Maths in Year 2: what Lärkompis practises
In Year 2 of Swedish school (around age 8), Lärkompis practises 25 skills in maths, linked to 17 of 22 items in the core content of Lgr22, the Swedish national curriculum, for Years 1–3. The areas are algebra; geometry; problem solving; relationships and change; probability and statistics; and understanding and using numbers. Each skill has five difficulty levels, and the skills are practised in 13 mini-games, including Rätta roboten (Fix the Robot), Flodhoppet (River Hop) and Vändspelet (The Flip Game).
Lgr22 sets out core content for each stage (Years 1–3), not for each year. So Lärkompis spreads the skills across the years using its own time windows, and these are estimates. For Year 2, this means that 15 skills start this year and 10 skills started earlier and are still being practised. The figure 17 of 22 counts the items in the core content from Skolverket (the Swedish National Agency for Education) that at least one skill links to; it does not mean the whole item is covered.
What Lärkompis practises in Year 2
The 25 skills in maths in Year 2 are grouped into 6 areas following Skolverket's syllabus. Under each skill you can see the first and the last difficulty level, so you know how far the exercises go.
Algebra
- Patterns and number sequences (already starts in Year 1) Level 1: Continuing a pattern of shapes or colours, 5, 6, 7, 8. Level 5: Growing patterns such as 3, 4, 6, 9, ? and the rule in words.
- Open number sentences: unknown numbers Level 1: ? − 1 = 7: a number minus 1. Level 5: The unknown in different places, and word puzzles.
- Step-by-step instructions and simple programming on a grid Level 1: Two cards: move and turn on a small grid. Level 5: Four cards with several stones to get past.
- Step-by-step instructions and programming Level 1: Follow arrows on the number line: → ← →. Level 5: Choose instructions that take the robot to the right number.
Geometry
- Telling the time: quarters and minutes Level 1: Minutes at quarter past, half past and quarter to. Level 5: Five minutes at a time, all the way round, “fem över halv” (twenty-five to).
- Measuring length (cm, dm, m, km) (already starts in Year 1) Level 1: Comparing lengths up to 10 cm, choosing centimetres or metres. Level 5: Decimetres to centimetres.
- Measuring mass and volume (g, kg, dl, l) Level 1: Comparing weights in kilograms, choosing grams or kilograms. Level 5: Kilograms to grams, half a kilo.
- Scale in simple reductions and enlargements Level 1: Choose the rectangle that is twice as big. Level 5: Scale on a drawing: one square is several metres.
- Symmetry Level 1: Find a symmetrical letter. Level 5: Reflect a pattern with four colours.
Problem solving
- Solving problems with logical reasoning and a table Level 1: One clue that says who has what. Level 5: Three people and several clues.
- Asking and understanding maths questions in everyday life Level 1: What is the task asking for? Three choices. Level 5: Which question can be answered, with multiplication and division.
- Strategies: choosing the operation and working in several steps Level 1: Plus or minus, three choices. Level 5: Two-step problems.
Relationships and change
- Doubling and halving Level 1: Doubling small numbers, 2 and 4. Level 5: Backwards: double a number is 44, what is the number.
Probability and statistics
- Tables and charts Level 1: Reading one row of a pictogram. Level 5: How many more, or how many altogether, in a table.
Understanding and using numbers
- Adding and subtracting 0–100 in your head Level 1: Whole tens: 90 − 50, 40 + 30. Level 5: Word problems with differences and missing numbers, 81 − 37.
- Multiplication: equal groups Level 1: 2 bags with 2 shells in each. Level 5: Word problems, and multiplication written as addition.
- Money and change (already starts in Year 1) Level 1: Counting coins up to 10 kronor, change from 10 kronor. Level 5: Two items and change, comparing prices.
- The place value system: tens, ones and hundreds (already starts in Year 1) Level 1: Reading tens rods and ones, 11 = 10 + 1. Level 5: Hundreds, tens and ones: 4 hundreds and 4 ones.
- Checking whether estimates and calculations are reasonable Level 1: Approximate answer, three choices. Level 5: Mixed, and fixing the robot’s mistakes.
- The 2, 5 and 10 times tables Level 1: Counting in fives: 5, 10, 15. Level 5: Mixed, with word problems and a missing factor.
