The First School Years

Repetition is an important part of learning during the first school years, and it is one of the main ways children in many societies are educated. Each subject is broken down into bits of information the children memorize, and they are expected to be able to recite it before moving on to the more advanced concepts. For mathematics, they must learn to count to at least a hundred before they can manipulate numbers through addition or subtraction. The alphabet is the basis for their future classes in reading.

Mastering the basics is not always easy, but educators are patient with their charges. Many of them have learned that children are happy to learn, and their difficulties can generally be overcome if they are given enough assistance. Educational plans often contain many small steps to help them move from the basics into more complex concepts such as reading and figuring sums. Students are given easy words or addition problems, and they will continue to progress to more difficult tasks as they become adept in each subject.