Your child has already conquered Kindergarten. Now it’s time to look ahead to First Grade. Amid the excitement, you probably have lots of questions.What does it mean to be first grade ready? What does First Grade look like these days? What will my child be expected to know? You may wonder what you can do to make sure your child is prepared for this big step in his academic career.
Don’t worry! Here are the most important readiness skills your child will need before beginning First Grade. We will also suggest simple things you can do at home to help. Read on to learn everything you need to set your little learner up for success.
Follows Rules and Expectations at Home and School
Social skills are a huge part of school success. Students who are able to follow directions and interact well with their peers have a happier school experience and are able to learn better. Does your child get along well with others? Does she understand the concepts of taking turns?
In Preschool and Kindergarten, children become familiar with the routines and expectations of school, but there are things parents can do at home to teach and practice as well:
Reinforce school expectations at home
Present a unified front with your child’s teachers at school. Help her understand that her parents and teachers are all on the same page.
Model prosocial behavior
Use polite words such as “please”, “thank you”, and “excuse me”, and encourage your child to do the same. What children see is what they do, so make good manners a household habit.
Encourage socialization as much as possible
Children need practice interacting with others outside of school. Does your child play with neighborhood children or go on playdates? Does she play a sport or enjoy a hobby? These types of activities provide rich opportunities for socialization even away from the classroom.
Keep in mind that your child’s First Grade class may have more children than her Kindergarten class did. In First Grade, she will be expected to work independently and stay focused on a task for longer amounts of time. Help her be prepared by having her work or play independently at home while you cook dinner or work on something around the house. Praise her for keeping occupied for a designated amount of time without interrupting you (except for emergencies, of course), and challenge her to beat her record next time.
Pre-reading and Reading Readiness Skills
While some children leave Kindergarten already reading proficiently, others don’t become true readers until First Grade. If your child is not already a confident reader, he should have these pre-reading skills in order to become a successful reader in First Grade:
Recognizes all uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as the sounds they make.
Can tell whether a pair of words have the same beginning or ending sound
Can identify rhyming words
Knows at least 25 Sight Words and can read them automatically (Check with your child’s Kindergarten teacher for a list of words)
Can sound out short three-letter words such as “cat” or “man” by blending the sounds together
The best way to help your child become a reader is to read to him and with him! Make reading together an important part of your routine, whether it is at bedtime, in the morning, or throughout the day. Reread familiar books and incorporate new ones.
As you read, talk about the characters and what they are doing. Ask your child questions, such as “What do you think will happen next?” or “Why do you think they did that?” Making reading interesting and fun will help build excitement around reading.
Language and Communication
In First Grade, your child will be expected to speak clearly enough to be understood, and to listen and follow directions appropriately. Here are a few of the most important language skills she will need to be ready for the next grade:
Speaks using complete sentences
Can ask for help, such as tying a shoe or opening milk, when needed
Can retell a familiar story, such as The Three Little Pigs or The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Can sing a familiar song or recite a familiar nursery rhyme
Listens respectfully when others talk
Follows multi-step directions, such as “Put away your backpack and sit at your desk”
You can reinforce these skills at home by encouraging your child to use complete sentences when speaking to you. If she tends to just point at things she wants, encourage her to use words to make her request known. Praise her when she does use complete sentences or speak clearly.
Reread familiar books together, and practice retelling the stories. Ask your child to tell someone who didn’t hear the story, such as Dad or Grandma, what happened.
Most importantly, if you have concerns about your child’s speech or language capabilities, do not hesitate to bring up them with her pediatrician and her teacher. Early intervention is key when addressing speech concerns, so it is best not to wait.
Writing
In Kindergarten, your child learned to write her first and last name if she was not already doing so. She likely also learned how to label pictures, write short words, and begin writing sentences. Keep up this momentum at home as you prepare for First Grade.
Encourage her to write for a purpose, such as making a grocery list or helping write a letter to Grandma. Staple blank pieces of newsprint or computer paper together and allow her to write and illustrate her own storybooks. Make writing a fun activity rather than a dull assignment.
Keep in mind – all the words she writes do not need to be spelled correctly right now. Invented spelling, or spelling words phonetically, is absolutely fine at this age. As she learns more phonetic rules in First and Second Grades, correct spelling will follow. At this time, writing by sounding out words is developmentally appropriate and encouraged.
Math
In First Grade, your child will build on the Number Sense foundation that was laid in Kindergarten. He will learn to count past 100, to add and subtract larger numbers, and to solve more complex problems. Before he enters First Grade, it is important that he has a strong understanding of the basics. Here are a few basic skills he should have mastered in Kindergarten:
Count forward and backward to 20 and write the numbers to 20
Can skip count to 20 by twos, fives, and tens
Understand the concepts of “more” and “less” and can identify groups of objects that show more and less
Add and subtract using objects or pictures, within 10
Identify and name basic shapes
Recognize and extend patterns.
Identify US coins and tell their value
Having a strong mastery of these basic skills will prepare your child for the more complex skills he will learn in First Grade. If your little one is still struggling with some of these skills, you will want to incorporate Math practice into your daily routine. Practice counting objects such as blocks, marbles, or beans, both forward and backward. Review the concepts of addition and subtraction, and practice joining and separating groups of objects in order to model adding and subtracting.
If your rising First Grader is already comfortable with all the skills listed above, you can help him prepare for next year by teaching him to count above and beyond 20. In First Grade he will count to 120, so you can begin working on these numbers at home. Knowing how to read and write the numbers beyond 20 will also help him immensely.
Incorporate Math practice into your routine. Ask your child questions that require him to think about numbers. For example, if you count 7 dogs at the dog park, ask, “What if 2 more dogs came? How many would there be?” If you count 10 fruit snacks in the package, ask, “If I ate one, how many would be left?” Make numbers, counting, and mathematical thinking a part of your daily life.
While students entering First Grade will not be expected to count mixed change, knowing the name of each coin and its value is important. Practice at home by sorting groups of coins and describing each one. “The dime is the smallest coin.” “The penny is the only one that isn’t silver.”
Coins can also be a great and very effective method of practicing skip counting. Practice counting by fives using nickels, and by tens with dimes. Pairs of pennies can be used to practice counting by twos. Just 5 to 10 minutes exploring coins a day can help your child become familiar with them.
If your child has successfully completed Kindergarten, then he is already in a great spot heading into First Grade. We hope these tips can help keep him excited, invigorated, and motivated to have a great year as he moves up to the next grade. Encourage him with positivity, confidence, and excitement, and he will be ready for any challenge.