Homework Help
#1: Check Planners Daily!
Homework Help at UEN:
http://www.uen.org/k12student/homework.shtml
Link from ColorinColorado:
More Tips:
Top Ten Ways to Help Your Kids Do Well in Math by Peggy Gisler, Ed.S. and Marge Eberts, Ed.S.
Mastering mathematics is absolutely essential for future opportunities in school and careers. Your children will need to reach a certain level of competency in math to take many advanced high-school courses, to be admitted to college, and to have a wide variety of career choices. Here's how you can help them maximize their math-smarts.
1. Make sure your children understand mathematical concepts.
Otherwise, math becomes a meaningless mental exercise of just memorizing rules and doing rote drills. Have your children manipulate objects to figure out basic concepts. For addition, they could add one, two, or more blocks to a pile of blocks and then tell you how many blocks are in the pile.
2. Help them master the basic facts.
Mastery of a basic fact means that children can give an answer in less than three seconds. Considerable drill is required for children to give quick responses. Use flash cards to help your children learn the basic facts. When they don't know an answer, have them lay out objects to solve the problem.
3. Teach them to write their numbers neatly.
Twenty-five percent of all errors in solving math problems can be traced back to sloppy number writing. Improve your children's number-writing skills by having them trace over numbers that you have written. Suggest they use graph paper to keep the numbers in problems neatly aligned.
4. Provide help immediately when your children need it.
Math is one subject in which everything builds upon what has been previously learned. For example, a failure to understand the concept of percent leads to problems with decimals. If a teacher is unable to help your children, provide the help yourself or use a tutor or learning center.
5. Show them how to handle their math homework.
Doing math homework reinforces the skills your children are learning in class. Teach them to begin every assignment by studying the textbook or worksheet examples before beginning the assignment to make sure they understand the lesson.
6. Encourage your children to do more than the assigned problems.
Considerable practice is necessary for your children to hone their math skills. If the teacher only assigns the even problems, having them do some of the odd ones will strengthen their skills. The more time your children spend practicing their skills, the sooner they will develop confidence in their abilities.
7. Explain how to solve word problems.
Mathematicians have an expression: To learn to solve problems, you must solve problems. Teach your children to read a word problem several times. Also, have them draw a picture or diagram to describe it. Make it easier for them to understand the steps in a problem by teaching them to substitute smaller numbers for larger ones.
8. Help your children learn the vocabulary of mathematics.
They will never get a real feeling for math nor learn more advanced concepts without an understanding of its vocabulary. Check that your children can define new terms. If not, have them use models and simple problems to show you they understand how the term is used.
9.Teach them how to do math "in their head."
One of the major ways to solve problems is by using mental math. Kids should use this method frequently instead of using pencil and paper or a calculator. When helping your children with a problem, help them determine when it would be appropriate to use mental math.
10. Make mathematics part of your children's daily life.
Mathematics will become more meaningful when your kids see how important it is in so many real-life situations. Encourage them to use math in practical ways. For example, ask them to space new plants a certain distance apart, double a recipe, and pay bills in stores.
From Family Education.com
Multiplication Tips:
1. Make a set of multiplication flash cards with your child. Do not include the answers on the cards.
2. Work with one set of multiplication facts at a time (2x1, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4 etc.).
3. Next, work with the set of multiplication facts that has 2 as a second factor (1x2, 2x2, 3x2, 4x2 etc.) Remind your child that these facts are equivalent to addition doubles.
4. In the next session, work with the 5x tables. Start with 5 as the first factor (5x1, 5x2, 5x3) and then tackle 5 as the second factor (1x5, 2x5, 3x5).
5. For some children, it helps to recognize patterns when they exist within each set of multiplication facts.
6. To help your child with her 4x tables, you can teach her the "double and then double again" approach. For example: 4x3=12 because double 3 is 6 and double again is 12; 4x4=16 because double 4 is 8 and double again is 16, and so on.
