What goals are you aiming at for your first grader to meet by the end of the year?

[Stellalarella]

The title says it all.   :)

 

 

[Coco_Clark]

I almost hate to play, just because I think these sorts of things depend on maturity and ability so so sooo much more than what grade they happen to be in.  But these are my goals made at the beginning of the year...most of these have pretty much been attained, it being the lag end of the year, some we are still heavily working on, and a few we have given up on, lol. 

Behavioral
Sitting down to "school" with a good attitude.  attained

Maintaining a strong focus on work for 15-20 minute increments.  attained on good days, lol, and accepted as a life-long journey

Encountering difficulties w/out total meltdown.  attained

 

Finishing a checklist of 3-5 items without prodding (me) or whining (him).  attained

LA
Reading early chapter books fluently. still getting there

 

Copying excerpts of classic books 20-30 words long with good handwriting and correct letter direction, punctutation, and capitalizations.  attained on good days and completely not there on others.  there is no in between.

 

Narrating back to me with increasing accuracy and flow.  attained

Math
Addition and subtraction facts >12 memorized to be able to answer in 3 seconds or less.  given up on, he can do it in 6-10 seconds and Im calling it good enough.
 

Place value and addition and subtraction into the hundreds solid, solid, solid, like he's doing it in his sleep. attained

Comfortable with word problems.  attained

Exposure and familiarity with measuring, time, money, fractions, and multiplication/division.  attained



Everything else is pretty much exposure and building interests as far as I'm concerned.  Exposure to the Middle Ages, exposure to the human body (organs, health, ect) and Botony (plants, growing a garden, ect), exposure to good books, good poetry, hero saints, nature, the bible, Latin, with no real goals as to where we will end up in the end except with a wider world in front of us.  
 

[Stellalarella]

Thanks, Coco.  I hadn't thought of writing behavioral goals, but that is a good idea.

[blondeviolin]

Reading: Find some books that he will read of his own volition. We are sort of getting there. LOE is helping with the fluency/word skipping issue. Audible and immersion reading is helping with the ability/interest mismatch. We did find some books he LOVED. All I care is that he is finding books he enjoys.

 

Math: heh. He started this year way above where he should have been. By the end of the year I'd like him to have his multiplication facts fluent. He's pretty close.

 

Spelling: Remember the phonograms. That's it. Most specifically oo, oe, ow, oa, au, and aw. We've worked on these all school year. We have more to do.

 

Grammar: Be familiar with parts of speech.

 

Writing: answer comprehension questions. Narrate back to me fluently. Copy a sentence. (Yay, totally done here!)

 

My first grader next year:

 

-Copy a short sentence. (This will be big as she still forms her letters all sorts of weird.)

 

-Know number bonds to 10. Figure out place value. (Still very jumbled in her head.)

 

-Begin to become familiar with parts of speech.

 

-Read beginning chapter books maybe?

 

-Stop answering questions in a baby voice.

 

Different kids mean different goals. Lol

[Stellalarella]

 

Different kids mean different goals. Lol

 

I hear you.

 

I have a really young 1st grader this year and I"m just not sure how to proceed for next year, whether to say we're doing 1st grade again, or label it 2nd.  It's not really a question of what materials I would use, but on the form I have to turn in for the state, I have to designate a grade.  If it weren't for the form, I wouldn't worry about it.  

 

I looked at some things online and I saw a lot of goals aiming for proficiency with dolch sight words (which I haven't done) and she isn't writing as much as kids at our local public school do since the only form of writing I require is copywork M-TH and writing a personal letter on Fridays.

 

Thanks for posting.  

[Sneezyone]

1. Accepting correction and guidance with grace
2. Recognizing that additional effort and practice may be required to master something (ahem, spelling)
3. Putting forth additional effort as needed
4. Reading Magic Treehouse books of his own volition (he doesn't like to read/do anything unless he can do it perfectly and refuses to move beyond Mo Willems, Ted Arnold and Arnold Lobel)
5. Mastering math facts within 20
6. LISTENING during group, circle time

We still have three months to go in our school year since we didn't start till mid-late September so there's plenty of time yet.

[MinivanMom]

Our main goals this year were:

-To develop the ability to work independently on an assignment (I am always nearby, but I have been trying to wean her off of the intense one-on-one teaching).

-To work on handling her frustration better (she is a perfectionist who doesn't want to try hard things if she thinks she could fail).

 

We had other academic goals (daily reading, math, & French and some intense work on spelling), but she is working above grade level in every subject so I was more focused on the attitudes and behaviors. If we can get the work habits in place then everything else will follow. We've made a lot of progress this year, but I think these will continue to be our main goals for 2nd grade as well.

[boscopup]

My goals have been different for each kid. I ignore what the public schools are doing, as they are completely different from my homeschool. I'm taking a different path.

 

DS1 (advanced in reading and math at the time, but behind in writing):

Reading - build stamina for chapter books, study phonics enough to get past 4th grade multi-syllable words

Writing - proper letter formation, copy a sentence or two

Math - just keep trekking at his pace

 

DS2 (advanced in math at the time, but behind in reading and writing):

Reading - get past CVC words and sounding out every.single.thing

Writing - letter formation, copy some words

Math - just keep trekking at his pace

 

DS3 next year (advanced in reading, writing, and math):

Reading - continue enjoying chapter books at whatever level he's interested in reading

Writing - work up to paragraphs by the end of the year (he can already write original sentences now in K and likes to write)

Math - just keep trekking at his pace

 

DS1 did grammar in 1st grade and DS3 will also. I didn't bother with grammar for DS2, since he was still working on reading (which clicked between 1st and 2nd grade - he's taking off now toward the end of 2nd).

 

First grade has looked so different for each of my kids. I just look at where they are at the beginning of the year and where I think that child could be at the end of the year, and I base my goals off that. I don't care what public schooled 1st graders are doing. My child isn't in public school. I'm meeting my children where they are in each subject, and that means their work spans multiple grade levels.

 

Behavioral goals have also differed. DS1 learned to do some work independently and need mom less. DS2 had to work with mom every step of the way and wasn't able to start working toward independence (meaning "do these 5 math problems while I reboot laundry") until 2nd grade. DS3 already works independently in K and doesn't like me to teach him. :tongue_smilie: Really, I have no behavioral goals for my current K'er next year. He's already a super easy homeschool student. :lol:

[Mommy to monkeys]

My main goal for my 1st grader this year is/was just to gain reading fluency. He's really getting there, so I'm happy with that.

Other than that I just want him to make steady progress in arithmetic and handwriting as well as showing an interest in learning.

[Heathermomster]

I want DD to read, tell time, know math facts to 20, copy a two stanza poem, accurately write 3-5 sentences of dictation, and enjoy learning.  DD maintains her curiosity and can do all those things so I am satisfied.  Not true.  We are about to work on telling time.  

[Bluegoat]

I don't really have many.  I would like her to be able to read simple chapter books - I suspect she could already, but she lacks the motivation.  But in any case, i am not all that worried about this as her reading is coming along well.

 

My main goal is to improve her handwriting - she is very stubborn about doing things in her own way, and it causes some issues with things like conventional letter forms. 

 

 

[Stellalarella]

Here is what the "What Your First Grader Needs to Know" book (1991) by E.D. Hirsch argued:

"A reasonable goad for first grade is for children to become independent readers and writers--which, of course, doesn't mean that they ought to be able to read any book in the library or write a polished, perfectly spelled essay.  By the end of the year, however, it is reasonable to expect that, with only limited assistance, first graders will read books appropriate to beginning readers and express themselves comfortably and legibly in writing."

 

"By the end of first grade, she should know how to count to 100  by ones, twos, fives, and tens, both forward and backward.  She should also know how to write the words for the numbers from 1 to 10.  First graders should be learning to compare numbers to see which is greater and which is less, and to have a sense of how big 100   is.  They can also begin to understand a digit in the tens place of a number means something different from a digit in the ones place."

 

"In first grade, your child should learn more about how addition and subtraction work, and with repeated and varied practice, he should know addition and subtraction facts to 12.  "

 

 

 

 

[cassafraz]

By the end of first grade I wanted to know that his foundation was solid in the basics.

 

Reading- to be reading chapter books fluently and to have found books that he could enjoy on his own.

 

Writing- to be able to do his copywork neatly. I have had to redefine what neat handwriting really looks like for a 1st grade boy but at least progress is being made.

 

Math- Understand place value backwards, forwards, and upside down. Have a firm grip on addition and subtraction with math facts memorized. Have an introduction to multiplication. Be comfortable with word problems.  Also understand money, time and measurement. We have had no problems achieving our math goals. This is an easy area, at least for now.

 

Other subjects- history, science, art, music, computers, spanish- I wanted him to explore these subjects and learn to dive deeper into certain areas as they interest him. These subjects provide the fun in our school, so even though they didn't have specific 1st grade goals, we spent tons of time on them.