Computer Skills

About this course

Second grade builds on the beginner skills and adds real file management. Your student reviews the parts of a computer and the click-versus-double-click distinction, then learns what an operating system is doing during startup, how to shut down without losing work, and how to care for the machine physically. The file and folder lesson has your student open the file manager, create a folder tree for schoolwork by subject, save a drawing into the right one, and then navigate back and reopen it. Typing moves past the home row into which finger owns which key, both hands working together, whole sentences with Shift and a period, and the rule that accuracy comes before speed because typing fast with errors only trains the fingers to make mistakes faster. The software unit covers a drawing program, a word processor with fonts and formatting, saving and reopening with Ctrl+S, printing with Ctrl+P, and choosing worthwhile educational apps.

Programming this year uses ScratchJr and goes further than block basics. After lessons on how a computer only does what it is told and why sequence matters, your student learns to control speed, direction, step count, and repetition, and then plans and builds a complete animated story on paper first, with at least two sprites, a scene change, and three actions each. The digital citizenship and internet safety units cover asking permission before using any device, kindness in writing when you cannot see a face, keeping private information private, limits on screen time, and one lesson that has your student sit with you and compare a trustworthy website against a questionable one by asking who made it, whether it is selling something, and whether the same fact could be found in a book.

There are 36 lessons in 8 units, each about 20 minutes. A lesson gives a short explanation, a paragraph tying it to a King James verse, and then a specific Activity done at the machine, followed by a ten-question quiz that grades itself. One planning note: units 7 and 8 repeat the computer-basics and typing lessons from units 1 and 2, so the last six lessons are review rather than new material. To get the benefit your family needs a computer with a keyboard and mouse, a drawing program and a word processor (Paint, Google Drawings, Word, Google Docs, and LibreOffice Writer are all named and all free or already installed), a printer for one lesson, and a tablet for ScratchJr, which is a free app. Nothing here requires a purchase, but a student who only reads the lessons without doing the activities will get very little out of the year.

What the course covers

• Computer parts, startup and shutdown, and caring for a machine
• Files, folders, naming, and organizing schoolwork
• Home row, finger assignments, and two-handed typing
• Typing full sentences with Shift, spacing, and punctuation
• Accuracy before speed
• Drawing programs and word-processor formatting
• Saving, reopening, and printing your work
• Sequencing and how a computer follows instructions
• ScratchJr sprites, motion control, and animated stories
• Internet safety, private information, screen time, and judging websites

What your student will be able to do

• Create folders, save files with clear names, and find them again later
• Type words and sentences with correct finger placement and punctuation
• Format, save, and print a document or drawing
• Plan and build a multi-sprite animated story in ScratchJr
• Judge whether a website is trustworthy by asking who made it and why
• Keep private information private and report anything uncomfortable online

Scope and sequence

All 8 units of Computer Skills for Grade 2, in the order they are taught.

Every lesson, by title

All 36 lesson titles are listed here — nothing is withheld until you download. Open a unit to read its contents.

One whole lesson, exactly as it comes

This is a real lesson taken from the middle of the course — the teaching text, the practice, the homework, and the first three quiz questions with their answers. It is not a marketing excerpt.

What you will need

Drawn from the materials named across all 36 lessons of this course. Most families already own most of it.