Dear Elementary Parents,
Thank you for your ongoing support for our teachers and staff as we navigate this challenging time. We know it is a heavy time for everyone in our community. Even though we cannot be together, we have countless examples of you reaching out virtually to help us be strong and be better for our students.
We would like to offer some tips for parents. The first resource is one we have sent before. It is a resource about how to talk to children about COVID-19. It comes from the National Association of School Psychologists, out of the US.
As you know, our faculty is taking Monday as a professional learning day, so that we can plan and prepare for improvements to Virtual School. We strongly recommend an off-screen day for our ES students so they can unplug and stay balanced.
The second resource we would like to offer is a list of tips for when VIrtual School starts up again on Tuesday.
- Ensure that you have a routine for your child(ren). Have a designated spot for them to engage in online learning, free from distractions, yet not in their bedrooms. Ideally, this space would be close to the adult monitoring the learning. Schedule snack times and exercise, downtime and ways to relax; perhaps some Mindfulness.
- Keep moving. Even short 5-minute movement breaks sprinkled throughout the day can help .
- Give children choice. If children have some choice and control, they tend to feel more secure.
- Have fun times too! Schedule times for games, baking, nature walks, and other things away from screens.
- Make parenting decisions. You know your child best. If they are getting near not being able to self-manage, then stop Virtual School. Take a break or even stop for the day. Learning does not happen if children are feeling overwhelmed. Just email your child’s teacher, they will understand.
- Stay positive. This may be difficult sometimes, but we know how impactful the right mindset is.
Please know that we are here for you. Let us know if you or your child needs support. Our counselors are remarkable resources during challenging times.
Stay well,
-Kelly Armitage, Sarah Fleming, and Jeff Scott
Seesaw Home Learning Codes
Seesaw has released home learning codes to support students with Virtual School. Home learning codes allow students to sign in to Seesaw, view their journal, add posts, complete activities they’ve been assigned, and receive class announcements from their teachers. Students do not see the work of other students in their class. If a student is a member of more than one class on Seesaw, such as a Homeroom class and a World Languages class, these will now be linked and accessible.
Look out for an email from ISB in the next day or two with your child’s home learning code. It will be a 12 letter code and it is different for each student. The following screencasts will provide you with directions on how to sign in using the home learning codes:
Using the Seesaw website on the Internet
For tablet devices (iPads and iPhones)
Please note:
- If students are already signed in to Seesaw, they will need to sign out and then sign in again using the home learning code.
- If students already have the Seesaw Class app on a tablet device, they may need to update the app for home learning codes to work. Instructions on how to do this are linked here.
We hope you find that you find these home learning codes helpful in supporting your child to easily access their learning on Seesaw.
Update on ISB Summer School 2020
Understandably, there are many uncertainties ahead due to the COVID-19 coronavirus incidents around the world. We are presently planning as regular for our ISB Summer School 2020 which will run from Monday, june 15th to Friday, July 10th. You can go to the ISB website to access all information about dates, programs, and fees, and to submit a registration form online.
We encourage people to plan ahead and register. Please note that with the uncertainties around the world right now with the COVID-19 coronavirus, there will be no cancellation fees applied for people who register and then cancel by May 15th. This date will be reviewed as we get closer to it. Our EarlyBird prices for tuition are still available until Friday, April 24th.
For ES students, we have 3 new Special Enrichment Camps available this year in addition to camps from other years!
ES Art Camp (1 week) June 15 – 19 for students entering Grade 3 – 6 in August.
ES Reading/Writing/Performance Workshop: Fairy Tales, Folktales and Legends (1 week) June 15 – 19 or June 22 – 26 for students entering Grade 3 – 5 in August.
ISB Panther Swim Camp; Experience the “Panther Way” (1 week) June 15 – 19 for students entering Grade 2 – 12 in August.
For any questions, please email sumdir@isb.ac.th
Best Regards,
Mr. Maurilio Baron-Toaldo
Summer School Director
(Repeat) ES Community Virtual School Handbook
For your reference (Posted Last Week) Linked here
eNews Guidelines
Shelley Bragg
shelleyb@isb.ac.th
ISB eNewsletters provide a valuable avenue for communication within the ISB parent community. For your convenience, we have provided you with our eNewsletter guidelines below.
Submitting an announcement for publication
ISB accepts announcements from ISB families for potential publication in our eNewsletters. The announcements are generally intended to highlight events that occur at ISB and/or highlight information about ISB.
What to include in the announcement
- A title for your announcement
- An email contact for further information
Where to submit your announcement
4publish@isb.ac.th is for announcements of interest to the entire ISB community.
naiyanar@isb.ac.th is for Elementary School (ES) announcements of interest to ES families.
phremjiz@isb.ac.th is for Middle School (MS) announcements of interest to MS families.
vijitl@isb.ac.th is for High School (HS) announcements of interest to HS families.
Your announcement will be submitted to the appropriate Principal and/or to our Director of Marketing and Communications for review. ISB reserves the right to determine which announcements will and will not be published, and to edit announcements that are approved for publication.
Frequency of eNewsletter mailings
The ISB eNewsletter that is for the entire community is sent out on Thursdays. Announcements for potential publication in this newsletter must be received by noon on Thursdays.
The ES, MS, and HS eNewsletters are sent out on Fridays. Announcements for potential publication in these newsletters must be received by noon on Fridays.