Message from Heather Moore, Head of School
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Dear Parents,
This week we celebrate,
Lag B’Omer (Field Day)!
In Early Years, our littlest learners from infants to our four-year old’s will enjoy
Lag B’Omer with Campfire Story Times
. Our Primary Years students will participate in SIA's
first Virtual Field Day.
We will begin the day with an opening ceremony where our students will display their excellent sportsmanship through posters, cheers, and a dance. Students will log onto the G
oose Chase App Game
where they will be required to complete various challenges such as wind bowling, paper plane cornhole, the towel flip challenge, and if the shoe fits! The day will end with a closing ceremony announcing the winning team! Thank you so much Mr. Leiderman for planning and organizing such a wonderful day.
The
SIA Annual Scholastic Book Fair
continues this week and goes through Sunday, May 17, 2020. This is a great opportunity for you to choose books with your kids from the comfort of your favorite reading spot!
It was wonderful to see so many families and faculty join us for our first virtual bingo night! It was a lot of fun for all and we even had a special guest jellyfish (Ms. Jenkins) join the game! Thank you so much to Carin Simon for planning and organizing such a wonderful gathering.
Please note the following events as we culminate the school year:
- Monday, May 18: Last Early Years Havdallah at 9:35am
- Friday, May 22: Last Early Years Shabbat Singalong at 9:45am.
- Tuesday, May 26: Fifth Grade Virtual Graduation Lunch 11:35am-12:05pm
- Tuesday, May 26: Faculty & Grade 5 Virtual Goose Chase Competition 1:00pm
- Wednesday, May 27: Last Day of Distance Learning for ALL students
- Tuesday, June 30: SIA Fifth Grade Graduation 1:00pm
Below you will see some reminders for next week.
Shavuah Tov,
wishing you all a wonderful week ahead!
Heather Moore
Head of School
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Primary Years Field Day Teams Preparing their Banners
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SIA's Field Day Teams met on Friday and Monday to get their teams ready for Field Day. They did a great job preparing their banners, cheers and songs! The fifth graders showed great leadership and helped their teams come together.
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FINANCIAL AID/ FLEXIBLE TUITION
APPLICATION REMINDER
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Dear Parents,
We understand that some families may need to apply for financial aid or flexible tuition to make tuition affordable. If you need to apply for tuition,
we have extended the deadline to Friday, May 8
. Please note that families need to re-apply for aid each year. If you have already applied for aid and have not heard back, please review your application for any missing documents which may be delaying the process.
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Shop Our Virtual Scholastic Book Fair
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Shop at our Scholastic Book Fair online from May 4th-May 17th.
Access the virtual fair by visiting our
Scholastic Homepage
and clicking on "Shop Now" in the yellow section. Then, create an account with Scholastic by clicking on "Sign In or Register" in order to continue shopping. Please visit the link below to access the SIA Scholastic Homepage.
I hope everyone finds many great books to read!
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Let's Sing
By Lorna Orleans, Director of the Early Years
Program
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Dear Families,
Every year I write about singing from the point of view of reading readiness. So much has been written about the connection between singing and pre-literacy.
Susan Canizares writes in her article
The Importance of Singing
that “singing is simply one of the best ways for developing the sound awareness skills that are so critical to learning to read successfully. Because songs are filled with rhymes, alliteration and different sound patterns, singing favorite songs over and over again helps children become consciously aware of sounds and how we can manipulate them by breaking them apart and blending them together.”
Singing also builds vocabulary. Pam Schiller, PH.D. writes in her article,
Songs and Rhymes as a Springboard to Literacy,
“the size of a child’s vocabulary and his or her ability to discriminate sounds are strong predictors of how easily a child will learn to read when exposed to formal instruction.”
Our early years students are developing both expressive and receptive language when they participate in our extra-curricular music class with our wonderful music specialist Michal Newman. And, along with developing pre-literacy skills they are also…
developing coordination and physical expression as they clap, dance march and learn song motions.
engaging in socialization and sharing.
making long lasting memories around the joy of music and singing.
Though Morah Michal can not be physically present during this time of distance learning, she has created and filmed mini concerts on her deck at home for the Early Years Program. She sings all of the familiar songs she sang with the children when they were together in our classrooms. She also does amazing Google Meets with the infants and toddlers and sings to them in real time.