7. To help your child with his 9x tables, you can teach him the -1 approach. For example: 2x9 = 18 because 2-1 is 1 and 9-1 is 8; put them together and you get 18. Similarly, 3x9 = 27 because 3-1 is 2 and 9-2 is 7; put them together and you get 27. And again, 4x9 = 36 because 4-1 is 3 and 9-3 is 6; put them together and you get 36, etc... Or, use the "finger trick," explained at: http://www.multiplication.com/lesson10_nines_fingers.htmww.
When your child doesn't know a fact, rather than telling him/her the answer, show your child how to find the answer using pictures, arrays, addition, etc...
Top Ten Ways to Improve Your Child's Reading Skills by Peggy Gisler, Ed.S. and Marge Eberts, Ed.S.
Nothing is more important to academic achievement than being a good reader. Parents know their children best and can provide the one-on-one time and attention that will lead them to success in reading. Here is a list of ways to help your children become more effective readers.
1. Set aside a regular time to read to your children every day.
Studies show that regularly reading out loud to children will produce significant gains in reading comprehension, vocabulary, and the decoding of words. Whether your children are preschoolers or preteens, it will increase their desire to read independently.
2. Surround your children with reading material.
Children with a large array of reading materials in their homes score higher on standardized tests. Tempt your kids to read by having a large supply of appealing books and magazines at their reading level. Put the reading materials in cars, bathrooms, bedrooms, family rooms, and even by the TV.
3. Have a family reading time.
Establish a daily 15 to 30 minute time when everyone in the family reads together silently. Seeing you read will inspire your children to read. Just 15 minutes of daily practice is sufficient to increase their reading fluency.
4. Encourage a wide variety of reading activities.
Make reading an integral part of your children's lives. Have them read menus, roadside signs, game directions, weather reports, movie time listings, and other practical everyday information. Also, make sure they always have something to read in their spare time when they could be waiting for appointments or riding in a car.
5. Develop the library habit.
Entice your children to read more by taking them to the library every few weeks to get new reading materials. The library also offers reading programs for children of all ages that may appeal to your children and further increase their interest in reading.
6. Focus on reading skills.
Find out what reading skills they are expected to have at each grade level. The school's curriculum will give you this information. Track their progress in acquiring basic reading skills on report cards and standardized tests.
7. Look for reading problems.
Teachers do not always detect children's reading problems until they've become serious. Find out if your children can sound out words, know sight words, use context to identify unknown words, and clearly understand what they read.
8. Get help promptly for reading problems.
Reading problems do not magically disappear with time. The earlier children receive help, the more likely they will become good readers. Make sure your children receive necessary help from teachers, tutors, or learning centers as soon as you discover a problem.
9. Use a variety of aids to help your children.
To help your children improve their reading, use textbooks, computer programs, books-on-tape, and other materials available in stores. Games are especially good choices because they let children have fun as they work on their skills.
10. Show enthusiasm for your children's reading.
Your reaction has a great influence on how hard they will try to become good readers. Be sure to give them genuine praise for their efforts.
from Family Education.
40 Fun Ways to Practice Your Spelling Words:
Mastering mathematics is absolutely essential for future opportunities in school and careers. Your children will need to reach a certain level of competency in math to take many advanced high-school courses, to be admitted to college, and to have a wide variety of career choices. Here's how you can help them maximize their math-smarts.
1. Make sure your children understand mathematical concepts.
Otherwise, math becomes a meaningless mental exercise of just memorizing rules and doing rote drills. Have your children manipulate objects to figure out basic concepts. For addition, they could add one, two, or more blocks to a pile of blocks and then tell you how many blocks are in the pile.
2. Help them master the basic facts.
Mastery of a basic fact means that children can give an answer in less than three seconds. Considerable drill is required for children to give quick responses. Use flash cards to help your children learn the basic facts. When they don't know an answer, have them lay out objects to solve the problem.
3. Teach them to write their numbers neatly.
Twenty-five percent of all errors in solving math problems can be traced back to sloppy number writing. Improve your children's number-writing skills by having them trace over numbers that you have written. Suggest they use graph paper to keep the numbers in problems neatly aligned.
