Week 1 of 8
Week 1
1st Grade → 2nd Grade · Addition within 20 and Short vowels
Math
Addition Within 20
Adding within 20 in cases that do not cross a ten — 12 + 3, 5 + 4. Early first grade.
The mistake to watch for. Adding the tens digit into the ones, so 12 + 3 becomes 6 (1 + 2 + 3).
How to help. Write the teen number as 10 + 2 before adding. The ten sits still while the ones change.
A worked example
Try 9 + 6. Count on from 9: 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. Or use a double: 6 + 6 = 12, and 9 is 3 more than 6, so 12 + 3 = 15.
Reading & language
Short Vowel Sounds
Naming which of the five short vowel sounds (a/e/i/o/u) is in a word. First grade, building directly on kindergarten CVC decoding.
The mistake to watch for. Confusing short e and short i — "pen" and "pin" sound nearly identical to an early reader's ear.
How to help. Have your child feel their mouth shape: short e opens wider than short i. Pairing minimal pairs (pen/pin, ten/tin) side by side makes the difference audible.
A worked example
Say 'pig' slowly: p-i-g. The middle sound is the short i, like in 'sit'. Short vowels are quick sounds: a in cat, e in bed, i in sit, o in hot, u in cup.
Words for this week
- add
- To put numbers together to find how many in all.
- sum
- The answer you get when you add.
- total
- All of the things added together.
- double
- Two times as much. The double of 6 is 12.
- equal
- The same amount. The sign = means "is equal to".
- vowel
- The letters a, e, i, o and u. Every syllable has a vowel sound.
- consonant
- Any letter that is not a vowel, like b, c, d or f.
- sound
- What you hear when you say a letter or a word.
- letter
- One of the symbols we use to write words, like a, b or c.
- syllable
- One beat in a word. Elephant has three syllables: el-e-phant.
Read this week
Leopard
A short animals article from our Learn library, chosen for this reading level. Read it together, then ask your child to tell you one new thing they learned.