If you haven’t found them on your child’s class website, be sure to check out Morah Michal’s deck concerts. I hope you and your child will sing away because music is the universal language that has the power to change our perspectives, elevate our moods and create memorable moments. Todah Rabah to Morah Michal for continuing the joy of music and movement for our Early Years students during this time of distance learning.
Click below for Morah Michal Newmans’s music and explore your child’s class websites for even more musical adventures.
Shavuah Tov
Lorna Orleans
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CLINIC CORNER WITH NURSE SUSAN
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Dear SIA Families and Staff,
I hope everyone is feeling good, staying safe and healthy. Happy Mother's Day... may next year include the ability to go anywhere we want and squeeze our loved ones.
Here is the updated clinic site link:
Best,
Nurse Susan
And links to resources from CHKD:
Parents are the most important resource for children every day, but especially in stressful situations. Parents and caregivers may wonder what’s the best way to emotionally support a child during the COVID-19 outbreak. Here are a few resources from our experts:
- CHKD Blog: COVID-19: Tips to help parents support children, by Dr. Mary Margaret Gleason
- CHKD Blog: COVID-19 Uncertainties: Caring for yourself, caring for your kids, by Michele Tryon
- 94.9 ThePoint Radio: Dr. Douglas Mitchell answers common questions about COVID
- WVEC 13NewsNow: What parents can do to help their kids cope during the coronavirus outbreak, interview with Dr. Mary Margaret Gleason
- WAVY-TV 10: Helping kids cope with coronavirus, interview with Dr. Mary Margaret Gleason
- CHKD Blog: COVID-19 Parenting: Breathe. You got this!, by Sam Fabian
- CHKD Blog: Practical Parenting during COVID-19, By Stephanie Osler, LCSS
- 94.9 ThePoint Radio: Sam Fabian shares tips for families during COVID-19
- CHKD Blog: Helping children with autism cope during a pandemic, by Nicole Kreiser Wells, PhD
- CHKD Blog: Is this grief? Kids, cancellations, and COVID-19, by Michele Tryon
- WTKR News3: Is it okay to breastfeed during the coronavirus pandemic?, interview with Dr. Michelle Brenner
- WTKR News3: CHKD pediatrician urges children and teens to stay home, interview with Dr. Natasha Sriraman
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Literacy Resources Available Online
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Try these great resources with your kids!
GetEpic
has both fiction, non-fiction, and popular chapter books that are great for all age levels (audio books, read-to-me, and e-books).
StorylineOnline
has actors and actresses reading stories, along with supplemental material for teachers - I will be using some of these lesson plans for my classes.
VOOKS
has both fiction, non-fiction, and IB related topics that are appropriate for all age levels (all animated videos with authentic illustrations and text from books)
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EVEN APART, WE STAND TOGETHER.
The current COVID-19 pandemic makes our work and our responsibility to take care of one another more urgent and more vital than ever.
The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, the Tidewater Jewish Foundation, and our constituent agencies and affiliates are dedicated to helping our most vulnerable community members and protecting our vital institutions during these unprecedented times. We are asking for your assistance to enable us to provide that help.
Now more than ever, as a Jewish community, we need to make a difference.
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COMMUNITY RESOURCES FOR EVERYONE
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Simon Family JCC Online Classes
While the Simon Family JCC is closed, check out our FREE online classes. We'll post videos so you can join your favorite JCC instructors and get some exercise. Visit our
Facebook
and
YouTube
pages for the latest videos.
PJ Library is a Jewish family engagement program implemented on a local level throughout North America. In response to the CDC recommendations during this time, PJ Library in Tidewater will be going virtual!
You never know when you’ll need help, but you’ll always know where to find it. Whether you need assistance with putting food on your table, or help coping with the stress of these uncertain times, JFS is here to help.
Synagogues
Get updates from area synagogues
here
.
Our partners at Les Mills understand how important it is for us to be there for our members during these difficult times. They have made available 95 workouts across 8 categories FREE for all JCC members. No sign up is required.
Click here to see the workouts.
INFORMATION ABOUT COVID-19
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JCC Summer Camp Information
If your child is not already signed up with the SIA 12 month plan,
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