For parents

Where Should My Child Start?

A 15–20 minute check of the second-grade skills that third grade builds on. Sit together and read each question out loud; your child reads only the word lists and the short story. Let your child use paper, a pencil, fingers or objects. Don't help and don't time it. It's fine to take a break or finish another day.

This is a guide to a good starting point, not a test or a diagnosis. Almost every child should start at Week 1. Each question shows the Grade 3 week where that skill is first needed, so you know which catch-up activities to add and when.

Tick each question your child got right. Ticks are saved in this browser only.

Math: 12 questions

Read each question aloud. Your child can answer out loud, write or draw. Give 1 point for each correct answer; a question with two parts needs both parts right.

0 of 12 right

Score	Result	What to do
10–12 right	Ready for Week 1	Start at Week 1. Keep the daily Remember? boxes going. If Weeks 1–4 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.
6–9 right	Start Week 1, with a little extra practice	Start at Week 1. For a missed skill needed in Weeks 1–6, add that week's catch-up activity for 10 minutes a day during the first 2–3 weeks. For a skill needed later (Weeks 15, 19, 28 or 33), do its catch-up activity the week before you reach it.
0–5 right ✓	Build the foundation first	Spend 1–2 weeks on the Week 1, 2 and 3 catch-up activities (place value, adding and subtracting with base-ten blocks) and on doubles and arrays, then start Week 1. Keep lessons short and hands-on, and keep adding the catch-up activity for each missed skill as its week comes up.

Reading: 6 questions

Your child reads the word lists and the story aloud; you read the two story questions aloud. Give 1 point when a word list or the story is read correctly without help (a quick self-correction still counts), and 1 point for each correct answer.

1. Read: cap, cape, kit, kite, hop, hope
Short and long vowels (silent e) · RF.2.3.a
Needed in Week 1
2. Read: rain, play, green, beach, boat, snow
Vowel teams (ai, ay, ee, ea, oa, ow) · RF.2.3.b
Needed in Week 2
3. Read: paper, robot, tiger, music
Two-syllable words with long vowels · RF.2.3.c
Needed in Week 7
4. Your child reads this story aloud: "Pip the mouse wanted to get across the stream to the berry bush. The water was too fast to swim. First, Pip tried to jump. He landed with a big splash and had to climb back out. Pip did not give up. He dragged a long stick to the edge of the stream and laid it across the water. Then he walked over slowly, one step at a time. That night, Pip shared his berries with his sister and showed her his new stick bridge."
Reading a story smoothly · RF.2.4
Needed in Week 1
5. After reading: "What did Pip do to get across after his jump did not work?"
How a character responds to events · RL.2.3
Needed in Week 2
6. After reading: "What lesson does this story teach?"
The lesson of a story · RL.2.2
Needed in Week 1

0 of 6 right

Score	Result	What to do
5–6 right	Ready for Week 1	Start at Week 1. Two-syllable words like paper and tiger are taught again in Week 7, so it's fine if that item was hard.
3–4 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 (silent e, vowel teams or two-syllable words) using word cards, and read aloud together every day. If the story questions were hard, ask "What happened?" and "What did the character do about it?" after each read-aloud.
0–2 right ✓	Build the foundation first	Spend 2–3 weeks reviewing short and long vowels, silent e and vowel teams (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.

Writing and Language: 4 questions

Read each question aloud. Your child answers out loud for the first and third questions and writes for the second and fourth. Give 1 point for each correct answer; the two-part questions need both parts right.

1. Say the missing words: "Today I run. Yesterday I ___." "Today I see a bird. Yesterday I ___ a bird."
Irregular past-tense verbs · L.2.1.d
Needed in Week 1
2. Write "the hat that belongs to Sam" in just two words.
Apostrophes for possessives · L.2.2.c
Needed in Week 2
3. What does "unhappy" mean? What does "retell" mean?
Prefixes un- and re- · L.2.4.b
Needed in Week 13
4. Write 2 or 3 sentences: "Which is better, a rainy day or a sunny day? Tell why." Your child can say the sentences first, then write them.
Writing an opinion with reasons · W.2.1
Needed in Week 8

0 of 4 right

Score	Result	What to do
3–4 right	Ready for Week 1	Start at Week 1. Prefixes are taught in Week 13, so it's fine if that item was hard.
2 right	Start Week 1, with a little extra practice	Start at Week 1. For past-tense verbs or apostrophes, practice 5 quick examples a day during Weeks 1–2. For opinion writing, have your child say "I think ___ because ___" about everyday choices before Week 8.
0–1 right ✓	Build the foundation first	Start at Week 1, but add 10 minutes a day of oral sentence practice: say a sentence about yesterday using the past tense, then write one short sentence together and check its capital letter, end mark and spelling. Keep the extra practice going until the Week 8 opinion paragraph.