My Favorite Online Tools for Reading, Math, and Behavior Issues.
I have three questions for you, and I want you to answer them honestly.
1) Do you want your child to become a life-long reader?
2) Does your child struggle with math homework and you just don’t know how to help?
3) Does your child ever throw tantrums, give you backtalk, or refuse to follow your directions?
If so, I have some online resources that may be helpful to you. I’ll show you the top 4 most helpful online resources and how to use them. Below you’ll find resources to ...
1) Help your child become a voracious reader
2) Teach your child how to tackle any math problem independently
3) Handle any challenging behaviors.
Reading
People who love to read usually have 2 things in common. They can point to one book that really sparked their interest for reading. They share their love for reading with other readers.
These first website will help your child find the one book that will spark their interest for reading and the second website will let your child share that love for reading with others.
The first website has a great search feature which lets you search for books based on author, category, genre, topic, grade level, and reading level.
The best feature of this website: you can search for books within specific reading ranges. One of the biggest barriers for struggling readers is finding interesting books at lower reading levels. This tool will help you find easy-to-read books on the topics that spark your child’s interests.
Under advanced search, find the ATOS book level. These numbers correspond the reading level of a typical student in a grade level. For example, a ATOS reading level of 3.4 is equivalent to a reader in the 3rd grade in the 4th month of the school year.
Once you found a book at your child’s reading level that sparks your child’s curiosity, you can click on the “buy now” button from amazon at the bottom of the page.
Or if you want to find more details about the book, find other related books, or just read other people's reviews of your book, check out the next site:
This second website is sort of like social media for books. You can engage in discussions about your favorite books, read other people’s reviews about new books, and find new books based on books that you already like to read.
Besides finding that one book that melts their heart, young readers need to be engaged in conversations about reading. Here your child can read reviews and engage in discussions about their favorite books.
It's not always enough to find a book that you fall in love with to become a life-long reader. Being a part of a community helps your child share common interests and passions with fellow readers, as well as discover new books and view their favorite books through a new lens.
Math
With the implemenation of the Common Core State Standards, the way your children are learning math is most likely different from the way that you learned math.
Chances are, that by the middle school level, you're not even sure how to help your child with their homework. I have parents who complain that they don't know how to help their kids with math homework. I always answer, "I don't want you to help them with their homework."
Math homework is an opportunity to build problem-solving skills and independence. It's ok if a child doesn't understand how to solve a problem on their homework. What is important is what the child does when they run into that problem.
Many students are likely to ask for help from a teacher, parent, or older sibling as a first resort. Instead, this level of help should be a last resort. Before calling in the big guns, the child should consult available resources.
First, the child should use the resources from class. These include notes, textbook, classwork, and sample problems to figure it out.
Sometimes, these resources are not enough. In those cases, I recommend my students hop onto this website:
It has quality math lessons covering nearly all of the math material k-12. You can easily search for quick video on a particular topic or lesson. You can also take a series of mini-lessons that covers the whole unit.
Khan Academy has whole math courses based on grade level. You can sign your child up for free and let them explore. Khan Academy awards points and
achievements for completing assignments, just like a video game!
Behavior
Finally, if you have ever had a behavior problem, check out this website. It has some very practical and actionable steps you can take to decrease the amount of time that you and your child spend fighting and increase the overall sense of calm.
This website has a large database of articles that provide strategies based on a Cognitive Behavior Therapy principles. These articles are well written and provide very practical advice for common behavior problems.
Here are some examples of the kinds of articles you can find in the school-related behaviors section:
There is more information on the site about how to deal with more challenging behaviors, including tantrums, defiance, and disrespect. If you have a teenager, you might find a lot of very helpful resources for dealing with more extreme behaviors that you rarely see in younger children.
So now you have the tools you need to help your child jumpstart their passion for reading, find quality help for math, and handle difficult behaviors.
Here are those websites one more time:
A place to search for books at your child’s reading level.
A place to find new books and discuss old favorites with other readers.
A vast online bank of instruction in math, science, and more!
A good resource for finding strategies to deal with challenging behaviors.
I want to hear from you!
I hope you found these resources helpful. What are some other online resources that have helped you? Share with other parents in the comments below!
Do you know anyone who might benefit from one or more of these websites? Tag them in your comment!
