This guide instructs parents on how to maximize their children's educational opportunities at home and in school. A detailed agenda is given to help children and their teachers foster real learning, learning that is more than memorizing data or competing for grades. Real learning is discovering how to think, expressing creativity, and developing the skills needed for cooperation. This comprehensive guide discusses what parents can do to help their children learn from preschool through high school. Innovative classroom practices, including those of cooperative learning, are explained in terms that parents can understand. New ideas are presented for teaching creative thinking and cooperation and for enhancing student self-esteem. The innovative techniques described promote the active engagement of learners and result in real learning. Lists of 26 organizations, 16 professional education associations, 31 magazines, and 26 books are presented as parent resources. (Contains 90 source notes.) (SLD)