Grade 1 Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 1 social studies in the Nunavut Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Nunavusiutit: heritage and culture, history, geography, environmental science, and civics and economics, with a focus on Nunavut and its links to Canada and the circumpolar world.
- Inuuqatigiit, the curriculum from the Inuit perspective, shapes how the strand is taught.
- Skills of inquiry, working with others and respecting different points of view.
Easy ways to practise social studies at home
- Talk about your family, your neighbourhood and the people who help in it.
- Make a simple map of your home or street together.
- Share a family tradition or story and ask your child to share one back.
- Practise taking turns and sharing, and talk about why fairness matters.
What each unit covers
My Community
Community helpers and places, plus rights, rules, roles and responsibilities at home, at school and in the community.
Respect & Inclusion
Sharing, taking turns, listening, including others, and showing respect for people, belongings and the places we share.
Community Services
Jobs that serve the community (fire, health, sanitation, libraries, transit) and services the government or community provides for everyone.
Our Land
Natural and human-made features, how the land shapes how we live, and caring for it by reducing, reusing and recycling.
Maps
Reading a simple map with north at the top, using north, south, east and west, map symbols and legends, and near and far.
Our World Together
Practises noticing that people all over the world share needs and feelings, connections children may have to people elsewhere, and being willing to help.
Social Studies Skills
Practises the skills children use in social studies: gathering and sorting information, using words for time, simple timelines, comparing, forming and changing opinions with reasons, listening respectfully and telling events in order.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Beginning
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Meeting
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Exceeding
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the Nunavut report card guide.
Common questions
Talk about your family, your neighbourhood and the people who help in it. Make a simple map of your home or street together. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
The Nunavut Curriculum Grade 1 social studies units include my community, respect & inclusion, community services, our land, maps, our world together.
Free printable Grade 1 social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.