Table of Contents
Let's Read!
Let's Do
Math!
Let's Do Science!
Let's Succeed in School!
Let's Do
History!
Let's Do Geography!
Being Responsible
Let's Use the
Library!
Let's Write!
Let's
Use TV!
Let's Do Art!
Get
Ready for School!
Get to School Safely!
Let's Do Homework!
Learning Partners
A Guide to Educational Activities for
Families
May 1997
|
U.S Department of Education |
Office of Educational Research and
Improvement |
Media and Information
Services |
Please feel free to reproduce this book in whole or in part; it is in the public domain.
| Some of the Learning Partners factsheets that appear in the booklet are also available in Spanish. To order, write the ED Pubs, P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398; or call the Department of Education at 1-877-4-ED-PUBS. Other materials from the Family Involvement Partnership for Learning-for families, schools, employers, and community groups-can be obtained by calling the U.S. Department of Education at 1-800-USA-LEARN. This includes information on the AMERICA READS CHALLENGE and the summer component READ*"WRITE"*NOW. The AMERICA READS CHALLENGE is the President's initiative to ensure that all children can read well and independently by the end of the third grade. As part of that initiative, the READ*"WRITE"*NOW program is designed to provide summer reading opportunities for all children with the help of community volunteers. Also check the U.S. Department of Education's Web site: http://www.ed.gov Many other federal publications on learning activities for children are available through the Consumer Information Catalog. For a free Catalog, write the Consumer Information Center, Pueblo, Colorado 81009. Or visit their Web site at: http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov Designed by Phil Carr with cover by Kim Silverman; edited by Linda Darby; project coordinated by Kathy Perkinson, of OERI's Media and Information Services Staff. With grateful acknowledgments to staff of OERI who contributed to content development: Oliver Moles, Beth Fine, Clara Lawson-Holmes, and Carol Cameron Lyons; and to parent volunteers at the Samuel E. Wheatley Enterprise School, Washington, DC, who reviewed the material for content and design. |
Dear Learning Partner:
We know from education research that children from families who are involved in and supportive of their education tend to perform well in school.
To help spark family involvement, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement has consolidated its Learning Partners series into one booklet called Learning Partners: A Guide to Educational Activities for Families. It is designed primarily for families with preschool and elementary school-age children, although some of the material is useful for older children.
The Learning Partners series covers a lot of topics: reading, math, science, geography, history, writing, responsible behavior, and many more. For each topic, there are activities that you can do with your children to reinforce learning. Most are simple, everyday activities. For instance, you and your children may want to:
- read aloud together-there is no more effective way to encourage children to love books and reading than by reading aloud to them;
- sort the socks on laundry day-sorting is a major function in math; or
- discuss how you think the clock works, why birds build nests, how electricity helps us-science is everywhere and it's important to share the knowledge we have.
We hope your family has fun doing the activities and develops many more of its own. We've heard from a number of schools across the country saying that they pass out Learning Partners sheets at "Family Night," reprint them in newsletters, and send them home with children. As you know, by doing things together, you can show your children that learning is fun and important.
Ramon C. Cortines
Acting Assistant
Secretary for Educational
Research and Improvement
Let's
Read! 
Let's Do Math! Let's Do
Science!
Let's Succeed in School!
Let's Do History! Let's Do
Georgraphy! Being Responsible
Let's Use the Library! Let's
Write! Let's Use TV! Let's Do Art!
Get Ready for School! Get to
School Safely! Let's Do
Homework!