Basic home workouts for you and your child

Academic standards are organized around key subjects. By reinforcing learning at school with learning at home, you can do a great deal to ensure that your child meets higher academic standards. The following are suggested activities you can do at home, beginning in the early grades, to help your child.

Reading/Writing

• Encourage reading for other purposes beyond school. At the breakfast table, help your child read the cereal box, or, on the road, have your child read signs.

• Encourage your child to read at least 30 minutes a day, especially in the summer when children often lose ground in reading skills.

• On holidays, help your child make cards and write greetings to friends and relatives. On vacations, encourage him or her to keep a journal.

Math

• At the grocery store, involve your child in tracking down bargains and comparing prices. At a baseball game, teach him or her about the math of batting averages and other statistics. If you're building something at home or wrapping presents, involve your child in figuring out how to calculate the amount of material needed.

• Ask a young child to name the geometric shapes of cans, boxes, pizzas and books. Ask an older child to calculate how much milk your family consumes per day or per week.

History/Geography/Civics

• Use your family's history to help your child write about or record family stories to understand how history connects us with the past.

• Encourage your child's natural interest in geography at home by buying a puzzle of the United States, and by having your child follow your route on a map when you travel.

• On election day, take your child to vote with you.

Science

• Encourage your child's curiosity about the natural world. If you take your child to visit a pond, for instance, you can observe and record how many different kinds of plants and animals live there.

• Ask your child to observe and describe changes in water when it boils, melts, evaporates, freezes or condenses.

Arts

• Encourage your child to participate in local music, art and museum programs, and write about or make a presentation about the experience for family and friends.

Exercise your mind...find out more about higher academic standards

If a copy of academic standards is not available from your local school district, contact your state department of education to request information on the state's academic expectations.

If you find that your school isn't expecting a high level of work from your child, find out if efforts to raise standards are underway in your school district or state. In many places, higher academic standards and new tests are now under development. Talk with your state and local elected officials and write to your governor to let them know you support higher academic standards for your child.

Some of the best sources on academic standards developed by states and national groups are on the Internet. Most public libraries can help you access the following Web sites:

• Achieve -- www.achieve.org
• Eisenhower National Clearinghouse's "Standards and Frameworks" -- www.enc.org
• Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) -- www.mcrel.org
• Putnam Valley Schools -- www.putwest.boces.org/standards.html

• U.S. Department of Education
  600 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC 20202
  800.USA.LEARN
  800.872.5327
  www.ed.gov

• Council of Chief State School Officers
  1 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
  Suite 700
  Washington, DC 20001
  202.408.5505
  www.ccsso.org

• National Governors' Association
  444 North Capitol Street,NW
  Suite 250
  Washington,DC 20001
  202.624.5300
  www.nga.org

• American Federation of Teachers
  555 New Jersey Avenue, NW
  Washington, DC 20001
  202.393.5676
  www.aft.org

• National Alliance of Business
  1201 New York Avenue, NW
  Suite 700
  Washington, DC 20005
  202.289.2848
  www.nab.com

• U.S. Chamber of Commerce
  Center for Workforce
  Preparation
  1615 H Street, NW
  Washington, DC 20062
  202.463.5525

• Business Coalition for
  Education Reform (BCER)
  c/o National Alliance of Business
  1201 New York Avenue, NW
  Suite 700
  Washington, DC 20005
  800.787.2848
  www.bcer.org

• National Education Association
  1201 16th Street, NW
  Washington, DC 20036
  202.833.4000
  www.nea.org

• The Business Roundtable
  1615 L Street, NW
  Suite 1100
  Washington, DC 20036
  www.brtable.org

• National Education Goals Panel
  1255 22nd Street, NW
  Suite 502
  Washington, DC 20037
  202.632.0952
  www.negp.gov

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