There is almost always a set curriculum in first grade. While an individual teacher does choose how exactly a curriculum is implemented in her classroom, there are certain standards of education that both state and federal governments may require in terms of what a first grader should know. Most schools will use a set curriculum not just in first grade, but throughout the school years.

A curriculum in first grade can vary from one subject to another. A school might use Chicago Math (also known as Everyday Math), for example, throughout their elementary school grades. They might use materials from an entirely different publisher for their science curriculum. Each curriculum has its own unique approaches to the subject. Each curriculum has as its goal, however, the education of the student in the particular subject area.

In first grade, a social studies curriculum will probably look at things like holidays, traditions and customs, national heritage, community, jobs, social skills, and some very basic geography and map skills. A science curriculum, regardless of the publisher, will probably cover living and nonliving things, a variety of animals, habitats, seeds and plants, day and night, magnets, solid, liquid and gas, the planets, and begin to introduce the scientific method. A first grade language arts curriculum, while it might emphasize different things, will probably deal with phonics, sight words, telling and creating stories, pronunciation, alphabetizing, spelling, punctuation, and grammar. A first grade math curriculum will probably look at writing and counting up to 100, recognizing number patters, addition and subtraction, the use of a number line, using a clock and a calendar, and understanding money.

If you want to know more about the set curriculum that is being used or will be used in your child’s first grade class, you can usually find out from the teacher. Depending on the school, there may also be a specific person who is in charge of curriculum for the school or even for the school district that can help you to know what curricula are being used in what grades and for what courses.

Posted in School Issues

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