Dear Speech Therapist: What is “Normal” for a First-Grader?
**First, I want to clarify that this blog post is not intended to take the place of an evaluation. Only a thorough evaluation with a licensed-speech language pathologist can diagnose a speech or language disorder. If you are concerned about your child’s language, speech, and/or literacy skills, schedule an appointment with a licensed speech-language pathologist today.
Concerned about your child? I offer free consultations, which you can sign up for here.
When we think about what is “normal” for a first-grader in terms of their speech and language skills, a few questions might resonate with parents.
Is my child “typical?”
Is my first-grader on track?
Does my child in first grade need speech therapy?
Is my first grade student falling behind?
Is my kid okay?
When I’m asked these questions as a speech-language pathologist, I think about what I would expect a child to be able to do in first grade. I think about the skills a six-year-old usually has in speech, language, reading, writing, and executive functioning as a basis for beginning my evaluation.
In this blog post, I’m going to break down what I expect a first-grade student to be able to do in each of the above areas. Feel free to jot down notes about what you notice your child is doing well with and what they might be struggling with. This will help your speech therapist know where to start with evaluating so you can get the best care for your child.
Speech:
What’s “normal” for a first-grader?
Speech sounds?
In first grade, children are already expected to use many of the speech sounds found in English, like the sounds: /p/, /b/, /m/, /h/, /n/, /w/, /b/, /k/, /g/, /d/, /t/, /ng/ (like in the word ring), /f/, and /y/.
However, at the beginning of first grade, some students might still struggle with the /r/, /l/, /s/, /ch/, /sh/, /z/, /j/, /v/, and /th/ sounds.
If your child is in first grade and only struggles with one of the later-developing sounds, it might not be cause for concern.
If your child struggles with (1) being understood, (2) using with some of the earlier sounds, or (3) using multiple of the later-developing sounds, they might benefit from some speech therapy to help them gain skills in the speech sounds they struggle with.
What about Stuttering?
Stuttering involves the interruption of the flow of speech, by repeating sounds or syllables (li-li-like this, o-o-or this), extending sounds (lllllllllike this, ooooor this) or stopping sounds. If your child has been stuttering beyond 3-6 months or your child has started to engage in unusual facial and/or body movements when they stutter, schedule an evaluation with a speech-language pathologist who specializes in stuttering.
If you want more information on stuttering, check out the Stuttering Fundation’’s many resources, like the article: If You Think Your Child is Stuttering
Language:
What’s “normal” for a first-grader?
Language is a critical component of how we communicate with others, understand the world, and understand ourselves. When we think about language, we can talk about the smaller pieces of language like words and parts of words, the intermediate level of language like sentences, and stories, where all pieces of language come together to help us connect. I’m going to talk about all of the areas below in the context of what a first-grader is expected to be able to do.
Vocabulary and Word-finding:
A first-grader is expected to know and use approximately 2,600-7,000 words! Since it would be very difficult to actually list out every word that your child in first grade says in order to see if they are on-target with using words, let’s think about what it might look like if your child was struggling with vocabulary and/or word-finding.
If a child doesn’t know the relationship between words, doesn’t know enough words, and uses non-specific words like “that,” “thing” “it,” they might have difficulty with their vocabulary skills.
Additionally, if it seems like they struggle to say words that you know they know, like “spoon,” forget names of close family members, and/or fill the time while trying to find the words by saying “ummm” “errr” or “uhhh” often, they might be struggling with word-finding.
Children can struggle with vocabulary, word-finding, or both at the same time. Trouble with vocabulary and/or word-finding can sound like:
Can you hand me the, uh, you know, the thing I drink water from?
She played…she ran…she won the race.
I got it from the guy at the place. (not using specific words, can be hard to follow)
Sentences and Grammar:
Children in first grade should be able to use many different types of sentences with adult-like grammar. Children between the ages of five and six should be able to use:
The third person -s
“He walks to school every day.”
Regular past tense
“He walked to school yesterday,”
Some irregular past tense verb forms
“hit,” “hurt,” “saw,” “gave,” “ate,” “took,” “fell,” “broke,” and “found,” and
The future tense like
“She will eat lunch.”
Connect sentences with “and” and “because”
Children in first grade are even expected to form complex sentences that have more than one verb in them by:
Using the infinitive
“He needs to get help.” “She wants him to pop the bubble”
Talking about feeling and thinking
“He thinks the dog needs to go outside” “I wonder if I’ll get a good present this year.”
Using relative clauses
“I’ll sleep in the bed that is closest to the bathroom.”
Using adverbial clauses
After it rains, it is wet outside.
If your child is having difficulty with sentences and grammar in first grade, they might say things like:
He walking to school everyday.
