Last updated 2026-09-17. Written by the TernQuest team. This checklist is for parents of 1st graders who want a plain list of what the year is supposed to add up to in math, with a way to check each item at home and a sense of when to relax.
What math should a 1st grader know by the end of the year?
Direct answer: By the end of 1st grade, California Common Core expects children to add and subtract within 20 using strategies (fluently within 10), understand two-digit numbers as tens and ones up to 120, compare two-digit numbers with the symbols for greater than, less than and equal, tell time to the hour and half hour, measure length using same-size units, organize simple data, and reason about shapes including dividing them into halves and quarters. These are year-end goals and your school's pacing may differ.
| Area | Year-end expectation | Quick home check |
|---|---|---|
| Add and subtract within 20 | Solve with strategies; fluent within 10 | "8 + 5?" and "How did you get it?" |
| Place value to 120 | Count, read, write to 120; tens and ones | "How many tens in 47?" |
| Compare two-digit numbers | Use >, <, = correctly | "Which is bigger, 62 or 58? How do you know?" |
| Time | Hour and half hour on analog and digital clocks | Cover the digital clock; ask the time on the analog one |
| Measurement | Compare lengths; measure with units laid end to end | "How many paper clips long is this book?" |
| Data | Organize and ask questions about a simple chart | Tally the family's favorite fruit |
| Shapes | Build and describe shapes; halves and quarters | Fold paper into halves, then quarters |
Quotable version: "A 1st grader is on track if they can add within 20 with a strategy, know 47 is 4 tens and 7 ones, and read a clock on the hour and half hour."
Can my 1st grader add and subtract within 20?
Direct answer: The year-end goal is to solve any addition or subtraction within 20 using a strategy (counting on, doubles, make ten, or a known fact), and to be fluent within 10, meaning quick and accurate without counting every finger. Memorizing sums to 20 is not required in 1st grade; understanding them is.
How to check at home
- Ask "8 + 5?" and then, whatever the answer, "How did you get it?" A child who says "I took 2 from the 5 to make 10, then 3 more" is using make-ten. A child who counts on from 8 is fine too, just slower.
- Ask "13 - 5?" and listen for a strategy: count back, or "13 take 3 is 10, take 2 more is 8".
- Check the sums within 10 for speed: 6 + 3, 9 - 4, 2 + 7. These should be nearly instant by spring.
- Give a story problem: "There are 12 birds. 4 fly away. How many are left?" Word problems are part of the standard.
The five strategies children actually use, and a two-week plan for practising them, are in addition within 20 strategies. The make-ten strategy on its own is explained in number bonds and make ten.
When to relax
Using fingers for sums that cross 10 is normal for much of 1st grade. Worry only if a child is still counting from 1 for every sum (rather than counting on from the bigger number) after winter break.
Does my 1st grader understand place value to 120?
Direct answer: A 1st grader should be able to count, read and write numbers to 120, and understand that a two-digit number is some tens and some ones: 47 is 4 tens and 7 ones, and 10 is one ten and zero ones. They use this to add tens and ones (like 40 + 30 or 25 + 4), to find ten more and ten less mentally, and to compare numbers.
How to check at home
- Bundles. Give a pile of straws or sticks and ask them to bundle tens with rubber bands. "How many tens? How many ones? So how many altogether?"
- Ten more, ten less. "What is ten more than 36?" A child who says 46 without counting understands tens.
- Write it. Say "one hundred twelve" and ask them to write it. Watch for "10012", which is a common and telling error.
For the bigger picture of why this matters through 2nd grade and beyond, see place value explained for parents.
Can my 1st grader compare two-digit numbers?
Direct answer: By year end, a child should compare two two-digit numbers by looking at the tens first, then the ones, and record the result with >, < or =. The symbols are new in 1st grade; the thinking behind them is place value.
How to check at home
Write two numbers on cards: 62 and 58. "Which is bigger? How do you know?" The answer you want is about tens ("62 has 6 tens, 58 only has 5"). Then ask them to put the right symbol between them. If the symbol direction is the only problem, the alligator-mouth trick (the open side faces the bigger number) sorts it out.
Can my 1st grader tell time to the hour and half hour?
Direct answer: A 1st grader should read an analog clock on the hour (3:00) and the half hour (3:30) and match it to a digital time. The two hands have different jobs (the short one for the hour, the long one for the minutes), and knowing which is which is most of the battle at this stage.
How to check at home
Set a play clock or a real one to 7:00, then 7:30, and ask the time. Then ask them to show you 4:30. The most common mistake is reading the hour hand on the half hour, when it sits between two numbers. A daily anchor helps: "Look at the clock. It is half past seven. Time for shoes." For the step-by-step teaching sequence through 3rd grade, see how to teach telling time.
Can my 1st grader measure length and organize data?
Direct answer: Measurement in 1st grade means comparing and ordering objects by length, and measuring an object by laying same-size units (paper clips, cubes) end to end with no gaps and counting them. Data means sorting things into a few categories, counting each, and answering questions like "how many more".
How to check at home
- "Which is longer, the spoon or the fork? Now put these three pencils in order from shortest to longest."
- "How many paper clips long is this book?" Watch that the clips touch and do not overlap.
- Tally family favorites (apple, banana, grape) on a piece of paper. "How many more people picked apple than grape?"
Can my 1st grader work with shapes, halves and quarters?
Direct answer: 1st graders learn what makes a shape a shape (a triangle has three sides regardless of size or orientation), build bigger shapes from smaller ones, and split circles and rectangles into two or four equal parts, calling them halves and quarters. This is the first step toward fractions.
How to check at home
- Fold a piece of paper in half. "How many equal parts? What is each called?" Fold again. "Now how many? What are they called?"
- Cut a sandwich into halves one day and quarters the next, and talk about which piece is bigger.
- "Can you make a rectangle out of two triangles?" with paper or blocks.
Halves and quarters lead straight into 2nd and 3rd grade fractions; our post on introducing fractions starts exactly here.
What should I do if my 1st grader is behind on this list?
Direct answer: Find the earliest unchecked box and work there, five minutes a day, with objects before numbers. In 1st grade the two skills everything else leans on are addition strategies within 20 and tens-and-ones thinking, so if either of those is shaky, start there and let time, measurement and shapes wait. Ask the teacher which one they would pick.
| Day | Focus | Activity (about 5 minutes) |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Add within 20 | Three sums, "how did you get it" each time |
| Tuesday | Place value | Bundle straws into tens, name the number |
| Wednesday | Compare | Two number cards, bigger and why |
| Thursday | Time | Clock on the hour and half hour, three times |
| Friday | Shapes and measuring | Paper folding or paper-clip measuring |
Where a game fits: a short untimed game can supply the repetition for addition strategies and place value on days you cannot sit down together. TernQuest's 1st grade math games follow this same standards list and one child can use it free; but if the gap is understanding what "4 tens" means, straws and rubber bands are the right tool and a screen is not, so start there. For the reading half of the year, see the 1st grade reading skills checklist, and if practice is producing tears, read math anxiety in kids before adding more practice.
Related reading
- Addition within 20: 5 strategies kids actually use — the biggest 1st grade math skill, in detail.
- Kindergarten math skills checklist (2026) — what this year builds on.
- 2nd grade math skills checklist (2026) — where it leads.
Next step
When your child has the strategies and needs practice, TernQuest has untimed 1st grade math games aligned to California Common Core and is free to start for one child. The straws and the play clock come first.