Q: Our first-grade daughter brings home sight words to practice, so I ordered sight-word flashcards. When I showed the teacher, she said the flashcards were based on a "Dolch" list and preferred that we practice the words she sends home. What's the difference?

A: Sight-word practice is one of the best investments a parent can make in an early reader's progress. Knowing them by heart builds young readers' confidence and frees their brains to decode more challenging words.

"There are a few 'little' words that hold the English language together," says Dr. Marilyn Adams, one of the nation's top literacy experts. "I call them 'glue words.' They are so basic that nothing can be written for or by children without at least some of them.

"The good thing is that most of these words are short. The bad thing is that most are badly spelled."

Adams explains that the influential 220-word Dolch sight-word list, created in 1948, was "compiled during the 'look-say' era of reading, before research established the critical importance of early phonics instruction."

Why does the teacher prefer that you not use Dolch flashcards? "The Dolch list contains lots of decodable words," notes Adams. "Because the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) emphasize phonics instruction, children have tools to decode words such as 'big.' What they struggle with -- and where phonics skills don't help -- are high-utility words that don't follow basic rules, especially articles, prepositions, helping verbs and pronouns, such as the, there, of, to, my, you, is, are, does."

Children have to learn these from memory. "They actually have to 'overlearn' them," says Adams. "The goal is to make sure these words help a young reader, rather than get in the way. If children try to decode the word 'the,' for example, every time they encounter it, they slow down their reading, break their train of thought and become frustrated. Learning high-frequency irregular words by heart propels them forward."

Primary teachers encourage parents to help kids master high-frequency words, says Jessica Kelmon, reading editor at GreatSchools.org.

"Mastery takes practice, and there's no way that teachers can give each child enough practice time during the school day," she says.

Working with California reading specialist Jen Kaufman, GreatSchools editors created "Snap Words" worksheets for preschool through first grade. "We call them 'Snap Words,'" say Kelmon, "because kids have to know them in a snap! Parents love them because they can squeeze in some practice when they have a few extra minutes. All of our Snap Words worksheets are pegged to CCSS for kindergarten and first grade." (GreatSchools.org will soon offer parents Snap Words games to download on their smartphones.)

Don't toss the flashcards. Instead, cover them up and each week write the teacher's word list on them. "And don't forget that children need help using these words, too," says Adams. "Have fun, for example, with rebus play, such as 'the mouse is in/on/by the house.'

"Emphasize the words when you use them in sentences, so children see their role in our language."

(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 fourth-grader, Karina, has way more homework this year than last year. She works hard on it, but despite the time spent, doesn't always remember what she studies. Any suggestions?

A: Schools focus on the content that students should learn, but very little on cognitive skills such as time management and study strategies to make sure that the learning "sticks."

Data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) show that teaching cognitive strategies works. Students who use cognitive skills the most "to understand and remember what they read, such as underlining important parts of the texts or discussing what they read with other people, perform at least 73 points higher in the PISA assessment -- that is, one full proficiency level or nearly two full school years -- than students who use these strategies the least," the group's report stated.

Unfortunately, "we don't often teach helpful 'cerebral' strategies, such as visualizing time, taking notes and sequencing events," says Donna Goldberg, a learning coach and author of "The Organized Student" (Fireside, 2005).

Ask yourself what key cerebral strategies Karina can learn, and which she might already be using. Does she use what she already knows about a topic to learn new material? Ask herself questions as she reads? Draw pictures or diagrams to develop understanding? Discuss the subject with others to clarify new concepts? Practice material several times to build understanding? Make notes on things she doesn't understand to ask the teacher? Review an assignment before moving on? Organize her time to be most efficient?

Does Karina see the big picture in what she's studying? "Some teachers fail to tell students what they'll be learning during the year," says Goldberg. "They tell how they'll grade and what the class rules are, but don't say, 'This year we'll study ancient history: We'll start with Mesopotamia, then Egypt, Greece and Rome.' Teachers who explain the game plan, and with each lesson place the topic in the context of the curriculum's broader goal, really help students retain the material much more effectively. You can help reinforce the big picture with Karina."

