At this point, your child is developing a sense of pride in their accomplishments, learning to share and take turns, and seeking adult approval. Through the key role of play, your child is expressing feelings, using creativity and imagination, and making sense of the world.
At This Stage, Your Child May Be
- Developing judgment of right versus wrong and fair versus unfair
- Learning to accept responsibility for actions
- Using language skills as a means of socializing with others
- Becoming more independent at reading and writing
- Expanding their vocabulary skills to express their interests, thoughts and feelings
- Matching letters and sounds and analyzing words to figure out unfamiliar words when reading and writing
- Describing characters, settings and major events in a story, using key details
- Progressing from individual play to play that may be structured by rules and may include formal teamwork
- Beginning to apply academic skills in play
- Learning to question
- Using language appropriately, including completing sentences and spelling words with increased accuracy
Safety First! Key Guidelines for Your First-Grader
Your child is becoming more independent, but you must remain in charge of their safety. Here are some vital rules that will keep your child safe and lead to good safety habits:
- Devise an escape plan in case of fire in your home.
- Make sure your child wears an approved, properly fitted helmet every time they ride a bike.
- Never let your child play near the street. The park or playground is the best place to play.
- Teach your child to never cross the street without an adult.
- Before you cross a street with your child, teach them to look to the left, then to the right, and then to the left again.
- Your child must sit on a booster seat in the car. The safest place for all children is the backseat.
Things You Can Do Every Day to Help Your Child Develop
At home, you can play an important role in setting expectations and helping your child meet them. Here are some activities and suggestions to help your child maintain a strong and steady development:
- Continue reading to them. As they learn to read, take turns reading to each other.
- Help them sound out difficult words.
- Act out stories together from books, television or your child’s imagination.
- Get involved with your child’s school. Meet the teachers and staff and get to understand their learning goals.
- Pick a “word of the day” each day, starting with a different letter. Have your child write the word and look for other things beginning with the same letter.
- Visit the library with your child every week.
- Look for word problems in real life. Example: When putting toys away, count the number of toys in two bins and ask your child how many more are in one bin compared to the other.
- First-graders can play the “I’m thinking of a number” game. Example: “I’m thinking of a number that makes nine when added to six. What is my number?”
- Help your child learn patience by letting others go first or by finishing a task before going out to play.
School Success
To see what to expect in first grade and to learn how you can support your child’s school success, visit PTA.org.
Get on Track With College Savings
If you haven’t started already, it’s not too late to begin setting aside some money for your child’s future college or university education. Tennessee makes it easy with the TNStars College Savings 529 Program (www.tnstars.com).
A 529 plan is a savings account that’s specially designed to help you save for college costs. Similar to a 401(k) retirement savings plan, a 529 plan enables you to deposit money into an account. You name a child or grandchild as a beneficiary. Unlike regular savings accounts, you don’t have to pay any federal taxes on the interest, and you will be able to withdraw the money later tax-free as long as it’s used to pay for the beneficiary’s college expenses. It doesn’t matter whether your child goes to college in Tennessee or in another state, and you don’t have to be a Tennessee resident to open the account.
You and any of your relatives can contribute to your child’s education fund—at low cost—through various investment options. Plus, there are special tax advantages under the program. The program has advisers available to walk you through the process and explain how your money will be invested and how it can grow by the time your child is ready to choose a school. Call toll free at 855-3TN-STAR (855-386-7827), or send an email to tn.stars@tn.gov.