- Counting 0–100 and counting in tens (already starts in Year 1) Level 1: Counting in tens: 10, 20, 30. Level 5: Counting backwards, mixed jumps and placing numbers on an empty number line.
- Number symbols in different cultures: Roman numerals Level 1: Reading Roman numerals up to 20. Level 5: Mixed, and fixing the robot’s mistakes.
- Addition bridging through ten (already starts in Year 1) Level 1: 7 + 4 with the ten frame showing. Level 5: Two-digit number plus a one-digit number across the next ten, in word problems.
- Subtraction bridging through ten Level 1: 11 − 4, take away and land on ten. Level 5: Missing number: 22 − ? = 13, and word problems.
- Odd and even numbers Level 1: Is the number of things odd or even? (making pairs). Level 5: Sums: is 26 + 29 odd or even.
What the syllabus says, in short
The Lgr22 core content for Years 1–3 in maths, summarised in our own words for the parts Lärkompis practises in Year 2. Read the full text in Skolverket's English translation of Lgr22.
- Your child should understand how numbers can be split up and used to show amount and order, and how place value works (ones, tens, hundreds).
- Your child meets fractions as part of a whole and part of a group, for example a half and a quarter.
- The four operations and how they are connected, using mental arithmetic, rough estimates and written calculations. Digital tools may be used for calculations.
- What the equals sign means (that both sides are worth the same), unknown numbers shown as a symbol, and simple patterns.
- Measuring length, mass, volume and time, geometric shapes and symmetry.
- Strategies for solving problems in everyday situations, and being able to ask mathematical questions about everyday life.
- Simple tables and charts, and describing events that happen by chance.
How to help at home with maths in Year 2
In Year 2, what your child learnt in Year 1 should become secure enough to use without support. Ask your child to explain how they thought: the explanation tells you more than the right answer, and it makes a good conversation at the dinner table. Ask “how did you work it out?” more often than “what did you get?”, and use the same models and written methods as the teacher, so your child does not have two different methods to keep track of.
- What does the equals sign mean? Write 3 + 4 = ? + 5 and ask what should go in the box. Explain that the equals sign means “the same amount on both sides”, like a balanced scale. Ask how your child is thinking, not just what the answer is. As a conversation: about 5 minutes.
- Shop at home. Make a little shop from tins and toys, with price tags from 1 to 20 kronor. Your child shops with real coins and you give change. Ask how they know they have enough money. Use the same number pictures and ways of setting out sums that the teacher uses. Works in everyday life: about 10 minutes.
- When maths homework takes too long. Set a timer for 10 minutes. If the homework isn’t finished, let your child show where they got stuck and write a line to the teacher (“the homework took 25 minutes, we stopped at question 4”). That is information for the school, not a failure. When it is hard going: about 10 minutes.
- Split numbers with buttons. Put 8 buttons on the table and split them into two piles in as many ways as you can. You could write 8 = 3 + 5 next to them. This builds a feel for how numbers can be split up, which helps with both adding and taking away. As a game: about 10 minutes.
How you can tell it has clicked in Year 2
- Step-by-step instructions and programming: Your child follows the instructions step by step and points at each step.
- Telling the time: quarters and minutes: Your child counts in fives around the clock face.
- Measuring mass and volume (g, kg, dl, l): Your child chooses a sensible unit for weighing a dog or an apple.
- Symmetry: Your child finds symmetry in everyday life, for example in a butterfly or a leaf.
Common pitfalls in Year 2
- Measuring mass and volume (g, kg, dl, l): Thinks the biggest thing always weighs the most.
- Symmetry: Only looks for a vertical mirror line.
- Solving problems with logical reasoning and a table: Skips over the word “not”.
- Asking and understanding maths questions in everyday life: Works out something other than what the question asks.
If maths practice in Year 2 often ends in tears or takes far too long, stop for the day and write a few lines to the teacher about what was hard. That is useful information for the school, not a failure.
Games that practise it
In Year 2 maths, Lärkompis uses 13 mini-games. In these games, playing is the practice, so your child learns while they play. There are no points or streaks, and no ads.
Rätta roboten (Fix the Robot)
Knut has made a mistake and your child teaches him the right way. Explaining the mistake is the skill. In Year 2, the game practises 14 skills: patterns and number sequences; open number sentences: unknown numbers; step-by-step instructions and programming; asking and understanding maths questions in everyday life; and more.
