First Grade Homeschool Spanish Learning Goals

In this post: Discover first grade Spanish learning goals for homeschoolers—in reading, writing, math, and culture—with Llamitas Spanish.

Beginning first grade is an exciting time! Your little one has gone through preschool and kindergarten and is starting to seem not-so-little to you anymore. If you’re feeling some mixed emotions, you’re not alone.

First grade is a big year for everyone—academics become more structured and your kids start to develop more independence as learners, too. If you’re teaching Spanish at home, this might sound overwhelming. But setting clear learning goals for the year will make this transition so much easier.

We’ll help get you started by guiding you through important first grade Spanish learning goals. You’ll also learn how our Llamitas Spanish curriculum levels correlate with grade-level education standards, offering a structured Spanish program to support you at home.

Table of Contents

What Makes First Grade Spanish Different from Kindergarten?

In first grade, you can expect your child to level up the skills they were introduced to in kindergarten Spanish. These include both academics and social-emotional skills.

Kindergarten gently introduces learners to structured learning through play, music, and movement. They’ll also begin to learn the Spanish alphabet, basic Spanish grammar, counting in Spanish, and basic math.

Spanish learning goals for first grade build on these skills, so that learners continue to grow in reading, writing, and math. They’ll also continue to build important social-emotional skills like independence, self-regulation, and navigating relationships.

At Llamitas Spanish, our Level 2 curriculum closely correlates to Spanish benchmarks for primer grado (first grade) with some overlap into segundo grado (second grade). This level is ideal for students who have completed our foundational Level 1 course or have at least one year of formal Spanish language education.

In Level 2, students will continue to practice phonics and learn to read with our signature approach to teaching Spanish grammar in context through stories.

If you’re not sure which level is best for your child, you can take these two steps:

Take the Placement Quiz
Check the Sample lessons found in our Freebie Library (it’s free to register!)

First Grade Spanish Language Arts Goals

Building on the skills learned in kindergarten, first grade Spanish language arts continues to move learners toward the goal of reading and writing in Spanish. First graders develop strong foundational phonics with syllable work, develop their use of verbs, and learn Spanish grammar through stories.

At this level, there’s a focus on phonics and syllables. Learners will practice CVCV words and syllable counting for two-syllable and three-syllable words (palabras bisílabas y trísilabas).

Students also begin learning Spanish grammar, including:

Verbs
Compound nouns
Adverbs of frequency
Adjectival endings
Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns
Conjunctions
Possessives
Reflexives

At Llamitas Spanish, we teach grammar, reading, and writing in context with our original elementary Spanish stories. In Level 2, we gently introduce lectoescritura (Spanish reading and writing) through:

6 beautifully-illustrated short stories
18 short readers
Copywork, comprehension questions, poetry, and sentence building

First Grade Math in Spanish

At Llamitas Spanish, we use a cross-curricular approach to learning Spanish, covering all of the core subjects, including math. Learning math in Spanish strengthens bilingual skills as students continue to build on and level up their math skills.

First grade math goals and concepts learned in Spanish include:

Odd and even numbers
Complex 2D shapes
Length (longitud)
Telling time
Solving word problems (up to 20)
Skip counting by 2s and 5s (For example: dos, quatro, seis)
Reading simple bar charts

Including math in our homeschool Spanish curriculum allows your child to learn these elementary math concepts and Spanish vocabulary—in context—at the same time.

First Grade Science & Social Studies in Spanish

In first grade, Spanish learners will also get to dive deeper into exciting science and social studies topics. Learning about the world around us is the perfect way to put Spanish skills into practice and build vocabulary.

In our Llamitas Spanish Level 2 Curriculum, we do this through thematic units that integrate academics and culture. Some of the fascinating topics we cover include:

Life cycle of a frog
Monarch butterfly migration
Hibernation
Endangered animals & extinction
Traditions in Spanish-speaking countries

Throughout these thematic units, first graders will gain not just Spanish language skills, but also cultural appreciation and wonder for our natural world.

Spanish Music & Stories

First grade Spanish goes beyond the textbook with our original short stories and traditional Spanish songs. These are highlights of our Level 2 curriculum, enriching the learning experience throughout six thematic units.

In Level 2, students are introduced to our Cuentos Cortos Infantiles anthology of short stories. These beautifully illustrated short stories allow students to learn Spanish grammar in context.

Music is a big part of our entire curriculum series at Llamitas Spanish. In first grade, students learn 18 original Spanish songs to support memory and motivation—through rhythm, repetition, and fun. Spanish learning through music reinforces grammar and vocabulary learned throughout the year.

Llamitas Spanish: Thematic Lessons That Work

At Llamitas Spanish, we believe in teaching the Spanish language across subjects through thematic units. This approach to language learning will help your child begin to think in Spanish, as they apply what they’ve learned to all of the core subjects.

By aligning Spanish lessons with grade-level standards, you can ensure that your child is gaining all of the language arts, math, science, and social studies skills they need in first grade and beyond. Our engaging, thematic lessons teach Spanish vocabulary and grammar in a way that doesn’t feel separate or forced.

If you’re looking for an easy way to teach homeschool Spanish to your first grader, be sure to explore our Llamitas Spanish Level 2 curriculum. This elementary Spanish curriculum provides you with all of the necessary tools (and more!) for teaching Spanish at home in first grade.

With the right approach, learning Spanish at home can be not only achievable—but also joyful. Our open-and-go homeschool Spanish curriculum series has everything you need to raise bilingual kids at home.

Lydia Mockensturm

Lydia is a freelance parenting and education writer. She previously taught English as a second language and enjoys sharing her love of language learning with her children.