She eated lunch tomorrow. (not using the future tense, incorrect past tense for “ate”)
I like cookies. I like ice cream. I like chocolate. (not using “and” to link ideas)
I want turn. I want turn. I like bubble. (not using “because” to link ideas, not using “a” for “I want a turn,” and not making bubbles plural.)
Telling Stories:
Telling stories is an important aspect of connecting emotionally with others, but many children with language disorders have difficulty telling stories that give enough information, make sense, and follow a logical flow. Even though I wouldn’t expect a child in first grade to be able to tell a story as sophisticated as an adult or even a teenager, first-graders typically have many mature elements to their stories.
Children who are around six years old will typically be able to tell (or retell) a story that has a plot with a problem that is solved by the end, character development, and a sequence of events.
Here is an example story from a 6-year-old child from the PLD Literacy and Learning website to get an idea of what a first grader’s story might sound like:
Once there was a boy named Sam who had a dog. One day Sam tried to buy a boat but he didn’t have enough money. Sam was walking home feeling sad. But then his dog stopped to do a wee. Sam saw an old tea pot on the ground. He took the tea pot back to the shop to sell it, but the man said he did not want it. Then Sam’s dog saw a cat and he bumped Sam when he ran off. The teapot fell on the ground and broke. Inside was some money. So Sam bought the boat and he was really happy.
If your child has difficulty telling stories that make sense or seems to have trouble understanding stories when you read together, they might benefit from a speech-language evaluation to look at their narrative language skills (AKA ability to tell and understand stories).
Reading and Writing:
What’s “normal” for a first-grader?
Phonological Awareness:
If you have good phonological awareness that means that you have awareness of sounds in spoken words. Phonological awareness refers to sounds, not letters.
That means you:
Know how many syllables are in a word, like with “butterfly:” bu-tter-fly
Are able to separate the word into its corresponding sounds, like with “cash:” /k/ /a/ /sh/
Are even able to manipulate the sounds in your mind, like having the awareness that if you switch the /b/ in blue to the /k/ sound, you get the word “clue.”
Phonological awareness has been shown in many, many research studies to have a big impact on the ability to read and spell words. I have a few videos on my Instagram that might help you get a better feel for what phonological awareness is, why we should care about phonological awareness, and some sample activities to evaluate and practice phonological awareness skills.
First-graders are still very much in the process of developing their phonological awareness skills and tend to make big gains in this area throughout first grade.
Before first grade:
A child should be pretty comfortable with separating syllables in multisyllabic words, like bu-tter-fly. Beyond just separating them, they should even be able to delete a syllable in their minds. For example, if I asked a child entering first grade to say “butterfly” without the “bu,” I would expect them to be able to say “tterfly.”
During first grade:
A child should be learning how to separate, delete, and manipulate the beginning sounds of a word. For example, a first-grader is expected to be able to separate the first sound from the rest of the word in “cat”: /k/ /at/.
They should also be learning how to not only separate that sound, but also delete it: “cat” -> “cat.”
It’s most difficult to then manipulate the sound by exchanging it with another sound: “cat” but change /k/ to /b/: “bat.” By the middle of first grade, most students should be able to demonstrate this phonological awareness skill.
By the end of first grade:
Throughout first grade, students are also developing the ability to separate and delete beginning sounds in blends: “snow” without /s/ is “no.” Once they’ve gained confidence in that skill, they can even manipulate sounds in blends, “flow” but change /f/ to /g/ “glow.”
A child is expected to not only manipulate the sounds at the beginning of a word, but they should also be able to manipulate the sounds at the end of a word: “arm” but don’t say /m/: “are.”
Reading Words:
At the beginning of first grade, children are still in the early stages of learning how to read words by decoding them (sounding out words). First graders are learning that we represent the sounds in the words that they hear with written letters.
According to the Illinois Common Core State Standards, a child entering first grade is expected to be able to recognize and be able to name all upper and lowercase letters of the alphabet.
By the end of first grade, a child should be able to:
accurately read regularly spelled one-syllable words, like CVC (consonant, vowel consonant) words cat, hop, sip
read words that follow the VCe (vowel, consonant, e) pattern: hope, like, and gate
Read sentences that contain words they know how to read, like I can hop on top.
If your child is struggling with reading these types of words, if it takes them a long time to sound out the simplest of words, they might benefit from a speech-language evaluation to see if they are on track for learning how to read.
Spelling Words:
In first grade, children are learning how to spell the types of words that they can read.
By the end of first grade, a student should be able to spell CVC words like those listed above: cat, hop, sip as well as words with a VCe structure like hope, like, and gate.
With some guidance, your child in first grade should also be able to write sentences, though they are not expected to be able to correctly spell irregular words they haven’t learned how to spell.
