Mathematics

About this course

First grade takes the counting your student did in kindergarten and turns it into arithmetic. The number work climbs to 100 with comparing, ordering, odd and even, number words, place value in tens and ones, and skip counting by 2s and 5s. Addition is built strategy by strategy (adding 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4, doubles, near doubles, the make-a-ten strategy, adding three numbers at once), and subtraction follows the same path up through facts to 20, fact families, missing addends, mental addition and subtraction of 10, and two-digit addition and subtraction without regrouping. Alongside the operations the year covers halves and quarters of both shapes and groups, measuring with non-standard units and then with a ruler in inches, weight and balance scales, temperature, telling time to the hour with AM and PM, days and months, 2-D and 3-D shapes with sides and vertices, symmetry, position words, tally charts and picture graphs and bar graphs, surveys, growing and repeating patterns, true and false number sentences, and a full unit of word-problem strategy.

The course is 180 lessons across 15 units, one lesson per school day. The first eight units introduce the eight strands (number sense, operations, fractions, measurement, geometry, data, algebra, and problem solving). Units 9 through 15 bring those same strands back around a second time; the second operations unit is entirely new ground (subtraction facts, fact families, missing addends, mental math with 10, and two-digit work), while the other returning units go back over the fall material for review and consolidation. A lesson is planned for 35 minutes and follows a fixed shape: a short prayer, a review of the day before, the new idea explained with worked examples, guided practice, then independent practice. Every lesson ends with a ten-question quiz that grades itself, and a KJV verse ties the day's math to God's order in creation.

Coming in, your student should be able to count to at least 20, recognize and write numerals, add and subtract small amounts with objects, and name a circle, square, triangle, and rectangle. The listed materials are only pencil, paper, and an eraser, but most lessons ask for something ordinary from around the house such as counters, a ruler, index cards, a number cube, a balance made from a hanger, or a clock. The reading is short and simple but still reading, so plan to sit nearby and read the lesson aloud with your student for much of the year.

What the course covers

• Counting, comparing, and ordering numbers to 100
• Place value in tens and ones, number words, odd and even
• Skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s
• Addition facts to 20: doubles, near doubles, and make-a-ten
• Subtraction facts to 20, fact families, and missing addends
• Two-digit addition and subtraction without regrouping
• Halves and quarters of shapes and of groups
• Length in inches, weight, balance scales, and temperature
• Telling time to the hour, AM and PM, days and months
• Tally charts, picture graphs, bar graphs, and simple surveys

What your student will be able to do

• Count, read, write, compare, and order numbers to 100
• Recall addition and subtraction facts to 20 using doubles and make-a-ten
• Add and subtract two-digit numbers without regrouping
• Divide a shape or a group into equal halves and quarters
• Measure length in inches, tell time to the hour, and read a calendar
• Solve one- and two-step word problems by drawing a picture and writing a number sentence

Scope and sequence

All 15 units of Mathematics for Grade 1, in the order they are taught.

Every lesson, by title

All 180 lesson titles are listed here — nothing is withheld until you download. Open a unit to read its contents.

One whole lesson, exactly as it comes

This is a real lesson taken from the middle of the course — the teaching text, the practice, the homework, and the first three quiz questions with their answers. It is not a marketing excerpt.

What you will need

Drawn from the materials named across all 180 lessons of this course. Most families already own most of it.