Students should be developing good study habits at home from the very beginning and every week all through their school years. Please help them find a good time and place to do their school work. The work environment should be well lit and away from television and other distractions. Your availablity to help and consistency will be key factors in reinforcing student learning. Students do better in school with support from home. They appreciate knowing you are concerned and involved.

Following are some skills you can practice at home.  Many of the ideas can be played in a game setting. You should also watch their assignments each week to see what they are working on in class and how you may be able to help at home. Many stores carry Level One stories, writing paper, and workbooks. And, most importantly, try to always make learning encouraging and fun!

Reading Skills:
• Read 10-15 minutes daily at home. At first, with another willing participant who can monitor and assist with new words. And then later, they will read independently for 30 minutes.

• Practice using beginning, middle, and ending consonant sounds to blend words

• Identify short and long vowel sounds
• Practice words with two letter blends (bl, cr, st, sn...)
•       "           "            digraphs (ch, th, sh, wh,)
• Use vowel combinations in words (ai, ay, ee, ea, oo, etc.)
• Segment sounds of a word and also blend sounds to make words
• Find compound words
• Study contractions
• Rhyme words
• Add endings to base words(-ing, -ed, -s, -es, -est)

• Practice comprehension - understanding what is read
• Sequence story events
• Predict what will happen next when reading
• Discuss characters and story settings
• Answer questions or make projects to go with books read
• Alphabetize words to the first letter (Later they will go to the 2nd letter)

Writing Skills:
• Spell words accurately
• Write sentences
• Keep a journal
• Rewrite stories in your own words
• Write creative stories
• Write a letter to someone
• Practice penmanship (work on letter form, size, spacing, and placement on the lines)

Math and Problem Solving:
• Recognize and write numbers to 100
• Memorize addition and subtraction facts (to 12 in grade one - to 18 in grade two)
• Count by 1's to 100

            by 2's to 30

            by 5's to 100
            by 10's to 100
            backwards from 50 - 1

• Understand place value for tens and ones (ex. 52 is 5 tens and 2 ones)
• Telling Time to the hour and half hour in 1st grade

                      to the 5 minute interval in 2nd grade
• Understanding Calendar time concepts ( years, seasons, months, weeks, and days)
• Understanding Money - name coins and coin values, add combinations of coins to $1.00
• Create patterns
• Estimate numbers of things in a jar, etc.
• Make and read graphs
• Measurement

• Apply the above skills in daliy problem solving situations