4. Provide help immediately when your children need it.
Math is one subject in which everything builds upon what has been previously learned. For example, a failure to understand the concept of percent leads to problems with decimals. If a teacher is unable to help your children, provide the help yourself or use a tutor or learning center.
5. Show them how to handle their math homework.
Doing math homework reinforces the skills your children are learning in class. Teach them to begin every assignment by studying the textbook or worksheet examples before beginning the assignment to make sure they understand the lesson.
6. Encourage your children to do more than the assigned problems.
Considerable practice is necessary for your children to hone their math skills. If the teacher only assigns the even problems, having them do some of the odd ones will strengthen their skills. The more time your children spend practicing their skills, the sooner they will develop confidence in their abilities.
7. Explain how to solve word problems.
Mathematicians have an expression: To learn to solve problems, you must solve problems. Teach your children to read a word problem several times. Also, have them draw a picture or diagram to describe it. Make it easier for them to understand the steps in a problem by teaching them to substitute smaller numbers for larger ones.
8. Help your children learn the vocabulary of mathematics.
They will never get a real feeling for math nor learn more advanced concepts without an understanding of its vocabulary. Check that your children can define new terms. If not, have them use models and simple problems to show you they understand how the term is used.
9.Teach them how to do math "in their head."
One of the major ways to solve problems is by using mental math. Kids should use this method frequently instead of using pencil and paper or a calculator. When helping your children with a problem, help them determine when it would be appropriate to use mental math.
10. Make mathematics part of your children's daily life.
Mathematics will become more meaningful when your kids see how important it is in so many real-life situations. Encourage them to use math in practical ways. For example, ask them to space new plants a certain distance apart, double a recipe, and pay bills in stores.
From Family Education.com
Multiplication Tips:
1. Make a set of multiplication flash cards with your child. Do not include the answers on the cards.
2. Work with one set of multiplication facts at a time (2x1, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4 etc.).
3. Next, work with the set of multiplication facts that has 2 as a second factor (1x2, 2x2, 3x2, 4x2 etc.) Remind your child that these facts are equivalent to addition doubles.
4. In the next session, work with the 5x tables. Start with 5 as the first factor (5x1, 5x2, 5x3) and then tackle 5 as the second factor (1x5, 2x5, 3x5).
5. For some children, it helps to recognize patterns when they exist within each set of multiplication facts.
6. To help your child with her 4x tables, you can teach her the "double and then double again" approach. For example: 4x3=12 because double 3 is 6 and double again is 12; 4x4=16 because double 4 is 8 and double again is 16, and so on.
7. To help your child with his 9x tables, you can teach him the -1 approach. For example: 2x9 = 18 because 2-1 is 1 and 9-1 is 8; put them together and you get 18. Similarly, 3x9 = 27 because 3-1 is 2 and 9-2 is 7; put them together and you get 27. And again, 4x9 = 36 because 4-1 is 3 and 9-3 is 6; put them together and you get 36, etc... Or, use the "finger trick," explained at: http://www.multiplication.com/lesson10_nines_fingers.htmww.
When your child doesn't know a fact, rather than telling him/her the answer, show your child how to find the answer using pictures, arrays, addition, etc...
Top Ten Ways to Improve Your Child's Reading Skills by Peggy Gisler, Ed.S. and Marge Eberts, Ed.S.
Nothing is more important to academic achievement than being a good reader. Parents know their children best and can provide the one-on-one time and attention that will lead them to success in reading. Here is a list of ways to help your children become more effective readers.
1. Set aside a regular time to read to your children every day.
Studies show that regularly reading out loud to children will produce significant gains in reading comprehension, vocabulary, and the decoding of words. Whether your children are preschoolers or preteens, it will increase their desire to read independently.
2. Surround your children with reading material.
Children with a large array of reading materials in their homes score higher on standardized tests. Tempt your kids to read by having a large supply of appealing books and magazines at their reading level. Put the reading materials in cars, bathrooms, bedrooms, family rooms, and even by the TV.
