1St grade skill


First grade is critical for reading skills, but some kids are way behind

AUSTIN, Texas — Most years, by the third week of first grade, Heather Miller is working with her class on writing the beginning, middle and end of simple words. This year, she had to backtrack — all the way to the letter “H.”

This story also appeared in USA Today

“Do we start at the bottom or do we start at the top?” Miller asked as she stood in front of her class at Doss Elementary.

“Top!” chorused a few voices.

“When I do an H, I do a straight line down, another straight line down and then I cross in the middle,” Miller said, demonstrating on a projector in a front corner of the classroom.

Her 25 students set to work on their own. Some got it right away. One student watched his tablemate before slowly copying down his own H’s. Another tested her own way of writing the letter: one line down, cross in the middle, then another line down. “Your paper is upside down, let’s turn it,” Miller said to a student who was trying to write letters while leaning sideways, almost out of her seat.

A student works on a writing assignment in Heather Miller’s classroom.

In classrooms across the country, the first months of school this fall have laid bare what many in education feared: Students are way behind in skills they should have mastered already.

Children in early elementary school have had their most formative first few years of education disrupted by the pandemic, years when they learn basic math and reading skills and important social-emotional skills, like how to get along with peers and follow routines in a classroom.

While experts say it’s likely these students will catch up in many skills, the stakes are especially high around literacy. Research shows if children are struggling to read at the end of first grade, they are likely to still be struggling as fourth graders. And in many states with third grade reading “gates” in place, students could be at risk of getting held back if they haven’t caught up within a few years.

40 percent — The number of first grade students “well below grade level” in reading in 2020, compared with 27 percent in 2019, according to Amplify Education Inc.

First grade in particular — “the reading year,” as Miller calls it — is pivotal for elementary students, when their literacy skills “really take off.” Kindergarten focuses on easing children from a variety of educational backgrounds — or none at all — into formal schooling. In contrast, first grade concentrates on moving students from pre-reading skills and simple math, like counting, to more complex skills, like reading and writing sentences and adding and subtracting numbers.

By the end of first grade in Texas, students are expected to be able to mentally add or subtract 10 from any given two-digit number, retell stories using key details and write narratives that sequence events. The benchmarks are similar to those used in the more than 40 states that, along with the District of Columbia, adopted the national Common Core standards a decade ago.

Teachers often see a range of literacy skills, and that could be more pronounced this year due to the pandemic
Teacher Heather Miller has seen a wide range of writing skills among her first grade students, with some students already writing complex sentences while others are still working on letter formation. Credit: Jackie Mader/ The Hechinger ReportHeather Miller has already seen improvement in writing, including among students who started the year without a strong grasp of forming letters. Credit: Jackie Mader/ The Hechinger ReportHeather Miller’s students frequently write in notebooks to show their progress in writing skills. Credit: Jackie Mader/ The Hechinger ReportHeather Miller’s students frequently write in notebooks to show their progress in writing skills. Credit: Jackie Mader/ The Hechinger Report

“They really grow as readers in first grade, and writers,” Miller said. “It’s where they build their confidence in their fluency.”

But about half of Miller’s class of first graders at Doss Elementary, a spacious, bright, newly built school in northwest Austin, spent kindergarten online. Some were among the tens of thousands of children who sat out kindergarten entirely last year.

More than a month into this school year, Miller found she was spending extensive time on social lessons she used to teach in kindergarten, like sharing and problem-solving.   She stopped class repeatedly to mediate disagreements. Finally, she resorted to an activity she used to use in kindergarten: role-playing social scenarios, like what to do if someone accidentally trips you.

“My kids are so spread out in their needs … there’s so much to teach, and somehow there’s not enough time.”

Heather Miller, first grade teacher

“So many kids are missing that piece from last year because they were, you know, virtual or on an iPad for most of the time, and they don’t know how to problem-solve with each other,” Miller said. “That’s just caused a lot of disruption during the school day.” 

Her students were also not as independent as they had been in previous years. Used to working on tablets or laptops for much of their day, many of these students were also behind in fine motor skills, struggling to use scissors and still working on correctly writing numbers.

Related: What parents need to know about the research on how kids learn to read

Instead of working on first grade standards, Miller was devoting time on this Friday morning in early September to forming upper- and lowercase letters, a kindergarten standard in Texas and the majority of other states. As students finished practicing the letter H, they moved on to the assignment at the bottom of the page: Draw a picture and write a word describing something that starts with an H.

“H-r-o-s” one student wrote next to a picture of a horse standing on green grass in front of a light blue sky. “H-e-a-r-s” another student wrote next to a picture of a strip of brown hair, floating in the white picture box. “You should draw a face there,” suggested his tablemate, pointing at the blank space under the hair.

Students work on a phonics activity during center time in Heather Miller’s classroom. Credit: Jackie Mader/ The Hechinger Report

Miller’s first graders are a case study in the scale, depth and unevenness of learning loss during the pandemic.  One report by Amplify Education Inc., which creates curriculum, assessment and intervention products, found children in first and second grade experienced dramatic drops in grade level reading scores compared with those in previous years.

In 2020, 40 percent of first grade students and 35 percent of second grade students  were scoring “well below grade level” on a reading assessment, compared with 27 percent and 29 percent the previous year. That means a school would need to offer “intensive intervention” to nearly 50 percent more students than before the pandemic.

Data analyzed by McKinsey & Company late last year concluded that children have lost at least one and a half months of reading. Other data show low-income, Black and Latinx students are falling further behind than their white peers, leading to worsening achievement gaps.

Experts say it’s now clear families who had time and resources to help their children with academics when schooling was disrupted had a tremendous advantage.

“Higher-income parents, higher-educated parents, are likely to have worked with their children to teach them to read and basic numbers, and some of those really basic early foundational skills that kids generally get in pre-K, kindergarten and first grade,” said Melissa Clearfield, a professor of psychology who focuses on young children and poverty at Whitman College.

“Families who were not able to, either because their parents were essential workers or children whose parents are significantly low-income or not educated, they’re going to be really far behind.

A student puts a poetry journal away in Heather Miller’s first grade class. Miller noticed most students came in lacking independence and other social skills they typically develop in kindergarten, due to distance learning last year. Credit: Jackie Mader/ The Hechinger Report

What Miller has observed in the first few weeks of the school year is likely taking place in classrooms nationwide, experts say. In April, researchers with the nonprofit NWEA, which develops pre-K-12 assessments, predicted how the pandemic’s disruptions would manifest among the kindergarten class of 2021: a wider range of ability levels; large class sizes with more diverse ages because some parents held children back a grade; and students unfamiliar with in-person classroom routines.

“We predicted that there would be a lot of diversity in skills,” said Brooke Mabry, strategic content design coordinator for NWEA Professional Learning. That includes skills related to academics, social-emotional learning and executive functioning, she added.

The varying experiences children had with school last year also impacted fine motor skill development, independence, ability to navigate conflicts and the “unfinished learning” teachers are now observing, she added.

Related: Remote learning a bust? Some families consider having their child repeat kindergarten

While switching to remote learning was hard on many students, younger students were generally unable to log themselves on to a computer independently and focus on virtual lessons for extended periods of time. Teachers, who usually rely on small, in-person groups for  early literacy skills, instead had to teach letters, sounds and sight words via online platforms.

Miller had the unwieldy task of teaching kids both in person and online, spending her year pivoting between students in front of her and students on her computer screen, using her projector to display books to students at home and teaching reading skills via virtual groups.

Now, with students in front of her again, Miller was finding that those online lessons weren’t as useful as many had hoped.

Miller, 30, is a calm, confident teacher who is in her eighth year of teaching and her second at Doss. She usually has students with a wide range of ability levels at the beginning of the year, although Doss is relatively affluent. Nearly 62 percent of students at the school are white, and fewer than 20 percent are economically disadvantaged, compared with the district average of nearly 53 percent. In 2019, 95 percent of Doss’ students passed the state reading assessment.

Students play outside Doss Elementary in Austin, Texas. Credit: Jackie Mader/ The Hechinger Report

But this year, Miller saw larger gaps in reading skills than ever before. Usually, her first graders would start with reading levels ranging from mid-kindergarten to second grade. This year, the levels spanned early kindergarten up to fourth grade.

“My kids are so spread out in their needs,” Miller said. “I just feel like — and I’m sure every teacher feels like this — there’s so much to teach, and somehow there’s not enough time.”

She’s also seen higher literacy levels for kids who went to school in person last year. To her, it speaks to the immense benefits kids get from all aspects of in-person learning. “It just shows how important it is for these kids to be around their peers and just have normalcy,” she said.

Related: Summer school programs race to help students most in danger of falling behind

To catch kids up, Miller is relying on, among other things, one of the staples of the early elementary classroom: center time. For two hours a day, she works with small groups of students on the specific math and reading skills they are lacking.

On a recent October morning, Miller divided her class into five groups to rotate through various activities around her room. She gave her students a few minutes to finish a writing assignment as she pulled out several sets of small books at various reading levels; colorful plastic, hollow phones so her students could hear themselves read; and for a group of struggling readers, a matching game featuring cards showing various letters and pictures.

A student uses a whisper phone and a green rubber finger to follow along as he reads during center time. Credit: Jackie Mader/ The Hechinger Report

“I feel like I’m teaching four grades,” Miller said as she arranged the materials on her desk.

Several minutes later, seated at a table in the back of the room with five of her grade-level readers, Miller handed them each a phone, a small book and a green witch’s finger to help them point at the words in the book. “Today we’re going to talk about our reading tools,” Miller said, holding up a blue plastic phone. “These are called whisper phones. You whisper so you can hear yourself sound out the words,” she said. “Do these go on our heads?”

“No!” the students said, giggling.

“You know what these are for?” she said, holding up a rubber finger.

“Um, they’re for reading,” one student said. “’Cause I had them in kindergarten.”

“Very good. Are these for picking your nose?” Miller asked.

“No!” the students said, laughing.

She placed a book in front of each child and walked them through a series of exercises, including looking at the cover and predicting what the book would be about.

Then, they opened their books and began to read in a whisper. Miller turned from one side of the table to the other, listening as students read to themselves, pointing at each word with their green rubber fingers. She helped them sound out challenging words, like “away.” One by one, the students finished the book. A few read it several times in the minutes allotted.

Students practice reading using whisper phones during center time in their first grade classroom. Credit: Jackie Mader/ The Hechinger Report

Miller’s next group, all of whom were reading far below grade level, required a different activity. Rather than handing out a book, Miller pulled out a letter-matching game at the table, using materials she had from her days as a kindergarten teacher. She placed two small laminated cards on the table, one showing the letter D and a picture of a dog, and one with the letter B and a picture of a ball.

“We’re going to do your letters today,” Miller said to the group. “What letter is this?” she asked, pointing to the B.

“Ball!” one student responded.

“What letter?” Miller asked again. There was a pause.

“B!” another student responded.

“What sound does it make?”

“Buh,” a third student said.

The students ran through the activity, looking at pictures of items starting with B and D like a doll, ball, dog and dolphin, and sorting them into piles based on the starting letter.

A student reads a book during center time in Heather Miller’s classroom. Credit: Jackie Mader/ The Hechinger Report

Experts like Clearfield say finding new or different strategies to help students learn grade-level content after the last 18 months will be critical, even if that means pulling out activities typically used by lower grade levels, as Miller did with her lowest reading group.

It also may mean recruiting help from outside the classroom. Miller said Doss already had a strong team of interventionists to rely on, and several of her students receive extra reading help during the day.

Miller has also found it helpful to work with her fellow first grade teachers to solve a shared academic challenge. This fall, the first grade teachers all discovered that many of their students were behind in reading sight words. They began meeting regularly to share tips and strategies to combat this.

Despite the obvious need to catch kids up, Miller has been mindful of not coming on too strong with remediation efforts. “I don’t want to push them so hard where they get burned out,” she said on an October evening. “They’ve been through so much.”

Related:  We know how to help young children cope with the trauma of the last year— but will we do it?

Mabry, of NWEA, said while catching students up is important, society needs to view the recovery process as a multiyear effort. “In previous years, when looking at unfinished learning and finding ways to get students to accelerated growth, we never expected that we would get students who need support to meet those accelerated goals in one year. We would never approach it that way,” Mabry said. “Now, we’re so frantic. I think we’re frantic because we feel it’s this larger population.”

Teacher Heather Miller has used activities from her former kindergarten classroom to teach students who are behind in reading skills. Credit: Jackie Mader/ The Hechinger Report

It’s a daunting task, but experts say there is hope.

“Kids will catch up eventually,” said Clearfield from Whitman College. But to get there, society may need to re-evaluate expectations, she added. “If most children in our community are behind by, like, a year or two, then our expectations for what is typical, it’s going to have to match where they are,” Clearfield said. “Otherwise, we are going to be constantly frustrated … we’re going to have expectations that don’t match their skills or abilities.”

By mid-autumn, Miller was heartened by what she was seeing in her classroom. Students were becoming more confident and independent. Their writing was stronger. There were fewer conflicts.

One morning, Miller stood by her desk as students effortlessly transitioned from one activity to the next during center time. They quietly buzzed around, cleaning up activities and putting their notebooks away in cubbies as she prepared to work with a new group of students at her desk.

“It kind of gives me hope that we’ll be OK,” she said. “Even after last year, we’ll be OK.”

This story about reading skills was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s newsletter.  

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First grade skills checklist

  • Reading & Writing
  • Mathematics
  • Logic & Problem Solving
  • Science
  • Social Studies
  • Creativity & Life Skills
  • Personal & Social Skills
Is your child ready for first grade? See our checklist of essential developmental skills kids need to succeed.

Is your child ready for first grade? This simple question can send otherwise rational adults into a tailspin. Although every child is special and unique and develops at their own pace, there are certain skills and knowledge sets that most educators and developmental experts agree are essential for social and academic growth, development, and achievement in school. As you look through the following checklist of essential developmental skills children need before they enter first grade, please keep in mind that young children need continued opportunities  to attain any new skill; a “one-shot” approach to teaching is not sufficient for building a strong base of attitudes, aptitudes and abilities.

Social skills

  • Shows confidence in self and demonstrates a sense of self-worth
  • Follows rules and routines at home and in kindergarten
  • Uses materials purposefully and respectfully
  • Comfortably adapts to changes
  • Shows eagerness and curiosity as a learner
  • Sustains attention to a single task over a period of time
  • Works, plays and shares with others
  • Interacts easily with familiar adults
  • Participates in group activities
  • Respects the feelings and rights of others
  • Uses words to resolve conflicts
  • Seeks adult help when needed

Reading & comprehension

  • Shows independent interest in reading-related activities
  • Listens with interest to stories read aloud
  • Retells a simple story
  • Recognizes the association between spoken and written words
  • Recognizes all the letters of the alphabet in order
  • Distinguishes between and prints capital and lowercase letters
  • Associates letters and sounds
  • Distinguishes likenesses and differences of letter sounds in spoken words
  • Recognizes rhymes and rhyming patterns
  • Makes predictions about a story or passage based on the title and/or pictures
  • Identifies words and constructs meaning from picture clues in text
  • Identifies basic sight words
  • Distinguishes fact from fiction
  • Begins to understand basic characteristics of fables, stories and legends
  • Identifies story elements of setting, plot, character and conflict (where, when, what, who and why)
  • Uses personal perspective in responding to stories, such as relating to characters or situations
  • Begins to understand simple punctuation marks (period, question mark, etc. )
  • Locates the title, author name, illustrator name and table of contents
  • Sorts common words into categories (e.g., food, colors, shapes)

Writing

  • Reads and writes own name
  • Tells a story using pictures
  • Uses letters or shapes to depict words or ideas
  • Writes familiar words
  • Copies or writes words to convey messages
  • Participates in group dictated stories
  • Builds simple words and sentences
  • Demonstrates left-to-right progression, and top-to-bottom progression
  • Handles writing tools correctly

