Monthly Archives: August 2012

Visual Schedule

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A visual schedule is an important component for a structured classroom environment. It will assist the student in transitioning independently between activities and environments, and tells the student what activities will occur and in what sequence.  A visual schedule often lessens the anxiety level of children with special needs and reduces some challenging behaviors.  Visual schedules can be used in all environments and can be particularly helpful in religious school settings.

Directions: Download the documents below.  Print, cut the pieces and laminate.  They can then be used in a schedule pocket chart or taped to a wall.

VisualSchedule1     Visualschedule2       Visualschedule3    Visualschedule4.

Do you have a student who needs an individual visual schedule?  Check back next week to get the components you need to create one!

 

 

Funders Debate Inclusion During Tour of Camps

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Originally published in the New York Jewish Week, August 7, 2012
Written by Helen Chernikoff

Usually, eating is the fun part and cleanup is a chore.

That’s not how they do it at Camp Nesher, an Orthodox overnight camp in the Poconos, where on any given day, lunch or dinner will turn the dining hall into a disco.

Last Tuesday found crowds of campers, most of them ages 8 through 15, swirling in circles and stomping on tables. Among them, partying as hard as anybody, was a boy in a wheelchair. Another with Down’s Syndrome. And 17 more with disabilities, one of whom commandeered the microphone and turned the sound system into his own personal karaoke machine, executing a pitch-perfect version of an Israeli pop song.

“That’s one of my campers, that’s one of my campers!” kvelled the singer’s counselor, Jamie Bunin. “We have kids with special needs just like we have kids with broken arms. That’s what we do.“ (Read more…)

Different Styles, Same Goals

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Originally published in the New Jersey Jewish Standard, July 27, 2012
Written by Larry Yudelson

Participants in the Matan Institute for Congregational School Teachers in Montclair next Sunday will have plenty of ways to take in the schedule.

They will have a handout. It will be projected on the wall. And it will be announced orally.

What might seem like communications overkill is designed to illustrate an important principle for religious school teachers, according to Dori Frumin Kirshner of Closter, Matan’s executive director. “You need to make sure every time you’re teaching a concept that you’re using all those different ways of presenting the material” to engage students with different learning styles, she said.

The institute aims to “empower the teacher with real tools for how to plan lessons that will impact all kinds of learners,” Kirshner said.

One of Matan’s central goals is promoting the inclusion of all students in Jewish education. The organization’s upcoming day-long institute in Montclair, presented in conjunction with the NewCAJE conference on Jewish education, is in part the result of a grant from the Adler Family Innovation Fund of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey. (Read more…)

Rosh Hashanah Cards are Back!

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It’s time to start thinking about Rosh Hashanah! Send personalized Rosh Hashanah cards to your friends, family and colleagues while supporting Jewish children with special needs! Get your orders in!

Step 1: Choose from one of the beautiful designs below.  Personalized cards are $180 for 100 cards.

Step 2: Email Meredith@matankids.org with your selection (card 1, 2, 3 or 4), along with your name, address, phone number, quantity and how you want the cards personalized. Indicate if you would like envelope liners (add’l $56/100 cards) and/or your return address pre-printed (add’l $35 before Aug. 10 and $45 after).  Ordering deadline is August 31, 2012.

Step 3: Mail a check (plus $10 for shipping) to Matan, 333 Mamaroneck Ave. #342, White Plains, NY 10605. Please note that we will not be able to print your cards until payment has been received.

Step 4: Send out your cards and wait for all of the fabulous compliments you will receive. Because the back of each card displays Matan’s information, everyone will know that you care about children with special needs in the Jewish community.

Card #1

Card #2

Card #3

Card #4