3. Have a family reading time.
Establish a daily 15 to 30 minute time when everyone in the family reads together silently. Seeing you read will inspire your children to read. Just 15 minutes of daily practice is sufficient to increase their reading fluency.
4. Encourage a wide variety of reading activities.
Make reading an integral part of your children's lives. Have them read menus, roadside signs, game directions, weather reports, movie time listings, and other practical everyday information. Also, make sure they always have something to read in their spare time when they could be waiting for appointments or riding in a car.
5. Develop the library habit.
Entice your children to read more by taking them to the library every few weeks to get new reading materials. The library also offers reading programs for children of all ages that may appeal to your children and further increase their interest in reading.
6. Focus on reading skills.
Find out what reading skills they are expected to have at each grade level. The school's curriculum will give you this information. Track their progress in acquiring basic reading skills on report cards and standardized tests.
7. Look for reading problems.
Teachers do not always detect children's reading problems until they've become serious. Find out if your children can sound out words, know sight words, use context to identify unknown words, and clearly understand what they read.
8. Get help promptly for reading problems.
Reading problems do not magically disappear with time. The earlier children receive help, the more likely they will become good readers. Make sure your children receive necessary help from teachers, tutors, or learning centers as soon as you discover a problem.
9. Use a variety of aids to help your children.
To help your children improve their reading, use textbooks, computer programs, books-on-tape, and other materials available in stores. Games are especially good choices because they let children have fun as they work on their skills.
10. Show enthusiasm for your children's reading.
Your reaction has a great influence on how hard they will try to become good readers. Be sure to give them genuine praise for their efforts.
from Family Education.
40 Fun Ways to Practice Your Spelling Words:
1. ABC order- Write your words in alphabetical order.
2. Rainbow Words - Write your words in three colors.
3. Backwards Words - Write your words forwards, then backwards.
4. Silly sentences - Use all your words in ten sentences
5. Picture words - Draw a picture and write your words in the picture.
6. Words without Vowels - Write your words replacing all vowels with a line.
7. Words without Consonants - Same as above but replace consonants with lines.
8. Story words - Write a short story using all your words.
9. Scrambled words - Write your words, then write them again with the letters mixed up.
10. Wordsearch II - Make a wordsearch with a friend, then trade and solve.
11. Wordsearch I - Complete a word pre-made search.
12. Crossword - Complete a pre-made crossword puzzle.
13. Surround words - Write your words on graph paper and outline in colors.
14. Ransom words - Write your words by cutting out letters in a newspaper or magazine and glue them on a paper.
15. Pyramid Words - Write your words adding or subtracting one letter at a time. The result will be a pyramid shape of words.
16. Words-in-words - Write your word and then write at least 2 words made from each.
17. Delicious words - Write your words in whipped cream, peanut butter, or anything you can eat!
18. Good, Clean Words - Write your words in shaving cream on a counter or some other surface that can be cleaned safely.
19. Dirty, Muddy Words - Write your words in mud or sand.
20. Pasta Words - Write your words by arranging alphabet pasta or Alphabits. Glue on paper.}
21. Reversed words - Write your words in ABC order -backwards!
22. 3D words - Use modeling clay rolled thinly to make your words.
23. Create an activity - Can you think of a fun way to do your spelling activities? Try it out!
24. Puzzle words - Use a blank puzzle form. Write your words on the form, making sure that the words cross over the pieces. Then cut them out (color if you wish) and put them in a baggie with your name on it. When you and a friend have completed your puzzles, trade and put them back together.
25. Magazine words - Use an old magazine or newspaper and find your word. Cut it out and glue it on paper.
26. Sound Words - Use a tape recorder and record your words and their spelling. Then listen to your tape, checking to see that you spelled all the words correctly.
27. X Words - Write two words having one common letter so they criss-cross.
28. Other Handed - If you are right-handed, write with your left, or vice versa.
29. Choo-Choo Words - Write the entire list end-to-end as one long word, using different colors of crayon or ink for different words.
