By ANNALYN JAMES
Moapa Valley Progress
The evening was full of ideas for parents to supplement their children’s education. On Tuesday, March 25, parents gathered at the Grant Bowler Elementary School for Curriculum Night.
“What you do at home matters in your children’s education!” Bowler Principal Shawna Jessen told parent attendees. “Research has shown that the number one factor in student success is parent involvement. What I love about Moapa Valley is the community spirit, and when we come together, it is always about the good of the community.”
Throughout the evening, parents selected three 20-minute educational sessions to attend from five that were available.
Bowler Librarian, Bryce Hardy, presented one of the session.. He previewed several of the many on-line data bases parents and students can access from the school’s website at home like World Book Encyclopedia and Culture grams.
Third grade teacher, Laura Bush, also presented a session. She demonstrated how parents can improve children’s math understanding and abilities through playing math games together. This “repeated math practice” supplements what the children are learning in school in fun ways, she said.
Bush explained how the math programs taught in today’s schools teaches students to add starting from the left and then working right.
“It is a very different way of thinking about math,” she said. “I have started to use it in my personal life and am much faster balancing my checkbook than what I was using the tradition right to left approach.”
Another session was presented by Kindergarten teacher Meja Hammons. She gave parents with preschoolers fun and effective ways to help prepare their children for Kindergarten.
CCSD Math Coach, Crystal Bachman, presented ways parents can help children learn math skills in everyday life. She explained that understanding the process is more important than just being able to get the correct answer.
She also suggested doing simple everyday activities with children to teach them math concepts and give them practice.
“Give your child your pocket change every evening, and let them count it while putting it in their piggy bank,” she suggested.
The final session was taught by CCSD Literacy Coach Angie Shepherd. She presented ways to encourage children to read outside of school. Shepherd recommended reading everything out loud to children like signs while traveling, labels while grocery shopping, recipes while making dinner.
“Ninety-five percent of what adults read in a day is non-fiction, so it is important to help our children get practice reading all the time,” she said.
