Early Elementary Skills
Grades 1st – 3rd
First through Third grades provide essential building blocks for learning for years to come. Here are some suggestions, in our opinion as educators and moms of developmental milestones to become aware of and monitor.
Early Math Skills:
At this age, kids are developing a more in depth and complex understanding of number sense (knowing that the written number “9” represents 9 items), basic addition and subtraction problems in real life settings (if I have 3 apples and ate 2, how many are left), and groupings of numbers that builds up to multiplication (4 sets of 3 gummy bears equals 12 total). Another important math concept that is focused on is place value and understanding ones, tens, and hundreds (10 ones equal 1 ten, etc). Time and money can be discussed in everyday settings while at home. Analog clocks are not as widely used these days and kids are having a harder time understanding “time” if they are not familiar with a clock that has an hour hand and minute hand. Finally, counting money is another important milestone. Have fun and give your child a few dollars and change and have them “figure out” how to pay for a snack that you label with a price.
Early Reading Skills:
In First Grade kids should be able to blend letter sounds together to read words and they should be reading more fluently the more they practice. At this point they should be very familiar with sight words in order to help them read fluently. Discussing word families is a great activity (if I can spell “cat” then I can spell “mat”, “sat”, and “rat”). By Third Grade students should be able to blend together sounds to read most words and they should be able to independently read books on their level. They should be able to discuss a book with you and understand the story elements including characters, setting, problem, and solution. Talk to them after they read a book and have them explain to you what happens. Make sure they “comprehend” what the story is about.
We included grades 1-3 together in this post because all kids are different and progress at different paces. Some First Graders can handle reading on a Third Grade level and can comprehend Third Grade Math concepts. Other times, Third Graders still need assistance on First Grade concepts such as 100% accuracy on sight words.
These are all just suggestions of topics that you can be working on at home. Your children’s teachers can give a more in-depth explanation of things you can work on, but we linked several items to help you with your practice.
Scholastic Workbooks
1st grade
2nd grade
3rd grade
Brainquest Workbooks
We included the “in between” year workbooks as well to challenge or catch up as you feel your child needs.
1st grade
2nd grade
3rd grade
Brainquest Cards- What a great resource to have handy! Use these to check what they know and find topics to learn more about. We like to leave these on the counter and just ask the kids when we have a free moment! We ALL learn something new!
First Grade
Second Grade
Third Grade
Word Families– Use these to improve reading fluency. Students in school are introduced to word families in K and 1st grade however this is a skill that can be practiced throughout younger elementary time depending on your child’s ability.
Sight Words- Your child has been working on sight words throughout K and 1st grades. This is a great resource to put to use while reading.
