Second Grade Geometry: Concepts and Problems

Teaching Your Second Grader Geometry at Home

What Your Child Needs to Learn

Get in touch with your child's teacher to find out what geometric concepts he or she is learning. Many schools' curriculums are based on the Common Core State Standards, so becoming familiar with these may be helpful. Your child will probably be required to recognize various two- and three-dimensional shapes, including cubes, triangles, pentagons, quadrilaterals and hexagons. Your second grader will also learn to divide circles and rectangles into halves, thirds and quarters.

Fun Household Geometry Activities

When you're teaching measurement with non-traditional units, ask your child to trace his or her hands on a sheet of paper. Then, hand your second grader a bowl of chocolate chips, raisins, nuts or any other small treat that he or she enjoys. Your child can fill up his or her hand outline with candies and then count how many candies fit.

When you're teaching your second grader about different shapes, you can help him or her make a 'shape mobile.' Give your child sheets of construction paper and ask him or her to draw basic shapes, like squares, triangles and circles. Then, have your child cut the shapes out and decorate them, and help him or her string the shapes up onto a coat hanger to create a decorative mobile that you can hang up.

Another idea is to give your child a sheet of graph paper and ask him or her to draw a picture on the paper. The only rule is that your second grader must follow the lines on the graph paper, which means no curves or diagonals. After your child draws a picture, he or she can count the number of squares to find the area of the drawing.

Symmetry is a common second grade geometry topic that you can work on with your child. Give your second grader a rectangular sheet of paper, and have him or her draw lines through it that divide it up into symmetrical shapes.

Helpful Geometry Resources

The Internet is a good place to look for free and subscription-based geometry games, as well as activities and worksheets. You can also find useful second grade geometry resources at local education stores and the library. If your child is struggling with geometry concepts and problems, you might consider hiring a private elementary math tutor.