Guides for parents
Short, sourced answers for the moments math gets hard at home. All 7 guides, newest first.
- What is the area model for multiplication? A parent’s guideAn area model splits a multiplication like 23 × 14 into four boxes by place value: 200, 80, 30 and 12, which add to 322. What it is and how to help at home.Updated November 7, 2026
- What is a number bond? A parent’s guideA number bond shows a number and the two parts that make it, like 7 as 4 and 3. What one is, why first graders use them to make ten, and how to help at home.Updated November 6, 2026
- What is a tape diagram? A parent’s guide to bar modelsA tape diagram, or bar model, is a drawing that looks like a strip of tape. What one is, how to draw one for a word problem, and three worked examples.Updated November 5, 2026
- Math homework help that doesn’t give your child the answerIn a 2025 study, students who practiced math with an answer-giving AI scored 17% lower on the exam. How to help with homework by asking, not telling.Updated November 2, 2026
- How to help your child with math word problemsA federal review of 18 studies found strong evidence for teaching word problems by type. Five steps a parent can use at home, with a real Grade 1 example.Updated October 26, 2026
- “How do you know?”: getting kids to explain their math thinkingExplaining math is one of the eight Common Core practice standards, starting in Grade 1. What to ask your child, what to listen for, and how to respond.Updated October 26, 2026
- What the equal sign really means: early algebra in first gradeMany kids answer 12 to 8 + 4 = □ + 5. The right answer is 7. Why the equal sign trips children up, what Grade 1 standards ask, and how to teach it at home.Updated October 26, 2026
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