The winter holiday break is a fun-filled time for you and your family to unwind and spend quality time together, but it will be over before you know it! Children’s school success begins at home, and even the simplest steps can mean a big difference for your child’s future. To keep your child’s skills sharp and ensure a smooth transition to going back to school, Scholastic offers tips to keep kids learning:
- Read for pleasure. Whether your child is in the mood for holiday favorites like The Night Before Christmas or their favorite series, winter break is the perfect chance to stash the schoolbooks and have fun reading.
- Cook up a lesson. Ask your child for help in the kitchen to whip up some treats. Using measurements is good math practice, especially in fractions!
- Write thank-you notes. Whether your child is writing notes to gift-givers, teachers or neighbors, this is a great way to practice penmanship, spelling and grammar – plus, it teaches gratitude.
- Let kids help with online shopping. Need a last minute gift? Help your child shop online with you to help them work on computer and research skills.
- Maintain reasonable bedtimes. With no school to wake up early for, it’s tempting to let your child become a night owl. A few days before school starts again, ease back into the regular schedule.
- Have a family game night. Chances are many of your family’s favorite card and board games reinforce skills like reading, counting and drawing. Gather your family to play games you don’t have time for on school nights.
- Make the most of car rides. Turn the drive to or from holiday gatherings into a fun opportunity to learn. You can look for license plates from different states, count the number of red or green cars you see or play license plate bingo!
Read more ways to keep skills sharp during winter break at www.scholastic.com, and learn how to support learning at home at www.capta.org/supporting-learning-at-home.
December 6, 2017
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SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Education (CDE) released a new online school accountability resource that shows how local schools are performing based on different indicators at the state and local level. California State PTA Vice President for Education, Mary Perry, released the following statement:
“The School Dashboard will let parents and educators dig deeper into how their school is doing in a variety of different areas and at multiple levels. This is a great asset for California families to further invest in their children’s education.
“California State PTA has long supported the use of multiple measures for state accountability. We are in agreement with the concept underlying California’s new system – that educating students is complex work and that many different things affect their success. A single number ranking can be deceptive in its simplicity.
“The new Dashboard, by contrast, should open up conversations about the progress and performance of our students, our schools and our school districts. It can help parents, community members and school employees identify the important questions to ask and compel district leaders to address those questions honestly and openly.
“In the spirit of continuous improvement, California State PTA will continue to work with other organizations, the California Department of Education and the State Board to make the Dashboard an increasingly effective tool for measuring school success.”
Visit the California School Dashboard at www.caschooldashboard.org.
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August 25, 2017
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PTA President Applauds State Schools Chief’s Release of New State Guidelines to Improve Services for Students with Dyslexia
SACRAMENTO – New guidelines were released this week to assist teachers and parents in identifying students with dyslexia and to plan, provide, evaluate and improve education services. Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin and is characterized by difficulties with accurate word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. California State PTA President Dianna MacDonald issued the following statement:
“California State PTA is pleased State Superintendent Torlakson has released groundbreaking guidelines to assist an estimated 20 percent of the general population representing more than 1 million students in California public schools with this challenging learning disability.
I know firsthand how critically important early detection, planning and improving education services is to our students through California. I am dyslexic. I understand the struggles — but also the successes — that can be realized with strong public-school and family support.”
In 2016, California State PTA delegates adopted a comprehensive resolution supporting teacher/staff training necessary to improve the understanding of dyslexia as well as early screening for signs and symptoms of dyslexia in kindergarten through third grade. California State PTA will be sharing these important guidelines with our members statewide.
July 1, 2017
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Longtime PTA volunteer is new president of California’s largest child-advocacy organization
SACRAMENTO – Dianna MacDonald, a resident of Sonoma County, is the new president of California State PTA, leading the association of nearly 800,000 members in advocating for the education, health and welfare of California’s 9 million children.
MacDonald was elected to the 2017 – 2019 term of office, which begins July 1. In her new role, MacDonald will serve as chief executive officer of California State PTA and chairman of the Board of Directors. California State PTA is the nation’s largest and highest profile child-advocacy organization and strives to connect families, schools and communities.
MacDonald is a strong believer in the importance of family engagement and early-childhood education. She looks forward to working with stakeholders and members of the Education Coalition, as well as strengthening outreach to young Californians and their families.
“As the California State PTA’s new president, I will devote my time to supporting the PTA mission – to make a positive impact on the lives of all children and their families. Since 1897, PTA has been a crucial advocate for every single child, and I’m proud to be part of such an important organization,” said MacDonald.
MacDonald has served the PTA at the local, regional, and state levels in many roles, including family engagement advocate, leadership mentor and vice president for education. Her work with PTA has been focused on closing the achievement gap, early childhood education and supporting military families.
She and her husband Mike have three sons, and she credits PTA with teaching her how to be an advocate for her own children which led her to become an advocate for all children in California.
“I have seen first-hand the impact we make with changing laws to support children and families in California, and that’s powerful for me,” said MacDonald. “If it can change my life and my family’s, it can change others’ as well.”
- Dianna MacDonald, President
- Celia Jaffe, President-elect
- Tom Horn, Vice President for Leadership Services
- Carol Green, Vice President for Membership Services
- Brad Waller, Vice President for Communications
- Julie Redmond, Vice President for Special Events
- Shereen Walter, Vice President for Health & Community Concerns
- Mary Perry, Vice President for Education
- Lynn Miyamoto, Vice President for Family Engagement
- Deborah Johnson, Secretary
- Kathy Corzine, Treasurer
- Maggie Steel, Parliamentarian
- Lea Darrah, Director of Legislation
- Martha Deutsch, Chair of the District Presidents
- Sherry Skelly Griffith, Executive Director
California State PTA is continuing to move forward with its online membership system to make joining and renewing PTA membership at the local level easier for parents, families and community members.
With more than 90 percent of our local PTA leaders asking for a simplified electronic membership system in last year’s Unit Leader Survey, we heard you loud and clear! We are pleased to announce that California State PTA and Moonlight Labs are currently building out our membership system. The new system will be optional and make joining and renewing membership at local PTAs easy.
We have begun our quality assurance testing and the California State PTA Electronic Membership Task Force has identified the pilot districts to onboard into the new system. Additional districts will be added with a success-based model.
As a reminder, there are no changes to PTA’s membership process and the electronic system will be completely voluntary and an optional addition to our current system. We will keep you posted as we progress in this important work to build membership and strengthen PTA. Units, councils or districts will not be required to use the new system.
All of your feedback and input are being taken very seriously. Please feel free to send any questions or feedback to info@capta.org. We will keep you posted as we progress in this important work to build membership and strengthen PTA.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES