Autumn's First Grade Evaluation

As per Home Learning Year by Year by Rebecca Rupp, my evaluation of Autumn's first grade year. These are just the guidelines for first grade, a list to give me an idea of where we're at.

Of course, it is based off of a typical school year in public school and what they would be learning and as such, includes some areas that we will be focusing on at our own pace. (For example, she knows how to write, but we will be saving diagramming sentences and parts of speech for fourth grade -- something I feel strongly about and have read about it Dr. Ruth Beechick's The Three R's.)

Autumn is reading at a 2nd/3rd grade level and at a 1st grade level in all other subjects. This being our first year of homeschooling, me being pregnant, and everyone adjusting to the new baby -- I am very pleased.

LANGUAGE ARTS
Reading:
Phonics, Decoding, and Word Recognition
1. Knows the sounds of all the consonants and both long & short vowel sounds. Knows the common digraphs and common consonant blends.
2. Sounds out one-syllable words
3. Can read root words and additions with inflectional endings (look, looks, looked, and looking)
4. Knows age-appropriate sight words.
5. Identifies and uses contractions.

Reading Comprehension
1. Reads and understands grade-level-appropriate material.
2. Can answer who, what, when, where, and why questions about what she reads. Gives accurate oral accounts of fiction and nonfiction works that she has read by herself or heard read aloud.
3. Knows the literary terms plot, setting, characters, hero, and heroine, and can identify them in her reading.
4. Enjoys a wide range of literature read aloud, including fiction and nonfiction books, multicultural folktales and legends, fairy tales, fables, and poems.
5. Can define and use a book's table of contents.

Writing:
1. Prints all uper- and lower-case letters legibly, using proper spacing.
2. Writes words and sentences, using proper spacing, capitalization and punctuation.
3. Can identify nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
4. Spells simple three- and four-letter words from dictation using phonics skills. Knows spelling of first grade-level sight words.
5. Can identify synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms.

Listening and Speaking Skills
1. Listens to, restates, and follow two-step directions.
2. Retells stories in proper sequence.
3. Participates in short dramatizations: charades, pantomimes, plays.
4. Memorize and recite short poems and rhymes.

Study Skills
1. Knows the uses of a dictionary, encyclopedia, and card catalog (do libraries even USE off-line card catalogs anymore?!)
2. Puts words in alphabetical order according to first letter.

MATHEMATICS
Number Theory:
1. Recognizes and writes the numbers 1 to 100.
2. Counts to 1oo by 2s, 5s, and 10s.
3. Uses tallies for counting.
4. Identifies ordinal positions from first through twelfth.
5. Compares and orders numers 0 to 100 using the terms greater than, less than, and equal to.
6. Understands place values for 1s, 10s, and 100s.
7. Identifies halves, thirds, and fourths.
8. Makes and interprets simple picture and bar graphs.

Operations:
1. Experiments with the addition and subtraction of whole numbers through 20 using manipulatives and number lines.
2. Knows the definitions of sum and difference and the names and use of the + (plus) and - (minus) signs.
3. Knows basic addition facts through 10 + 10 and corresponding basic subtraction facts.
4. Understands the commutative property of addition: that is, numbers can be added in any order.
5. Successfully solves simple equations and word problems.

Money and Management:
1. Recognizes pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters.
2. Is able to determine the value of a given set of coins up to 25 cents.
3. Recognizes dollar and cent signs; uses decimals in writing money amounts.
4. Uses calendars to identify days, weeks, and months.
5. Tells time to the hour and half hour on a standard clock. Understands the difference between AM and PM.
6. Is familiar with the uses of common measuring instruments, such as a scale (weight), ruler (length), and thermometer (temperature).
7. Compares and orders objects by length, weight, and volume using both standard and nonstandard measurements.

Geometry:
1. Identifies and draws common two-dimensional shapes: circle, triangle, rectangle, and square.
2. Identifies figures that have lines of symmetry.
3. Correctly uses position words to describe location: right, left, above, below, inside, outside, in front, in back, over, under, and so on.

HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY

Following Beautiful Feet and their timeline.

SCIENCE

Followed Noeo's Biology I course this year. Will be using Apologia's Exploring Creation with...Series for the next several years.

ART

1. Knows the primary colors and how these are mixed to produce secondary colors.
2. Is familiar with the elements of line, shape, texture, space, light, and shadow.
3. Is able to identify different kinds of pictures: portraits, still lifes, abstract art, and landscapes.
4. Studies the works of a selection of well-known artists.
5. Experiments with a range of art techniques.

MUSIC

1. Understands rhythm and melody, pitch, dynamics, tempo and timbre.
2. Memorizes and sings simple songs.
3. Listens and responds to selections by famous composers.
4. Knows the four families of instruments in the orchestra: strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION

1. Understands the importance of good nutrition, adequate sleep, cleanliness, tooth care, and regular exercise.
2. Can skip, run (without falling over), and throw and catch beanbags and balls.
3. Participates in athletic indoor and outdoor activities.