Mathematics

In the first nine weeks of first grade, students will be working hard to make sure we understand numbers to 120.  We'll discover different ways to represent them in pictures and equations, on number paths and number lines, using base ten blocks, and by making comparisons using greater than, less than, and equal to.  

We will also relate addition and subtraction to counting by using strategies such as counting on and counting back.  We will learn that ten is a focus number that can help us with adding and subtracting.  By the end of the year, first graders should be very familiar with addition and subtraction facts to twenty and fluent with them to ten.

Math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) are the building blocks of mathematics in the same way that phonics and phonemic awareness are the building blocks for reading and spelling.  Once mastery of the facts has been attained your child will be able to focus on strategies for solving math problems.  His/Her brain power is applied to the logic of what the problem is asking instead of exhausting its power on basic counting.