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Kindergarten through fifth grade: What your child should know

Keep tabs on your child's grade-by-grade development with this handy checklist.

By Miriam Myers, GreatSchools Staff

No two kids are alike, especially when it comes to hitting developmental benchmarks. But it helps to have a rough idea of which academic and social skills your child should acquire at his or her grade level. Learn more about your child's classroom in such subject areas as reading, math, and science.

By the end of kindergarten, you can expect your child to:

Follow class rules
Separate from a parent or caregiver with ease
Take turns
Cut along a line with scissors
Establish left- or right-hand dominance
Understand time concepts like yesterday, today, and tomorrow
Stand quietly in a line
Follow directions agreeably and easily
Pay attention for 15 to 20 minutes
Hold a crayon and pencil correctly
Share materials such as crayons and blocks
Know the eight basic colors: red, yellow, blue, green, orange, black, white, and pink
Recognize and write the letters of the alphabet in upper- and lowercase forms
Know the relationship between letters and the sounds they make
Recognize sight words such as the and read simple sentences
Spell his first and last name
Write consonant-vowel-consonant words such as bat and fan
Retell a story that has been read aloud
Identify numbers up to 20
Count by ones, fives, and tens to 100
Know basic shapes such as a square, triangle, rectangle, and circle
Know her address and phone number

Find out more about your kindergartner and reading, writing, language arts, math, science, technology, social studies, art, music, and physical education.

By the end of first grade, you can expect your child to:

Work independently at her desk
Listen to longer sets of directions
Read directions off the board, although some children may still have difficulty with this
Complete homework and bring it back the next day
Sit in a chair for a longer period of time
Be able to see things from another person's point of view so you can reason with your child and teach her empathy
Relate experiences in greater detail and in a logical way
Problem-solve disagreements
Crave affection from parents and teachers
Have some minor difficulties with friendships and working out problems with peers
Distinguish left from right
Be able to plan ahead
Write words with letter-combination patterns such as words with a silent e
Read and write high-frequency words such as where and every
Write complete sentences with correct capitalization and punctuation
Read aloud first-grade books with accuracy and understanding
Count change
Tell time to the hour and half-hour
Quickly answer addition and subtraction facts for sums up to 20
Complete two-digit addition and subtraction problems without regrouping

Find out more about your first-grader and reading, writing, language arts, math, science, technology, social studies, art, music, and physical education.

By the end of second grade, you can expect your child to:

Begin to reason and concentrate
Improve his ability to process information
Work cooperatively with a partner or small group
Understand the difference between right and wrong
Make connections between concepts so he will be better able to compare and contrast ideas
Expand his vocabulary
Read fluently with expression
Recognize most irregularly spelled words such as because and upon
Begin to use a dictionary
Add single- and multi-digit numbers with regrouping
Tell time to the quarter-hour
Know the concept of multiplication (for example, 2 x 3 is two rows of three)

Find out more about your second-grader and reading, writing, language arts, math, science, technology, social studies, art, music, and physical education.

By the end of third grade, you can expect your child to:

Work cooperatively and productively with other children in small groups to complete projects
Understand how choices affect consequences
Become more organized and logical in her thinking processes
Build stronger friendships
Be helpful, cheerful, and pleasant as well as rude, bossy, selfish, and impatient
Be more influenced by peer pressure because friends are very important at this stage
Like immediate rewards for behavior
Be able to copy from a chalkboard
Be able to write neatly in cursive because the small muscles of the hand have developed
Read longer stories and chapter books with expression and comprehension
Use prefixes, suffixes, and root words and other strategies to identify unfamiliar words
Multiply single- and multi-digit numbers
Divide multi-digit numbers by one-digit numbers
Tell time to the half-hour and quarter-hour and to five minutes and one minute

Find out more about your third-grader and reading, writing, language arts, math, science, technology, social studies, art, music, and physical education.

By the end of fourth grade, you can expect your child to:

Begin to make more decisions and engage in group decision-making
Want to be part of a group
Think independently and critically
Have empathy
Show a strong sense of responsibility
Be able to memorize and recite facts, although he may not have a deep understanding of them
Increase the amount of detail in drawings
Work on research projects
Write a structured paragraph with an introductory topic sentence, three supporting details, and a closing sentence that wraps up the main idea of the paragraph
Use a range of strategies when drawing meaning from text, such as prediction, connections, and inference
Understand cause-and-effect relationships
Add and subtract decimals, and compare decimals and fractions
Multiply multi-digit numbers by two-digit numbers
Divide larger multi-digit numbers by one-digit numbers
Find the area of two-dimensional shapes
Have a greater awareness of fairness

Find out more about your fourth-grader and reading, writing, math, science, technology, social studies, the arts, and physical education and health.

