Frequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions of students and parents.

1. How can I help my child practice/master their math facts at home?
2. What type of books should my child be reading at home?
3. Will my child have any projects this year?
4. How much should I be helping my child with their homework?
5. What can I do to help my child improve their spelling skills?
6. My child has difficulty with organization. How can I help them?

How can I help my child practice/master their math facts at home?

Encourage your child to avoid using their fingers for computation.  As I 
tell students in class, if they're fingers can find the answers quickly, 
they're brain has no reason to.  Students need to use more efficient 
strategies -- ones that will increase their number sense. In class, we are 
practicing several strategies for addition: Making Tens, Switching, Breaking 
Addends Apart, Doubles, and Doubles Plus One/Doubles Minus One.  The first 
three strategies stress the importance of using tens and multiples of tens 
as a means of finding answers quickly and easily.  Students should master 
the ways to make tens so these strategies are easier to work with.  A list 
of equations at home will be a helpful resource during homework.  Doubles is 
another great strategy for students.  They should recognize doubles up to 
twenty.  We will soon be working on strategies for subtraction.  Please 
understand that the more comfortable your child is with their facts, the 
more easily they will be able to transition into increasingly challenging 
concepts like multiplication, division, and fractions.

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What type of books should my child be reading at home?

Children should be reading books that are "just right" for them.  The idea 
of nightly reading is to foster a love of reading but also to help children 
refine their reading skills.  Therefore, if a child is reading a book that 
is not a suitable level for them, they are not benefiting from the 
activity.  Help your child to find a topic, genre, author, or series that 
they enjoy.  Make your child part of this process, but try to avoid choosing 
books for them.  Learning how to self-select is important for children.  
Listen to your child read.  Are they able to read it somewhat smoothly?  Can 
they make sense of difficult words?  Do they understand what they're 
reading?  Can they tell you about the story/article?  If not, they have 
chosen a book that is too challenging.  We want our children to enjoy their 
books and to learn from their books.  If they are spending most of their 
time trying to sound out words or figure out what's going on, it's beyond 
their reading level.

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Will my child have any projects this year?

Any projects that we do this year will be done in the classroom.  Some will 
be done in groups, but there may be some assigned for independent 
completion.  In particular, third grade students are required to do an 
animal research report in the spring.  Although some research for these 
projects may be done at home, most of the work is done at school to foster 
independent thinking and time management skills.

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How much should I be helping my child with their homework?

Students should be able to complete most homework without any assistance at 
all.  Homework is meant to build on skills and concepts that are already 
being practiced in class.  I would encourage all parents, instead, to help 
their children to develop good habits and thinking skills. Stress the 
importance of reading directions and questions carefully before writing.  
Have them reread when confused instead of giving away information quickly. 
Monitoring and clarifying is a reading comprehension strategy that we 
practice in school.  Supply them with tools like dictionaries, rulers, and 
study guides.  Most of all, be sure that they have a quiet, clean 
environment to work in.  If your child has difficulty remembering all of 
their assignments or packing them up for school the next day, create a 
simple checklist for them to use each afternoon.  All of these things will 
help them to become more responsible for their own learning.

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What can I do to help my child improve their spelling skills?

You can encourage your child to become more proficient spellers in many 
ways.  First, when they come to you and ask how to spell a word -- DON'T 
TELL THEM!!! Instead, ask them to say the word aloud slowly and think about 
the sounds that they hear.  If they are saying the word incorrectly, model 
the correct way and have them repeat it.  Have them break the word apart by 
syllables and spell out the chunks as they go.  Most often, they are able to 
spell the word in its entirety or at least most of it.  Also, make 
dictionaries available to them when completing their homework.  Encourage 
them to use their Agenda Mates as a resource.  There is an extensive word 
list in the beginning section of the book. Suggest that they think of other 
words that sound like the one they're trying to spell.  If they can spell 
those words, they may be able to spell the new word too (or at least part of 
it).  Remind them of basic spelling principles that they should know (how a 
short vowel sound is created, what happens to a vowel when a silent e is at 
the end of a word).  Encourage them to see that they have the tools 
needed to improve their own skills.

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My child has difficulty with organization. How can I help them?

Checklists are great organizational tools. If your child needs help packing 
up their backpack, create a checklist that can be attached to the backpack 
and teach them how to use it.  Model the entire process for them and 
practice it together for a week or so until they are able to do it 
consistently on their own.  Again, the idea is to encourage responsibility 
and independence.  Help them to become more a part of their nightly/morning 
routine.  Have them use the checklist to make sure their homework papers, 
bus notes, lunch, snack, etc... are all safely inside of their bag and 
congratulate them for a job well done.

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