What a first grader should know in math by June (and what's normal to still be learning)

By the end of first grade, most children can add and subtract within 20 with a strategy (counting on, making ten, using a known fact), know the addition and subtraction facts within 10 without counting, count to 120 from any starting point, read 34 as three tens and four ones, add a two-digit and a one-digit number with something to look at, solve a one-step word problem with the unknown in any position, tell time to the hour and half hour, and cut a circle or rectangle into halves and fourths. And in June it is normal for the same child to still count on their fingers for 8 + 5, take a long pause before any subtraction, muddle 13 and 15 under pressure, and need the blocks for anything with tens in it.

First grade is the year math stops being counting and starts being strategy. That's why "is my first grader behind?" is hard to answer from one worksheet: the child who counts 8 + 5 from one and the child who says "8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13" get the same answer, and only one of them is where the year is trying to get them. Here's the end-of-year picture, then what's normally still under construction, then what's worth a conversation with the teacher.

What are first graders expected to know by the end of the year?

The list below is drawn from the Common Core first-grade standards, which most states use in some form; your state's version may differ in details and curricula teach these in different orders. In plain language, by June a first grader is expected to be able to do the things in the middle column.

Area	By June, most first graders can…	Try it at home
Adding and subtracting	Add and subtract within 20 using strategies, not just counting; know the facts within 10 from memory; see subtraction as a missing-addend problem (10 − 8 is "8 and what makes 10?"); add three numbers that total 20 or less	"What's 8 + 5?" and then "How did you get it?" A child who says "8 and 2 is 10, and 3 more" is exactly on track. "What's 10 take away 8?"
Word problems	Solve one-step add and subtract stories with the unknown anywhere, including at the start ("some kids were on the bus, 4 got on, now 11")	Make one up about the actual dinner table; move the missing number around
The equal sign	Know that = means "the same as," not "the answer is"; say whether 5 + 2 = 2 + 5 is true	"Is 7 = 8 − 1 true or false?" Many children say false because "the answer" is on the wrong side
Counting and place value	Count to 120 from any number; read and write numbers to 120; see a two-digit number as tens and ones (34 is three tens and four); compare two-digit numbers with >, <, =	"Start at 87 and keep going." "What's 34 made of?" "Which is bigger, 61 or 58?"
Adding with tens	Add a two-digit and a one-digit number, or a two-digit number and a multiple of ten, with blocks or drawings; find 10 more and 10 less in their head; subtract tens from tens (70 − 30)	"What's 10 more than 46?" "What's 25 + 30?" with dimes and pennies
Measuring	Order three things by length; measure with same-size units laid end to end (paper clips, blocks); tell time to the hour and half hour on both kinds of clock	"How many paper clips long is the spoon?" "What time is it?" at 3:00 and 3:30
Data	Sort into three groups and answer how many, how many more	Sort the laundry, count the piles, "how many more socks than shirts?"
Shapes and fractions	Tell which features define a shape (a triangle has three sides; color and size don't matter); build bigger shapes from smaller ones; cut circles and rectangles into halves and fourths and know that more equal pieces means smaller pieces	"Fold the paper into four equal parts." "Which is bigger, half a cookie or a fourth?"

Notice two things in the standards' own wording. Adding within 20 is expected "using strategies," with fluency only within 10. And the two-digit work is expected "using concrete models or drawings." First grade is allowed to be slow and physical with anything bigger than ten.

What's normal to still be learning in June?

Finger counting. Expected, and still useful. The first-grade year is about adding strategies alongside the fingers, not removing them; a child who holds 8 in their head and counts 5 fingers up is on track, and a child who counts 8 + 5 from one on every problem needs the counting-on move, which takes a few weeks to teach. The age-by-age picture is in the finger-counting guide.

Subtraction. It trails addition by months for nearly everyone, because it has two meanings a child has to hold at once ("take away" and "how far apart") and because the standards introduce it as a missing-addend problem, which is a new idea. A first grader who's quick at 7 + 6 and slow at 13 − 7 is typical.

The teen numbers and the teen facts. Facts within 10 are expected from memory; facts that cross ten (8 + 5, 9 + 7, 14 − 6) are expected with a strategy, and slowly. A child who still has to think about 8 + 5 in June is exactly where the standards put them; the fluency deadline for those facts is the end of second grade.

The equal sign. Most first graders start the year believing = means "here comes the answer," and many still half-believe it in June. "7 = 8 − 1" looks wrong to them. This one matters later (it's the idea algebra runs on), and it's fixed by writing equations both ways around at home: "10 = 6 + 4."

Place value under pressure. A child can say "34 is three tens and four" on Monday and still write 43 for thirty-four on Tuesday. The tens-and-ones idea is first-grade work, and it's the single idea that second-grade regrouping depends on; it is worth more of the summer than any fact drill.

Reversals and rushed handwriting. A backwards 3 or 7 is still ordinary in first grade and usually gone by the end of second.

Is my first grader behind?

The thing to check is not the answers but the method. Ask "how did you figure that out?" after a few problems. A first grader who can explain a strategy ("I started at 9 and counted 4," "I made a ten," "I know 6 + 6 so 6 + 7 is one more") is on track even if slow. A first grader whose only method is counting from one, for every problem, in June, is the child to help, and the help is a few weeks of ten-frames and counting on, not a tutor.

Worth a conversation with the teacher in the spring: a child who can't count forward from a number in the middle (asked to start at 27, starts at 1); a child who doesn't yet know that the last number counted tells how many; a child who can't say which of 61 and 58 is bigger with the numbers written down; a child with no facts within 5 (3 + 2 still counted on fingers); or a child who melts down at any math at all, which is a different problem and the subject of what to say when your child cries over math homework.

Also keep age in mind: a first grader who turned six in August sits next to one who turned seven in September, and "below expected" in May for the younger child often means "on track for their age."

One caution from the research: early number sense predicts later math strongly, so "they'll grow out of it" is not a plan. But the same researchers found that a single screening in the early grades flags many children who go on to do fine and misses many who don't. One test on one morning is a reason to look closer, in both directions, not a verdict.

What can I do at home in ten minutes a day?

Facts within 10 out loud, with the strategy said aloud, five minutes a day: doubles, "what makes ten," counting on from the bigger number. Ten-frame work for the facts that cross ten: 8 + 5 is "8 and 2 is 10, and 3 more." Place value with dimes and pennies, straws in bundles, or an egg carton: "show me 34," "what's 10 more?" Word problems about real things, with the missing number moved around. Equations written both ways. Time at the hour and half hour, every time you pass a clock. And keep it playful; a University of Chicago study of 587 first graders found that short, frequent math talk at home, even about once a week, raised math achievement over the year, with the biggest gains for children of parents who were anxious about math.

If you'd like some of that practice to run without you reading each problem, Mathwell covers exactly this year's ground: counting on and making ten with ten-frames, tens and ones, facts within 20, and one-step word problems, with the Tutor reading every problem aloud and giving a smaller step when the child is stuck, rather than the answer. Mathwell is a browser-based K–5 math tutor that reads every problem aloud and teaches with hints instead of answers; there's no grade placement, so a first grader can start with the lessons they need and move at their own pace. Anyone can try the demo lesson without signing up; after that there's a 7-day free trial with a card on file, then $19 a month, $99 a year, or $169 for a three-year K–5 pass. It's for kindergarten through fifth grade only, and the child answers by tapping or typing, not by speaking. The dinner-table word problems should still come from you.