We hope we have turned the corner with respect to winter weather. All of us are looking forward to warmer weather and getting outdoors.  Yet the school year still has over 70 school days remaining and there remains much to be accomplished.  A former local superintendent of schools, has offered some pointers for parents on how to assist their child with extra help on homework and with other assignments. I’d like to share some of these here:

ü Encourage your child to ask questions in class, especially around new material and concepts that he/she doesn’t understand after first being introduced to them. Often students will not ask questions until after the lesson; it is better to ask questions as the lesson unfolds.

ü Make sure your child records all of the assignments and due dates for same in a notebook (or Gates Agenda). Review these nightly.

ü Seek a class partner who can be called at home about the new lesson, and share phone numbers with that student. Often the other student catch a piece of the presentation and that is all that is needed to finish the assignment.

ü Consider arranging with other parents to form a “homework club” with each parent overseeing it one day a week.**

Teachers at Gates are available to give help to students every afternoon.  If your child is having difficulty in a class, he/she should make an appointment with the appropriate teacher to stay after school for assistance with their studies.

** We currently have an ‘MCAS Success Club’ in English Language Arts available after school, and we will also be offering a similar club for MCAS math in a few weeks.