Grade 1 Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 1 social studies in the Prince Edward Island Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Citizenship, Power, and Governance. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and the origins, functions, and sources of power, authority, and governance.
- Culture and Diversity. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of culture, diversity, and world view, recognizing the similarities and differences reflected in various personal, cultural, racial, and ethnic perspectives.
- Individuals, Societies, and Economic Decisions. Students will expected to demonstrate the ability to make responsible economic decisions as individuals and as members of society.
- Interdependence. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the interdependent relationship among individuals, societies, and the environment — locally, nationally, and globally — and the implications for a sustainable future.
- People, Place, and Environment. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the interactions among people, places, and the environment.
- Time, Continuity, and Change. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the past and how it affects the present and the future.
Easy ways to practise social studies at home
- Talk about your family, your neighbourhood 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.
- Practise taking turns and sharing, and talk about why fairness matters.
What each unit covers
Respect & Inclusion
Sharing, taking turns, listening, including others, and showing respect for people, belongings and the places we share.
Getting Along
Practises working and playing together, being fair and respectful, following rules, making choices and noticing their effects, helping settle conflicts peacefully, and valuing friendships and differences.
Different & Alike
How families, languages, cultures and celebrations differ, what we all share, and how to show respect for each other.
My Community
Community helpers and places, plus rights, rules, roles and responsibilities at home, at school and in the community.
My Roles & Responsibilities
Seeing that we have different roles (student, friend, sibling, helper), that these change from place to place, and how our actions affect others.
Our Land
Natural and human-made features, how the land shapes how we live, and caring for it by reducing, reusing and recycling.
Places in My Community
Natural and built features, residential and commercial areas, and describing where places are with relative location words (near, far, beside, across).
Maps
Reading a simple map with north at the top, using north, south, east and west, map symbols and legends, and near and far.
Measure & Draw Maps
Measuring distance with footsteps, blocks and hands, map titles, symbols and legends, and making a simple map of a familiar place.
Then and Now
Looks at how the way people live in their community has changed over time, and how contact between communities has changed.
People and Place
Introduces, with respect and in the present tense, that Indigenous peoples have a long relationship with the land and that this relationship has changed over time. Needs review with Indigenous partners before launch.
Needs and Wants
Practises telling needs from wants, and what affects how families meet their needs and wants.
Goods and Services
Introduces goods (things) and services (work people do), and how communities depend on each other to exchange them.
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 practising 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 PEI report card guide.
Common questions
Talk about your family, your neighbourhood 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 Prince Edward Island Curriculum Grade 1 social studies units include respect & inclusion, getting along, different & alike, my community, my roles & responsibilities, our land.
Free printable Grade 1 social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.