Q: Our fifth-grade son loves reading and science and does well in them, but he has always had trouble in math. His teacher says he's "working below capacity." The trouble is, she really can't describe what "below capacity" means. Does that mean he's below grade level?

A: You say he's always had trouble with math, so it could mean that he's working below fifth-grade level and has been promoted from grade to grade without fully mastering math content each year. Or it could mean that he knows the material but doesn't love the subject and simply doesn't apply himself.

Whatever the reason, you're right to be concerned, says San Jose, California, fifth-grade teacher Bill Laraway.

"When students do well in most subjects but lag in one, parents and teachers sometimes assume that they'll just catch up," he says. "But math is one of those subjects requiring a strong early foundation. Students must master one set of skills before moving to another. Your son will need to up his math game to be successful in middle school math and science."

Schedule another conference with his teacher, suggests Laraway.

"Ask her to pinpoint areas where his skills and understanding are weak," he says. "Create a plan to help him quickly come up to speed. This could mean working with a resource teacher who suggests practice activities that you monitor. You could also consider a tutor. If he truly lacks skill mastery, you have to help him catch up."

If he knows the material and just doesn't apply himself, "show him that math can be useful in his day-to-day life, that he can have fun with it and it can be a lifelong tool to make life easier," says Laraway.

Find fun math-related games and puzzles to challenge him.

"Since he loves science," Laraway says, "show him how key math is in higher-level science. There are no successful scientists who fail at math."

Many parents want tangible ways to understand if their child is on track in school, says Bill Jackson, president and founder of GreatSchools.org, an organization that supports parental engagement in their children's education.

"Report cards don't tell the whole story," he says. "With the new state learning standards, parents are demanding easy ways to know if a child is working on grade level."

To demonstrate what skill proficiency looks like, GreatSchools created a series of short Milestone Videos to help parents assess their child's progress in reading, writing and math in grades kindergarten through five. Click on the fifth-grade math milestones, for example, and you'll see a teacher guiding a student through key skills such as adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators and estimating answers to word problems.

The videos in English and Spanish highlight three to five key elements of the standards in each subject. Before meeting with your son's teacher, go through the fifth-grade math videos to learn what "on grade level" means in math, says Jackson.

"Does the son appear to understand the concepts?" he asks. "If not, try the fourth-grade math videos, and so on. You'll get a sense of what he may still need to learn."

To access the Milestone Videos, go to greatschools.org/milestones or check out the YouTube channel: youtube.com/greatschools.

(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: Our son turns 5 in August. My sister suggests we hold him back a year from kindergarten. He's shy and not as academic as her 5-year-old daughter, who reads picture books. Will the school give him a readiness test? What factors determine if we should hold him back?

A: Some parents hold back a child to give "the gift of time" to catch up to today's higher levels of kindergarten readiness. A few do it to give a child a leg up for later participation in sports. But don't do it because your sister tells you to.

There is no clear data on the academic, social and emotional benefits of holding a child back. After reviewing studies, Deborah Stipek of Stanford University concluded that whatever gains might exist in the early elementary years disappear by the end of upper elementary school. There is data from the National Bureau of Economic Research suggesting that an average kindergartner actually benefits from exposure to more mature peers.

Consider the following factors, says Robin Obey, an experienced K-1 teacher in North Bellmore, New York:

-- Each child develops cognitively, socially, physically and emotionally at a different pace.

"Kindergarten teachers expect a wide range of ability and behaviors in each class and are prepared to accommodate each learner," Obey says.

-- Kindergartners aren't expected to be able to read when they enter school. A few may be emerging readers, but most are not.

"Don't compare him with his cousin," says Obey. "She's the exception, not the norm."

-- If your son is in preschool, consult his teachers.

"Their observations can be invaluable in your decision," Obey advises.

-- A kindergarten screening is essential.

"Each school has one and he'll be assessed for speech or cognitive delays," says Obey. "The results can offer guidance."

