Maths in Year 1: what Lärkompis practises
In Year 1 of Swedish school (around age 7), Lärkompis practises 20 skills in maths, linked to 13 of 22 items in the core content of Lgr22, the Swedish national curriculum, for Years 1–3. The areas are algebra; geometry; problem solving; and understanding and using numbers. Each skill has five difficulty levels, and the skills are practised in 10 mini-games, including Rätta roboten (Fix the Robot), Flodhoppet (River Hop) and Butiken (The Shop).
Lgr22 sets out core content for each stage (Years 1–3), not for each year. So Lärkompis spreads the skills across the years using its own time windows, and these are estimates. For Year 1, this means that 17 skills start this year and 3 skills started earlier and are still being practised. The figure 13 of 22 counts the items in the core content from Skolverket (the Swedish National Agency for Education) that at least one skill links to; it does not mean the whole item is covered.
What Lärkompis practises in Year 1
The 20 skills in maths in Year 1 are grouped into 4 areas following Skolverket's syllabus. Under each skill you can see the first and the last difficulty level, so you know how far the exercises go.
Algebra
- What the equals sign means Level 1: True or false: 2 + 7 = 9. Level 5: Missing number on the left: ? + 3 = 4 + 5.
- Patterns and number sequences Level 1: Continuing a pattern of shapes or colours, 5, 6, 7, 8. Level 5: Growing patterns such as 3, 4, 6, 9, ? and the rule in words.
- Simple patterns with shapes and colours Level 1: Two shapes taking turns, one gap. Level 5: Two gaps in a pattern with three different shapes.
- Step-by-step instructions and programming Level 1: Follow arrows on the number line: → ← →. Level 5: Choose instructions that take the robot to the right number.
Geometry
- 2D shapes and 3D shapes (sphere, cone, cylinder, cuboid) Level 1: Triangle and square, corners and sides. Level 5: Corners, edges and faces of a cuboid.
- Telling the time: o’clock and half past Level 1: O’clock. Level 5: Five minutes at a time, all the way round the clock.
- Words for position (first, last, between, left, right) Level 1: First and last in a row of three. Level 5: Two steps in a row, row of five.
- Measuring length (cm, dm, m, km) Level 1: Comparing lengths up to 10 cm, choosing centimetres or metres. Level 5: Decimetres to centimetres.
Problem solving
- Asking and understanding maths questions in everyday life Level 1: What is the task asking for? Three choices. Level 5: Which question can be answered, with multiplication and division.
Understanding and using numbers
- Addition within 10 Level 1: Small numbers, 1 + 3, 2 + 2. Level 5: Mixed word problems and tasks with a missing number.
- Comparing and ordering numbers Level 1: Which of three small numbers is biggest, putting them in order. Level 5: Comparing expressions, 5 + 8 against 9 + 2, and ordering five numbers.
- Money and change Level 1: Counting coins up to 10 kronor, change from 10 kronor. Level 5: Two items and change, comparing prices.
- The place value system: tens, ones and hundreds Level 1: Reading tens rods and ones, 11 = 10 + 1. Level 5: Hundreds, tens and ones: 4 hundreds and 4 ones.
- Subtraction within 10 Level 1: 5 − 2, taking some away. Level 5: Mixed word problems and a missing starting number.
- Subitising: seeing how many without counting Level 1: Dots in one group, 1–3, in dice patterns. Level 5: Mixed patterns and groups up to 10, quickly.
- Counting 0–100 and counting in tens Level 1: Counting in tens: 10, 20, 30. Level 5: Counting backwards, mixed jumps and placing numbers on an empty number line.
- Counting 0–20 and the order of numbers Level 1: Writing number words as digits, the next number, number line 0–10. Level 5: Counting in twos forwards and backwards, 0–20 mixed.
- Number bonds to 10: pairs that make ten Level 1: 2 + ? = 10 with the ten frame showing. Level 5: Number bonds to 100 with whole tens (60 + ? = 100).
