Second grade will be an exciting year for you and your child. At this age, they’re old enough for a bit of responsibility.

They’re eager to go off on their own to complete assigned tasks, especially if their reading skills by now are up to par. If not, they’ll eventually get the hang of it.

By second grade, children can generally communicate with complex sentences and focus on something for longer, especially concepts that interest them.

So, take advantage of this by building on the topics they’ve learned the previous years and teaching them new ones.

Use their interests to help them learn more and faster while having a lot of fun.

In this article, you’ll find a sample schedule that you can follow daily for your homeschooling sessions, learning milestones that your child is expected to reach by the end of 2nd grade, a list of free resources for each subject, and some tips for teaching them.

2nd Grade Homeschool Curriculum Schedule

A typical 2nd grade homeschool curriculum includes language arts, math, science, and social studies.

Some parents opt to include additional subjects such as music, arts, physical education, life skills, and even bible studies depending on their religion or background.

In our sample daily schedule above, you’ll see the core subjects highlighted in green and each one is for a duration of 20 minutes.

The secondary subjects are highlighted in blue and aren’t much of a priority for formal study, but feel free to include activities for them at certain parts of the day.

For Circle Time, think of it as a warmup before you start any formal study.

You can use that time to read a book, play a game, sing songs, or teach them about religion. It’s up to you.

Homeschool Hours Per Day in 2nd Grade

According to the Illinois State Board of Education’s recommendations for distance learning, the number of hours you should homeschool your 2nd graders is 45 minutes to 90 minutes per day.

That’s why each core subject in the daily schedule above is taught for 20 minutes each, summing up to 80 minutes for all four, which is well within the ISBE’s guidelines.

The ISBE also suggests that each activity should only span 5-10 minutes.

So, within the 20-minute allotted time for each subject, you can include 1-3 short activities with brief breaks in between.

On average, though, parents dedicate about 2-3 hours of formal study when homeschooling their second graders. So, it’s really up to you.

The main factor you should consider when scheduling how many hours you’ll spend teaching a specific subject is your child’s learning pace.

If they could concentrate for more and want to keep learning, then by all means, oblige them.

Factor in other activities such as outdoor play, making art, learning music, going on field trips, and socializing with friends and your child will actually be learning throughout the day.

A Quick Disclaimer…

The daily schedule above, as well as the learning objectives you’ll find below, are only our recommendations and shouldn’t at all be taken as official advice.

Although we’re basing them on various homeschooling and educational programs, the laws of homeschooling differ for each state.

Does your state require standardized testing? Does it mandate the subjects you need to teach your homeschooler?

You need to know all the legalities before you even start planning.

You can use this interactive map to easily view the homeschool laws in your state.

Once you’ve ticked these requirements off the list, you can start planning your homeschool approach.

Whether you want to be formal and involved or loose and simple with how you teach, it’s always good to have a plan.

You can be detailed with your schedule or simply write down your general goals and just go with the flow.

Whatever the case, here’s an empty weekly planner that you can fill out so that you can draft a routine that best fits your family’s situation and homeschooling approach.

Download Our Daily Planner

Here’s another printable for you to plan out your daily homeschool sessions!

To use this planner, simply write down what you want to learn in the Objectives box, the exercises you’ll be doing in the Activities box, and everything you need to prepare in the Materials box.

What Your Kids Will Learn in 2nd Grade

Since preschool, you’ve been teaching your child the foundations of reading, writing, and math, and you won’t be surprised to learn that 2nd grade will be focusing on the same basic things.

The concepts that they’ll be learning in math and language arts will be more advanced compared to the previous years, though.

They’ll continue improving their reading and writing abilities, addition and subtraction, problem-solving skills, and computational skills.

Language literacy and math proficiency are both really important, and a good early start mastering these subjects can go a long way in helping your child improve their critical and creative thinking, and just become a better learner all in all.

So, unless you’ve conquered these subjects, keep focusing on them.

