How to Help

What Parents Can Do To Help Children At Home: 

Reading:

Ø     Read with your child every night.

Ø     Don’t expect him/her to read it perfectly the first time.  (Some students need to read a book 2 or 3 times before they will correct some mistakes.  If you tell him/her the word every time, you will take away his/her ability to problem solve.)

Ø     Encourage your child to use meaning to figure out an unknown word.  (Ask, “What makes sense?”  Then have him/her read the sentence again to be sure.)

Ø     Have him/her tell you about the book after reading. (He/she may have to read it a couple of times first.)Get a library card and take your child to check out books. 

Writing:

Have your child keep a daily journal at home.  Have him/her write about something special or important that happened that day or about something that was learned.  Students are capable of writing at least 2 or 3 sentences at the beginning of the year and anywhere from 5 sentences to multiple pages on notebook paper at the end. 

Look for the following things in your child’s writing:

ü     Capital letters at the beginning of a sentence

ü     Spacing between words

ü     Punctuation at the end of the sentence and spell phonetically (If he/she asks you how to spell a word, help him/her say the word slowly and write the sounds he/she hears.  If it is a word wall word, it should be spelled correctly.) 

Math:

Help your child learn basic addition and subtraction facts through 12.  Use flashcards to help him/her memorize the facts.  Quiz him/her once or twice a week.  (Practice 5-10 problems each time.) 

Practice counting money. 

Thank you for all you do for your child!