Welcome back to school!

What a thrill it is to see our beloved YOSS boys (well, at least their eyes and hair!). Even with the masks on, it’s easy to see their huge smiles. Many parents have been telling me that their boys have been devouring books throughout the last 7 months, and we’d love to KEEP THAT MOMENTUM GOING! Here are some ideas for how we can help to get the right books into your sons’ hands:

1) Please make sure that your son’s YOSS library books are in his knapsack, ready to return on the day his class has library. First-graders can borrow one book, everyone else can borrow two, if (and only if!) they return their previously borrowed books. Classes visit the library on ALTERNATE weeks. Here’s our library schedule this year:

MONDAYS: 1Traube, 2Sebag, 3Weiss, 4Shilo, 5Pasternak
TUESDAYS: 1Salzberg, 2Yeres. 3Davidovits, 4Ayzin, 4Zicherman, 5Richter
THURSDAYS: 1Kopolovitz, 2Ratner, 2Berenholz, 3Mayer, 4Lloyd, 5Kastriner
MECHINA boys may visit the library from 12:15-1 pm, on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

2) Freedom to choose a book of their own liking is key to getting boys excited about reading. That’s why you’ll sometimes see a book they’ve already read, or a “too easy” book in their knapsack. As long as they keep enjoying what they themselves have chosen, they WILL move on to more challenging books. Since many boys can’t pinpoint exactly what they’re interested in, parents can help by discussing possible book topics before library day.

3) If you can easily reserve and borrow books from your public library at this time, here are some useful websites to help you make choices when bookshelves can’t be browsed:

Commonsensemedia.org, imaginationsoup.net, kosherbooks.org

4) If your son is an avid reader and reserving books at your public library is a hardship at this time, and you’d like your son to be able to borrow a few extra books from our YOSS library, please email me at chayaburns@gmail.com to discuss.

Looking forward to a happy and healthy year together!