1st grade Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in 1st grade social studies in the California Content Standards, and simple things to try at home.
Focus areas this year
- A child's place in time and space
- Rules, maps and American symbols
- Life long ago, cultures, money and work
Easy ways to practice social studies at home
- Talk about your family, your neighborhood and the people who help in it.
- Make a simple map of your home or street together.
- Share a family tradition or story and ask your child to share one back.
- Practice taking turns and sharing, and talk about why fairness matters.
What each unit covers
Maps
Reading a simple map with north at the top, using north, south, east and west, map symbols and legends, and near and far.
Our Land
Natural and human-made features, how the land shapes how we live, and caring for it by reducing, reusing and recycling.
My Community
Community helpers and places, plus rights, rules, roles and responsibilities at home, at school and in the community.
Respect & Inclusion
Sharing, taking turns, listening, including others, and showing respect for people, belongings and the places we share.
Community Services
Jobs that serve the community (fire, health, sanitation, libraries, transit) and services the government or community provides for everyone.
Earning, Saving & Sharing
Practices how people earn income, why families save, sharing and bartering, choosing between needs and wants, and natural, human and capital resources.
Continents & Oceans
Finding the local community, California, the United States, the seven continents and the four main oceans on maps and globes.
Families Near & Far
How families live, work and celebrate across generations and around the world, and how American Indians and immigrants help shape California's culture.
Symbols, Holidays & Voting
The Pledge of Allegiance, songs about American ideals, national holidays and the people they honor, landmarks and documents such as the Statue of Liberty and the Constitution, and making rules by voting.
School & Travel Long Ago
How schools and communities worked in the past, and how people traveled by wagon, stagecoach, sailing ship and steam train before cars and airplanes.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Beginning
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practicing the tricky parts.
- Meeting
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Exceeding
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the California report card guide.
Common questions
Talk about your family, your neighborhood and the people who help in it. Make a simple map of your home or street together. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
The California Content Standards 1st grade social studies units include Maps, Our Land, My Community, Respect & Inclusion, Community Services, Earning, Saving & Sharing.
Free printable 1st grade social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.