Texas: Prepare for Success - A Parent Guide to The Student Success Initiative at Grade 5 (continued)

Parent Tips to Prepare for Success

General

• Early in the year, review your child’s fourth grade progress and test results with the fifth grade teacher to determine if extra help is needed in reading or math.
• Reinforce what your child is learning in school by asking questions about classroom and homework assignments.
• Attend the school’s Open House and parentteacher conferences. Ask about activities you can do at home to improve your child’s skills.
• Keep in contact with your child’s teacher throughout the year. If your child seems to be struggling, ask the teacher about tutoring programs or other forms of available assistance.

Reading

• Read and discuss a variety of materials with your child. Help your child understand the meanings of new words. Ask who, what, where, when, and why questions to help your child understand the main idea, purpose, and meaning of what is read.
• Work with the teacher and school librarian to identify appropriate reading materials that will interest your child.
• Help your child make connections between personal experience and the events and characters in a story. Ask if a story is similar to other stories and why.

Math

• Encourage your child to talk about the steps used when solving a math problem.
• Play math games with your child by asking questions that combine addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to encourage thinking about how numbers work together to form new numbers.
• Ask questions about what is represented in the tables and graphs found in different sections of magazines and newspapers, such as the weather page.
• Find ways to incorporate math skills into everyday situations like shopping, counting money, adding and comparing prices on a menu, measuring ingredients for cooking, doing home repairs, and estimating time and distance when traveling.