Below, you’ll find specific learning objectives for language arts, math, science, and social studies, as well as the secondary subjects.

But you should only use them as general goals to look forward to and not strict requirements that your child should achieve.

Let their learning flow naturally and don’t force them to learn things if they’re not ready.

What matters most is that you have fun!

2nd Grade Homeschool Curriculum Core Subjects

2nd Grade Language Arts Curriculum:

In first grade, your child has most likely learned to write short sentences, read simple narratives, and comprehend what they read.

In second grade, you’ll be helping them build on those skills and improve their literacy.

This year, you’ll focus on guiding them to read independently for longer periods as well as improve their ability to understand the texts that they read.

They’ll also be learning to communicate better in their writing and should start to grasp grammar and the spelling of more complicated or irregular words.

Language Arts Learning Objectives

By the end of the year, your child should be able to:

Reading

• Show personal interest in reading as well as in listening to stories or text being read aloud
• Preview a book’s cover, blurb, title, and chapters to guess what’s in the story and what might happen
• Read stories and non-fiction pieces out loud with purpose and accuracy
• Fluently read poetry with rhythm
• Understand text features such as bold print, captions, icons, indexes, glossaries, and subheadings and use them to efficiently locate information in a text
• Understand how images contribute to clarify a text (e.g., diagrams showing how something works)
• Know how to go around punctuation in more complex texts, i.e., properly pause on commas and periods, exclaim on exclamation marks, read dialogue inside quotation marks with appropriate expression to sound like the characters

Phonics

• Know the difference of long and short vowels
• Read long vowels ending with the silent e
• Read the vowel digraphs ai and ay with the long a sound
• Read the vowel digraphs ea and ee as well as the letter y with the long e sound
• Read the long vowel i with the letters igh, y, and ie
• Read the vowel digraphs oa and ow with the long o sound
• Read words with r-controlled vowels (er, ir, ur, ar, or, ore)
• Read words with the sh, ch, th, wh consonant digraphs
• Read words with the vowel diphthongs ow, ou, oi, oy
• Read words with the consonant clusters str and spr
• Read words with the prefixes pre-, un-, re- and the suffixes -er, -est, -ly, -less, -able
• Read words with the inflectional endings -ing, -ed
• Read plural words ending in -s and -es
• Read words with the double consonants tt, pp, and ll
• Read words with the vowel exception le
• Read words with the silent consonants kn and wr

Comprehension

• Answer who, what, where, when, why, and how questions regarding something they’ve just read
• Use information that they’ve read in a narrative to identify the characters, describe the plot, or determine the setting
• Read level-appropriate stories from different cultures, recount them, and state their lesson or moral
• Read two or more versions of the same story by different authors or from different cultures and compare/contrast them
• Guess the meaning of a word or phrase using context and phonics clues
• Infer the author’s POV in a story
• Describe the main topic of a multiparagraph text, the main points of each paragraph, and its purpose - i.e. what the author’s intention is
• Reread nonfiction texts to clarify comprehension
• Notice a character’s actions and think about how this character might be feeling
• Read and follow written directions
• Understand cause and effect and describe them in texts they’ve just read

Writing

• Accurately write their full name
• Answer questions in writing using information they’ve gathered from various sources
• Write different types of composition - creative, informational, or persuasive pieces - complete with an introduction, body or supporting statements, and conclusion
• Use linking words such as and, because, and also when writing an opinion piece
• Use temporal words (e.g., tomorrow) to signal event order when writing a narrative piece
• Create a written draft, and with your guidance, revise and edit it to make it better
• Participate in a group writing project

Grammar

• Know the difference between a complete sentence and an incomplete one
• Write complete and correctly spaced sentences with uniform and legible prints
• Determine and properly use the different parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives
• Use collective nouns (e.g., team, group, class)
• Understand irregular plural nouns (e.g., children, men, women, teeth)
• Use reflexive pronouns (e.g., myself)
• Understand the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs (e.g., sung, said, sat)
• Demonstrate basic fluency in standard English spelling, punctuation, and capitalization
• Capitalize holidays, geographic names, and product brands
• Use commas in greetings and closings of letters
• Correctly use quotation marks
• Use apostrophes for contractions and possessives

