Homeschool 1st Grade

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.

How a book is put together

Names the cover, title, author, illustrator and page numbers, and knows what each one is for.

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.

Writing facts about one thing

Writes three or four true sentences about a single topic, and can tell a fact from a story.

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.

Seeing how many at a glance

Says how many are in a small group — up to about six — without counting them one by one.

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.

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.

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.