How can I support my kids learning to type?

Ms. Dorothy,
My daughter's 4th grade teacher is teaching cursive this year, but she is the only teacher in the school who still does.Writing just isn't something I do very often any more, and I know my kids are going to need to do less and less of it. Just holding a pen or pencil is impossibly hard for my 1st grade son. When and how do I help my kids learn to type?
- A Mom

I've written about typing here, but I just came across a couple of sites that you might find interesting. One is a free online resource for  learning to type called Typing Web and another is called Fun to Type and is full of games for different levels of typing practice.

You are absolutely right about handwriting being a fading art. I heard a teacher, recently, wondering how much longer we will even hand sign checks.  

The brain wants to learn through the movement of muscles, so forming those letters by hand is still really important for your young son's development. If you are interested, I've posted some ideas for helping to develop and strengthen the hand for writing here and here.

Where can I find help for math homework?

Ms. Dorothy,
My son is having a hard time understanding area and perimeter, and my own math isn't strong enough to help him with it.  I bet this is only going to get worse as the math gets harder in school. Can you tell me some good resources I can use to help us both understand his math homework?
- Middle School Mom

There are some great resources online for learning math, and many are broken down by grade-level to help you further.  

This site has lessons and practice for learning Area and Perimeter, and the links are to other websites with great resources. I like this site because the reference some of the best math tools out there, and they pull them together for you based on your specific question. 
http://math-and-reading-help-for-kids.org/math_games_for_area_and_perimeter.html

This site is my very favorite, and I've used it with all three of your boys over the years. It is packed with virtual manipulatives so that students can use "hands on" tools to learn and practice concepts rather than just learning formulas. They use a matrix of math content and grade levels to help you find the menu of activities that will help you practice the skills you need. http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html

This site is from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and has the most cutting edge thinking about how best to teach the math you need. Every activity is aligned with standards and best practice for teaching and learning math and is also broken down by grade level.  http://illuminations.nctm.org/Activities.aspx?grade=3&srchstr=area

Be sure to look past the specific topic to the rest of these sites because there are resources here for every age and on every math standard or concept you could want.