Education
How to Pick a Homeschool Math Curriculum: The Spine Decision
Your spine is the one curriculum the year runs on. Four differences the makers print themselves separate the major programs - and all four are checkable before you buy.
Education
Opinions, strategies and ideas based on latest research around Math and Education.
Education
The FCPS AAP Checklist: What to File Before December 15
One form, one person, one deadline. What a Fairfax parent files before December 15, in order, and which parts happen without you.
Education
How Does a Child Get Into Frisco ISD's Gifted Program?
One January window, two school years: kindergarten screens for 2026-27, grades 1-11 for 2027-28. Which Frisco ISD door is yours, and the automatic CogAT route.
Education
What Does Your Child's Kumon Level Actually Mean?
A Kumon level is a position in a worksheet sequence, not a grade. How to read it against your child's grade, and what to ask the instructor.
Education
How Does a Child Get Into Advanced Math in Fairfax County?
One AAP door opens by itself (the grade 2 screener) and one you open (the referral, closing December 15). Where the math actually sits in Fairfax County.
Education
What Is the Lattice Method? An Old New-Math Trick for Multiplication
That grid of boxes and diagonal lines in your kid's homework isn't some new Common Core gimmick; it's a 700-year-old math trick, and it's basically a puzzle in disguise. Take the quiz, build the grid yourself, and find out why some teachers still swear by it.
Education
The Distributive Property in Multiplication: Why New Math Teaches It Early
Your child's homework shows multiplication broken into boxes and smaller pieces, and it looks nothing like what you learned. This guide explains the real math rule behind it—the distributive property—and why schools now teach it years earlier than they used to.
Education
Partial Products: The Multiplication Method That Comes Before Carrying
Partial products multiplication breaks big multiplication problems into small, place-value pieces before adding them up. This guide walks through worked examples for every problem type a 4th grader sees, and shows how each part turns into the standard algorithm taught next.
Education
What is Subitizing? The New Math Skill Kids Learn Before They Count
Subitizing is seeing how many things there are without counting them. Example, you see a dice showing 5 dots and you just know it's 5. You never counted the dots. Subitizing is the foundation for adding, subtracting, and later mental math. It builds a practice to avoid counting from 1 each time.
Education
The Box Method for Multiplication: A Step-by-Step Guide for Parents
Your child's worksheet says "box method" and shows a grid instead of a normal multiplication problem — here's what every box means and how to fill it in, from a simple 2-digit problem up to the four-digit ones that show up by 5th grade.
Education
Area Model Multiplication: Steps, Examples, and Worksheet
Area model multiplication splits each number into tens and ones, puts the parts on a grid, and adds the boxes. Here are the steps, a worked example for every problem size, how the same grid handles division, and practice that checks your child's answers.
Education
How Does a Child Get Into Advanced Math in Plano ISD?
PACE runs on referrals, Math Rocks runs on invitations, and Credit by Exam is the route a family can choose on its own. The dates and rules, from the district's own pages.