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Educated Zone is for the adults who sit next to children at the kitchen table, and for teachers. It covers homework, revision and the everyday maths and English children meet from about Year 3 to Year 11 in England (roughly Grades 2 to 10 in the US). Older pupils planning their own revision will find plenty here too.

Short on time? Pick one article from the reading paths below and try one idea from it this week.

What to expect from an article

Each article starts with the substance, a method, a worked example or a problem, rather than a long introduction. You will find steps and plans you can copy, worked examples with answers, the mistakes that most often go wrong, and a short list of sources at the end so you can check things for yourself.

Where we describe exam arrangements, such as the KS2 SATs or the Year 4 multiplication tables check, we describe how they work in England. The Standards and Testing Agency sets dates and details and can change them, so always check letters from your child's school.

Parents of primary children

These build on each other in a sensible order.

1. How to set up a homework routine that actually lasts. Time, place and a short starting ritual make everything else easier.
2. Getting more out of reading homework. The homework that matters most, made more useful with a few good questions.
3. Learning weekly spellings without the night-before cram. A four-day routine built on look, say, cover, write, check.
4. Learning times tables with a simple weekly plan. Short daily sessions towards the Year 4 check and beyond.
5. Column methods explained for parents. For when the exercise book looks nothing like the maths you learned.
6. How to help your child with fractions. The ideas in the order schools usually teach them, with bar models.
7. Revising for KS2 SATs without the stress. For Year 6: what the six papers are, how much practice is sensible, and when to step back.

For Year 6, add the KS2 reading question types if the reading paper is the worry, and KS2 grammar terms explained if words like "determiner" are a mystery.

Older pupils (Years 9 to 11)

1. Why quizzes and games work so well for revision. Testing yourself beats rereading notes.
2. Making a revision timetable. Topics spread out, return visits planned, rest built in.
3. How to use past papers properly. Strict marking and a mistake log.
4. Helping a child cope with exam nerves. For the weeks before and the day itself.

When things are not going well

• When your child keeps putting off homework: the reasons behind avoidance and how to respond without a nightly row.
• When your child says "I'm bad at maths": how to find the real gap and rebuild confidence.

If you are worried about a child's progress or wellbeing over several weeks, talk to the class teacher, form tutor or the school's SENCo. An article can give ideas; the school knows your child.

For teachers

Every article is written so it can go straight to families. The most useful to share:

• the homework routine and reading homework guides, at the start of the year or at parents' evening
• the column methods and fractions guides, when parents ask how a method is taught
• the retrieval practice and revision timetable guides, before mocks

The free materials page has plans, checklists and tables to copy into a newsletter. The glossary explains the terms that confuse families, from scaled scores to spaced practice, and the FAQ answers the quick questions.

Pick one thing and try it for two weeks. Keep what works. The best routine is the one that still happens on a tired Wednesday in February.