A Grade-by-Grade Guide to What Your Child Should be Learning in School

What to Expect

As your child moves through the school years, you will see changes that may mystify or delight you. At times you may wonder, "Is my child normal?" and so may she. While each child develops at his or her own pace there are some milestones to be reached as they march from elementary school to the upper grades. The following grade-by-grade guide highlights some of the behaviors and learning opportunities that your child may experience.

Keep in mind that children develop at very different rates, may not partake in all behaviors commonly associated with an age group, and that the age of children within a grade level can be quite varied. (For example, while some children start Kindergarten at 4, others are almost 6.). Any or all of these factors can result in a very different child, says Christy Corbin, Ph.D., Associate Director, Undergraduate Early Childhood Education at the University of Maryland.

The Grade-to-Grade Guide includes:

Dr. Corbin is just one of a number of educators on the advisory board of LHJ.com who helped with this effort. We would like to thank them and the other consultants who helped the editors at LHJ.com.

• Bob Chase, President, National Education Association
• Christy Corbin, Ph. D., Associate Director, Undergraduate Early Childhood Education at the University of Maryland
• Jacqueline Haines, Executive Director, Gesell Institute of Human Development
• Shirley Igo, President, National Parent-Teacher Association. Plainview, Texas
• Michael Kaplan, M.D., Assistant Clinical Professor at Yale Child Study Center
• Istar Schwager, Ph.D., Educational Psychologist, New York, New York
• Diana L. M. Sharp, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate, Director, Young Children's Literacy Project, Learning Technology Center

The following educators provided their expertise to the editors of LHJ.com in the development of the grade-by-grade guide.

• Charles Flatter, Chairperson, Department of Human Development and Director of the Institute for Child Study, University of Maryland
• Rozalind Larocque, American Federation of Teachers, Washington, D.C.
• Barbara Parker, National Education Association, Washington, D.C.
• Kyle Pruitt, Ph.D., Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, Connecticut
• Ruth Roemer, teacher trainer, New York City
• Nancy Roser, Ed.D., University of Texas at Austin
• Darrell Rud, President, National Association of Elementary School Principals, Billings, Montana
• Amy Ward, teacher, New York City