Skip to main content
    Second Grade
    Today

    Where Should My Child Start?

    A 10–15 minute check of the first-grade skills that second grade builds on. Sit together, ask each question out loud, and let your child use paper, fingers or objects. Don't help or time it. It's fine to stop if your child gets tired.

    This is a guide to a good starting point, not a test or a diagnosis. Almost every child should start at Week 1. The results tell you which short catch-up activities to add in the first few weeks.

    Math: 8 questions

    Read each question aloud. Your child can answer out loud or write. Give 1 point for each correct answer.

    1. Tens and ones · 1.NBT.B.2

      Practice: Week 1 catch-up

    2. Tens and ones · 1.NBT.B.2

      Practice: Week 1 catch-up

    3. 10 more and 10 less · 1.NBT.C.5

      Practice: Week 7 catch-up

    4. Facts to 20 · 1.OA.C.6

      Practice: Week 7 catch-up

    5. Facts to 20 · 1.OA.C.6

      Practice: Week 7 catch-up

    6. Adding tens · 1.NBT.C.4

      Practice: Week 7 catch-up

    7. Counting past 100 · 1.NBT.A.1

      Practice: Week 4 catch-up

    8. Word problems within 20 · 1.OA.A.1

      Practice: Week 7 catch-up

    0 of 8 right

    7–8 right

    Ready for Week 1

    Start at Week 1. Keep the daily Remember? boxes going. If Weeks 1–3 feel very easy, try the Friday check first each week; if your child gets it all right, move through that week's lessons more quickly.

    4–6 right

    Start Week 1, with a little extra practice

    Start at Week 1. For each skill your child missed, add the linked catch-up activity for 10 minutes a day during the first 2–3 weeks, alongside the regular lessons.

    0–3 right· Your result

    Build the foundation first

    Spend 1–2 weeks on the Week 1 and Week 7 catch-up activities ("Tens and Ones First" and "Make a Ten, Then Add Tens") and daily facts practice, then start Week 1. Keep lessons short and hands-on, with blocks or straws.

    Reading: 8 questions

    Your child reads each item aloud. Give 1 point when they read it correctly without help (a quick self-correction still counts).

    1. Short vowels

    2. Digraphs (sh, ch, th, wh)

    3. Consonant blends

    4. Silent e

    5. Tricky high-frequency words

    6. Vowel teams (taught in Weeks 2–3)

    7. Reading sentences

    8. Understanding what was read

    0 of 8 right

    7–8 right

    Ready for Week 1

    Start at Week 1. Vowel teams are taught in Weeks 2–3, so it's fine if that item was hard.

    4–6 right

    Start Week 1, with a little extra practice

    Start at Week 1. Spend 5–10 extra minutes a day on the patterns your child missed (short vowels, digraphs, blends or silent e) using word cards, and read aloud together every day.

    0–3 right· Your result

    Build the foundation first

    Spend 2–3 weeks reviewing short vowels, digraphs, blends and silent e (5 word cards a day plus a simple decodable book), and read aloud together daily. Then start Week 1, keeping reading practice short and frequent.

    If your child found everything easy

    Try the Week 6 math check and the Week 6 reading questions. If your child gets nearly all of them right, still start at Week 1, but use the Friday checks to move faster: when a check is all right, skip ahead to the next week.