- Addition bridging through ten Level 1: 7 + 4 with the ten frame showing. Level 5: Two-digit number plus a one-digit number across the next ten, in word problems.
- Odd and even numbers Level 1: Is the number of things odd or even? (making pairs). Level 5: Sums: is 26 + 29 odd or even.
What the syllabus says, in short
The Lgr22 core content for Years 1–3 in maths, summarised in our own words for the parts Lärkompis practises in Year 1. Read the full text in Skolverket's English translation of Lgr22.
- Your child should understand how numbers can be split up and used to show amount and order, and how place value works (ones, tens, hundreds).
- Your child meets fractions as part of a whole and part of a group, for example a half and a quarter.
- The four operations and how they are connected, using mental arithmetic, rough estimates and written calculations. Digital tools may be used for calculations.
- What the equals sign means (that both sides are worth the same), unknown numbers shown as a symbol, and simple patterns.
- Measuring length, mass, volume and time, geometric shapes and symmetry.
- Strategies for solving problems in everyday situations, and being able to ask mathematical questions about everyday life.
How to help at home with maths in Year 1
Year 1 is very much about the basics, and much of the learning happens through talk, play and short moments. Ten minutes on several days a week sticks better than one long session a week, because practice spread out over time is remembered better than practice all in one go. Ask “how did you work it out?” more often than “what did you get?”, and use the same models and written methods as the teacher, so your child does not have two different methods to keep track of.
- What does the equals sign mean? Write 3 + 4 = ? + 5 and ask what should go in the box. Explain that the equals sign means “the same amount on both sides”, like a balanced scale. Ask how your child is thinking, not just what the answer is. As a conversation: about 5 minutes.
- Split numbers with buttons. Put 8 buttons on the table and split them into two piles in as many ways as you can. You could write 8 = 3 + 5 next to them. This builds a feel for how numbers can be split up, which helps with both adding and taking away. As a game: about 10 minutes.
- Shop at home. Make a little shop from tins and toys, with price tags from 1 to 20 kronor. Your child shops with real coins and you give change. Ask how they know they have enough money. Use the same number pictures and ways of setting out sums that the teacher uses. Works in everyday life: about 10 minutes.
- When maths homework takes too long. Set a timer for 10 minutes. If the homework isn’t finished, let your child show where they got stuck and write a line to the teacher (“the homework took 25 minutes, we stopped at question 4”). That is information for the school, not a failure. When it is hard going: about 10 minutes.
How you can tell it has clicked in Year 1
- Patterns and number sequences: Your child continues a sequence such as 2, 7, 12, 17 without having to start again.
- Simple patterns with shapes and colours: Your child can make their own pattern with two or three different shapes.
- 2D shapes and 3D shapes (sphere, cone, cylinder, cuboid): Your child says that a tin is a cylinder and a ball is a sphere.
- Telling the time: o’clock and half past: Your child reads an o’clock time and says “three o’clock”.
Common pitfalls in Year 1
- Simple patterns with shapes and colours: Only looks at the shape next to the gap.
- 2D shapes and 3D shapes (sphere, cone, cylinder, cuboid): Calls a square standing on one corner a “diamond” and thinks it is a different shape.
- Telling the time: o’clock and half past: Says “halv tre” (half past two) when it is “halv fyra” (half past three): looks at the hour that has passed. Swedish names the half hour after the coming hour, so “halv fyra” means 3:30.
- Words for position (first, last, between, left, right): Mixes up left and right.
If maths practice in Year 1 often ends in tears or takes far too long, stop for the day and write a few lines to the teacher about what was hard. That is useful information for the school, not a failure.
Games that practise it
In Year 1 maths, Lärkompis uses 10 mini-games. In these games, playing is the practice, so your child learns while they play. There are no points or streaks, and no ads.
Rätta roboten (Fix the Robot)
Knut has made a mistake and your child teaches him the right way. Explaining the mistake is the skill. In Year 1, the game practises 10 skills: what the equals sign means; patterns and number sequences; step-by-step instructions and programming; asking and understanding maths questions in everyday life; and more.
