Easy TwinHomework skill guides for parents
Short, practical guides to the exact skills that show up on K–8 homework: what each skill is, what a practice question looks like, the mistakes kids make most, and a 10-minute way to practice it at home.
Math skills
Equivalent fractions
Equivalent fractions are different fractions that name the same amount, like 1/2, 2/4 and 4/8.
Addition with regrouping
Addition with regrouping (often called carrying) is what you do when a column adds up to 10 or more: you keep the ones digit and move the extra ten to the next column, so 47 + 38 = 85.
Place value
Place value means a digit's value depends on where it sits: in 352, the 3 is worth 300, the 5 is worth 50 and the 2 is worth 2.
Rounding numbers
Rounding means replacing a number with the closest friendly number, like 67 rounding to 70 or 382 rounding to 400.
Counting money
Counting money means finding the total value of a group of coins and bills by counting on from the coin worth the most: a quarter, two dimes and a penny is 25, 35, 45, 46, so 46¢.
Times tables
The times tables are the 100 multiplication facts from 1 × 1 to 10 × 10, and kids learn them fastest by using strategies (doubling, adding one more group, the 9s trick) before memorizing.
Long division
Long division breaks a big division problem into a repeating cycle of small steps: divide, multiply, subtract, bring down, then check by multiplying.
Adding fractions with unlike denominators
To add fractions with unlike denominators, rename them as equivalent fractions with the same denominator, then add the numerators: 3/4 + 1/8 becomes 6/8 + 1/8 = 7/8.
Area and perimeter
Perimeter is the distance around a shape and area is the space inside it: a 6 cm by 4 cm rectangle has a perimeter of 20 cm and an area of 24 square cm.
Order of operations
The order of operations is the agreed order for solving an expression: parentheses first, then exponents, then multiplication and division from left to right, then addition and subtraction from left to right.
Ratios and rates
A ratio compares two amounts, like 4 red marbles to 6 blue ones (4:6, or 2:3), and a unit rate tells how much of one thing for exactly 1 of another, like 50 miles per hour.
Negative numbers
Negative numbers are numbers less than zero, like −5 or a temperature of −4°F, and they're easiest to add and subtract on a number line: adding a positive moves right, adding a negative moves left, and subtracting a negative is the same as adding a positive, so 4 − (−3) = 7.
Two-step equations
A two-step equation like 2x + 5 = 17 takes two moves to solve: undo the adding or subtracting first, then undo the multiplying or dividing, so 2x = 12 and x = 6.
Reading, grammar and writing skills
Plural nouns
A plural noun names more than one thing: cats, boxes, babies, mice.
Main idea
The main idea is what a paragraph or passage is mostly about, and supporting details are the facts and examples that back it up.
Context clues
Context clues are hints in the nearby words and sentences that help a reader figure out an unfamiliar word without a dictionary.
Making inferences
An inference is a smart guess that combines clues from the text with what the reader already knows.
Parts of speech
Parts of speech are the jobs words do in a sentence: nouns name things, verbs show action or being, adjectives describe nouns and adverbs describe verbs.
Subject-verb agreement
Subject-verb agreement means the verb matches its subject: one dog runs, two dogs run.
Contractions
A contraction is two words squeezed into one, with an apostrophe where letters were left out: do + not = don't, I + am = I'm.
Prefixes and suffixes
A prefix is a word part added to the beginning of a word (un + happy = unhappy), and a suffix is added to the end (help + ful = helpful); each one changes the meaning.
Synonyms and antonyms
Synonyms are words that mean the same or almost the same thing (big and large), and antonyms are words with opposite meanings (hot and cold).
Capitalization and punctuation
Every sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark: a period, a question mark or an exclamation point.
Topic sentences
A topic sentence tells the reader what a whole paragraph will be about: it names the topic and makes a point about it, and in elementary writing it's usually the first sentence.