Listening

• Recount key details from a talk, loud reading, video, or any other orally presented information
• Ask questions about what a speaker said to clarify, deepen understanding, or gather additional details
• Follow spoken directions that involve a series of actions

Speaking

• Tell a story or talk about their experience using descriptive details, relevant facts, and audible and coherent sentences
• Answer questions in complete sentences
• Express ideas clearly

Vocabulary

• Have a basic sight vocabulary
• Consult picture dictionaries and other reference materials to check a word’s spelling and meaning
• Understands what synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms are
• Use strategies to create invented spellings
• Understand prefixes, suffixes, and root words
• Recognize grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words
• Read a number of compound words, contracted words, and multisyllable words

Language Arts Worksheets & Resources

Language Arts Tips for Parents

Your child will have their own rate of learning, so remember to try different things, see what works, and keep it engaging.

Here are a few strategies you can try to help improve your child’s literacy:

1. Create an environment that celebrates reading. Read with them daily, even if it’s just for 10 to 20 minutes. Try to take turns while reading - per paragraph or character. If you’re an avid reader and your child sees you reading a lot, they’ll follow your example.
2. You can also record them while they’re reading a short story and then play it back while they follow along with the book. This helps them check if they’ve properly read the words the first time and correct their mistakes.
3. When it comes to speaking, one of the best things you can do is to model good verbal skills by speaking clearly when you talk to your child or other people. And if your child speaks clearly, praise them for it.
4. There are also things you can do to improve their spelling, reading comprehension, writing, and listening abilities even when you’re outside. You can tell them simple jokes and ask them to repeat it back to you with the same body language and tone. You can listen to audiobooks in the car and then ask them about the stories they’ve heard. At the supermarket, you can also ask them to read the labels on the products you’re buying. As a bonus, you can help them spot out fallacies in product advertisements. This will help them be more critical about the things they read.

2nd Grade Math Curriculum:

By now, your child should have an understanding of number relationships and patterns as well as the ability to perform one and two-digit addition and subtraction.

They can now easily count up to 100, identify and manipulate geometric shapes, handle and compare the values of money, and solve simple math word problems.

This year, you’ll be building on these skills, reviewing them so your child doesn’t lose practice, and introduce new concepts.

Like multiplication!

Grade 2 is when your child becomes familiar with the “x” symbol.

Not only that, but they’ll also start learning about simple fractions and geometric lessons that are a little bit more complex compared to the previous year.

Here are more detailed milestones that your child will reach this year:

Math Learning Objectives

By the end of the year, your child should be able to:

Whole Numbers & Place Value

• Classify numbers up to 20 whether they’re odd or even
• Count up to 1,000 and back by 1s, 2s, 5s, 10s, 25s, 50s, and 100s with and without number lines or calculators
• Read and write number words up to ninety-nine and match them to numerals
• Understand that the three digits of a three-digit number represent amounts of hundreds, tens, and ones
• Understand zero’s role as a placeholder
• Identify 10 tens as 100 and 10 hundreds as 1,000
• Identify the value of a given digit within a number up to the hundredths place
• Identify the ordinal number words first – tenth by name and the ordinal numbers 1st – 100th
• Write any 2 to 3-digit number in its standard form, word form, and expanded form. For example, the standard form of 738 is 738, its word form is seven hundred and thirty-eight, and its expanded form is 7 hundreds 3 tens 8 ones or 7 x 100 + 3 x 10 + 8 x 1
• Compose and decompose numbers using various groupings of hundreds, tens, and ones

Fractions

• Understand that one whole or group can be divided into halves, thirds, quarters, and eights
• Use manipulatives and drawings to model fractions as equal parts of an object or a collection

