One of the most challenging moments for children, and therefore their caretakers as well, can be through transitions. Summer, although fun and joyful, with its transitions and changes can be hard for children who crave consistency. It can be highly beneficial to create home rituals and practices including yoga and mindfulness to provide a sense of constancy amidst all the change.
The month of March was filled with yoga celebrating the blossoming of spring, new yoga games, and deepening our self regulation tools. Games have included Yoga Bingo, Musical Mats, Yoga Jenga, Yoga Stars, Yoga Museum, Detective, Red Light Green Light yoga, and more. Incorporating games into yoga classes offers numerous benefits.
In February we built upon our repertoire of poses, challenging and strengthening our bodies and minds. We added new poses such as half moon, warrior three, and twisted lunge. Children have also loved a variety of stories and games interwoven with asana such as, Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae and The Troublesome Pig by Priscilla Lamont.
Sustaining relationships with our past students and their families holds great significance for all of us at Parkside. Observing the personal and professional development of our alumni and celebrating their achievements serves as a constant wellspring of inspiration, motivating us to continue our endeavors for the betterment of our present students.
Last year Parkside’s speech department introduced a pilot program called Lively Letters. Along with classroom and reading teachers of 3-1, 3-2 and 3-4, our goal was to increase our students’ sound symbol correspondence. This ability to know and produce a letter sound is a foundational building block to reading. This is no easy task, especially for children with speech and language-based challenges. Enter a program called Lively Letters.
Keeping in touch with our graduates and their families means so much to all of us at Parkside. To see how our alumni have grown and to celebrate all they have achieved is what helps motivate us to continue the work we do for our current students. The following are the Alumni News submissions we’ve received from alumni over the course of the past several months.
As February has drawn to a close, we are pleased to share the different ways Black History Month has been celebrated at Parkside. Though we strive at Parkside to integrate recognition of and respect for all cultures year round, Black History Month is a time set aside for us to shine light on the contributions of Black Americans despite ongoing racism and oppression.
The start of a new school year is an exciting time, filled with new experiences and anticipation for what’s to come. Our teachers and therapists spend a lot of time in the first few weeks of school helping children get to know each other, learn routines, and acclimate to their new classroom, rules, and materials so that they can build autonomy and feel ready and excited about learning.
Hi, my name is Maude Lehmann, I was at Parkside from 2010 to 2015. I was then at Summit from 2015 to 2018. And now I’m at the High School of Art & Design in the major of cartooning, I’ll be graduating from there next week and then in August I’ll be starting at Vassar College. I’m so honored to be speaking to you all today on the day of your graduation, Parkside is a really special school.
This afternoon, the Parkside Class of 2022 walked across the stage at the New York Society for Ethical Culture to give their graduation speeches and celebrate all they have achieve during their time at Parkside. It was a moving ceremony, with family and friends present in person for the first time since 2019. One of the highlights of the ceremony was the commencement address by alumna Maude Lehmann ‘15.
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