Parents (page 4)
Ways to help at home, from reading together to routines.
- Balanced literacy and whole languageGuide
Balanced literacy and whole language, fairly explained: guided reading, leveled books, three-cueing, Units of Study and its 2022 revision, and what EdReports and researchers found.
Checked 2026-11-06
- BookWormsGuide
BookWorms explained in plain words: Shared Reading, small-group Differentiated Instruction, its foundational skills block, and the free Peabody pages that go beside it.
Checked 2026-11-09
- Charlotte MasonGuide
The Charlotte Mason method explained: living books, narration, short lessons, nature study, picture study and the Book of Centuries, what a day looks like, and how to start.
Checked 2026-11-06
- Inquiry-based social studiesGuide
Inquiry-based social studies in plain words: the C3 Framework, the Inquiry Design Model, primary sources and Reading Like a Historian, civics and geography standards, and the evidence.
Checked 2026-11-06
- Math fact fluencyGuide
Math fact fluency explained: timed tests versus strategy-first, what the 2021 federal guide recommends, when each fact should be known, and why fractions matter as much as facts.
Checked 2026-11-06
- Peabody's books timerTool
A free animated classroom timer: Peabody reading down a tower of books, and the last book is finished at zero. Any length, counting down or up, with the clock a small chip in the corner.
- Play-based learningGuide
What play-based learning means: free play vs guided play, NAEYC's developmentally appropriate practice, a guided-play morning, and what a 39-study review found about play and early math.
Checked 2026-11-06
- Readability checkerTool
Paste any text and get its Flesch-Kincaid grade level and reading ease, worked out in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
- Reading ReconsideredGuide
Reading Reconsidered explained in plain words: the book of methods, the separate book-based curriculum for grades 5 to 8, how units run, and the free Peabody pages that go beside it.
Checked 2026-11-09
- Spiral mathGuide
What spiral math is: Saxon's incremental development and continual review, Everyday Mathematics, the strong trial on mixed practice, and the warning about spirals that never finish a topic.
Checked 2026-11-06
- The science of readingGuide
What the science of reading means, in plain words: the Simple View, Scarborough's rope, the National Reading Panel's Big Five, state reading laws and England's phonics check.
Checked 2026-11-06
- What works in every approachGuide
The learning science every approach can use: retrieval practice, spacing, worked examples, interleaving, pictures with words, why questions, Universal Design, and the learning-styles myth.
Checked 2026-11-06
- Certificate makerMaker
Make printable award certificates: 30 award wordings, six borders, a certificate for every name on your class list. Free, no watermark.
- The science of reading: what it says, what it doesn't, and how to teach by itGuide
The science of reading explained for teachers: what the research says about phonics and phonemic awareness, the evidence rating and studies, steps for K–2 and beyond, mistakes and free tools.
- 4th grade sub plans: readingPage
A 4th grade reading block a substitute can run with no prep, with the sheet, the answer key and every step written out. Free to print.
Checked 2026-10-30
- Repeated reading: how to build reading fluency, and what the research saysGuide
Repeated reading for teachers: the evidence rating and studies, how to run it with partners or small groups, steps by grade, fluency examples, mistakes and a free fluency timer.
- A quiz that teaches: retrieval practice in ten questionsGuide
How to turn a quiz into retrieval practice: ten questions, three answer boxes, old material mixed in, answers right after, versions A and B from a free quiz maker.
- Orton-Gillingham: what it is, how a lesson runs, and what the research saysGuide
Orton-Gillingham explained for teachers and parents: how a lesson works, why the direct evidence is thin even though its phonics core is well supported, steps, mistakes and free tools.
- Spelling practice and test makerMaker
Paste this week's spelling words and get a look-say-cover-write-check sheet, a numbered test, a scramble, and bingo and word search made from the same list. Free.
- Math fact fluency: how to build it, and what the research says about timed practiceGuide
Math fact fluency for teachers: the evidence rating and studies, why timed practice is rated Strong for intervention, how to do it without anxiety, steps by grade, mistakes and free tools.
- 5th grade sub plans: readingPage
A 5th grade reading block a substitute can run with no prep, with the sheet, the answer key and every step written out. Free to print.
Checked 2026-10-30
- 30 reading center ideasIdea
Thirty reading centers students can run on their own: phonics, sight words, fluency, comprehension and writing, each with what goes in the tub and the grades it fits.
- Passage quizzes: literal, inference and vocabulary questions, and how ours are builtGuide
Literal, inference and vocabulary questions for reading passages, K–8: how each works, how our 53 passages and their quizzes are built, and how to write your own.
- Reading fluency timer and WCPM calculatorTool
A one-minute reading timer with a words-correct-per-minute calculator for any length of read. Nothing is saved.