Number & Visual Patterns

• Explain that patterns are made by sorting, repeating, transforming, and changing attributes of objects
• Describe a given pattern and explain the pattern rule
• Sort objects by colors, size, or shape
• Sort objects using a Venn diagram with one intersection
• Create, predict, and extend pictorial or symbolic patterns
• Create, predict, and extend linear patterns
• Transform a pattern by representing it in a different way. For example, “circle, line, circle, square, triangle” can be represented as “1, 2, 1, 4, 3”
• Compare two patterns and analyze how they’re generated. For example, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5” and “2, 4, 6, 8, 10” are both increasing, but you count by 1s in the first pattern and you count by 2s in the second pattern
• Notice patterns in the real world. For example, wallpaper designs, patchwork, etc.
• Plot numbers on a number line from 0 to 50 by 2s and 1 to 100 by 5s

Operations & Algebraic Sense

• Solve addition and subtraction facts up to 18 and describe the related facts that make up a fact family
• Mentally add 10 and 100 to numbers within 1,000
• Add and subtract two-digit numbers with and without regrouping
• Understand that even numbers can be represented in equations with equal addends
• Understand the Commutative and Associative Properties of Addition involving 2-3 addends
• Solve real-world and numeral two-digit addition and subtraction problems with one unknown
• When given any number up to 1,000, identify 1 more than, 1 less than, 10 more than, 10 less than, 100 more than, and 100 less than
• Use numbers and pictorial representations to compare and order numbers up to 1,000 using the symbols <, =, and >
• Understand that multiplication can be seen as repeated addition
• Use an array to multiply one-digit numbers by 2, 3, and 5
• Understand that division can be seen as equal parts of a set
• Use pictorial representations to divide numbers within 30 by 2, 3, and 5

Money

• Identify the value of pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half-dollars
• Know when to use the ¢ and $ symbols
• Count pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters up to $1.00
• Count a mixed collection of coins
• Use coins to model the same amount in more than one way
• Use coins to model an amount using the fewest coins possible
• Make exchanges between coins and bills
• Solve addition and subtraction problems involving money, with and without regrouping

Geometry & Direction

• Create and describe the characteristics of plane shapes (triangles, squares, rectangles, parallelograms, trapezoids, and hexagons)
• Create and describe the characteristics of solid shapes (spheres, cones, pyramids, cylinders, cubes, and rectangular prisms)
• Understand that plane shapes are the faces of solid shapes
• Combine and separate two or more plane shapes to form a different plane shape
• Classify and sort 2 and 3-dimensional shapes according to their attributes (corners, curves, faces, sides) and explain what attribute they used
• Differentiate horizontal and vertical lines
• Differentiate parallel and perpendicular lines
• Determine whether two-dimensional shapes are congruent or similar. Congruent shapes have the same size and shape while similar shapes are the same shape but not necessarily the same size
• Recognize congruent shapes even when they’re flipped or turned
• Match the reflection of a 2-dimensional shape
• Create and identify symmetrical figures
• Distinguish vertical and horizontal lines of symmetry
• Differentiate what the perimeter and area are for plane shapes. That is, the perimeter is the length of the entire line enclosing the shape, and the area can be represented as the number of squares it takes to cover the plane shape
• Locate and move objects using positional words such as left, right, up, down, forward, etc.
• Locate and move objects using two-word directions such as upper-left, lower-right, etc.

