Comments for Heads Up from SJCS

Comment on 18 Reasons Why by Seth Rosenbloom by Joani Diskin Saran

Joani Diskin Saran — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 20:42:28 +0000

All of the reasons you so eloquently expressed, Seth, are the reasons I have been involved as a board member, event chairman, and supporter of this wonderful school for so many years, even though I have never had a child or grandchild at the school. We need to get your words out to the community. I am sure there are other “old bubbes” out there who would get involved—if they only knew!

Comment on 18 Reasons Why by Seth Rosenbloom by Dave Rapp

Dave Rapp — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:01:11 +0000

… and because of people like you involved in the community. Thank you Seth for all you have done for SJCS.

Comment on 18 Reasons Why by Seth Rosenbloom by Sheila Kasprzyk

Sheila Kasprzyk — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 22:21:19 +0000

This is beautiful and why my two grandchild are also enrolled in SJCS…and why one more will join them in September!

Comment on Recess! by Yonah Karp

Yonah Karp — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 06:40:17 +0000

Love this article. We all need unstructured time. (Without smart phones, or even stupid phones!)

And what an adorable picture!

Thank you for reminding us of how important it is to just be.

Yonah

Comment on Recess! by Robin Cohn

Robin Cohn — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 03:29:00 +0000

I love your article. Not only is it fun to read and it’s articulate but you are so right about a kid’s need for unstructured play. Love the term “sheroes” and your use of the Hebrew naar, being the wordsmith that I am. You are a daily miracle in our children’s lives.

Comment on Recess! by Beth

Beth — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 20:53:32 +0000

So well written! I love your take on recess. It is such a valuable learning experience for children and I can see the students at the Seattle Jewish Community School are given the full opportunity to enjoy it–enough time, encouraging (not overbearing) adults and an understanding that play is essential for child development! Many of us are fighting for that balance in our public schools. You may be interested in Good Morning America’s feature yesterday: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/tight-state-budgets-force-end-recess-12598049.

Comment on Winning at Games, Learning…and Life by Lin-Marie Nacht

Lin-Marie Nacht — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:31:14 +0000

I also think reminders/comparisons to other activities that require a sustained effort can come in here. Things like a piano piece that took two or four weeks to master, a choir piece that reqires all the different parts to practice and then work together. Or a reminder about other successful persistent efforts “do you remember how long it took you to learn to snap your fingers?” or “you were so determined to learn to walk – you fell down about a hundred times, and you were so obsessed with walking you even walked in your sleep!”

Comment on Winning at Games, Learning…and Life by Gene Lipitz

Gene Lipitz — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:46:10 +0000

As a lacrosse coach and umpire, I have seen poor sportsmanship frequently demonstrated by children (and by parents from the sidelines.) It’s ugly and certainly the emphasis on winning above sportspanship is not one I would advocate.

However, just saying “well, you tried your best” does, I suspect, real harm. One of the most important personal lessons from competive athletics is that one’s best effort is elusive. Striving to find resources one did not know one had is essential to the personal breakthrough, psychological and physical, that is one of the very best gifts that these activities have to offer.

Failure and disappointment are key parts of this equation and these come into play through competition. Some parents are afraid of this concept, but competition is a natural, genuinely positive force for growth and, at any rate, unavoidable. There is a link here to the prior post in that persistence is a key factor to growth and satisfaction of the athlete, young or old. “Winning isn’t important” (not necessarily Diane’s message) is a message that not only will strike most children as insincere but also rob them of the postive challenge I am describing. “What can you do next time to do even better?” may be the messages we want to convey instead. As to the rage that leads to poor sportsmanship, perhaps it can be redirected positively into the persistence we hope to cultivate in our children.

Comment on Praise for smarts may not be so smart… by Elisabeth Rosenthal

Elisabeth Rosenthal — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:33:27 +0000

We try to specify the parts of the process and praise those. For example, if Joshua makes a particularly colorful drawing, we might emphasize the use of color, the choice of color, patterning, etc… If Nathan uses his words (even bad ones) rather than harming someone, we acknowledge his frustration, praise him for using his words and tell him we are pleased that he chose to use his words rather than his body.
In sports, it is important to us that the boys have good sportsmanship and that they know the point of playing is to have fun, not to win. If one person is not having fun, we try to correct the problem. When they get frustrated with their skill level, we remind them that it takes a lot of practice.

Comment on Homework by Lin-Marie Nacht

Lin-Marie Nacht — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:21:37 +0000

I appreciate a little bit of homework on a regular, predictable basis. I confess this is partly because my husband is the one who sits with the kids as soon as they come home and does a few minutes, after snack but before any other activities. But in my defense, it gives them a chance to bond over schoolwork, and it really does set habits that serve well in the future school endeavors. I have never had a problem with negotiating with the teacher if homework seemed excessive, or not helpful in some way. And I especially appreciate when the teacher has planned things out so that there is a background kind of project (like math facts) that can fill in if there’s not a specific assignment, and when the assignment is an extension of classwork. I love it when my daughter “has to” read Hebrew to me – because then she gets to explain it and teach me. I imagine that planning homework is a lot of work – but that extra thought, recognizing that it’s not just another classroom assignment, it’s not just make work but an opportunity, is really appreciated in our household.