Teaching & Homeschool Articles

One math concept that students spend a lot of time on, especially in 3rd grade, is fractions. Manipulating fractions is an important skill for students to master because it can build a foundation for more complex topics, develop their critical thinking skills, and help kids better understand more abstract concepts and establish connections across multiple subjects. 

Today’s daily knowledge boost provides students in 3rd grade with in-depth study of fractions: making and representing fractions, as well as comparing fractions through their denominator and numerator.

As students progress through the grades, math concepts begin to get  more complex. Understanding place value helps children in 2nd grade as it is a foundation to number sense and math operations. Today’s daily knowledge boost will give children an opportunity to explore the place value of ones, tens, and hundreds as well as a slightly more challenging topic of expanded formation. 

In 2nd grade it is very important for learners at this age to dive deeper into the world around them. The properties of matter are the basis for future science learning. Students start with this topic in Kinder and deepen in its complexity as they move up in each grade. Exploring matter encourages students to observe and inquire and gives opportunities for students to practice critical thinking and observation skills.

An essential life skill that children are learning in 1st grade are concepts around and involving time. Learning to tell time at a young age has many benefits. Mastering this skill can help children develop a sense of responsibility, enhance cognitive development, and support academic growth.  It also builds foundational math and cognitive abilities and fosters independence for children in 1st grade and further. Today’s knowledge boost includes opportunities for students to explore the hour and minute hands on a clock, reading time on a clock to the hour and half, as well as looking at a digital and analog clock. 

As a child grows, it is important to foster their curiosity of the world around them. The sun, moon, and stars are a topic of extreme interest for students in 1st grade. Building a strong foundation of knowledge about  the main parts of our solar system can develop a sense of wonder about the universe and their place within it,  as well as inspire future interest in the STEM fields. Mastering these concepts will also build a strong foundation for more complex topics. Today’s daily knowledge boost allows children to explore and gain knowledge about the sun, moon, and stars! 

By the end of Kindergarten, one goal is for children to be able to identify shapes around them in the world. Not only will children learn to identify shapes, they will be able to sort and make all different types of shapes. Today’s daily knowledge boost allows children to practice the skills of  recognizing  shapes, creating shapes, counting sides and corners in shapes, and  identifying 2D or 3D shapes.

An easy way to boost early learning is to practice matching and sorting objects and images by shape, size, color, and more! The best part is that matching and sorting is fun! It feels more like a game, which is so important for young children who learn best through play. 

Kids Academy offers several lessons in different subjects that practice this important skill. All activities featured below can also be found on the interactive Classroom interface. While lessons with more than three activities are only available in Classroom Pro, all activities below can be found on the Kids Academy Website and completed using a web browser.

Our knowledge boost today is focused on the idea that reading is everywhere and is necessary for success in all subject areas as well as in life. Keep reading to discover a hand-picked collection of ELA, math, social studies, and science online lessons that are ready-made and support learners’ reading comprehension. 

All lessons featured below are found on the interactive Kids Academy Classroom interface, which enables children to complete each activity digitally and provides parents with an informative progress reporting system. 

Today’s knowledge boost focuses on tracing and practicing pencil strokes across the curriculum! The first, ELA, lesson is all about writing and recognizing uppercase letters from A-I. The second, math lesson tasks children with making circles and squares. Finally, the World Around Us lesson teaches kids simple words in Spanish to enrich their cultural knowledge. We also provide you with our suggestions of fun, physical brain breaks to keep learners excited and focused!

Place value is an essential concept that all kids must understand between ages 6 and 8. Typically introduced in the first grade, place value is taught after children can reliably read and write numerals up to 120, according. Place value is so important because understanding it is critical to performing operations with multi-digit numbers, such as addition and subtraction. In our article, we'll review the main steps of introducing place value to first graders.