Kindergarten
Children are always learning – all day, every day, in every activity, interaction and experience. What should children know before they enter kindergarten? The answers vary. What should they learn in kindergarten? A lot! Kindergarten is a foundational year. It provides the building blocks of physical, social and emotional development, as well as the basics of language, literacy, thinking and cognitive skills. It is a time, too, when fine and gross motor skills are sharpened.
1st Grade
While children learn a lot in kindergarten, they learn even more in first grade. In fact, this is a year when children become learning sponges soaking up new social skills, new vocabulary, new math skills, new literacy skills and more! A typical first grader has a vocabulary of about 20,000 words and a deepened understanding of how spoken and written language works. Math brings more word problems, and students are expected to memorize basic facts to improve calculation speed. What first graders need most is encouragement. This can be a year of comparison, doubt and uncertainty. First graders generally talk more about their feelings, so teachers and parents need to be good listeners!
2nd Grade
Second grade is all about learning to read, write, and calculate effortlessly. Common subjects – reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies – presented at a deeper level. Students are expected to be adept at writing, to think logically and to generalize their learning across settings and situations. Second grade being the grade BEFORE state-mandated testing, vital to student success is the simultaneous exploration of key concepts and vocabulary at home. This might occur through educational games, videos, worksheets and simple conversations. In short, home-school partnership becomes even more critical.