Flodhoppet (River Hop)
Pix hops across the river on stepping stones that sit on a number line. In Year 2, the game practises 4 skills: adding and subtracting 0–100 in your head; counting 0–100 and counting in tens; addition bridging through ten; and subtraction bridging through ten.
Vändspelet (The Flip Game)
A memory game where two cards that go together stay face up, for example 3 + 4 and 7. In Year 2, the game practises 4 skills: doubling and halving; multiplication: equal groups; the place value system: tens, ones and hundreds; and the 2, 5 and 10 times tables.
Kunskapsjakten (Knowledge Hunt)
A quiz show in a TV studio, where Vera leads the questions up a ladder. There are lifelines but no points: the ladder fills up with the questions your child has worked through. In Year 2, the game practises 2 skills: scale in simple reductions and enlargements; and number symbols in different cultures: Roman numerals.
Sorteringsbandet (The Sorting Belt)
A calm conveyor belt of things that your child puts in the right box by following a rule. In Year 2, the game practises 2 skills: the 2, 5 and 10 times tables; and odd and even numbers.
Butiken (The Shop)
Your child pays, gets change and compares prices with real coins. In Year 2, the game practises 1 skill: money and change.
Detektiven (The Detective)
A short logic case each round: your child reads the clues, fills in a grid with crosses and ticks, and points out the answer. In Year 2, the game practises 1 skill: solving problems with logical reasoning and a table.
Formpusslet (Shape Puzzle)
A shape puzzle where the pieces are the skill: from pictures made of simple shapes to areas and Pythagoras’ theorem. In Year 2, the game practises 1 skill: symmetry.
Klockverkstan (The Clock Workshop)
Clocks on the workshop wall that your child sets and reads. In Year 2, the game practises 1 skill: telling the time: quarters and minutes.
Kodaren (The Coder)
Knut the robot wants to reach the star, and your child builds the program from big cards. In Year 2, the game practises 1 skill: step-by-step instructions and simple programming on a grid.
Mönstermakaren (The Pattern Maker)
Patterns roll along a conveyor belt and your child fills the gaps so the pattern works. In Year 2, the game practises 1 skill: patterns and number sequences.
Tidslinjen (The Timeline)
Your child puts cards on a line in the right order, for example events, steps or numbers. A card in the right place turns over and shows the answer. In Year 2, the game practises 1 skill: counting 0–100 and counting in tens.
Vågen (The Balance)
A balance scale where using the scale is the skill: your child makes both sides weigh the same, works out what a box weighs or solves an equation by doing the same thing to both sides. In Year 2, the game practises 1 skill: open number sentences: unknown numbers.
Questions about maths in Year 2
What does Lärkompis practise in maths in Year 2?
Lärkompis has 25 skills in maths in Year 2, for example “Patterns and number sequences”; “Open number sentences: unknown numbers”; “Step-by-step instructions and simple programming on a grid”; “Step-by-step instructions and programming”; and “Telling the time: quarters and minutes”. Each skill has five levels. In “Patterns and number sequences”, for example, level 1 is “Continuing a pattern of shapes or colours, 5, 6, 7, 8” and level 5 is “Growing patterns such as 3, 4, 6, 9, ? and the rule in words”. The app adjusts the level to how your child is doing.
What comes after Year 2 in maths?
In Year 3, Lärkompis practises 16 skills in maths, and new that year are “Scale in simple reductions and enlargements”; “Differences in time”; and “Strategies: choosing the operation and working in several steps”. Most of it builds on what your child practised in Year 2.
Which mistakes are common in maths in Year 2?
Common mistakes that Lärkompis covers include “Thinks the biggest thing always weighs the most” in “Measuring mass and volume (g, kg, dl, l)” and “Only looks for a vertical mirror line” in “Symmetry”. When an answer is wrong, the app shows how to think it through instead of just marking it wrong, and the parent panel shows what your child is practising right now.
Does Lärkompis follow Lgr22 in maths in Year 2?
Yes. Every exercise in maths in Year 2 is linked to an item in the Lgr22 core content for Years 1–3; 17 of 22 items in maths have at least one linked skill. Lärkompis is a complement at home and does not replace teaching.
How much does it cost to practise maths in Year 2 with Lärkompis?
Lärkompis costs SEK 49, once, for all subjects and every child in the family, with future updates included. You can try maths in Year 2 for free first, without an account.
More years and subjects
The same year in other subjects:
