If there’s one thing that homeschooling has made abundantly clear…children are all different!  You just can’t generalize with early learners as they are all at different levels.  I’ve had voracious readers who were teaching themselves at age 3 1/2 and I’ve had a couple that needed a little extra…erm…encouragement.  You just can’t lump them!

Right now I am dealing with two little girls who are in the voracious department.  Ruthie has just turned 7 and is reading at a solid 2nd grade level and is doing great in 2nd grade.  I consider her to be about a year ahead of schedule.  Abby seems to be patterning herself after Ruthie.  Michael…on the other hand…things have been a little more difficult for him.  He is 9 and is in 3rd grade…so technically I would consider him to be about a year behind.  We had a few HARD years in there…had to essentially do the 1st grade curriculum two years in a row.  Michael…bless his little heart, he is the sweetest boy EVER…and he has taught me so much about letting go of how I think things should be and just letting things be the way they are.

Anyway, with this in mind…I thought I would share a list of 100 words that Scholastic thinks your 1st grader should be able to read.  Take this with a HUGE grain of salt!  It’s just a guideline!

a
an
as
at
boy
by
girl
goes
has
he
is
it
little
she
the
to
was
am
down
fast
have
I
jump
me
my
off
on
out
play
ran
run
up
in
and
are
did
do
don’t
father
friend
good
had
mother
no
not
they
we
were
yes
you
ate
be
day
eat
for
from
if
look
night
of
rain
sat
sit
stop
went
will
with
black
blue
can
car
go
green
new
old
orange
red
saw
see
that
this
want
yellow
came
come
eight
five
four
get
give
got
nine
one
seven
six
ten
three
two
gave

What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts!