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The Shefa Center Events

The Shefa Center is excited to announce two webinars on the topics of ADHD and Executive Functioning, presented by experts from The Shefa School. Lately, it seems that there is a proliferation of children (and adults) who are struggling with attention, organization, time management, and self-regulation. What underlies these challenges, and what can we do to help everyone succeed despite them?

These webinars are designed for parents, educators, and others who work with children. Please join us for one or both – each presentation stands on its own, and they are even better in combination.

Thanks to the Shefa Center’s funders, these webinars are free and open to the public. Webinar zoom links will be sent prior to the events.

28 Mar

What is ADHD and what can you do about it?

  • 08:00 pm
  • Great Neck (Address on RSVP)

Presented by Yoni Schwab, PhD
hosted by Talia & Liron David at North Shore Hebrew Academy

Why do kids (and adults) with ADHD act the way they do? This workshop will help you get into the head of someone with ADHD using a simple theory that explains many of the challenges and strengths that come with ADHD and executive dysfunction. Using that understanding as a guide, we will explore practical approaches to manage these difficulties.

07 Feb

What is ADHD and what can you do about it?

  • 07:30 pm
  • Zoom (sent before event)

Presented by Yoni Schwab, PhD
Why do kids (and adults) with ADHD act the way they do? This workshop will help you get into the head of someone with ADHD using a simple theory that explains many of the challenges and strengths that come with ADHD and executive dysfunction. Using that understanding as a guide, we will explore practical approaches to manage these difficulties.

The event has concluded but you can view a recording with the link below.

14 Mar

How to Support your Child’s Executive Functioning

  • 07:30 pm
  • Zoom (sent before event)

Presented by Kristen Vieregg, MS, CCC-SLP
Executive functioning is a hot topic in today’s world, and for good reason! Executive function skills are key factors in an individual’s personal, social, and academic success. But what exactly are executive function skills, and when do they develop? How can we as parents and educators support our children’s executive function development? During this workshop, we will explore these topics and provide concrete strategies to help modify your child’s environment and teach executive function skills.

The event has concluded but you can view a recording with the link below.

Please join us for virtual courses designed for K-8 educators looking to gain concrete tools, skills, and frameworks for teaching reading and/or math.

26 Jun

Multisensory Reading Instruction

  • 09:00 am
  • Zoom (sent before event)

This four-session virtual course (9:00am-12:30pm daily) focuses on multisensory techniques for teaching reading, spelling, and handwriting in the primary grades using the PAF Reading Program. PAF incorporates the theory and practices of Orton-Gillingham instruction into an early reading program intended to be used with groups of children at-risk for reading difficulties. PAF can also be used remedially for struggling readers, for tutoring, or as an effective beginning reading program for all children. Topics will include instructional practices supported by the latest research on developing accurate decoding and fluent reading, comprehension, lesson planning, and curriculum-based assessments.

Location: Virtual – Zoom link will be provided
Fee: $695 - includes materials / Early bird special if you register by March 31, 2023: $595
Course Instructors: Deirdre McKechnie and Cara Jordan

11 Jul

Advanced Decoding Skills: Teaching Multisyllable Words

  • 01:30 pm
  • Zoom (sent before event)

This 90 minute workshop will focus on the six syllable types and syllabication strategies critical for students encountering new words and vocabulary.

Location: Virtual – Zoom link will be provided
Fee: $60
Course Instructors: Deirdre McKechnie and Brittany Zucker

12 Jul

Introducing Long Vowels, Homonyms, and Spelling Rules

  • 01:30 pm
  • Zoom (sent before event)

This 90 minute workshop will focus on the introduction of skills after students have mastered the alphabetic phase, such as long vowels, homonyms, suffixing, and spelling rules.