By the end of fifth grade, you can expect your child to:

Be generally truthful and dependable
Develop increasing independence
Improve problem-solving skills
Acquire more-advanced listening and responding skills
Enjoy organizing and classifying objects and ideas
Be able to read and concentrate for long periods of time
Read complex text fluently and with good comprehension
Research a topic using a variety of sources, and use the features of a book (for example, the index, glossary, and appendix) to find information
Identify conflict, climax, and resolution in a story
Write an organized, multi-paragraph composition in sequential order with a central idea
Use problem-solving strategies to solve real-world math problems
Add and subtract fractions and decimals
Identify and describe three-dimensional shapes, and find their volumes and surface areas
Use long division to divide large numbers by multi-digit numbers

Find out more about your fifth-grader and reading, writing, math, science, technology, social studies, the arts, and physical education and health.

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Comments from GreatSchools.org readers

12/17/2009:

"Wow, not much is expected of kids these days, it seems."

10/22/2009:

"While it's lovely that you read chapter books in Kindergarten is is VERY DEVEOPMENTALLY INAPPROPRIATE to expect children to do so before third grade. A small percentage of children (like you and my nephew)will be advanced readers. BY NO MEANS should school have the same expectations of all students. Using yourself as a guide for what districts should be expectign is unwise. I am a licensed Master Degreed Literacy Specialist. "

09/29/2009:

"a good curriculum should also include music education objectives (i.e. a first grader should be able to read, write, improvise, and play quarter notes, 2-8th notes, quarter rest, and sol and mi). These are in compliance with the national standards for Music. Check out: www.anoka.k12.mn.us/jeffersonmusic for more information on what each grade should know. "

09/29/2009:

"I was reading chapter books at the beginning of kindergarten, at the age of 4!!!! Here, it says you should be reading chapter books after 3rd grade is over!!! Wow...Has America lowered its standards for schools?"

08/24/2009:

"It is interesting. I did a Google search to see where my son was with expert expectations. He just entered the first grade. After looking at the list, I feel pretty good about our public school here in Kentucky, regardless if we are one of the lowest ranked states in public education, because he learned and knows all the kindergarten list above. His classroom specifically worked on all that stuff, wanting them to accomplish it by year's end. I don't know if all the kids got there, but they did work on those things. He knows some of the first grader stuff already, but I like this list because it gives me things I can create as goals this year in case they are missed in the classroom. Thanks! "

08/19/2009:

"This website gave a pretty accurate description of 'what your children should know by year's end'. While it is not very detailed, I understand it is impossible to be very descriptive, as every school is different. In response to the comment posted on 8/03/09, your view of the dynamic between 'wealthy' schools versus 'needy' schools are way off base. I am a teacher in an inner city district but I live in a 'wealthy' district. Trust me, the state is not throwing any extra money our way. Everyone is getting 'left behind'. Don't be so quick to cast blame."

08/18/2009:

08/11/2009:

"this is a great way to know what my child should learn thanks"

08/3/2009:

"This list isnt that helpful--just promotes anxiety among parents and children. My daughter learned more in preschool than in our public system's kindergarten and sadly the teacher did not help at all (not even telling me that my daughter was having difficulty in her class until I asked whether there was a problem when we saw our daughter backtracking in her skills and falling behind her peers). I mistakenly thought that I could rely on the teacher as an expert to guide my child and I in her learning. Unfortunately, the state sends money to 'needy' districts so the children in 'wealthy' districts get left behind unless the parents spend extra money to supplement their education (something that is presumed in our system--that parents with money can back stop the public schools) and apparently spend a ton of time quizzing the teacher continually on what is going on in the classroom."

07/9/2009:

"To those who are responding in horror that their kids don't know the stuff listed: Schools are not battery chargers!!! You aren't supposed to simply insert your kid for twelve years and expect a well rounded adult at the end. Schools are designed to reach most of the kids most of the time. Expecting all of the kids to learn all of the concepts at school is unrealistic and naive. Either way, they are still YOUR kids. If the concept is important, YOU teach them. Quit blaming us teachers. And for God's sake, make the following a national outcry: feed them, bathe them, read to them, and try liking them. Those are the things that will turn education around."