Which grade is each skill usually taught in?
| Skill | Typical grades | In one line |
|---|---|---|
| Plural nouns | Grade 1 to Grade 3 | A plural noun names more than one thing: cats, boxes, babies, mice. |
| Main idea | Grade 2 to Grade 5 | The main idea is what a paragraph or passage is mostly about, and supporting details are the facts and examples that back it up. |
| Context clues | Grade 3 to Grade 5 | Context clues are hints in the nearby words and sentences that help a reader figure out an unfamiliar word without a dictionary. |
| Making inferences | Grade 3 to Grade 6 | An inference is a smart guess that combines clues from the text with what the reader already knows. |
| Parts of speech | Grade 2 to Grade 4 | Parts of speech are the jobs words do in a sentence: nouns name things, verbs show action or being, adjectives describe nouns and adverbs describe verbs. |
| Subject-verb agreement | Grade 2 to Grade 4 | Subject-verb agreement means the verb matches its subject: one dog runs, two dogs run. |
| Contractions | Grade 1 to Grade 2 | A contraction is two words squeezed into one, with an apostrophe where letters were left out: do + not = don't, I + am = I'm. |
| Prefixes and suffixes | Grade 2 to Grade 4 | A prefix is a word part added to the beginning of a word (un + happy = unhappy), and a suffix is added to the end (help + ful = helpful); each one changes the meaning. |
| Synonyms and antonyms | Grade 1 to Grade 3 | Synonyms are words that mean the same or almost the same thing (big and large), and antonyms are words with opposite meanings (hot and cold). |
| Capitalization and punctuation | Grade 1 to Grade 3 | Every sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark: a period, a question mark or an exclamation point. |
| Topic sentences | Grade 3 to Grade 5 | A topic sentence tells the reader what a whole paragraph will be about: it names the topic and makes a point about it, and in elementary writing it's usually the first sentence. |
| Equivalent fractions | Grade 3 to Grade 5 | Equivalent fractions are different fractions that name the same amount, like 1/2, 2/4 and 4/8. |
| Addition with regrouping | Grade 2 to Grade 3 | Addition with regrouping (often called carrying) is what you do when a column adds up to 10 or more: you keep the ones digit and move the extra ten to the next column, so 47 + 38 = 85. |
| Place value | Grade 1 to Grade 3 | Place value means a digit's value depends on where it sits: in 352, the 3 is worth 300, the 5 is worth 50 and the 2 is worth 2. |
| Rounding numbers | Grade 3 to Grade 4 | Rounding means replacing a number with the closest friendly number, like 67 rounding to 70 or 382 rounding to 400. |
| Counting money | Grade 1 to Grade 2 | Counting money means finding the total value of a group of coins and bills by counting on from the coin worth the most: a quarter, two dimes and a penny is 25, 35, 45, 46, so 46¢. |
| Times tables | Grade 3 to Grade 4 | The times tables are the 100 multiplication facts from 1 × 1 to 10 × 10, and kids learn them fastest by using strategies (doubling, adding one more group, the 9s trick) before memorizing. |
| Long division | Grade 4 to Grade 6 | Long division breaks a big division problem into a repeating cycle of small steps: divide, multiply, subtract, bring down, then check by multiplying. |
| Adding fractions with unlike denominators | Grade 5 | To add fractions with unlike denominators, rename them as equivalent fractions with the same denominator, then add the numerators: 3/4 + 1/8 becomes 6/8 + 1/8 = 7/8. |
| Area and perimeter | Grade 3 to Grade 4 | Perimeter is the distance around a shape and area is the space inside it: a 6 cm by 4 cm rectangle has a perimeter of 20 cm and an area of 24 square cm. |
| Order of operations | Grade 5 to Grade 6 | The order of operations is the agreed order for solving an expression: parentheses first, then exponents, then multiplication and division from left to right, then addition and subtraction from left to right. |
| Ratios and rates | Grade 6 to Grade 7 | A ratio compares two amounts, like 4 red marbles to 6 blue ones (4:6, or 2:3), and a unit rate tells how much of one thing for exactly 1 of another, like 50 miles per hour. |
| Negative numbers | Grade 6 to Grade 7 | Negative numbers are numbers less than zero, like −5 or a temperature of −4°F, and they're easiest to add and subtract on a number line: adding a positive moves right, adding a negative moves left, and subtracting a negative is the same as adding a positive, so 4 − (−3) = 7. |
| Two-step equations | Grade 7 to Grade 8 | A two-step equation like 2x + 5 = 17 takes two moves to solve: undo the adding or subtracting first, then undo the multiplying or dividing, so 2x = 12 and x = 6. |
Timing varies by school and curriculum; these are the grades where each skill most often appears on homework.
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