Time

• Tell and write time to the nearest hour, half hour, quarter hour, and 5 minutes on analog and digital clocks
• Understand what A.M. and P.M. are, as well as noon and midnight
• Solve simple real-life problems that involve elapsed time
• Determine the units of time and their relationships with each other. For example, seconds in a minute, minutes in an hour, hours in a day, days in a week, weeks in a month, and months in a year
• Recite the months in order as well as how many days each month has
• Know how to use tools that measure time such as clocks, stopwatches, and calendars

Measurement

• Use appropriate tools to measure length, distance, weight, and capacity using non-standard and standard units, estimating them to the nearest whole number
• Use Fahrenheit and Celsius thermometers to measure the temperature in the nearest 2 degrees and relate temperatures to the seasons
• Describe lengths as shorter or longer, distances as farther or nearer, weights as lighter or heavier, capacities as emptier or fuller, and temperatures as cooler or warmer
• Understand that the metric system is another way of measurement and use it to measure length, distance, weight, and capacity
• Determine the perimeter of squares and rectangles by adding the length of their sides
• Use one to two-digit addition and subtraction to solve word problems involving measurements in the same units
• Demonstrate simple unit conversions like 1 foot = 12 inches, 1 pound = 16 ounces, and 1 quart = 4 cups

Data & Estimation

• Use a number line to round numbers up to 1,000 to the nearest 10
• Estimate measurements without tools
• Collect and organize data into 3 or more categories
• Represent data in tally tables, pictographs, and bar graphs
• Determine the range, maximum, minimum, mode, and median and a data set
• Analyze and interpret data to predict events or situations - if they’re certain, likely, possible, or impossible. For example, using data they’ve gathered from multiple coin flips, they can guess whether the next one is going to be heads or tails
• Sort predictions into what they think is likely, less likely, and more likely to happen

Math Worksheets & Resources

Here are 13 free resources and websites that can help you with the objectives listed above:

1. Khan Academy - 2nd Grade Math
2. GreatSchools - 155 Second Grade Math Worksheets
3. Dad’s Worksheets - 2nd Grade Math Worksheets
4. Math Salamanders - 2nd Grade Math Learning
5. 2nd Grade Worksheets - Free 2nd Grade Math Worksheets
6. Math Worksheets - Second Grade Math Worksheets
7. We Are Teachers - 20 Meaningful Second Grade Math Games Kids Will Enjoy
8. Education.com - 1,800+ Second Grade Math Resources
9. Mashup Math - Free Math Worksheets for Second Grade (w/ Answer Keys)
10. Math Learning Center - Lessons & Activities, Grade 2
11. Homeschool Math - Free Math Worksheets for Grade 2
12. K5 Learning - Second Grade Math Worksheets
13. Math Blaster - 2nd Grade Math Activities

Math Tips for Parents

First things first, don’t be overwhelmed.

It can be daunting looking at these milestones and worrying over how in the world you’d teach them to your child.

But don’t be anxious. Remember that you have an entire year to work on these milestones, plus you’re not at all pressured to tick all the boxes within the year.

You can feel free to take your time and work on these concepts with your child’s learning pace in mind.

If you’ve read the previous homeschool curriculum posts we have for kindergarten or first grade, you might notice that some learning milestones have been repeated.

That’s because math has a mechanical side to it, and kids will master it more if they review the concepts and then build on them.

Math can be a difficult subject to teach. There’s that danger of kids finding it boring and then growing to hate it forever.

But that’s why it’s crucial to make the lessons fun using manipulatives, picture models, and games.

So, be creative and engaging with how you teach these subjects.

If your child learns to love math, they’ll have an easier time learning new skills such as logical thinking, problem-solving, and abstract reasoning.

2nd Grade Science Curriculum:

Careers in the STEM field have grown over the past few decades.

That’s because history has shown that for civilizations to thrive and keep moving forward, a great foundation in science and technology is necessary.

Our world values innovation and discovery, so if you teach your child to value the same, they’ll grow up wanting to contribute to innovations that make the world a better, safer place to live in.

As in first grade, science in second grade isn’t too complicated. Your child will keep learning the basics of a good scientific foundation.

They’ll plan and conduct experiments, observing and taking notes of the things they’re learning, and then drawing conclusions from the data they’ve gathered.

These are important skills to develop as they move on to more advanced concepts and just being an effective learner in general.

Science Learning Objectives

By the end of the year, your child should be able to:

Scientific Thinking

• Plan and conduct experiments to find answers to questions
• Observe and collect data during these investigations
• Organize and analyze the data to find patterns and end up with conclusions
• Identify that there are more than one solutions to problems
• Collaborate with other people during an experiment

Physical Science

• Define matter, identify the three forms of matter (solid, liquid, gas), and recite real-life examples of these forms
• Understand how matter can change in appearance and even state due to chemical or physical changes, and that these properties are suited to different purposes
• Classify materials using texture, flexibility, hardness, and state of matter
• Take apart and reassemble objects made with small pieces
• Construct, deconstruct, and reconstruct objects into new objects while documenting the process in a journal
• Explain this deconstructing and reconstructing process even without the aid of their journal
• Weigh a collection of similar materials with different densities and share their idea of why they think an object weighs differently than an object of the same size or amount
• Describe what energy is and understand that it’s everywhere, has different kinds, and has many uses
• Understand that some appliances and tools require electrical energy to run
• Determine renewable and nonrenewable energy sources that generate electricity and describe how power lines are used to bring electricity into the home and other locations
• Describe the properties, uses, and the manmade or natural sources of heat energy
• Explain how heating or cooling affects objects (e.g., butter, egg, chocolate chips, crayon, ice, paper, and water)
• Understand that some effects of heating and cooling can be reversed (e.g., water melting and freezing), but some can’t (e.g., paper burning)
• Describe and measure motion
• Identify the 6 types of simple machines - inclined plane, lever, pulley, screw, wedge, and wheel and axle - and describe how each one is used
• Understand that force can be described as a push or a pull
• Describe what gravity is

Life Science

• Understand that living things, including people, depend on the environment and other living things to meet their needs
• Describe what plants need to grow after observing and recording a plant’s growth over time
• Explain the functions of a plant’s roots, stem, leaves, and flower for its survival
• Explain how animals help with pollination and help plants reproduce
• Describe how changes in the environment affect the natural world and the living things in it (e.g. hibernation)
• Identify and match different habitats (e.g., desert, farm, forest, ocean, or pond) to a number of plants and animals and explain how these habitats meet their needs
• Explain how animals in different habitats have structures that help them live there (e.g., gills, webbed feet, etc.)
• Draw a food web and explain what it is

Earth Science & Astronomy

• Design and create a map that shows land and bodies of water
• Identify slow and rapid natural disasters
• Explain what causes earthquakes; understand how force in one location affects objects in another location because of the vibrations it causes
• Compare how strong force and weak force affect objects at rest
• Construct a building or tower made of various objects that could withstand a small earthquake
• Identify the changes that Earth went through since its beginning and understand that it continues to change to this day
• Identify Earth’s features such as canyons, deserts, lakes, mountains, oceans, rivers, and tundras
• Know what weathering and erosion are and how they can change Earth’s features over time
• Come up with solutions that might help prevent weathering and erosion
• Build a model of the Earth that shows tectonic plates, ocean basins, and other bodies of land and water
• Explain that the continents were once joined together and provide at least one scientific evidence for it
• Understand that Earth spins on its axis and orbits around the sun, causing night and day, different seasons, and different phases of the moon
• Have a sense of the vastness of the universe, how it contains everything - planets, stars, solar systems, and galaxies
• Identify tools and resources that humans use to learn more about space

Science Worksheets & Resources

Here are 13 free resources and websites that can help you with the objectives listed above:

1. Education.com - 556 Second Grade Science Resources
2. LISD - Second Grade Science Lessons
3. Teachers Pay Teachers - Free 2nd Grade Science Lessons
4. We Are Teachers - 20 Simple and Fun Second Grade Science Experiments and Activities
5. GreatSchools - 88 Second Grade Science Worksheets
6. Ecosystem for Kids - 2nd Grade Science Worksheets for Practice PDF
7. Ecosystem for Kids - 2nd Grade Science Games for Kids
8. New Path Worksheets - 2nd Grade Science Worksheets and Study Guides
9. Little Worksheets - 2nd Grade Science Worksheets
10. Turtle Diary - Science Worksheets for 2nd Grade
11. Turtle Diary - 2nd Grade Science Games
12. Around the Kampfire - 10 Fun Science Lessons Kids Can Do at Home
13. Science4Us - K-2nd Grade Science Projects and Experiments

Science Tips for Parents

Science is an incredibly fun subject to teach because it’s easy to incorporate exciting and engaging hands-on activities for learning.

Just experiment a lot! Use balloons, magnets, blocks, weighing scales, magnifying glasses, and so many other things.

There are countless fun experiments for you to try with your child that’ll help them learn more about how the world works.

At this age, though, don’t focus too much on teaching them the facts or concepts but rather their ability to ask questions, come up with solutions, experiment on those solutions, gather data, and analyze the data they’ve collected to come up with an answer.

2nd Grade Social Studies Curriculum:

Social studies in 2nd grade will help your child gain a better sense of their role in the community, country, and entire world.

This subject should teach your child the basics of society and citizenship.

After all, if you want your child to contribute to a better future society, then it’s right to start early.

This subject also usually covers economics, history, and geography, so prepare to have lots of field trips to truly teach them these concepts.

A good social studies background will improve your child’s writing, researching, and critical thinking abilities.

Social Studies Learning Objectives

By the end of the year, your child should be able to:

Economics

• Identify the basic human needs of food, shelter, and clothing, and discuss how these needs can be met
• Differentiate their needs from their wants
• Describe what jobs or sectors make up their community, what the requirements are to get into those jobs or sectors, and what standards mean the people with those occupations are doing a good job
• Be familiar with market concepts such as demand, supply, and scarcity

Civics & Culture

• Have a sense of their national identity
• Discuss their rights and role as a citizen
• Know the important national symbols (e.g., White House, Statue of Liberty), national holidays (e.g., Independence Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day), cultural holidays (e.g., Cinco de Mayo), and patriotic expressions (e.g., Pledge of Allegiance)
• Explain the role of government in establishing order, providing security, and managing conflict
• Describe how public officials are chosen and how rules are made
• Know what local, state, and national governments are, as well as what the leaders for each government is called (mayor, governor, president)

History

• Be familiar with several historical figures and explain how their actions affected the lives of people
• Recount the history of their local community and their state

Geography

• Differentiate relative location from absolute location
• Point out the equator, the poles, and the hemispheres on a globe
• Point continents and oceans on a map or globe
• Describe the relationship between climate, states, and geography
• Identify the countries in North America as well as the major mountain ranges and rivers
• Use a map or globe to point out the United States and where the states are
• Locate their house, community, state, and country on a map or globe
• Recognize the symbols on a simple map
• Use a map to provide direction
• Locate places using cardinal and intermediate directions
• Explain why some geographic features are important to communities
• Explain what natural resources are
• Describe how location plays a part in the way people live

Social Skills

• Participate in collaborative conversations with peers and adults in small and large groups
• Follow conversational etiquette (e.g., not speaking over someone)
• Listen to others attentively
• Build on what others are saying by linking related to comments to others’ remarks
• Ask for clarification if they misheard or don’t understand something
• Effectively communicate information
• Respect various cultures, identities, and perspectives, even if different from theirs

Social Studies Worksheets & Resources

Social Studies Tips for Parents

Unit studies is a great teaching method when it comes to social studies.

Because this subject involves multiple branches (history, geography, economics, etc.), it’s often more effective to discuss a single theme and explore the subtopics for it.

For example, if you choose farming as a theme, you can immediately talk about its history, the economics of it, and places on the map that are ideal for farming.

And what would social studies be like without field trips?

Incorporate as much as you can, as long as it’s within your budget, and you can even join homeschool co-ops or groups near you for joint field trips.

2nd Grade Homeschool Curriculum Secondary Subjects

2nd Grade Art Curriculum:

If you’ve been actively working on art with your child the previous years, then you can expect them to expand the types of materials and processes they work with.

They should also gain more artistic knowledge and be able to communicate aspects of their compositions to other people.

Art is a great way to improve your child’s concentration, especially on topics that catch their interest.

It also teaches them how to be more observant and appreciative of their environment.

If they learn to draw inspiration from all sorts of things around them, the simplest object can turn into this amazing and mysterious thing, filled with colors and shades and texture.

Art Learning Objectives

By the end of the year, your child should be able to:

• Draw with control using different techniques
• Know how to put contrast in a work of art using light and dark colors
• Draw different objects in the environment on paper with the correct scale
• Use warm and cool colors when coloring an artwork
• Use lines, shapes, color, and other artistic elements to portray texture
• Draw inspiration from artworks of the past and other cultures to create their own composition
• Discuss how works of art play an important role in communities, other cultures, and individual lives
• Identify differences between natural and man-made constructions
• Explain why people create art and state why they create art personally

Art Worksheets & Resources

Art Tips for Parents

Art is a super fun subject for your second grader and it teaches them a lot of important life skills such as critical thinking, self-expression, and many others.

And the best part about it is that making art overlaps so much with play that they don’t even realize they’re actually learning.

So, the best thing you can do is to simply encourage their creativity. Let their imagination run wild. And then talk to them about all their fantastic little creations so that they learn to express the meaning of their art in words.

2nd Grade Music Curriculum:

If your child has been actively showing interest in music, then this year is a great time for them to develop an understanding of musical elements such as melody and pitch, become familiar with famous musicians and what makes them brilliant at their craft, and maybe even start learning to play instruments of their own.

As they do this, they’ll gain a deeper understanding of music’s cultural, artistic, and even mathematical and scientific foundations.

Music Learning Objectives

By the end of the year, your child should be able to:

• Recognize timbre of voices, musical instruments, and environmental sounds
• Recognize leaps, repeats, and steps
• Distinguish low and high pitch
• Compare rhythm and beat
• Perform quarter note/rest and eighth notes
• Perform music in sets of two and three
• Distinguish slow, medium, and fast tempos
• Recognize duple meter
• Know the different types of melodic lines such as ascending, descending, skip, etc.
• Identify whether a musical form they listened to is AB, ABA, etc.
• Describe the dynamics of a musical piece
• Perform in different rhythmic patterns
• Perform repeat signs, solo/chorus and verse/refrain
• Demonstrate piano, forte, crescendo and diminuendo
• Perform melodic ostinato
• Play or sing songs from different cultures
• Name a number of musical artists and describe what kind of music they perform

Music Worksheets & Resources

Here are 6 free resources and websites that can help you with the objectives listed above:

1. Teachers Pay Teachers - 700+ Free 2nd Grade Music Worksheets
2. PBS Learning Media - 2nd Grade Music Resources
3. Education.com - 10 Second Grade Music Resources
4. Help Teaching - Second Grade Music Questions
5. Solfeg - 6 Fun Music Activities & Ideas for Elementary Students
6. Solfeg - Online Music Games for the Classroom You Should Include in Your Lesson Plan

Music Tips for Parents

A music education can help improve your child’s reading ability, reasoning skills, self-esteem, and even the ease of grasping mathematical and scientific concepts.

And you can help simply by fostering an environment filled with music.

Encourage them to sing and listen to songs, celebrate holidays with music and dance, and play around with different musical instruments if you have them.

2nd Grade End-of-Year Checklist

To keep track of another fun, exciting, and wonderful year, here’s a checklist of the milestones you can look forward to your child achieving.

Remember that your child is unique and has a different pace of learning.

So, even if you find them not ticking all the boxes, don’t be too hard on them.

Be patient, and you can always set those as goals for next time. Your child can always catch up.