Another thing to check is her understanding of time. "Parents assume that because kids can tell time that they can manage it," says Goldberg. "Kids can tell you, for example, that it's 12:30 -- lunchtime -- but can't gauge how long it will take to eat or the time left before next class or until study period."

Goldberg recommends students use a paper planner to manage time. "The tool makes time visible," she says. "It captures activities, assignments and deadlines in one place. It allows a student to block out both study and personal time; keep track of immediate deadlines and pace long-term projects; gauge how long things take and calculate time needed to complete a project."

The Time Timer (timetimer.com) can help make time real for some students, says Goldberg. Another good tool is the My-Time Kid's Planner (mytimekidsplanner.com), a large magnetic, dry-erase scheduling board.

If Karina doesn't grasp these strategies immediately, don't worry, says Goldberg. "What's important is that you've started a dialogue. Reinforce (the techniques) with her, by doing things such as checking the planner. Soon, she'll see their benefits and start using them."

(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: It's time for our parent teacher organization to stop sending paper newsletters home, but the president is worried that going digital will cause legal problems and exclude some parents. Haven't most schools crossed this bridge?

A: Thanks to the swift migration to Internet-connected mobile devices and broadband access at home, many schools have increased the quality and frequency of communication with parents by going digital. Data shows that parents appreciate it.

Parent leaders aren't just converting their printed missives, which are often lost in the backpack, into e-newsletters; they are using a range of tools to increase information flow and engagement, including social media, online surveys, customized school websites and wikis that invite parents reviews, and apps.

Knapp Elementary in Lansdale, Pa., is a great model, according to Tim Sullivan, publisher of PTOtoday.com, a website for parents that offers advice and resources.

"Their Home and School Association (HSA) surveyed parents at back-to-school night and learned that 94 percent of families were able to access email or texts," he says. "They formed the Knapp Family Engagement Team to create a technology plan to reach out to parents."

Knapp principal Joe Mazza says it was all about "listening to parents, soliciting their feedback and responding." Mazza offers technology-training sessions for teachers and parents on how to use Twitter and other communication formats.

To avoid legal problems, district guidelines are followed closely. To protect privacy, children's names are never used and parents can opt out by signing a digital communications refusal form.

Knapp Elementary's HSA outreach program is so successful that PTO Today gave it the Judges' Choice Parent Group of the Year award for 2013.

What got the judges' attention?

-- Knapp HSA's e-book newsletter takes much less time to prepare and distribute than its paper predecessor, and the program can track response. "The click-through rate has increased from 60 to 200 readers, and growing. For a 600-student, K-5 school, that's impressive engagement," notes Sullivan.

-- Many teachers tweet what's going on in their classrooms. Parents follow posts on Twitter or on the school's website. "They might describe the day's science experiment or book chat," says Sullivan. "The tweets not only inform parents; they start conversations. Rather than ask, 'What did you do in school today?' a parent can say, 'I see you learned to count by twos! Show me how that's done.' Several teachers tweeted over the summer, keeping kids focused on learning and generating excitement for the coming school year."

-- HSA meetings, held in different places throughout the community, are live streamed using AnyMeeting, a free videoconferencing tool.

-- The Family Engagement Team created a mobile Knapp App to make it easy for parents to email staff and HSA officers. Parents find links to photos taken at school, the e-newsletter, school calendar, podcasts from student clubs and important resources (such a tool to report bullying). The Knapp Elementary app is free on iOS and Android platforms.

"These efforts don't replace face-to-face interaction," says Sullivan. "They expand busy parents' access to school news, events and policies. They can increase interaction by giving parents more insight into their children's class activities and inspiring them to come to school for visits."

(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.)