Homeschool 1st Grade
Ages 6–7
Grade 1 turns effortful decoding into reading, and counting into knowing. Both happen through volume: many words read, many facts used.
Plan this yearEverything 1st Grade covers
The full scope and sequence, on the page. No signup to read it.
📖 Reading
Digraphs and blends — sh, ch, th, and str
Reads two letters making one sound (sh, ch, th, ck) and blends of two or three consonants (stop, split).
Reading smoothly, not word by word
Reads a familiar Grade 1 text at around 50–60 words a minute, in phrases, with expression.
Retelling and finding the main idea
Retells a story with beginning, middle and end, and answers who / what / where / why questions about it.
Growing vocabulary on purpose
Notices unfamiliar words, asks what they mean, and uses new words in their own talk.
✏️ Writing
Sentences that hold together
Writes complete sentences with a capital, a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark, and correct spacing.
Writing about one small moment
Writes three to five sentences about a single event, in order, with a beginning and an end.
Spelling by pattern, not by memory
Spells word families (-at, -ight, -ing) and common irregular words correctly.
🔢 Math
Tens and ones to 100
Knows 47 is four tens and seven ones, and can build any two-digit number with bundles.
Adding and subtracting within 20
Solves 8 + 7 and 15 − 6 by making ten or using known facts, not by counting one by one.
Word problems — deciding what to actually do
Reads a story problem and knows whether it's an addition or a subtraction, then solves it.
Telling time to the hour and half hour
Reads an analogue clock to the hour and half hour, and links it to what actually happens then.
Counting coins
Names coins, knows their values, and counts a mixed handful by starting with the biggest.
Measuring, and reading a simple graph
Measures length with a ruler starting at zero, and reads and makes a picture graph or bar chart.
Equal shares — halves and quarters
Splits a shape or a set into two or four equal parts and names them halves and fourths.
🔬 Science
Light and sound
Knows that sound comes from vibration and that we see things because light bounces off them.
How plants and animals survive
Explains how an animal's body parts help it survive, and that young animals resemble their parents.
🌍 Social Studies
Maps, globes and where we are
Finds their country on a globe, knows a map key exists, and uses the four directions.
Then and now
Describes how life was different in the past and puts events on a simple timeline.
🧭 Study & Life Skills
Listening and following three-step directions
Holds three instructions in their head and carries them out in order.
Trying when it's hard, and being wrong safely
Attempts something difficult, gets it wrong, and carries on without collapsing.
What you will have in June
- Attendance — days and instructional hours, derived from work actually finished.
- Report cards — one a quarter, with the level each strand started and ended at.
- A portfolio — finished work, collected as it happens rather than assembled in a panic.
- A reading log — in the app and off it.
We keep records. We do not give legal advice and we never certify compliance — check with your state’s department of education.
When to ask for help
- Cannot blend sounds into simple words by the middle of Grade 1.
- Reading is still word-by-word with no expression by June, or under about 30 words a minute.
- Still counts every addition from one and cannot make ten by the end of the year.
- Writes nothing without an adult sitting next to them, or refuses to write at all.
- Persistent letter and number reversals combined with real reading difficulty — worth mentioning to the teacher, together.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hours a day is 1st Grade homeschool?
We default to three hours a day across 180 school days, and you can set it anywhere from one to five. At this age Twenty minutes total, and reading aloud to you is the highest-value ten of it. If a page takes more than a minute, the book is too hard — that's information, not failure.
What if my child is ahead or behind in one subject?
Each of the six strands has its own level. A child can do this grade in reading and the one below in maths without any of it being a workaround — that is the normal case here, not an exception.
What records will I have at the end of 1st Grade?
Attendance in days and instructional hours, a report card per quarter, a portfolio of finished work, and a reading log. From Grade 9 there is also a parent-issued transcript with credits and GPA.