Math Exercises for 2nd Grade Students

What Can I Do To Help My 2nd Grader Practice Math?

The concepts covered in 2nd grade math are practical and can be practiced nearly every day outside the classroom. For instance, you might make it a practice in your home that if anyone wants to know the time, they have to ask your 2nd grader. This will give him or her repeated practice at telling time, which can help increase both his or her time-telling skills and confidence.

Another idea is to pay with cash when shopping and allow your child to count the correct amount of money using dollar bills and coins. Your child also can practice addition and subtraction at the store. For example, if you want two apples and three oranges, ask your child to count the total amount of fruit you're purchasing. Similarly, if you have three apples in your cart, and you want to put one back, you can have your child practice subtraction by figuring out how many apples will be left.

In 2nd grade, students also learn to measure using centimeters, inches and feet. Many stores sell rulers with fun decorations; have your child pick out his or her own to increase motivation. Then, encourage your child to practice by measuring things around the house, like the television or his or her bed.

In addition to these practical applications of math skills, you might provide your child with sample problems that he or she can complete at home. You can use the following exercises as examples.

2nd Grade Math Exercises

1. Circle the even numbers and underline the odd numbers in the following: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

Your child should circle 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 and underline 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9.

2. Which is larger: 200 or 250? (Answer: 250)

3. 70 + 3 (Answer: 73)

4. 12 + 45 (Answer: 57)

5. 5 + 35 + 13 (Answer: 53)

If you make your worksheet by hand, format questions 3-5 above vertically, so that the tens and ones columns line up correctly.

6. At the store, Madeline bought five bones for her dog. On the way home, two fell out of her bag. How many bones did Madeline have left for her dog?

By the end of 2nd grade, most students can add and subtract single-digit numbers from memory. You can help your child remember these facts by providing repeated exposure in practice problems like the one above. The answer is three bones.

7. To bake a pie, Thomas needs 25 apples. He has five, but one of them is rotten. How many apples does Thomas need to buy?

Word problems for 2nd graders should require just one or two steps. For this problem, your child will first have to subtract 5 - 1 because one of the apples is spoiled. Then, he or she should subtract 25 - 4, which equals 21. Thomas needs to buy 21 more apples.