, and enjoy, for years to come!

Kids are crazy about crafts, especially at this age, when skills like drawing, cutting, and gluing are well-established. But it's hard to find the time to get supplies and ideas. Introducing Doodles-n-Art, a subscription service that delivers a new craft kit to your door every month!

This play castle has everything a knight-in-training could ask for. With a wind-up drawbridge complete with portcullis, an elastic catapult that really shoots, and walkways that flip down to imprison wrongdoers, the hilltop fortress promises hours of creative play, day or knight!

Meerkats have one of the most cooperative and tightly-knit societies in the animal kingdom, and Animal Planet's documentary camera work, expert narration, and a few fun names to keep the animals all straight, add up to equal terrific drama in the animal kingdom!

Educated Kid

by The Hipwaders

This indie band of three hails from the Bay area, and while they aren't a household name (yet!), we're betting it won't be long. Handpicked to grace the kids' stage at Lollapalooza, it's no surprise that they've got a hip-factor that will keep parents rocking out along with their kids.

Hit the road, Jenga. Villa Paletti is the next incarnation of nerve-tingling, risk-taking, balancing fun! Kids will get a rush out of simply removing and replacing the colorful columns, all the while working on concentration, hand-eye coordination, and geometric awareness.

From vanishing coins to entrancing illusions, this all-wooden kit is sure to inspire would-be Houdinis. Forget those cheap plastic tricks you see hanging at the local party store - this set has 54 high quality pieces that are built to last. Plus, your child can practice hand-eye coordination, too!

Smart Lab's Secret Formula Lab has projects that let kids create "alien blood," grow their very own fungus, and make invisible ink - all from simple, nontoxic materials. Just beware that instant play may not be possible without a pantry stocked with baking soda and vinegar!