Grade 1: Ages 5-6
In Grade 1 Children begin by studying words: rhyming words, synonyms, antonyms, and contractions. They learn basic punctuation, capitalization, and the characteristics and types of sentences. As the year progresses, parts of speech are introduced: nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs, as well as creative writing exercises.
Also in Grade 1 children learn to master the writing of the Alphabet, move on to writing words and begin to write manuscript letters.
Their learning is supplemented by Phonics training. Areas of study include long and short vowel sounds, beginning and ending consonant sounds, consonant blends, and consonant digraphs.
Students also study the suffixes -ed and -ing.
First graders then can work through each of the readers, for example, the Pre-Primer, This Is Our Family, and These Are Our Friends. The goal is for students to practice beginning skills in reading out loud and comprehension as they acquire vocabulary.
Another emphasis is on Spelling. Children study lessons contain exercises, practice pages, and a short religious paragraph which utilizes the list of words. Exercises such as Rhyme Time, ABC Order, and Sounds the Same are purposefully simple to encourage writing of the spelling words.