10 Simple Skills for 1st Grade Readiness

Each time I start a new school year, I can’t help but wonder how prepared my students are for the challenges of 1st grade. When a child comes to school with background knowledge, educational experiences, and basic skills, that student is better equipped for understanding grade-level reading, comprehension, and math.

Here are 10 ways to help your child increase school readiness:

• If possible, visit the zoo, a farm, children’s museum, the library, etc. Experiencing different life settings will help him make important self-to-text connections when reading and listening to stories.
• Help her identify all capital and lowercase letters, both in and out of sequence.
• Have him identify the letters in his entire name, and practice writing them. Be sure the first letter of each name is a capital letter and the rest lowercase.
• Practice consonant sounds, both at the beginning and ending of words.
• Read and practice rhymes. Make up your own silly rhymes together.
• Help her recognize the eight basic color words; red, blue, yellow, green, brown, black, orange, and purple. Use my printable Color Words Pizza Wheel to help your child learn her colors.
• Practice together counting orally, 0 to 50, both forward and backward.
• Have him practice writing numerals 0 to 30, and recognizing the numerals out of sequence.
• Make sure she knows her full name, your full name, address, phone number, and birth date. Make sure your child knows where she will go after school each day, and what type of transportation she will be taking.
• Every morning be sure he knows if he will be bringing his own lunch, or getting it in the cafeteria. Make sure he can identify, and take responsibility for personal items such as, lunchbox, backpack, pencil box, sweatshirt, etc.

Knowing these simple 10 skills can help ease your child’s anxieties and propel 1st grade success!

> 1st Grade Academics: What To Expect
> Help Teach Your 1st Grader To Listen and Speak Well