Wednesday Assemblies
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.
Elementary Update September 20
This week on Wednesday I visited the ISY Nay Pyi Taw campus where there are lots of fabulous things happening.
At ISY we continue enjoying our learning.
Elementary School Blog- Sept 13
It seemed that the rain this week purposely chose to come down at break and dismissal times. The rain never hampers our fun here at ISY though and in between the rain we had lots of creative fun outdoors this week (see pictures below).
Elementary School Blog – Sept 6
Dear Parents, It has been another fantastic week at ISY. We have really settled into the school year and we look forward to sharing with you all the wonderful things that are happening in our classrooms over the coming weeks.
Elementary School Blog – August 30
Thank you for the great turn out at the Back to School event this week. We appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedules to join us. A good home and school connection is so important for student learning.
Elementary School Blog – August 23
Dear all,
This has been a wonderful first full week at ISY. The students have settled into their classrooms an are enjoying school life. In particular the new playground is proving to be very popular.
Elementary School Blog – August 16
Welcome back everyone to the new school year. It is wonderful to have your children back with us at school, we missed them. This blog will be sent out each Friday and will contain important information and dates, as well as reminders. I hope you take the opportunity to read it each week.
The International School Yangon
20 Shwe Taungyar Street
Bahan Township
Yangon, Myanmar
+95 (0) 9 880 441 040