Abstract:
Many parents have trouble when trying to help their children with homework because so much has changed in education since these parents were in school. In fact, in the year 2000, the state of Indiana came out with a new set of educational and instructional standards for mathematics, entitled Indiana's Academic Standards. I feel that some parents want to be involved in their child's education, but sometimes they do not have the proper information to be able to do so. Often, parents just are not aware of where to start or what to do with their child. They are not aware of what is expected or required of their child at a particular grade level, or they are not familiar with current strategies or manipulatives used in mathematics education.With falling achievement test scores and an ever more advanced society, mathematics skills are more valuable today than ever. In order for students to get the most out of their educational experiences, I believe that involvement of the child's first and most important teacher(s), the parent(s), is crucial.In order to facilitate this parental involvement, I produced a year long series of monthly newsletters to provide parents with information about Indiana's Academic Standards 2000 for Mathematics, activities they can do with their child at home, books that can be read as a family to reinforce mathematics concepts, and directions for manipulatives that can be used as a scaffold for mathematic skill development. A compiled parent assessment of the project and a personal reflection on the experience are also included.