Language & listening skills

  • Understands and follows simple directions
  • Listens to others for short periods of time without interrupting
  • Recites nursery rhymes, finger plays and songs
  • Participates in discussions and conversations
  • Asks questions
  • Speaks clearly to convey messages and requests
  • Distinguishes between asking and telling
  • Distinguishes between formal and informal language (with peers, at home vs. at school)
  • Uses complete sentences
  • Composes oral stories
  • Retells a simple story with basic elements of beginning, middle and end

Numbers, operations & problem solving skills

  • Names numerals 0 through 30
  • Writes numerals 0 through 20
  • Uses counting skills to add to 10
  • Classifies and compares objects
  • Recognizes, duplicates and extends patterns and relationships of objects, symbols and shapes
  • Collects data and makes records using lists or graphical representations
  • Shows interest in solving mathematical problems
  • Solves problems by guessing and checking using manipulatives or fingers

Geometry & measurement

  • Becomes familiar with common instruments for measuring time and temperature (e.g., rulers, thermometers)
  • Estimates and measures real quantities using non-standard units (blocks or paperclips)
  • Understands and uses comparative words (long and short, heavy and light, etc. )
  • Identifies, labels and creates a variety of shapes

Math in action: Telling time, counting money

  • Shows an understanding of the calendar and time
  • Knows the days of the week and months of the year
  • Knows the value of a penny, nickel, dime and quarter

Social studies

  • Understands the concept of history as real stories of other times, events, places and people
  • Understands broad categories of time (past, present and future)
  • Knows different methods of communication from long ago to present day (oral, pictographs, etc.)
  • Understands the concept of historical contributions by historical figures
  • Has a basic awareness of other cultures and cultural traditions
  • Knows significant individuals in United States history
  • Knows people and events honored in commemorative holidays
  • Recognizes American symbols (the eagle, Liberty Bell, the flag, etc.)
  • Recognizes that people use maps, globes and other models to identify and locate places

Science

  • Forms conclusions based on comparisons, sense observations and exploration
  • Knows that the Sun supplies heat and light energy to the Earth
  • Recognizes basic patterns in weather
  • Recognizes how people impact the Earth, including concepts of conservation, recycling and reducing pollution
  • Understands that all living things have basic needs
  • Distinguishes between living and non-living things
  • Recognizes how living things change as they grow and mature
  • Compares and describes the structural characteristics of plants and animals
  • Distinguishes between types of environments and their inhabitants (hot, cold, wet, dry, etc. )

First grade in elementary school: how to prepare in advance for a new period in a child's life

We write a lot about preparing children for school: we teach them to improve important skills, introduce new habits. But since September, life will change not only for the child, but also for the parents. Together with the Rybakov Foundation, which helps schools build trusting relationships with the families of students, we tell you what dads and moms should prepare for.

Time management

Small delays that were said goodbye in kindergarten are not possible at school. Any teacher will tell you that a first-grader being late for the beginning of the lessons is the lateness of the parents, not the child. No matter how difficult it is to observe the daily routine in summer, this must be done in the common interest. Not later than August, the child needs to start getting up and going to bed at a certain time in order to enter the working rhythm by the beginning of September.

Long-term planning

Yes, now the family, together with the first grader, lives in trimesters or quarters. Holidays and family trips are tied to vacations. Start planning openly and clearly: even if you have long been accustomed to using a Google calendar, find a calendar that is convenient and understandable to your child, where you will enter together reminders, dates of vacations and parent meetings, birthdays of new friends, important school affairs, so as not to find yourself in a situation “Mom, tomorrow we need a poster about the cities of the Golden Ring and an octopus costume.”

Empathy and Communication

Creating a friendly school community is a shared goal, so don't get sidetracked at the very beginning when it is just being formed. Believe me, the relationship of parents with each other and with the teacher will largely influence how children communicate. If everything works out, they will find good friends at school, and you will find associates and like-minded people with whom it will be comfortable and fun both on a joint trip and at work (yes, there are jobs for parents at school).

