Catoosa Family Connections

November was National Family Engagement month. Our elementary schools demonstrated how thankful we are for our Title I families by creating a school-wide turkey. Students and their families were encouraged to create a feather to add to their school's turkey display. We are always so excited to see what our amazing families create together. Our families were also provided with ways to implement additional parent engagement over the Thanksgiving break. The holiday season is an excellent time to extend learning at home. Invite your child to help with seasonal baking to work on measurements and math skills. Read holiday books together to increase reading fluency. Help them write thank you notes or Christmas cards for friends and family to help with writing. In the hustle and bustle of the holidays, be mindful to set aside time to spend with your child. Learning opportunities will present themselves in unexpected ways. Your time and attention is the best gift you can give your child Catoosa County Title I is thankful for our incredible schools, PICs, and families! Happy Holidays!

Tracy Wilson has served at the Ringgold Primary School Parent Involvement Coordinator for 6 years. Tracy is a busy mom to 3 awesome kid. Her oldest son is a senior at RHS, her middle son is a student at RMS, and her daughter is in 4th grade at RES. Her sons are part of the amazing Marching Tiger Band and her daughter dances with RES Dance Force Elite. Both Tracy and her husband graduated from RHS and are proud Tigers! They are high school sweethearts and have been married for 21 year! Tracy is a strong advocate for the RPS parents and is always willing to help other Title I schools in our county. What Tracy loves most about RPS is that they truly "R" one!

Parent Room location: RPS room 804

PIC Hours: M-F 7:30 am to 3:30 pm

Mitzi has been the PIC at Woodstation for 2 years. She lives in Chickamauga with her husband and two children, Charlie (11) and Spencer (8). They enjoy lots of family time playing sports, spending time outside, and family game nights. Mitzi is wonderful at supporting parents and providing WES parents with the information they need to become fully engaged in their child's education. She is committed to making sure all WES families have the resources they need to help their students succeed both in and out of the classroom and that they feel confident communicating with teachers and staff. MItzi brings an enthusiasm and warmth to any event she is a part of and does an excellent job of keeping her parents informed. Mitzi loves that Woodstation is committed to to constant communication and excellence. She feels like they are one big happy family at WES!

Parent Room location: WES room 120

PIC Hours: M-F 8:00 am to 3:00 pm

Stacey Newell has been the PIC at LMS for 7 years. Stacey is dedicated to the students, families, and the faculty of LMS, working long hours to make sure the Lakeview Middle School Title I program is efficient and beneficial to all stakeholders. Stacey appreciates that the LMS teachers, administrators, and staff all advocate for the success of LMS students. With Lakeview Middle being a PBIS school, they have established a House system. This system promotes community among the students and staff throughout the school. She loves hearing the chants for the different Houses in the hallways.

Parent Room location: LMS room 101

PIC Hours: M-F 7:30 am to 2:30 pm

Tips to Keep Your Child Learning During the Winter Break

After a semester of learning, students and parents are both ready for a break. Taking a short break from their routine is normal and healthy, but too much time away can negatively impact a student's learning. Luckily, it's easy to incorporate learning activities into the holiday break in order to help your child keep their learning momentum on track. Try to incorporate a few of these tips so that your student is ready to learn when we return to school in January!

• Crafts. Crafts are a great family holiday activity. Crafting reinforces many important school skills like attention to detail, following instructions, and maintaining focus. These activities also encourage creativity and imagination. Plus, kids end up with a great craft that they can feel proud of!

• Take a Hike. Take advantage of the holiday weather and go on a family hike! Have a snowball fight, or walk around the neighborhood and look at the lights. Physical activity helps increase blood flow to the brain which increases memory function as well.

• Read. Reading is one of the greatest ways to work on school skills over the holidays. Books not only tell stories of great adventures, but they also help children unplug. Reading also helps children develop their vocabulary and improve reading comprehension. These are all great skills and necessary in the classroom

• Play Video Games. If you’re up for the challenge, pick up the controller and get your child to teach YOU how to play a video game! When kids play teacher, it allows them to think logically about the game and how they play it–a great learning skill!

• Play a Board Game. Playing board games can help kids develop critical thinking skills like strategy, analysis, and planning. They also help improve basic school skills such as addition, subtraction, and reading comprehension.

• Follow a Routine. Studies show that children actually crave structure and routine. Over the holidays, use an agenda to stay organized and focused.

• Keep a Journal. Writing has a lot of health benefits for kids–from providing stress relief to helping to sort through thoughts. Journals can be about anything at all! They can be used to sketch, to make lists, to keep track of favorite quotes. Writing in a journal is about putting aside some time every day to think actively and document the thought process.

• Puzzles. Jigsaws, sudoku, crosswords, search-a-words…puzzles are a great way to challenge the brain over the holidays.

• Work on A Project Together Organizing the garage, putting old photos into albums, donating old clothes… with extra time on our hands it’s the perfect opportunity to tackle a project around the house that can involve the entire family and help everyone build skills such as organization, creativity, and communication.

• Send Thank You Cards. Combine spelling skills, writing and penmanship, along with gratitude for the many gifts we received by sending thank you cards!