Rainbows, rocket ships, and red, white, and blue spirit are just some of the themes that filled Strelitz International Academy’s classrooms this summer, keeping SIA’s summer session busy both inside and outside of the classroom.
To maintain excitement and engagement, a new theme was introduced each week. SIA’s creative educators planned daily lessons and activities that followed the weeks’ themes and put smiles on students’ faces.
The summer program began with Animal Kingdom week. Students in Jamie Jones’s and Erika Ferrell’s toddler class enjoyed fun crafts and sensory activities, boosting their fine motor skills using stampers and paintbrushes to create lions. The toddlers also used tweezers to “rescue” animals from hay. Despite a rainy first week, the students used their imagination and had a wonderful time.
During Under the Sea week, Rachel Helms’ and Lorena Smithson’s Early Years 2 class read The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. After reading the story, students constructed paper plate rainbow fish using sparkly paper for the shimmering scales. Plus, Helms and Smithson created a beach-themed sensory bin with sand, ocean animal figures, and tools to build sandcastles. The weather was perfect, and students and staff had a great time.
July’s first week’s theme was Red, White, and Blue. Although it was a shorter week due to the holiday, it was still filled with exciting activities. Toddlers in Katie Norman’s and Teresa Briscoe’s class turned into artists using dish washing brushes as painting instruments. With different brushes for each color, they created bright and colorful fireworks on colored construction paper.
And, of course, the Early Years students swam daily in the Simon Family JCC’s pool and enjoyed water play to cool off on the hot, sunny days.
The last few weeks of summer at SIA included more creative experiences and themes including a color run for Color Madness week . . . all with plenty of enthusiasm.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
The Strelitz International Academy is the community’s Jewish Day School and International Baccalaureate® World School for infants through grade 5. For more information, contact Ally St. Pierre, admissions and marketing manager, at 757-424-4327, ext. 4188 or astpierre@strelitzacademy.org.
-Ally St. Pierre