Improving School-Wide Skills

Hello PSA Parents, Students, and Staff!
We are off to a wonderful start to the 2018-19 school year and the students are doing great! This year, one of our main focuses will be to improve student achievement school-wide. We have made some changes this year with regard to our Advisory classes, so that all of our students are receiving extra instruction in Math and English.

Parents can also help out at home to improve skills in these areas. Some things parents can do to support your child are as follows:

Math Skills: Purchase flashcards for multiplication and division. Even high school students sometimes need a refresher with these basic skills. Just 15 minutes a night of flashcard practice can make a big difference. Kahn Academy and IXL Math are two free online resources for math skill development as well. Have your child log-on and practice a little each night. (*IXL Math is for Math I students only).

English Skills: The best way to improve reading and writing skills is to read frequently. Ask your child to read a little each night from a book or magazine of their choice. If they have reading assignments for homework, have them read aloud to you or explain to you what the reading was about after they are finished. Being able to talk to you about what they have read helps them to internalize the concepts. Thirty minutes of reading each night is recommended. Additionally, you can read over their written work. For example, read over an English essay and tell them about sections you really like. 

Ask your child to put away the electronic devices while they work on homework. Once they are finished with their homework, practice some math and/or reading for thirty minutes or so. From start to finish, homework and skills practice should take a couple of hours, give or take, depending on the grade level. After that, they will still have plenty of time for phones and video games. But remember, school always comes first!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Stickel, Principal