Math in Grade 2

Second grade is a time to practice, deepen, and expand upon the math skills introduced in first grade.  The second grader is beginning to depart from the feeling of wholeness that is present in the first grade child. As they begin to wake up and experience the duality of the world around them, seeing relationships between the four processes, finding patterns, and the facts of math become more interesting.  

The second grader continues working with the four processes through stories, mental math, games, worksheets, and creating main lesson pages. They are ready and eager for more challenging problems, and will delight in answering simple math equations that go into the 100’s or even 1,000’s place.

In first grade, the students practiced jumping and counting forward and backward on a number line – in second grade, they find more of a challenge as they are asked to recite a times table while clapping in rhythm, or skip count by numbers 1-12 while jumping on a trampoline or crossing the river on numbered “stepping stones”.  Through these more challenging activities, the children strengthen their number sense and memorize math facts with their whole bodies.  

They expand upon their knowledge this year through learning about place value, and as they memorize the times tables they look for patterns that may appear in the 10’s and 1’s place.  

The creation of multiplication flowers is a very satisfying experience to the second grader, especially when they learn they can look at the flower backwards to do division!  The visual of this exercise pleases both the child’s sense of beauty and logic.  Seeing number facts laid out in this way encourages flexible thinking and building a connection between the four processes.