Free parent guides · 59 and growing
The Elementary Learning Academy
Plain-English guides to how children learn to read, write, and do math — written by Andreea Schwimmer, M.A., a credentialed elementary teacher with 13+ years in TK–5 classrooms. No jargon, no fear-mongering, no paywall.
Every guide here comes from the same place: real classrooms, real tutoring tables, and the questions South Bay parents actually ask me. Each one is written to stand alone, tells you what's developmentally normal before what's worrying, includes games that beat worksheets, and is honest about the moment a guide stops being enough — including plain "talk to your child's teacher or pediatrician" guidance where that's the right door. Last updated July 11, 2026.
Browse by subject
Five centers, one goal
Pick the center that matches tonight's question — every guide links onward to its neighbors.
Reading
Phonics to comprehension: how reading develops, where it breaks, and how families help at every stage.
10 guidesMath
Number sense, facts, fractions, and word problems — the whole tower, with the games that build each floor.
10 guidesWriting
Hand, sentence, paragraph, polish: writing's three hard jobs, taken apart and taught one layer at a time.
10 guidesHomework & Study Skills
Routines, focus, motivation, test prep, and stress — the engineering of homework peace.
11 guidesParent Resources
Readiness, summers, screens, conferences, confidence, and the tutoring decision itself.
11 guidesMost useful first reads
Start here
Six doors into the Academy, chosen for the questions parents bring most often.
Reading milestones, TK through 5th grade
Not sure where your child's reading stands? Start with the map.
Read the guideMath skills by grade, TK through 5th
The grade-by-grade math map — what's expected when, and what matters most.
Read the guideThe homework routine that ends the battle
If evenings are a battle, this blueprint is the fastest peace treaty.
Read the guideHelping reluctant readers
For the child who CAN read but won't — the causes, sorted, with fixes.
Read the guideBuilding math confidence
When 'I'm bad at math' has set in: the rebuild, step by step.
Read the guideChoosing the right tutor
An honest buyer's guide to tutoring — from someone on the selling side.
Read the guideTK through 5th
Grade-by-grade learning guides
One honest reference per grade: the year's real map, what's normal, and the signals worth acting on.
The TK learning guide
TK is a bridge year built for four-year-olds — play-based on purpose, academic only in exposure. Here's what the year actually builds, and what's normal to still be messy.
Read the guideThe kindergarten learning guide
Kindergarten installs the pieces everything else assembles: letter sounds, number sense, first sentences. Here's the year's real map — and the spring signals that matter.
Read the guideThe 1st grade learning guide
First grade is the year reading is supposed to happen — plus place value, addition strategies, and real sentences. It's also the single most important year not to wait on a worry.
Read the guideThe 2nd grade learning guide
Second grade is consolidation season: reading turns smooth, facts turn automatic, regrouping arrives. It's the last cheap year to fix foundations before 3rd grade starts assuming them.
Read the guideThe 3rd grade learning guide
Third grade is the hinge: reading stops being taught and starts being assumed, multiplication arrives, paragraphs get real. It's the year hidden gaps surface — here's the map.
Read the guideThe 4th grade learning guide
Fourth grade is where elementary math's IOUs come due (hello, fractions) and where stamina — in reading, writing, and projects — becomes the quiet curriculum. Here's the map.
Read the guideThe 5th grade learning guide
Fifth grade is the launch pad: less about new mountains, more about making the whole range solid before middle school starts assuming it. Here's the map — and the readiness audit.
Read the guideThe Academy explains; when a child needs more than an explanation, that's the work itself. See tutoring subjects, grade levels, and how tutoring works — or browse guides above and meet the teacher who wrote them. In-home sessions serve Torrance, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes and communities across the South Bay; online tutoring reaches everywhere.
Questions parents ask
Who writes the Learning Academy guides?
Every guide is written by Andreea Schwimmer, M.A. — a credentialed elementary teacher with 13+ years in TK–5 classrooms — and reviewed under the South Bay Peak Learning name. Authorship isn't outsourced or generated in bulk; these pages say what I'd say across a kitchen table.
Are the guides really free? What's the catch?
Free, no email wall, no catch. Tutoring is how I make my living, and some guides note honestly when one-on-one help fits — but the guides exist to be useful on their own, and most families who read them never book anything. That's fine by design.
Do these guides replace talking to my child's teacher?
Never — they're written to make those conversations better, not substitute for them. Your child's teacher sees them daily among peers; several guides (and the conference guide in particular) are about getting the most from that partnership.
Can the guides tell me if my child has dyslexia, ADHD, or another condition?
No — and I'm careful about that line. The guides describe what's developmentally typical and what's worth raising with your child's teacher or pediatrician, who can evaluate properly. Educational support and diagnosis are different jobs, and the guides stay honestly on my side of it.