Q: My daughter, Darien, is finishing second grade. Her teacher wants her to work on reading comprehension this summer. We read together every night. Does that help?

A: All reading helps a child. But many need explicit instruction to boost their understanding, says Mary Rosenberg, a master teacher in the Fresno (Calif.) Unified School District. Parents can help a lot by doing just a little skill building every day.

In "Read and Succeed: Comprehension" (Shell Educational Publishing Inc.), a graded series she has contributed to, Rosenberg outlines comprehension-building strategies you can use with short texts that match Darien's reading level. Ask her teacher or librarian for recommendations, or find appropriate texts in children's magazines such as National Geographic Kids, Scholastic News, Ranger Rick and their websites. Although they are designed for classrooms, parents like Rosenberg's lessons because they come with selected content, saving you from hunting down the reading material.

What are key comprehension skills?

-- Previewing, predicting, making mental images and tapping prior knowledge orient a reader to what she already knows about the topic. Look at the title and pictures. Ask Darien what the topic is. Can she predict what will happen from the title or illustrations? If the story is about a starfish, can she relate something she already knows to it, such as a trip to the shore or a documentary on sea life? Good readers link new text to something they already know.

-- Ask questions and make connections. Discuss "who, what, when, where, why and how" to help Darien focus on important details. For example, if she reads an article about world holidays, ask her how celebrations are alike and different. Ask her to talk about her favorite holiday.

-- Setting, plot and characters are important comprehension tools to ask her about. Where does the story take place? What happens first? Next? What do the people say and do?

-- Look for comprehension clues in titles, headings, typeface, captions and graphics. Pictures, drawings and charts help kids remember what they've read, says Rosenberg. Show her how publications give content hints in graphic design and typography. Captions and call-outs often summarize a story.

-- Ask Darien to sum up the main idea and then give a couple of details after reading a short passage. Most texts have a time order: Can she relate the sequence of events? How-to texts such as recipes have a logical order. Have her point these out.

-- Discuss cause and effect, (why something happened) to explain the gist of a story. Have her compare and contrast story elements to remember what's the same and different. Ask her to retell a story in her own words to reinforce understanding. Can she guess the author's purpose? Is it to inform, entertain, persuade or make a reader feel a certain way? Don't overlook a nonfiction book's table of contents, index and glossary.

"If she masters some of these, she'll have a set of comprehension tools to use her whole life," says Rosenberg.

Tackle one or two at a time. Stop the minute it's no longer fun! Never destroy the joy of reading together.

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)

Q: My 8-year-old son loves to collect stuff, and his room is full. My wife calls it junk. I call it cheap toys -- everything from rocks and coins to shells and "Star Wars" characters. Mom wants it tossed, but his teacher says collecting can foster creativity. True?

A: What his mom thinks is junk could be your son's ticket to a highly creative and innovative life. Read the biographies of many researchers, inventors, writers and artists, and you'll find that childhood collections put them on a path to becoming successful. Think young Charles Darwin and his bugs, or novelist Vladimir Nabokov and his butterflies.

Young collectors develop habits of mind (discovery, observation, categorization, prioritization and editing, among others) that are the foundation of many life skills.

"Some very famous people have relied professionally on their leisure collections for inspiration, knowledge and skills. A century ago, psychologists and educators took the collecting habit in children seriously and pondered how to use it to advantage in the classroom," note Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein, co-authors of "Sparks of Genius: The 13 Thinking Tools of the World's Most Creative People" (Houghton Mifflin, 1999).

They think that collections can offer the intellectual and sensual stimulation necessary to inspire personal � HYPERLINK "http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/creativity" �creativity�; that collecting develops a number of important "mental tools necessary for creative thinking," such as learning to observe acutely, make fine distinctions and comparisons, and recognize patterns and gaps.

JeanAnn Lewis, a West Virginia mom, used to call it junk too, but finally saw the light when she noticed that her fifth-grade son enjoyed sharing his collection of found objects and coins with friends and adults, "describing them in great detail, making judgments about their properties, even writing reports about them for school," she says.

"I was like (BEGIN ITALS)'whoa'(END ITALS) when he told his grandmother the worth of a nickel he found in a cigar box at a garage sale," she explains. "He told her he would keep it because it would only get more valuable. He was learning patience, how to research an item and monetary appreciation without any help from me!"

Rather than nag about the clutter, Lewis uses it as a teachable moment, showing her son that collections should be taken care of -- putting items in cases or boxes, or organized on shelves and dusted.

"Twice a year, we look at what should be put in storage, traded or tossed," she says. "That helps keep his bedroom clean by boy standards. We narrow what he'll collect so that every object doesn't come home. He reads about things he's collecting, too."

Her son's collections have given the family a great activity to enjoy together, says Lewis. "On weekends, we stop at yard sales for a look-see. My son knows he can use part of his allowance on his finds. It's teaching him how to save, spend and manage money. He and my husband have started to sell some of the items, such as bird's nests, on eBay. It's fun!"

(For more on kids and collecting, go to: www.smithsonianeducation.org/students/idealabs/amazing_collections.html.)

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)

Q: At a recent school meeting, some parents pushed back on the new Common Core curriculum that my state, California, adopted. They are afraid that the standards will be too hard for their children. Several parents are for the standards. How can we answer their objections?

A: Ask if they really want to deprive their children of college and career opportunities. The lack of preparation for college work and the continuing slippage of United States students on international comparisons are key reasons 45 states have adopted the Common Core State Standards.

The Common Core, with standards for math and English language arts, is designed to address inequities. Currently, kids in some districts or states get a rich and deep curriculum, while others get less challenging courses. This leads to lower scores on important tests and more remedial instruction in high school and college.

The new voluntary, internationally benchmarked K-12 standards seek to give all students a strong knowledge and skills foundation in math and English. "Yes, they are challenging, but they are also clear. States that implement them well will graduate more of their high school students ready for college and careers," says Ramon Cortines, retired superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, and former New York City Schools chancellor.

Cortines says the Common Core standards won't be implemented overnight. Most won't show up in classrooms until the 2014-15 school year. "While state policymakers and educators may adopt them, the hard work is at the local level," he says. "Teachers must be supported in how to teach (the standards) in ways that connect to their students. If educators follow a script, it won't work.

"Parents must understand not only why the standards will benefit their children, but what students are supposed to learn," Cortines continued. That way, "parents can help them at home and encourage them to aim high."

The National PTA has done a good job showing parents why they are important partners in the Common Core initiative. The organization created 11 grade-by-grade guides that reflect the standards. They show key items that children should be learning in English and mathematics in each grade and suggest activities parents can do at home. Parents of high school students will also find tips for planning for college and careers. Go to pta.org for the guides. To get more background and find out if your state has adopted the standards, visit CoreStandards.org/in-the-states.

Cortines says there's another good reason to hope the Common Core initiative succeeds -- to help students become effective citizens. "Students need a strong knowledge foundation to make informed judgments, sound arguments and effective decisions. We do students a disservice when we encourage them to have lots of opinions, but we don't insist that they acquire broad knowledge to base them on," he says. "I like the way author Liel Leibovitz puts it. 'Points of view are to knowledge what dessert is to vegetables: You earn one only by first consuming the other.' Done well in our schools, the Common Core will serve up really tasty, nourishing veggies!"

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)