As a parent, one of the best things you can do to support your middle schooler's education is to help them build a strong vocabulary. A well-developed vocabulary can improve their reading comprehension, writing skills, and overall communication. Plus, it will give them the confidence to participate more actively in class discussions and express themselves more clearly.

But you don’t need to rely solely on school lessons to help your child grow their vocabulary—there are plenty of simple and fun activities you can do at home to support their learning. Here are 10 easy ways you can help your middle schooler improve their vocabulary at home:

As a parent, one of the most valuable things you can do to support your child’s education is to actively help them build their vocabulary. While schools certainly play a crucial role in vocabulary development, waiting for the classroom to teach all the words your child needs is not enough. There is a wealth of research that shows students who actively work on expanding their vocabulary at home tend to perform better academically, particularly in reading comprehension and writing.

In this blog post, I’ll explain why working at home to improve your child’s vocabulary is so important and how you can take proactive steps to boost their language skills.

As a parent, you may have noticed that your middle schooler struggles with understanding nonfiction texts, especially when it comes to identifying the central idea. This can be a tricky concept, but there are simple strategies that can make it much easier for your child. One of the best ways to start identifying the central idea is by focusing on the topic and using the introduction and conclusion.

In this post, I’ll share a step-by-step method to help your child confidently identify the central idea of a nonfiction text. By following this approach, your child will be able to better understand and summarize nonfiction texts with ease.

As a parent, you may have noticed that your middle schooler struggles to grasp the central idea of nonfiction texts. This is a common challenge, but the good news is that with the right approach, you can help your child master this essential skill. Identifying the central idea is crucial, not only for reading comprehension but also for writing essays and reports. One effective strategy to help students uncover the central idea is to focus on identifying the most important sentence in each section or paragraph.

In this blog post, I’ll walk you through a step-by-step process to help your child find the central idea by pulling out key sentences from each part of a nonfiction text and combining them to form the overall central idea.

As a middle school teacher, I often see students who struggle with nonfiction reading and informative writing. These skills are not only essential for success in school but also for real-world application in subjects like social studies, science, and even future careers. If your child is finding it challenging to grasp nonfiction texts or express their ideas clearly in writing, you're not alone—many middle schoolers face this hurdle.

Luckily, there are practical ways you can support your child at home and help them build these skills. Here are five strategies that can make a big difference:

As a middle school social studies teacher, one of the most common struggles I see in my students is identifying the central idea of nonfiction texts. The central idea is crucial for reading comprehension and for writing effective responses. A strategy that can help students identify the central idea with ease is focusing on the teaching topic of the text.

In this blog post, I’ll explain what the teaching topic is, how it helps your child find the central idea, and how to break down a nonfiction text to uncover the central message.

Is your middle schooler having a tough time with nonfiction texts? Are they struggling to understand the main point or figure out what the author is trying to say? It can be frustrating for both parents and students, but the good news is that with a little practice, this skill can improve! Understanding the central idea of a text is super important, not just for reading comprehension, but also for writing strong essays and reports.

As middle school teachers, we understand that helping students identify the central idea of a nonfiction text can be one of the more challenging tasks. But there’s a strategy that can make this much easier for your child—and that strategy is the gist.

In this blog, we’ll explain what the “gist” is, how your child can use it to break down a text into manageable parts, and how this can ultimately lead to identifying the central idea.

Promote a culture of reading in your homes. Reading cannot only be a school activity. Students need to read for fun, not only as a school requirement. You do not understand how many of my students see reading as a chore or punishment. Ensure your children see reading as fun escapes into different lands and experiences.

Whether you are an educator, parent, or student it is okay to ask for help.  If you read my previous blog, you know that the learning process needs the collaboration of the three groups – educators, parents, and students for it to be successful.  Each member plays an integral part in the education process and if you are struggling with your role then it hurts the other members of the collaboration.