You can take the initiative and offer parents a questionnaire on the topic of what questions should be addressed to them. Someone masterfully surfs the Internet and is able to find cool theater tickets, someone draws and can help with the creative design of the class, and someone is just a great manager and can organize the perfect parent committee.

What else should you think about before starting school life? Take the test and get recommendations for your family

To be involved in the life of the class and school, to become part of the community, to enter into self-government bodies where important developmental issues are resolved - this is the position that will help many parents reduce anxiety and stress about what is happening at school and what the future holds for the child. But it will also help the student himself. The experience of the Rybakov Foundation shows that children study better, quickly master the skills needed in modern life and become more prepared for the adult world in those schools that are open to the outside world. The concept of the Rybakov Foundation "School is the center of society" will help you initiate an open community in your school.

Active attention

The first training module at the beginning of the year focuses on children's adaptation to school. Teachers will have to introduce first-graders to each other, teach them to keep their attention, navigate the building, and follow the rules. Parents seem to have nothing to do with this process, but this is not so.

“In the summer, we always recommend parents of first-graders to pay attention to how your child communicates with peers and unfamiliar people: whether he is the first to make contact or waits for an invitation, is ready to get acquainted or is eliminated from it. Your active attention will help to identify difficulties in communicating with peers or older people and quickly overcome them (on your own or with the help of specialists). When you travel in the summer, pay attention to this, give your child simple tasks so that he has to act on his own. For example, buy a train ticket at the box office, agree on something with your neighbors in the country, offer or ask for help. If the child is having a hard time, be there, but don't do the errands for him."

Marianna Bukiya , head teacher, primary school teacher, SBEI “School of Self-Determination named after. A.N. Tubelsky (the school won the competition program of the Rybakov Foundation 2019)

Logistics

On Monday - swimming pool, on Tuesday - English, on Wednesday morning do not wake the elder, he for the younger one, don't forget the aikido uniform. Logistics is a science for parents, so you should think in advance about how not to miss anything when the school year begins, and decide who and under what conditions will help you with all this.

Stability and calmness

It would seem that parents are adults and should not be influenced by others. But anything can happen, especially when the first child goes to first grade. Keep an eye out for yourself and don't get caught up in the race of anxious perfectionists who need to find "that" shade of blue for their uniform pants and buy a dozen school emblems to adorn all kinds of school clothes. Or study with the child over the summer all the preparatory aids bought for the future so that he has a head start over his classmates at the start of school life. No need! May everything you do now be a pleasure. In English, it sounds like "keep calm" - "keep calm." The uniform is just everyday clothes, in which it should be convenient and comfortable. And as for reading, counting and writing - everything has its time. Summer is a time for travel and relaxation, play and study a little in between, not by the hour.

Zen

The new team, of which the first grader's family becomes a part, is teachers, students and parents. Not everything in school will suit you. Not all ideas voiced by someone at the parent meeting will be close to you. Chat messages and long discussions will be annoying. Treat this not as an annoying factor, but as a communication task. Be one of those who hold a "common field" and are tuned in to dialogue. It is in your power to build it in the best possible way. Act as you would do it in communication with colleagues: reasoned, correct, business-like, without emotions. The best thing is if you find like-minded parents who will support you: then it will be faster to direct the discussion in the right direction.

Rybakov Foundation supports family-oriented education. The Foundation aims to change not curricula, but the quality of communication between people - everyone associated with the school, and helps it build trusting partnerships with the families of students, with graduates, with local residents. And on the basis of such relations to form an active school community.

School Skills - Skills4U

School Skills - Skills4U

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  • Reasons for poor performance
  • How to identify weak skills
  • How to improve skills
  • unfilled "gaps" in knowledge,
  • low motivation,
  • high study load,
  • complex program.

They all work together, one pulling the others.

Mathematics is considered the most difficult school subject, so the reasons for poor performance in mathematics should be considered separately. The main one is knowledge not transferred to the skill level. Mathematics is like a ladder, where each rung is well-established knowledge. If it is weak, then the whole ladder begins to stagger and it becomes more and more difficult to climb it.

Eliminating just one cause of poor performance will help reduce all others.

