Reference · learning terms

A parent's glossary of learning terms

Phonemic awareness? Regrouping? Spiral review? The words teachers and apps use can be their own foreign language. Here are the 29 terms parents of K-6 kids actually run into, in plain English.

Updated June 2026

Math

Estimation

Finding an answer that is close enough, on purpose.

Fractions

Numbers that name equal parts of a whole, like 3/4.

Math fact fluency

Recalling basic facts (like 7×8) quickly and accurately.

Number sense

An intuitive feel for what numbers mean and how they relate.

Place value

The idea that a digit's position sets its value (the 2 in 25 means 2 tens).

Regrouping

Trading between place-value columns when adding or subtracting (carrying and borrowing).

Skip counting

Counting by a number other than one, 2, 4, 6, 8 …

Word problem

A math problem written as a short real-world story.

Reading

Context clues

Hints in the surrounding text that reveal a hard word's meaning.

Decoding

Sounding out a written word using letter-sound knowledge.

Inference

A conclusion the reader works out that the text implies but doesn't state.

Main idea

What a passage is mostly about, its central point.

Phonemic awareness

Hearing and playing with the individual sounds in spoken words.

Phonics

Connecting letters to the sounds they make to read words.

Reading comprehension

Actually understanding and making sense of what was read.

Reading fluency

Reading accurately, at a good pace, with natural expression.

Sight words

Common words a child should recognize instantly, without sounding out.

Theme

The underlying message or lesson of a story.

Vocabulary

The bank of words a child knows and understands.

School & testing

Common Core State Standards

A shared set of grade-by-grade learning goals used by most U.S. states.

Differentiation

Adjusting teaching so it fits each child's level and needs.

Formative assessment

Low-stakes checks during learning that guide what to teach next.

IEP

A legal plan of customized support for a student with a disability.

Mastery learning

Moving on only once a skill is genuinely understood, not just covered.

Reading level

An estimate of the text difficulty a child can read successfully.

Scaffolding

Temporary support that's removed as a child can do more on their own.

Spiral review

Revisiting earlier skills regularly so they don't fade.

Standardized test

A test given and scored the same way for every student, to compare against a standard.

Summative assessment

An end-of-unit or end-of-year test that measures what was learned.