ISY Elementary School Blog - December 10, 2021

ISY Elementary Blog

Wednesday Assemblies

Mike Simpson, Elementary School Principal

December 10, 2021

I really look forward to our Wednesday assemblies and, judging by the enthusiasm with which they join the Zoom meeting, our students do too. It is great to see everyone’s face in one place and to be reminded how strong and fun our community is.

This week, Dr. Hedger read us a story that his own children enjoyed when they were younger. That was followed by some very confident Kindergarten students who shared their writing and a song that they wrote together. We finished with an ISY original game of ‘Match the Forehead to the Teacher.’

Providing students with opportunities to share their work is an important reason for having assemblies. It takes confidence and sometimes courage to share your work and ideas with others. We build confidence through proving to ourselves that we are capable and we need to provide our students with opportunities to do this.

Online learning is not perfect but I do think that it has helped some students build the confidence to share their ideas. When students see others sharing their ideas in a less than perfect situation (and having fun doing it), they realize that they don’t need to be perfect to make a valuable contribution.

Our Wednesday assemblies are a time to come together, share ideas, and have fun. The growing confidence of our students also makes them an excellent example of how we can make an imperfect situation work for us if we are purposeful in what we are trying to achieve.

COUNSELOR’S CORNER with Ms. Patty:

The Importance of Routines Over the Holidays

Soon the winter holiday will be upon us. For many a break from the school routine is a welcomed time to relax and unwind but for many children the lack of structure can breed uncertainty and anxiety. In general, most people benefit from routines but children, in particular, find comfort in knowing what is expected. Further routines help children regulate socially and emotionally.

So how do we enjoy the holiday and yet maintain some structure to support our children? Here are a few ideas:

Make a plan: Before or at the start of the holiday, sit down with your child and develop a plan of what will happen over the next 3 weeks. Make a calendar of events & activities the family expects to participate in. Have your plan include daily activities, such as wake up time, meals and bedtime.
Maintain daily activities: It’s easy over the holidays to let the little things go but maintaining routines, such as daily bath, teeth brushing or bedtime stories provides security for children and helps them maintain healthy lifestyle choices.
Prioritize sleeping & eating: Elementary children need 9-12 hours of sleep each night. Maintain daily bedtime schedules as much as possible. Keep regular meals. Eating healthy meals on schedule will help maintain energy and help avoid irritability. Encourage moderation of unhealthy snacks and treats.
Develop a screen time schedule: Children have more access to unstructured time with devices during the holidays. Make a plan with them to determine how much, when and what type of device time they may have. Remember not all screen time is equal. Quality and quantity are different.

I hope these tips enable your family to have a truly restful and enjoyable holiday. I hope the coming year brings peace and comfort to you as well. As always, I am available to the ISY community for support. Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me at escounselor@isyedu.org

Warmly, Ms. Patty

Ms. Patty is available to support all ISY families. If you have any questions or concerns please contact me at escounselor@isyedu.org.

Patty Amundson-Geisel

Pre-K to Grade 6 Counselor

Elementary School Student Council

Holiday Event

Thank you to our Elementary School Student Council for organizing another fun event to bring 2021 to a close. Details below:

Internet Issues

Offline Learning Activities

Every Friday, your child’s homeroom teacher will email you a PDF of offline learning activities that your child will be able to do if they lose access to the internet.

Please only use these plans if your child is unable to access the internet. If you have the internet, your child will be able to attend online classes as usual.

To make sure the offline learning activities stay connected to what is happening in class, our teachers will review and, if necessary, update the offline learning activities each week. Please download the PDF document attached to the email as soon as you receive it on Friday. The email will also have a link to this instructional video:

Semester 1 Ends Friday, January 21

Next Friday, December 17, we break for the Winter Holiday. Classes will resume on Monday, January 10 and our first Semester will finish on Friday, January 21. Semester 1 reports will be available on Friday, January 28.

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