Location: Virtual – Zoom link will be provided
Fee: $60
Course Instructors: Deirdre McKechnie and Brittany Zucker

10 Jul

Multisensory Math

  • 09:00 am
  • Zoom (sent before event)

This three-session virtual course (9:00am-1:00pm daily) will provide concrete strategies for making math accessible to all learners. Using a math program developed by language and math specialist Marilyn Zecher, Shefa’s math program applies Orton-Gillingham multisensory instructional strategies to mathematics. Learn effective methods for teaching math concepts and explicit instructional language to support understanding and retention. Concepts from lower and middle school will be modeled with special emphasis on skills taught in K-5, including numeracy, place value, basic operations, multiplication and division, fractions, and decimals.

Location: Virtual – Zoom link will be provided
Fee: $650 / Early bird special if you register by March 31, 2023: $550
Course Instructors: Linda Maleh and Danielle Segal

Please email center@shefaschool.org if you have any questions.

Summer Workshop Instructor Bios

Cara Jordan is the Middle School Language Arts & Writing Coordinator and was a founding lead teacher at the Shefa School. Cara graduated with her B.A. in English from the University of Michigan and completed her Masters in Childhood Regular and Special Education and Literacy from Manhattanville College. Prior to joining Shefa, she was a Language Arts and Writing teacher at the Windward School in White Plains. With over 12 years of teaching experience, Cara collaborates with and mentors the Language Arts and Writing teachers as well as creates curriculum with a focus on integrating the Language Arts and Writing program throughout content areas. She presents professional development workshops in reading, vocabulary and strategies for writing and study skills. Cara has extensive experience with The Hochman Method and the PAF Reading Program and provides training and coaching to teachers in their implementation of the programs.

Linda Maleh is the Assistant Head of the Lower School and Lower School Math Coordinator at Shefa. Prior to joining Shefa as a founding lead teacher, she taught at the Mary McDowell Friends School in Brooklyn. Linda has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and English from Hunter College, a Master of Science in Childhood General and Special Education from Bank Street College of Education, and a Masters of Education in Teacher Leadership from Brandeis University. Linda has spent the past eight years implementing Marilyn Zecher’s Multisensory Math program at Shefa by coaching the lower school math teachers, delivering training and professional development for faculty, and overseeing math curriculum development and assessment. Linda is currently completing her instructor of Multisensory Math teachers certification with Marilyn. She has presented with Marilyn at the IDA conference in Atlanta in 2017 and has taught workshops at other schools.

Deirdre “Dee” McKechnie is a Lower School Reading Coordinator at the Shefa School. She was formerly Coordinator of Educational Outreach for The Windward Institute and for the past three years has provided PAF professional development to individual schools and teachers. Additionally, she was a Language Arts and Writing teacher in Windward’s Lower School for six years, where she taught 2nd and 3rd grade. Dee earned her Bachelor of Science in communication studies from Northwestern University and completed her postgraduate degree in education at the Institute of Education, University of London. During her twenty-plus years of experience, she has served as a reading support teacher in a general education school and has used multisensory reading instruction in a range of educational settings. She is also a certified IMSLEC (The International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council) Instructor. Dee was the recipient of the Sandi Galst Scholar award, which recognizes an outstanding Windward reading teacher.

Brittany Zucker is a Lower School Reading Coordinator at the Shefa School. She is ASHA (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) certified, is certified in Orton-Gillingham at the Associate Level through the Orton-Gillingham Academy (OGA) and is a certified Structured Literacy Dyslexia Interventionist through the International Dyslexia Association (IDA). Brittany earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Communicative Disorders from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Masters of Science degree from Hunter College in Speech-Language Pathology. She is trained in the PAF Reading Program, Heggerty and The Hochman Method and works closely with Shefa’s lower school reading teachers by providing training and coaching. Additionally, she creates curriculum with a focus on integrating language and literacy and presents professional development workshops. Most recently, Brittany co-authored the book The Speech-Language Pathologist’s Guide To Dyslexia, which assists professionals in identifying and providing evidence-based intervention to children with dyslexia.