To help students in K-12 hit learning benchmarks, the California State Board of Education adopted Common Core State Standards in 2010. A team of teachers, parents and education experts built the standards to prepare students for college and the workplace.
In addition to providing guidelines for students, the Common Core State Standards are meant to keep schools on track. Parents also can help by spending 15-30 minutes a day helping their children with homework.
The National Parent and Teachers Association has created a list of tips for parents to help their children reach benchmarks, practice at home and meet Common Core State Standards. Full standards are available at corestandards.org.
Kindergarten
English, language arts, literacy
• Read with your child every day. Ask your child to explain his or her favorite parts of the story. Share your own ideas.
• Encourage your child to tell you about his or her day at school. Have your child describe the picture to you.
Mathematics
• Ask your child questions that require counting as many as 20 things. For example, ask, “How many books do you have about wild animals?”
• Ask your child questions that require comparing numbers. “Who is wearing more bracelets, you or your sister?” (Your child might use matching or counting to find the answer.)
First grade
English, language arts, literacy
• Encourage your child to read to you books such as “Little Bear” by Else Holmelund Minarik. Help him or her sound out difficult words. To find more books for your child to read, visit corestandards.org/assets/Appendix_B.pdf.
• Pick a “word of the day” each day starting with a different letter. Have your child write the word and look for other things beginning with the same letter.
Mathematics
• Look for math challenges in real life. Some examples in first grade might include: If you open a new carton of a dozen eggs and you use four eggs to cook dinner, close the carton and ask your child how many eggs are left.
• Play the “I’m thinking of a number” game. For example, “I’m thinking of a number that makes 11 when added to 8. What is my number?”
Second grade
English, language arts, literacy
• Read at home every day and assist your child by reading every other paragraph.
• Have your child write a thank-you note or letter to family members or friends.
Mathematics
• When saving for a purchase, compare the cost of the item to the amount of money you have; then ask your child to determine how much more money he or she needs to buy the item.
• Play “draw the shape.” Ask your child to draw a hexagon with one side longer than the others.
Third grade
English, language arts, literacy
• Make reading for fun a part of your child’s daily routine.
• Encourage your child to find a picture from a newspaper or magazine, cut it out, paste it on paper and write a story about it.
• Start a family vocabulary box or jar. Have everyone write down new words they discover, add them to the box and use the words in conversation.
Mathematics
• Notice those everyday occasions when you find yourself using your multiplication tables – such as to determine how many days there are in four weeks.
• Involve your child when you notice yourself using division to “work backward” in the times tables – such as determining how many candies each child will get if 36 candies are shared equally among nine children at a party.
Fourth grade
English, language arts, literacy
• Urge your child to use logical arguments to defend his or her opinion. If your child wants a raise in allowance, ask him or her to research commonsense allowance systems and, based on that research, explain reasons why, supported by facts and details.
• Talk about the news together. Pick one story in the news, read it together and discuss it.
Mathematics
• Ask your child to compare numbers using phrases like “times as much.” For example, if the family cat weighs 8 pounds and the family dog weighs 56 pounds, how many times as much does the dog weigh?
• Ask your child to help you compare fractional amounts for example, if one recipe calls for 2⁄3 cup of oil, but another recipe calls for 3⁄4 cup of oil, which recipe calls for more oil?
Fifth grade
English, language arts, literacy
• Invite your child to read his or her writing out loud to other family members. Ask questions about your child’s word choices and ideas.
• Go to a play or musical with your child. Discuss the way the actors bring the words to life.
• Discuss your family stories and history. Encourage your child to ask relatives questions about their lives. Put the information together in an album or brainstorm different ways to tell family tales, such as poems or short stories.
Mathematics
• Multiplying with fractions – for example, if you used about 2⁄3 of a 3⁄4-cup measure of vegetable stock, then how much stock did you use? About how much is left?
• Using the length, width and depth of a garden plot to determine how many bags of garden soil to buy.
Sixth grade
English, language arts, literacy
• Listen with your child to a television reporter, politician or other speaker. Ask your child to tell you the speaker’s main points. Was the speaker trying to convince the audience of something? How?
• Encourage your child to learn at the library or on the Internet what life in your community was like 100 years ago. Have your child write a story, poem or play about that time.
Mathematics
• Look for math challenges in real life. Some sixth-grade examples might include: Determining the average speed of a family trip based on the distance traveled and the time taken.
• Finding the surface area of the walls and ceiling in a room to determine the cost of painting the room.
Source: pta.org/parents
