Enrichment education: School expectations, by grade

The greatschools.org website includes a thorough list of knowledge and skills children should know at each grade level from kindergarten to fifth grade. Families can use this abbreviated version to design activities that support development of grade-appropriate academic and character skills. If children haven't hit all of these targets by the end of the school year, summer is a great time to work on areas that need strengthening.

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

— Take turns

— Cut along a line with scissors

— 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 relationship between letters and the sounds they make

— Spell his first and last name

— Retell a story that has been read aloud

— Know basic shapes such as a square, triangle, rectangle and circle

— Know her address and phone number

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

— Work independently at her desk

— Listen to longer sets of directions

— Complete homework and bring it back the next day

— 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

— Distinguish left from right

— Be able to plan ahead

— 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

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

— Begin to reason and concentrate

— Work cooperatively with a partner or small group

— Understand the difference between right and wrong

— Expand his vocabulary

— Read fluently with expression

— Begin to use a dictionary

— Add single- and multi-digit numbers with regrouping

— Know the concept of multiplication (for example, 2 x 3 is two rows of three)

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

— Understand how choices affect consequences

— Build stronger friendships

— Be able to copy from a chalkboard

— Read longer stories and chapter books with expression and comprehension