KOL ECHAD | Weekly Newsletter 

February 1, 2024

Helping Students Develop Executive Function: Simple Strategies for School and Home

By Andrea Levine, Learning Specialist

Executive function is a group of important mental skills. These skills help us pay attention, get organized, and plan. Research shows that executive function skills remain one of the most reliable predictors of success in academics and in life, beating out test scores and IQ (Harvard Center on the Developing Child 2012, 2014). For elementary and middle school students, these important skills include paying attention in class, organizing time and materials, planning longer assignments and projects, starting tasks and staying focused on them, and managing emotions in stressful situations. It’s important to know that it takes time to fully develop these skills, and students develop executive function at different rates and to different degrees. However, additional support in the classroom and at home may improve their development of executive function. 

Teachers and parents can try many strategies to assist children with deficits in executive function skills. If a child lacks the ability to regulate their impulses in class, for example talking when the teacher is instructing, teachers can create a chart with what it looks like and sounds like for active listening. For students who cannot independently complete homework, class work or projects, teachers and parents can provide checklists for materials needed and list small, manageable steps they need to complete the task. Posted schedules, agenda books, visual timers, graphic organizers, anchor posters with problem-solving steps, color-coded folders, and highlighting key words in texts are helpful supports. One strategy called Positive Partners can be done in the last few minutes of class each day, or at home with a parent or sibling. Partners meet with one another to summarize what was learned in class, review homework and upcoming due dates, or commend one another on something done or said in class or at home.

Supporting the development of executive function in daily lessons and routines will help our students be successful. For additional information and advice you may be interested in the following articles:

• “Helping Kids who Struggle With Executive Functions”

• “Executive Function in Children: Why it Matters and How to Help”

• “Executive Functioning in Children: 5 Things All Parents Need to Know’

Shabbat shalom,

Andrea Levine

Learning Specialist

Important Dates

Monday, February 5

• Concert by visiting musicians from the Kadima Conservatory of Music (ECEC/Elementary School)

Tuesday, February 6

• Rosh Chodesh staff luncheon

Thursday, February 8

• 100th day of school
• PTO Meeting - 8:15 am, in the library

Friday, February 9

• 1st grade Siyum HaAmidah and Shabbat program - 1:30 pm

Wednesday, February 14

• Snack Shack

Monday, February 19

• Presidents' Day - school closed

Friday, February 23

• Second trimester ends

Tuesday, February 27

• Middle School science fair - 9:30 to 11:30 am, in the auditorium

Thursday, February 29

• Parent-teacher conferences - minimum day - 12:00 pm dismissal (ES/MS only)

Friday, March 1

• Parent-teacher conferences - school closed
• Re-enrollment contracts are due

*For the full school year calendar, please click HERE.

New Exit Gate Security

Kadima has installed a spike strip at the exit gate to increase the protection, safety, and security of our students and staff. Please be sure to not stop your car directly above the spike strip as you risk rolling back, causing severe tire damage. Please wait for the car in front of you to turn onto Shoup Avenue before proceeding.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.  

Kadima Welcomes New School Staff!

Molly Muller - Middle School Social Studies Teacher

Hello! My name is Molly Muller and I am the new middle school social studies teacher at Kadima! I have been teaching social studies for the past nine years in Baltimore, Maryland where I also oversaw academic programs for grades 7-10 and coordinated the 9th grade class. Before that, I earned my Bachelor’s degree in history from Elon University in North Carolina and my Bachelor of Science in secondary education from Towson University in Towson, Maryland. I cherished my time in Maryland as an educator and am so looking forward to getting to know the students, families, and staff that make up this wonderful community at Kadima.

PTO Meeting

Thursday, February 8, 8:15 am, in the library

Join us for our monthly PTO meeting, to be held in the library after morning drop-off. We will be discussing all our upcoming events for the year and look forward to seeing all our parents. 

Siyum HaAmidah and Shabbat Program

Friday, February 9, 1:30-2:15 pm, in the Beit Knesset

First grade parents, you are cordially invited to attend our first grade Siyum HaAmidah and Shabbat program on Friday, February 9, 1:30 to 2:15 pm, in the Kadima Beit Knesset. This is a special and significant milestone in your children's Judaic Studies learning, and we want you to be a part of this joyous occasion.

