With the coming second or third grade school year, your little students are starting to really grow up and become more mature. They are beginning to advance in many ways, actually. Not only are their studies becoming more important, but their social skills are beginning to take form as well. Preparing your child for the coming school year should include both areas of their lives and the "middle years" at elementary school are vastly different than getting them ready for first grade!
Here are some tips to ease the transition to second and third grade for your little ones:
Second Grade - The second grade gives your child the chance to feel like they are "old pros" when they return to school for the first time. It is a grade that helps to boost their confidence levels and the perfect time to introduce new and exciting things. A confident student is a student that is ready to learn. Here are some tips:
Work on writing neatly
The excitement of writing is key here and your child can be empowered through you. A wonderful handwriting is one thing that has been lost on our society because of computers and so on. Take the time over the summer to truly help your child develop a love of writing. This can be done through journals, calligraphy and constant exposure to paper and pen. The best thing you can do is have them practice. When a pencil gets comfortable in their hands, the rest begins to come naturally.
Up the ante in math
It is time to stretch their math skills and their ideas about numbers. No longer are they stuck in one through ten mode. Now they are moving into the thousands, millions and zillions. Preparing them for those larger numbers is important. Work on tough addition problems with bigger numbers and stretch their minds a bit. Also, break out the change and bills. Kids need to learn about money and use it on a regular basis. Let them pay and recieve change when you go to the grocery store. Every little bit helps.
Third Grade - Socially your child will seem to explode in third grade. They will be exposed to a whole new world of ideas and concepts and things that did not matter when they were "small" will suddenly be a big deal. Here are some tips for the coming third grade year:
The big three
Writing, reading and math will be everything during the third grade. They will be taking all the basics and expanding on them constantly. If you can, spend as much time as possible working on these basics and shoring up any areas where they are struggling. When they hit school for third grade, the basics are expected already.
Start talking about grammar
Grammar is another key area during third grade. Knowing how to write a sentence is a big deal and putting thoughts together on paper in a connected way is as well. Work on telling stories on paper during the summer before third grade. You will be giving them a nice foundation for the teachers to work with. Continue to read a great deal as well.
This might also be a good time to brush up on your own grammar and model it for your child!
Get them outside and thinking about nature
Your third grader is also going to enjoy a whole new world of science. Third graders get exposed to brand new concepts in science all the time and they are often overwhelmed by it if they have never heard of it. Talk about the structure of our bodies, how an ecosystem works and the basics of science often. Every little bit will help a great deal.
Socialize them at every opportunity
Kids begin to take shape socially in third grade in a somewhat different way. They begin to gather in groups and have certain cliques. A certain level of meanness comes along with that and your kid can be harmed a great deal by that. They also can be the one delivering the harm if it is not discussed. Work with your kid on these social issues and make sure they are part of the solution rather than the problem early on. How they begin often will foreshadow how they end. Spend some quality time discussing this with your kids.
Do you have any other tips for preparing your children for 2nd or 3rd grade?