Flodhoppet (River Hop)
Pix hops across the river on stepping stones that sit on a number line. In Year 1, the game practises 7 skills: addition within 10; subtraction within 10; subitising: seeing how many without counting; counting 0–100 and counting in tens; and more.
Butiken (The Shop)
Your child pays, gets change and compares prices with real coins. In Year 1, the game practises 4 skills: addition within 10; comparing and ordering numbers; money and change; and number bonds to 10: pairs that make ten.
Tidslinjen (The Timeline)
Your child puts cards on a line in the right order, for example events, steps or numbers. A card in the right place turns over and shows the answer. In Year 1, the game practises 3 skills: comparing and ordering numbers; counting 0–100 and counting in tens; and counting 0–20 and the order of numbers.
Mönstermakaren (The Pattern Maker)
Patterns roll along a conveyor belt and your child fills the gaps so the pattern works. In Year 1, the game practises 2 skills: patterns and number sequences; and simple patterns with shapes and colours.
Sorteringsbandet (The Sorting Belt)
A calm conveyor belt of things that your child puts in the right box by following a rule. In Year 1, the game practises 2 skills: comparing and ordering numbers; and odd and even numbers.
Formpusslet (Shape Puzzle)
A shape puzzle where the pieces are the skill: from pictures made of simple shapes to areas and Pythagoras’ theorem. In Year 1, the game practises 1 skill: 2D shapes and 3D shapes (sphere, cone, cylinder, cuboid).
Klockverkstan (The Clock Workshop)
Clocks on the workshop wall that your child sets and reads. In Year 1, the game practises 1 skill: telling the time: o’clock and half past.
Vågen (The Balance)
A balance scale where using the scale is the skill: your child makes both sides weigh the same, works out what a box weighs or solves an equation by doing the same thing to both sides. In Year 1, the game practises 1 skill: what the equals sign means.
Vändspelet (The Flip Game)
A memory game where two cards that go together stay face up, for example 3 + 4 and 7. In Year 1, the game practises 1 skill: the place value system: tens, ones and hundreds.
Questions about maths in Year 1
What does Lärkompis practise in maths in Year 1?
Lärkompis has 20 skills in maths in Year 1, for example “What the equals sign means”; “Patterns and number sequences”; “Simple patterns with shapes and colours”; “Step-by-step instructions and programming”; and “2D shapes and 3D shapes (sphere, cone, cylinder, cuboid)”. Each skill has five levels. In “What the equals sign means”, for example, level 1 is “True or false: 2 + 7 = 9” and level 5 is “Missing number on the left: ? + 3 = 4 + 5”. The app adjusts the level to how your child is doing.
What comes after Year 1 in maths?
In Year 2, Lärkompis practises 25 skills in maths, and new that year are “Open number sentences: unknown numbers”; “Step-by-step instructions and simple programming on a grid”; and “Step-by-step instructions and programming”. Most of it builds on what your child practised in Year 1.
Which mistakes are common in maths in Year 1?
Common mistakes that Lärkompis covers include “Only looks at the shape next to the gap” in “Simple patterns with shapes and colours” and “Calls a square standing on one corner a ‘diamond’ and thinks it is a different shape” in “2D shapes and 3D shapes (sphere, cone, cylinder, cuboid)”. When an answer is wrong, the app shows how to think it through instead of just marking it wrong, and the parent panel shows what your child is practising right now.
Does Lärkompis follow Lgr22 in maths in Year 1?
Yes. Every exercise in maths in Year 1 is linked to an item in the Lgr22 core content for Years 1–3; 13 of 22 items in maths have at least one linked skill. Lärkompis is a complement at home and does not replace teaching.
How much does it cost to practise maths in Year 1 with Lärkompis?
Lärkompis costs SEK 49, once, for all subjects and every child in the family, with future updates included. You can try maths in Year 1 for free first, without an account.
More years and subjects
The same year in other subjects:
