Year of Firsts: First Grade

Upcoming first grade students Gretchen Snyder, Jaxon Corbin and Scott Schonfeld will have new teachers, new things to learn and many more classmates this year.

Because of the many adjustment this year and the introduction to more classmates, first graders will also have the opportunity to develop numerous new friendships.

For Corbin, the biggest differences are the students and teacher in his class, which he summarized by saying, “We have new teachers this time, and I have new friends.”

One aspect of first grade that is different from kindergarten is the things students learn during the year in all four core subjects. For many students, first grade is the first time they receive out-of-school worksheets and activities to complete as homework.“I am just excited, not super excited for first grade,” Cornerstone first grader Snyder said, when expressing her worries surrounding the change.

First grade can be a sizable change for many students with the increasing workload, but there are many positive aspects, like meeting new students and learning a greater range of subjects.

Corbin’s interests are focused on science and recess. “I’m nervous about reading,” he added.

Schonfeld’s focus is in mathematics, which he summarized by saying, “I want to learn how to do fractions; my favorite subject is math.”