Executive Functioning:
What’s “normal” for a first-grader?
Executive functions develop at different stages and aren’t typically mature until an individual is in their early to mid-20s. Executive functioning skills develop at different ages so there isn’t a clear timeline for when a child should have a particular skill. That said, there seem to be executive functioning growth spurts at three different points in development: 5-8 years, 9-12 years, and during adolescence. We’re going to take a look at what we can generally expect a first-grader to do in terms of their attention and self-control, information processing, cognitive flexibility, goal setting and planning and inner speech and self-talk.
If I’ve already lost you, take a look at some of my other blog posts to get a feel for what executive functioning is, some executive dysfunctioning profiles that might match your child, and why executive functioning is important.
You may be wondering why a speech therapist would work on executive functioning and the answer lies in inner speech and self-talk. Inner speech is critical for self-talk and self-regulation. But self-talk isn’t just about saying to yourself “don’t do that” or “keep going.” Self-talk requires complex language that is often difficult for those who struggle with language, literacy, and ADHD. A speech-language therapist is the right person to work on these skills with your child.
Attention and Self-control:
A first-grader is not expected to have completely mature abilities in attention and self-control, but they have made significant gains from birth. Between the ages of 3-6, children are expected to have increased their ability to pay attention, control themselves, and stop themselves from blurting out ideas or following their first idea. However, these skills are not yet mature. A child in first grade may still get stuck on an idea or want, though this is less common than when they were in preschool and kindergarten. Around the age of six, a child begins to be able to resist distractions and continue to pay attention.
Information Processing:
Information processing involves processing information (directions, comments, questions, etc.) with speed, accuracy. Information processing skills tend to increase significantly between the ages of nine and twelve, but first-graders are still expected to be able to have some skills in this area.
A six-year-old is able to think about up to 5 different steps. Imagine a first-grade classroom, a child might be expected to complete a number of steps to get ready in the morning independently. If your child can complete up to 5 steps independently (you aren’t reminding them on each step) then they are probably on track in the area of information processing.
Cognitive Flexibility:
Cognitive flexibility involves being able to shift (move attention from one thing to another) and manage changing demands. We can’t adapt to changes in our environment, like making a new plan, giving up a strategy that isn’t working, or picking new goals, if we don’t have cognitive flexibility.
A five year old child might still have trouble switching between two different rules but be more flexible once approaching age six. Six year-olds are increasingly able to move on from something they are perseverating on (a want for something) and are starting to learn from mistakes and even come up with a new strategy for a simple problem.
“I want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Oh no, we are out of peanut butter. I can have a grilled cheese instead.” or “Someone else is playing the game I want. I will choose a different game or ask them if I can play too.”
Goal Setting and Planning:
Goal setting and planning require an individual to coordinate skills in all areas discussed above: attention, self-control, information processing, and cognitive flexibility. Goal-setting and planning abilities usually mature to an almost-adult level by the time a child is twelve years old. Children in first grade should typically be able to make a more advantageous choice (one marshmallow now or two marshmallows later), come up with new ideas (let’s make a lego tower not from a picture but from my mind!), and selecting goals that lead to better rewards (If I take a breath and ask for a treat, I might get it. If I yell, I might get in trouble instead.)
Inner Speech and Self-Talk:
Developing inner speech involves taking spoken language and turning it inwards. This inner-speech and self-talk is critical for the development and employment of many other executive functioning skills like those listed above:
Attention and self-control: “I didn’t hear what she said. I should put my toy down.”
Information processing: “Okay I have to do X first, then Y, and then Z at the end.”
Cognitive Flexibility: “That plan didn’t work. I should try a new one.”
Goal Setting and Planning: “I want to go to a movie with my friends so I should get my homework done now and ask my parents.”
Vygotsky (1986) developed a model to explain the development of silent, inner speech, in which first-graders are in the mid-late stage. A child in first grade will typically use language to describe their problem-solving efforts, speaking their trial-and-error attempts throughout (hmm, that didn’t work. Let’s try again.)
A first-grade student is expected to not only use language to describe a problem and request help but may also be beginning to use language as a planning tool: “If I wait in line here, I can get a red piece of paper for my project. I want a red piece of paper because I’m making a barn.”
Worried your first-grader is falling behind?
Let’s talk about it!
I’d love to help you figure out if a speech-language evaluation and/or therapy would be good for your child.
Schedule a free consultation today!
Hi, I’m Hollis, the owner of Mindful Speech.
I’m a speech-language pathologist licensed in Illinois and Colorado.
I specialize in providing speech therapy to help children, teens, and young adults to improve language, reading, writing, and executive functioning skills. Now offering in-person sessions in Chicago!
Learn more about me on my About Hollis page.