We assumed that parents knew they would still be there. The basics must be clearly visible to parents and the public. Provide specific information about how parents can help their children. Most parents, especially parents of elementary students, want to help their children learn math. Many reform programs are activity based.
Students keep journals instead of using traditional textbooks.
Thus parents do not have access to the regular, specific information about what is going on in class that they got from textbooks. Even if books do come home, their content often is so different from parents' experiences that most are at a loss about how to help their children. Parents need specific direction about things they can do and ideas on how to do it. Basic facts practice can certainly be a parental responsibility. Schools can provide glossaries of mathematics terms, send notes to explain homework activities that might be unfamiliar and conduct frequent parent meetings to facilitate two-way communication.