30. Silly String - With a long length of string, "write" words in cursive, using the string to shape the letters.
31. Backwriting - Using your finger, draw each letter on a partners' back, having the partner say the word when completed.
32. Telephone Words - Translate your words into numbers from a telephone keypad.
33. Flashwriting - In a darkened room, use a flashlight to draw letters in the air.
34. Newspaper Words - Search a newspaper page from top to bottom, circling each letter of a word as you find it.
35. 30 Second Words - Write a TV commercial using all the words from your list.
36. Popsicles - Make words using popsicle sticks or toothpicks.
37. Secret Agent Words - Number the alphabet from 1 to 26, then convert your words to a number code.
38. Etch-A-Word - Use an Etch-A-Sketch to write your words.
39. Morse Code - Convert your words to Morse Code
40. License Plate Words- Bring your spelling list on a car ride and check off each letter from your list that you see on license plates.
2. Rainbow Words - Write your words in three colors.
3. Backwards Words - Write your words forwards, then backwards.
4. Silly sentences - Use all your words in ten sentences
5. Picture words - Draw a picture and write your words in the picture.
6. Words without Vowels - Write your words replacing all vowels with a line.
7. Words without Consonants - Same as above but replace consonants with lines.
8. Story words - Write a short story using all your words.
9. Scrambled words - Write your words, then write them again with the letters mixed up.
10. Wordsearch II - Make a wordsearch with a friend, then trade and solve.
11. Wordsearch I - Complete a word pre-made search.
12. Crossword - Complete a pre-made crossword puzzle.
13. Surround words - Write your words on graph paper and outline in colors.
14. Ransom words - Write your words by cutting out letters in a newspaper or magazine and glue them on a paper.
15. Pyramid Words - Write your words adding or subtracting one letter at a time. The result will be a pyramid shape of words.
16. Words-in-words - Write your word and then write at least 2 words made from each.
17. Delicious words - Write your words in whipped cream, peanut butter, or anything you can eat!
18. Good, Clean Words - Write your words in shaving cream on a counter or some other surface that can be cleaned safely.
19. Dirty, Muddy Words - Write your words in mud or sand.
20. Pasta Words - Write your words by arranging alphabet pasta or Alphabits. Glue on paper.}
21. Reversed words - Write your words in ABC order -backwards!
22. 3D words - Use modeling clay rolled thinly to make your words.
23. Create an activity - Can you think of a fun way to do your spelling activities? Try it out!
24. Puzzle words - Use a blank puzzle form. Write your words on the form, making sure that the words cross over the pieces. Then cut them out (color if you wish) and put them in a baggie with your name on it. When you and a friend have completed your puzzles, trade and put them back together.
25. Magazine words - Use an old magazine or newspaper and find your word. Cut it out and glue it on paper.
26. Sound Words - Use a tape recorder and record your words and their spelling. Then listen to your tape, checking to see that you spelled all the words correctly.
27. X Words - Write two words having one common letter so they criss-cross.
28. Other Handed - If you are right-handed, write with your left, or vice versa.
29. Choo-Choo Words - Write the entire list end-to-end as one long word, using different colors of crayon or ink for different words.
30. Silly String - With a long length of string, "write" words in cursive, using the string to shape the letters.
31. Backwriting - Using your finger, draw each letter on a partners' back, having the partner say the word when completed.
32. Telephone Words - Translate your words into numbers from a telephone keypad.
33. Flashwriting - In a darkened room, use a flashlight to draw letters in the air.
34. Newspaper Words - Search a newspaper page from top to bottom, circling each letter of a word as you find it.
35. 30 Second Words - Write a TV commercial using all the words from your list.
36. Popsicles - Make words using popsicle sticks or toothpicks.
37. Secret Agent Words - Number the alphabet from 1 to 26, then convert your words to a number code.
38. Etch-A-Word - Use an Etch-A-Sketch to write your words.
39. Morse Code - Convert your words to Morse Code
40. License Plate Words- Bring your spelling list on a car ride and check off each letter from your list that you see on license plates.