Middle School Science Fair

Tuesday, February 27, 9:30-11:30 am, in the Auditorium

Middle School parents, please join us on Tuesday, February 27, from 9:30 to 11:30 am, in the auditorium, for our middle school science fair. Our students have been working diligently on their science fair projects and are looking forward to presenting their projects to you. Bring your questions and curiosity.

2024-25 Re-Enrollment

Returning Kadima families will be receiving their 2024-25 re-enrollment contracts starting February 15. You will have two weeks to submit your signed re-enrollment contract to waive the enrollment fee and secure your class spot for the 2024-25 school year.

Kadima Board of Trustees Nominations

Kadima's Board of Trustees is actively looking for new members to serve for 2024-25. If you or someone you know wants to champion our school and have a larger impact on Kadima’s future, please contact boardsecretary@kadima.co.

For a more in-depth description of what is required of a board member, please click here.

February Fundraiser

Show your support for Israel and Kadima with our February fundraiser! This month only, the whole Kadima community gets 10% off all items from Order Israel with the discount code “KADIMA.״ Even better, 20% of the proceeds from each item purchased will go to Kadima!

Use the following link to apply the discount code automatically: https://orderisrael.com/discount/kadima

Top 10 Conversation Starters: Parashat Yitro

By Dr. Steven Lorch

#10 - Yitro is Moshe's non-Jewish father-in-law. He comes to visit Moshe in the desert with his daughter, Moshe's wife Tziporah, who had gone back to live with him "after she had been sent home (אחר שלוחיה)" (Sh'mot 18, 2). But this is the first and only time we're told that she'd been sent home. What's the backstory? What do you think happened?

#9 - Yitro blesses God: "ברוך ה' אשר הציל אתכם - Blessed is God who saved you" (18, 10). This continues a long tradition in which most of the people in the Torah who bless God, or bless people in the name of God, are non-Jews (Noach, King Malki-tzedek, Eliezer, Lot, King Avimelech, and Bil'am). What's going on here? Why are non-Jews so quick to bless God, and Jews aren't?

#8 - While Yitro is visiting, he sees how B'nei Yisrael resolve conflicts, and he advises Moshe to set up a system of judges (18, 21-22). Why did Moshe need to be told this by Yitro, rather than figuring it out himself or being told by God? Why does this story come right before Moshe receives the Torah on Mount Sinai?

#7 - When the time comes for God to give the Torah on Mount Sinai, the people hear three things: the sound of a shofar getting louder, Moshe speaking, and God answering Moshe בקול - which could mean with a sound, or with a voice, or with thunder (19, 19). Who was blowing the shofar? What was Moshe saying? (The text doesn't say.) What did God's sound, or voice, sound like, and where was it coming from?

#6 - The first two commandments (20, 2-6) are in first person ("I am the Lord your God," "...have no other gods besides Me"), and the other eight are in third person ("...the Lord will not forgive whoever swears falsely by His name"). Why?

#5 - In the first commandment, God is referred to as the one who took the people out of Egypt, and not, for example, as the creator of the universe, or as God of the forefathers (20, 2). Why?

#4 - The first commandment ("I am the Lord your God who took you out of Egypt") doesn't make clear what B'nei Yisrael are supposed to do. What are they commanded to do in the first commandment?

#3 -  In the second commandment, not to worship idols, the punishment is given not only to the sinner, but also his or her children and grandchildren, and the reward for obeying the commandment is given to 1,000 generations (20, 5-6). Does this really happen? How? Is this fair or not? Why?

#2 -  The Ten Commandments include not using God's name while lying (the third commandment - 20, 7) and not lying in court (the ninth commandment - 20, 13). However, it doesn't include the general rule of not lying. Why isn't the rule against all kinds of lying included in the Ten Commandments?

#1 - The first four commandments are בין אדם למקום (between man and God), and the last five commandments are בין אדם לחברו (between man and man). What about the fifth commandment, honoring one's parents (20, 12)? Is it בין אדם לחברו or בין אדם למקום? Explain.

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