-- Accelerate your son's readiness.

"Parents don't realize how much they can do with simple activities, says Obey. "The most important? Read to him every day. Include some of the wonderful books about starting kindergarten."

Play word games such as, "I say cat. You say rat." Play I Spy and Categories: "Let's think of things that are red ..." Encourage storytelling: "Tell me what happened when we went to the zoo." Take photos and have your son dictate captions. Have him draw a story; dictate what's happening while you write the words.

Give your son simple tasks, such as sorting laundry or setting the table, to build one-to-one correspondence, number sense and independence. Provide multistep directions to develop listening skills and ability to focus.

Boost his fine motor skills: Sculpt with Play-Doh; tear up junk mail; use scissors; draw.

Provide opportunities to socialize in small and large group settings.

"His shyness can be a personality trait or just how he is right now," Obey notes. "One year, the youngest child in my class barely spoke. She's now the president of her high school class."

Unless the screening tests reveal a problem, Obey advises you to focus your energies on getting your son excited about going to kindergarten this fall.

"Reinforce simple readiness skills every day," she says. "Your school can provide a list of those skills, or find them online at state education department websites."

(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: Our fifth-grade son has "writer's block," and his teacher says he should expand his vocabulary. Can you suggest useful worksheets and online vocabulary drills?

A: Children's author Ralph Fletcher says vocabulary building is all about helping students fall in love with words.

Nothing will kill a budding love for lexicography like handing your son some boring worksheets. Help him fall in love with words by finding joy in learning new words with him. Try these teacher-tested suggestions:

-- Dinner served with words! Family dinners have positive social and academic influences on kids; having a daily discussion that allows them to hear new vocabulary is one of them. Choose topics to discuss at each meal (such as a recent school event or plans for a family vacation) and ask everyone to weigh in.

Model and encourage rich vocabulary.

For example: "To plan our vacation, let's look up state and national parks within a 200-mile radius of where we live. A radius is the distance from the center of a circle to its edge. On a map, we will estimate a distance of 200 miles from our house and draw a circle around it. Then we will pinpoint and investigate parks we could visit."

Encourage dialogue, but even if kids don't chime in, don't worry. They're still absorbing the words and making them their own.

-- Let pictures launch a thousand words: Find great images from "photo of the day" websites or calendars to get kids talking. A photo of diver encountering a shark generates words like scuba, equipment, adventure, conditions, saltwater, gear and so on, and piques interest in a wondrous ocean species.

-- Have some pun fun, and kick off word play.

"I found 'Pun and Games: Jokes, Riddles, Daffynitions, Tairy Fales, Rhymes, and More Word Play for Kids' by Richard Lederer (Chicago Review Press, 1996) at a yard sale. My son thinks it's crazy-funny," says Anita Burnham, a California math teacher. "We play word games in the car, from how many homonym pairs we can think of in a minute (prey-pray, rain-rein, slay-sleigh) to 20 Questions. We try to 'out pun' each other, too, to keep it fun."

Find word fun in portmanteaus and eggcorns, says Brenda Power, founder of the teacher website Choice Literacy (choiceliteracy.com‬). ‬

A portmanteau combines two words and their meanings into one new word. Some trendy examples are snowmageddon, emoticon and frenemy.

"Discovering a new portmanteau is like finding a buried treasure in a text," Power says. "An eggcorn is a substitution for a word or phrase that may shift its meaning, but still makes sense in the context and is usually accidental on the part of the speaker."

Think cold slaw for cole slaw or bread and breakfast for bed and breakfast. Go egghorn hunting at eggcorns.lascribe.net.

While your son's teacher has identified weak vocabulary as the source of your son's "writer's block," I'll bet that there are other contributing factors. Children's author Fletcher has a book for young writers, "A Writer's Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You" (HarperCollins, 2003), which will give your son techniques to add to his writer's toolbox.

Better understanding the writing process will motivate him to fall in love with words.

(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.)