The Long Beach Public Schools held a Parent Academy on Oct. 23, offering guidance for parents in leading their children to success and a love of learning. The event, titled Coaching Our Kids, was held at Long Beach Middle School and featured a variety of workshops. Following a welcome from Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jennifer Gallagher and other members of the administrative team, teachers led clinics that emphasized the importance of practice time for reading at home and ways to encourage perseverance through challenging tasks in all academic areas. 

In a reading session, participants learned about creating time and space for family reading at home and reviewed methods to support and guide children in reading. Another workshop highlighted the platform Flipgrid as a way to engage family and friends in reading with students remotely. 

Mathematics was another subject of focus, with workshops addressing activities to support family interactions and improve mathematical practices. Participants received tools and games to take home. A separate session concentrated on coaching students to persevere through solving math problems, with coaching strategies such as using questioning and hands on activities. 

In the area of technology, participants learned about the importance of monitoring access to technology and coaching young people to be responsible users of devices, tools and content. A workshop for language learning was also presented, and attendees were equipped with strategies to support students with literacy and language development at home with a focus on reading and writing across multiple content areas.