Teaching & Homeschool Articles

As kids grow up and progress through elementary school, homework becomes a reality of everyday family life. Whereas toddlers and preschoolers learn for fun and enrichment, the activities and work a school-aged child brings home becomes an obligation; one that often becomes more challenging as they grow older.

In this article, you'll a list of do’s and don’ts to better guide your family’s homework sessions in a way that avoids common pitfalls while learning how to support your kids’ education in the very best way. 

When introducing pronouns to first graders, be prepared to deal with some confusion. Students will need to make sense of the different categories of pronouns, and all the words that fall within each group, which could make pronouns looks like a big intimidating topic. However, often little learners get to love pronouns realizing that they function almost like a shortcut. Instead of repeating someone’s name over and over, one can just use a small word called a pronoun!

In this article we review the theory on each type of pronouns relevant for Grade 1 and offer some free interactive learning resources for your students to practice this topic.

If you’ve ever read a social media post in which a user leaves out punctuation, then you know exactly how frustrating it is to make sense out of the words on the screen. That’s because punctuation is at the very core of effective written communication. Without it, readers often struggle to make sense of the writer’s words and intentions. Punctuation allows sentences to form complete thoughts and signal whether the writer is making a statement, asking a question, or conveying emotion.

Because it’s so vital to clear communication, children begin learning about the simplest forms of punctuation as they learn to write sentences and questions. In general, first graders typically begin by learning how to use end punctuation.

Capitalization is an important concept to teach because it helps readers understand where sentences begin, and to distinguish proper pronouns, titles, and dates. Later, when children grow into more sophisticated writers, they will be expected to adhere to writing conventions, such as capitalization, when writing essays and in professional contexts.

It may seem tricky to figure out where to start when it comes to teaching your little learner to use proper capitalization. To begin, start with what they already know: names, sentences, and dates.

After mastering common nouns, it’s time to introduce proper nouns. Some proper nouns are tough for first graders to understand because some words can be both a common noun and a proper noun depending on the context in which the word is used.

Let’s explore more about the differences between common and proper nouns, and how to teach kids to properly capitalize proper nouns when they write them.

One of the first grammar rules children must master is the parts of speech. This refers to how words are used in sentences; does the word describe an action, or does it describe a person, place or thing? Parts of speech consist of many different types of words, from verbs to adjectives, and beyond. The simplest first step in teaching parts of speech cover common nouns. These are everyday words that kids use all the time!

In this article, you will learn about the types of common nouns and will find a selection of activities to practice this important topic.

When your child is moving into the  2nd grade, the summer time is great to revisit those foundational skills, like decoding, writing complete sentences, and building comprehension. The goal is comfort and confidence not perfection. Students who enter the year already comfortable with these tools are ready for more complex stories and writing tasks. And just like with math, combining online time and hands on activities makes for the most effective progress.

The transition from 1st to 2nd grade is another big step in a child’s education journey. During this time period children  begin moving past simple number recognition and addition to more complex problem solving, place value, and deeper reasoning. Practicing  key math skills over the summer can help students feel confident and ready to engage when school starts. Making the school easier on everyone. 

This article reviews the most essential math skills that are aimed at supporting the transition into 2nd grade and offers engaging resources and hands-on practice ideas you can use at home to keep learning active, fun, and stress free.

Transitioning from kindergarten to 1st grade is a big step, especially in English Language Arts (ELA). It’s the point where children start seeing themselves as readers and writers. I’ve learned from my experience in the classroom that summer can either reinforce a love of literacy or cause key skills to fade.  Recreating a school day at home is not necessary however, a little practice mixed with fun  goes a long way. 

Here are the skills I perceive to be the most important ELA skills to review from kindergarten and a few foundational 1st grade skills you can start exploring. Each skill is paired with engaging Kids Academy resources and fun off-screen ideas that will make learning feel natural and playful.

From my time in the classroom,  I can tell you that math confidence isn’t something that can  just happen overnight. It grows with small moments of success (seen throughout the year), and summer is the ideal time to add in those moments at home. The skills I highlight below are the ones I used to reteach in the first few weeks of 1st grade, so staying sharp on them makes a noticeable difference.