A term-by-term picture of what Grade 1 reading looks like under CAPS — and how to tell if your child is on track.
Grade 1 is the year reading truly begins. Parents often ask what ‘on track’ looks like — here is the CAPS Grade 1 journey, term by term, in plain language.
Term 1: single letter sounds and blending simple three-letter words like ‘cat’ and ‘sun’. Term 2: more sounds, common words, and short sentences. Term 3: consonant blends like ‘st’ and ‘fr’, and longer sentences. Term 4: short paragraphs and simple stories read with understanding.
By mid-year, a Grade 1 child should sound out most short regular words without guessing from pictures. By year end, they should read a few sentences of simple text and tell you what happened.
Speed matters less than accuracy. Slow but correct sounding-out in Grade 1 is healthy — fluency comes with practice in Grade 2.
Do not wait for Grade 2. Go back to the last thing they do confidently — often letter sounds — and rebuild from there in short daily sessions.
Our Grade 1 programme follows the CAPS sequence sound by sound, so you can restart at any point and move at your child’s pace.
External sources open in a new tab. Saving Grace Education Group is not affiliated with these organisations.
Our CAPS-aligned programme turns these ideas into fun, interactive lessons. Try the first two lessons of every grade for free.
Help your child become a confident reader. Explore the CAPS-aligned Saving Grace Learn to Read programme — the first two lessons of every grade are free, no card needed.