Poor mastering of school knowledge depends on several factors:

  • did not study,
  • not interested,
  • did not understand,
  • did not form a skill.

The first three points are directly related to the motivation of the student and, as a rule, depend on the personality of the teacher and the participation of parents in the education of their child. And here work with gaps in knowledge should be carried out individually.

The last item depends only on the methodology. It is important to take it into account in subjects such as mathematics and the Russian language.

To identify weak skills, you just need to register and take a free test.

You will gain an understanding in which areas of knowledge the child has weak skills. They make it difficult to study the subject further.

For example, a poorly learned multiplication table will not allow a student to quickly solve problems, and problems with reading graphs will affect not only algebra, but also physics.

  • understand the material,
  • find enough exercises for one skill.
  • do these exercises in the shortest possible time (this speeds up the process of assimilation of the material),
  • to consolidate the skill through several repetitions.

What are the problems with this method

  • it is difficult to get a child to work with concentration and quickly,
  • is difficult to make repeat tasks to consolidate the skill.

Skills4u.ru implements functions that solve the problems described above:

  • all skills are divided into elementary ones,
  • all tasks are designed to be done orally,
  • the child receives instant feedback (correct-incorrect),
  • the child sees the time to complete tasks, which motivates them to work quickly,
  • a reminder of the repetition required to consolidate a skill.

The skills4u.ru program is aimed at the formation and development of skills. You can always check the degree of formation of a particular skill in your child. To do this, take a free test and start working.

What are our users saying?

  • We thank the blogger Wylsacom (8.9 million subscribers on YouTube) for recommending the skills4u.ru platform

    Wylsacom

  • For our family, your exercise machines are just a godsend! Family members often lack consistency and control, I found all this with you. A child solves 90 examples in 10 minutes, then a couple of repetitions, and I can be calm for math that day. My involvement is minimal. And with Russian a similar situation. Saves time and nerves of all participants.

    Elena Soldatova

  • I am very glad that we found this site, where they help to cope with mistakes and gain useful school skills. Now I don't sit for hours on my kids' homework. They are happy to solve problems and are happy that they succeed! Polina, she is 13 years old, studied Russian. Now she knows him "five" and even participated in the regional Olympiad. Son Serezha, he is in the 4th grade, he likes mathematics more.

    They seem to study for a very short time - 20-30 minutes on a computer or on a tablet, but this helps to quickly master the subject and form useful school skills.

    Sheldyaeva Galina

    Mother of two children

Read more testimonials here

Why our platform?

Let me remind you what learning skills are. This is the ability to apply the acquired knowledge brought to automatism.

At school, the formation of educational skills and abilities in children is necessary for a large number of sections of various academic disciplines, from fluent reading to elements of probability theory. If knowledge is not transferred to the skill level, then further study of the subject begins to slow down.

How, ideally, the formation of schoolchildren's learning skills should take place

  1. It is necessary to obtain the necessary knowledge.
  2. Highlight the "isolated" skill to be converted into a skill.
  3. Solve enough exercises.
  4. Consolidate the skill, that is, perform several repetitions over the next days.

But the development of learning skills in school does not always take these factors into account, which ultimately leads to knowledge gaps and a decrease in student performance.

The reasons why the development and formation of learning skills is inefficient

  • impossibility to implement an individual approach to each student;
  • non-isolated skill;
  • insufficient number of exercises for its formation.

Therefore, knowledge within the framework of the educational process turns into a skill very slowly, and sometimes it remains at the level of an uncertain skill. There are children who in the 8th grade have little knowledge of the multiplication table, and this affects their understanding of mathematics.

We set ourselves the task of making the process of transferring knowledge into a skill as efficient as possible, taking into account the individual level of knowledge and the psychology of the child. For this, the skills4u.ru platform was created, which helps to form learning skills and abilities in the shortest possible time.

Skills4u.ru contains many elementary skills, consisting of a large number of exercises that a child can do orally. The program takes into account the correctness and speed of tasks. The platform also implements the repetition of skills to consolidate them.

We develop study skills. Choose the right class and subject, take tests and build skills.


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