1st Grade Reading Assessment: How Help Your Child to Prepare

Some schools administer standardized reading assessments for 1st grade students, though specific content varies. First grade reading assessments can give you a good picture of your child's educational needs. If your child is required to take one, keep reading for information to help your child prepare for it.

Find available tutors

Getting Your 1st Grader Ready for Reading Assessments

What's on a 1st Grade Reading Assessment?

Reading assessments in the 1st grade may address everything from the alphabet to number words to colors. Often, simple vocabulary, syllables, root words, word parts and letter blends will be covered. Basic reading comprehension and fluency skills are also typically addressed.

Most 1st grade reading assessments are designed to determine your child's level in relation to other students. This information can be used to determine class placement, evaluate progress and to decide if your child needs remedial or advanced instruction.

Preparing by Reading

When reading to your child, he or she not only learns about the text's topic, but also develops his or her reading fluency and comprehension skills. If you read to and with your child, he or she will often be ahead of the curve when it comes time for assessment.

To help with reading fluency, read the same books to your child multiple times. Move his or her finger across the passages as you read and have your child read along. Focus on phrases, words and letters that your child might be tested on.

Simply discussing books and other texts with your child will help him or her with reading comprehension. Ask your child for his or her opinion about the book and the characters. Also, discuss what might have happened if the main characters had made different decisions.

Practice Tests

To acquire practice tests, talk to your child's teacher and other reading professionals at your child's school. Your state's Department of Education may also provide practice tests.

Many tests cover a wide range of reading skills, so you can pick and choose which parts you want to administer to your child. For example, your child may already be able to recognize the letters of the alphabet, so you might stick to comprehension-based questions.

Test-taking is a learned skill. Administering practice tests at home will get your child ready to take assessment exams in the real world. Sit your child down in a quiet, uncluttered environment. Give him or her a practice exam and time your child as he or she works. Go over the answers and focus on the areas that your child needs the most help with.

Did you find this useful? If so, please let others know!

Other Articles You May Be Interested In

  • More Blog Articles
    Can Reading Bridge Racial, Socioeconomic Gaps?

    Study after study shows the achievement gap in education between students of different cultures and economic backgrounds. Recently, two New Jersey schools successfully used literature to show students how 'the other half lives'. Can this experiment be a model for other schools to use books to bridge racial and socioeconomic...

  • More Blog Articles
    Too Much Emphasis on Reading and Math?

    According to a large number of surveyed educators who teach grades 3-12, U.S. public schools are spending too much time on reading and math and not enough on other subjects. Yes, math and reading are important. But what about science, foreign languages and social studies?

We Found 7 Tutors You Might Be Interested In

Huntington Learning

  • What Huntington Learning offers:
  • Online and in-center tutoring
  • One on one tutoring
  • Every Huntington tutor is certified and trained extensively on the most effective teaching methods
In-Center and Online

K12

  • What K12 offers:
  • Online tutoring
  • Has a strong and effective partnership with public and private schools
  • AdvancED-accredited corporation meeting the highest standards of educational management
Online Only

Kaplan Kids

  • What Kaplan Kids offers:
  • Online tutoring
  • Customized learning plans
  • Real-Time Progress Reports track your child's progress
Online Only

Kumon

  • What Kumon offers:
  • In-center tutoring
  • Individualized programs for your child
  • Helps your child develop the skills and study habits needed to improve their academic performance
In-Center and Online

Sylvan Learning

  • What Sylvan Learning offers:
  • Online and in-center tutoring
  • Sylvan tutors are certified teachers who provide personalized instruction
  • Regular assessment and progress reports
In-Home, In-Center and Online

Tutor Doctor

  • What Tutor Doctor offers:
  • In-Home tutoring
  • One on one attention by the tutor
  • Develops personlized programs by working with your child's existing homework
In-Home Only

TutorVista

  • What TutorVista offers:
  • Online tutoring
  • Student works one-on-one with a professional tutor
  • Using the virtual whiteboard workspace to share problems, solutions and explanations
Online Only

Our Commitment to You

  • Free Help from Teachers

  • Free Learning Materials

  • Helping Disadvantaged Youth