2Nd Grade Workbooks

schoolzone BIg second grade workbook. is good.

I have my kids do 15-30 minutes of "homework"most days whether school is in session or not.--even weekends. it is not a big deal.. it doesnt eat up their entire day of playtime.

both my kids are above grade level..

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If you buy from Amazon, you can occasionally get a "sneak peak" inside the book to see if you like it.

If you are not adverse to spending money, check out www.k12.com, contact customer support, and inquire about obtaining some of their curriculum for use for summer enrichment. It's a wonderful curriculum, and what I am currently using to teach my oldest.

I find a lot of workbooks are so hit and miss..they touch on a subject briefly, not in depth, for a page or two, and then move on. It's not really that beneficial. Again, I'd recommend the K12 because of this..they do also offer summer courses, if you are interested.

Honestly - I would skip workbooks. Maybe get one for in the car while traveling, but who wants to do a workbook over the summer?!?! LOL

Look for activities to build experiences. Check out some science books from the library. Do some experiments. Cook together. Go on nature walks and keep a journal of things you find. Read some Magic Tree House books together. Get some paint and go to the park to paint what you see. You could even look up a couple different artists to explore some styles. Play games together at night or out in the yard. You can roll 2 dice to practice addition skills for moving around the board instead of using a spinner. Sit out and look at the moon and stars and talk about what you see. Read myths about the stars and moon, as well as factual books.

If he is going to be in the program, he already has the skills and you are already doing something right. Don't worry too much and make sure that he ENJOYS learning. Have FUN :)

Jumpstart and Brain Quest are both awesome books. I also have used the Bridge to.. books. they start at Bridge to Kindergarten all the way to Bridge to Highschool. They give a whole summer of curriculum and what to do each day, including reading. I used this and one fo the other. We also used Reader Rabbit CDs though I beleive they now have these programs online. None of these made it seem like a chore for my kids and they did not complain a ton about having to complete them.

I would let him enjoy the summer and not pressure him. If he is indeed gifted.... Those traits will still be around in 2nd grade.

Don't get ahead of yourself and burn him out. Let him be a kid!!

As for the Jumpstart series... My daughter ( now 18) loved them . We used the toddler -3rd grade Jumpstart but NOT for drilling education and study. Those were the computer games she loved. They were a lot of fun for her and no pressure. Kids need to play and enjoy summer break .

I propose that summer vacation is, well, summer vacation!
You can't "practice" gifted and talented, you just are!
Let him enjoy his summer!

We do enrichment on the computer, because it makes it seem more fun to my child - being on the computer is special treat. His favorites, suggested by his teachers:
Razkids.com for reading
sumdog.com for math

Hi Loves,

My kids preferred educational computer games to work books. I think they learned a lot more from these than the books, plus the games were great for building logic and reasoning skills. (My personal philosophy is we learn far more when we're enjoying the process.) Some of their/my favorites were:

JumpStart 2nd (and beyond) Grade Adventures (general studies, reading, math)
Reader Rabbit (reading)
Operation Neptune (math -- goes up to pre-algebra)
Logical Journey of the Zoombinis (logic and critical thinking)
The Incredible Machine (spatial thinking, logic and critical thinking)
Dr. Brain (science, critical thinking)
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (Geography)
Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? (History)
Pajama Sam series (observation and problem solving)
Freddi Fish series (observation and problem solving)

You can find all of these on Amazon. Some of these games may be a little advanced for your son, but you can play with him and offer guidance. As an example, I bought the Sandiego, Dr. Brain, Operation Neptune, and the Zoombini's games for my son when he was 9, but my 5 yr-old daughter also loved them, even though I had to help her with a lot of the reading.

As fun and educational as the games are, I limited game time to 1 hour/day. During summer vacations, we spent a lot of time of hiking and exploring, poking into streams with water scopes, doing experiments of their choice and sometimes design based on the questions they asked (I'm a scientist, so I really encouraged this), building things, doing art/craft projects, visiting museums and aquariums, enjoying story time at the library, cooking, and playing board and card games. All of these activities build life and critical thinking skills. BTW, as far as board games go, it's hard to find really good ones in the stores anymore, but there are a lot of good ones on Amazon. Some of our favorites included: Constellation Station (astronomy), DinoHunt (paleontology), Junior Labyrinth, Labyrinth, and Master Labyrinth (in fact, just about any Ravensburger game or kit!). Scrabble and Boggle are great for learning spelling and vocabulary building. These were fun and educational for the entire family.

My kids have always enjoyed the Brain Quest workbooks. They make them for all the different grade levels, and each workbook contains many different subjects. We buy them at Target. :)

I'm confused. If he is gifted then he more than likely far beyond his peers. Why would they suggest you widen the gap? Depending on his level of giftedness he may need material beyond second grade. This doesn't sound like very solid advice to me.

education.com and ABC mouse are two great computer resources. Also, check our Lakeshorelearning.com website.

My son was tested in first grade as gifted also. We did Reader Rabbit programs for math and reading. My son loved them. Also, I would say take your son to lots of places for enrichment - museums, zoos, concerts, plays - that is just as important as the work books. We travelled a lot and read a lot of books on animals, environments, etc.. Also check out Lakeshore Learning. They have some great tools. However, the problem with our public school is that they couldn't provide enough enrichment for the gifted students until they were older. So do what you can on your own but your child might still be bored in school for the next couple of years.

Hope this helps.

Just go to Barnes and Noble
They have many workbooks per grade and age.
My son is in 1st grade and he is doing 2nd grade workbooks for math.
And its fine.
Go to the store with him, and peruse the workbooks.

My friend uses Jumpstart with her sons, and they like it. But its not free.