06/9/2009:

"Great info....I use it along with a series of books my brother who is a teacher recommends. They are 'What every ......should know. The blank space meaning whatever grade you child is in or going to. So I now have 'Whatevery 4th grader should know' Thanks again"

06/9/2009:

"This is great information. It is a 'road map' to help us better understand the true purpose of the academic system from grades K-5 and exactly what areas our children must progress in so that they can be better prepared to make valuable contributions to society. This is wonderful information that we as parents can use to work in conjunction with our children's teachers and the schools administration to accomplish the true goal of better preparing our children to be contributors to society. You did an outstanding job in putting this together GreatSchools, and I commend you! Thank you. "

05/12/2009:

"6/12/07 and 6/20/07 If your children aren't getting those skills, there is something wrong with your school, you might want to look into it. My child goes to a low-income school (Title I) in a state that comes in nearly dead last in education and my first graders skills are closer to what to expect from a second grader than a first grader... Your educational system might be in serious danger. You need to confront the Superintendent and ask why their schools are not reaching these milestones. It sounds like your schools and children are being left behind."

04/2/2009:

"Thank You all who came up with this!!It is so great and helpful, Angie"

06/4/2008:

"I really appreciate your website and your emails. your educational outlines for my first grader and kindergartener have been a blessing for me. They are always insighful and easy to understand. I have an 11th grader and a 7th grader as well. I am going to be sure to request emails for their grades as well. thank you for being there to help us parents wade through the waters of education for our kids. Angela Hayes"

06/4/2008:

"I love all the ideas you have for this summer. We are trying to get our granddaughter motivated to read more this summer. Her attention span is not great. She is an insulin dependent diabetic, just went on pump therapy in April. So we are adjusting to that routine. All the teachers comments say that she is a dreamer, and cannot focus. I feel that it could be her glucose readings, when high or low she has different reactions. We have a 504 plan in place--but now will be dealing with a new school and new set of teachers. It is always a struggle with doing extra work, or homework on her own. I guess I am just venting..my grandson is super smart, straight A's in all accelerated classes! But I mustn't compare the two! "

06/3/2008:

"THIS COUNTRY DOES NOT DO ANY JUSTICE FOR OUR CHILDREN. THEY ARE NOT AFFORDED THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS COUNTRY'S TRUE HISTORY. IN FACT, SLAVERY AND ALL OF THE BLACK HISTORY KNOWLEDGE FROM BEGINNING TO END IS LEFT COMPLETELY OUT. WHY? IT IS VERY UNSAVORY AND UNETHICAL TO NOT PROVIDE EVERY STUDENT IN THIS COUNTRY AN EDUCATION THAT WOULD AFFORD THEM A BRIGHT FUTURE."

02/20/2008:

"Have the requirements for what young children should learn changed so much in 30 years? When I was a first grader, we were not expected to read and write independently. We were expected to master printing our letters and learn how they sound. We were not expected to do math more complex than addition & subtraction of 1-10 in PICTORAL FORM. My son's 1st grade math homework contains problems like 72-18=? and 58 + 21=?. No pictures, just these abstract numbers! Also, I HEARTILY disagree that boys should be expected to 'sit in a chair for a longer period of time.' Boys do not sit still and should not be 'required' to do so to be considered 'competent'... I mourn for the future of education..."

06/28/2007:

"Great article. I have a couple questions. Where can we find how to read because the rules are scattered? The sentence below is in the article which caught my eye. At the end of Kindergarten 'Know the relationship between the letters and the sounds they make' I've got a college ed and still don't know them or why. For example, why do we have the letter C and K when they can make the same sound? Cat can be Kat or Kite can me cite. If the e on the end makes the vowel long then look at the word 'love.' I have many of these questions. Some of which I know we derive from latin, etc. But how to explain it to my child to help her read. I've talked with teachers and gotten the same answers: 'don't know' and 'just needs to memorize them' another teacher told me not to worry because she will learn more of that in 1st grade. Who can I ask these types of questions, or where can I read about this type thing, or where can I take classes so I can answer her questions? Thank you very much for all your help! "

06/20/2007:

"I agree with 6/12/2007 writer, except that we are not low-income. We're average and sent our child to a private school. She doesn't know any of the answers from the quiz show 'Are you smarter than a Fifth Grader?' not even most of the 1st grade questions, and she's the straight A student in her class. Scary Scary Scary!"

06/18/2007:

"This made me aware that Spradling school has failed her on what she needs to know for the sixthgrade even though she was passed. So now at her new school I can see if there is tutoring for her. Thank you"

06/12/2007:

"My children aren't learning many of these skills. Having spoken to my neighbors, neither have their children. None of our fifth graders know the answers on the quiz show 'Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?' No child left behind is a joke in this county. They aren't left behind, they are sent forward with a disparaging lack of knowledge. You don't have to be a minority for your children to be disadvantaged, just low- income."