Dear Parents,

This week we had two outings. We went to the "Discovery Center of Taipei" near the City Hall. We explored the old Taiwan. The most exciting part was to watch a film surrounded by TV screens on a revolving stage. The children were amazed by the technology. We also went to the Far Eastern Plaza Hotel to take pictures with the giant Christmas tree, and we saw the gingerbread man. Also, in the lobby of the hotel, there was a nutcracker and some nuts, so each child got a nut and the teachers helped cracked the nuts with the nutcracker. Everyone enjoyed eating the nuts.

For this week,

Math - We learned subtracting zero.

Reading - We learned the words, "map", "shack", and path". We also worked on the workbook, learning "hallway", "classroom", "gym", and "office", which we will go over them again next week.

Science - We learned about the sun, which gives the earth light and heat.

Art - We made drawings related to the Christmas theme.

This week,

Adam - He has been active and cheerful.

Joyce - She has a little cold, hope she gets well soon!

Paige - She does her work neatly.

Erin - She has been playful and cheerful.

Terry - He is outspoken. He is good in math, and he does his work nicely.

Ian - He is sweet and he likes sharing with his classmates.

Tony - He is observant and likes to participate in class.

Stephanie - She likes to draw. She sometimes talks with her classmates during naptime.

Melissa - She enjoys the outings, but has been absent for two days, hope she gets well soon!

Ethan - He is considerate and sweet. He constantly needs help in math.

Emily - She draws well, and does her work neatly.

Wishing you Happy Holidays!

Teacher Jennifer

Dear Parents,

Finally, all our hard work practicing and rehearsing for the Christmas show has come to an end, it was a success. Every student remembered their lines and dance steps on stage. Hope everyone enjoyed watching the show.

Due to the preparation for the Christmas show, and going back and forth to the public library, we had little class time.

This week,
For Math class, we learnt subtraction/Difference.
For ESL, we learnt spelling from one to ten.
For Art class, we colored Christmas trees for our classroom’s decoration.
For Science, we learnt more about seeds, roots, and the word, “Predict”.

This week,
Joyce – She is a sweet girl, and she has been generous to her classmates.
Stephanie – She is very active and talkative in class.
Emily – She still has a cold, and she eats slower, but in general, she is cheerful.
Adam – He concentrates well and does his work nicely, and he is becoming more independent.
Terry – He likes to participate in class, and he is outspoken. He did a great job at the Christmas show!
Tony – He is observant. He does his work nicely and he works fast.
Paige – She is quiet, but cheerful. She gets along well with her classmates.
Ian – He didn’t come to class this week, hope he gets well soon!
Erin – She is a sweet girl, and likes to tell stories to her classmates.
Ethan – He was sick for two days. He did his work slower, yet he is expressive.
Melissa – She is becoming more independent. She is very active.

Have a great weekend!
Teacher Jennifer

Dear Parents,
This week, we continued to practice our Christmas skit and dance. Most of the students have already memorized their lines. On Tuesday, we went to the City Library, where the performance is going to take place, for rehearsal. It went well. Everyone quickly finished their lunch and slept well during nap time that day. Then, we watched the cartoon, Dr. Seuss' “The Grinch who stole Christmas”, which helped students understand more of the script, and how they should perform on stage. We have been doing the rehearsals almost everyday as the Christmas show is coming soon on December 16th, hope everyone can come attend.
In class, we handmade Christmas ornaments and hung them on the school’s Christmas tree; most students liked the gingerbread man. For Phonics class, Tops and Reading, we reviewed the previous chapters, and also worked on the ESL workbook and learned the difference between “I”, and “We”. And also learned the meanings of “forest”, “creatures”, and “grew”. For art class, we made Christmas cards. For Science class, we learned about seeds, that it can grow into a plant; for example, an apple seed grows into an apple tree.
This week,
Erin – she likes to share things with her classmates and she is polite.
Emily – she writes nicely. She’s been coughing a lot during nap time.
Ian – He likes to read.
Paige – She is not yet familiar with the days of the week.
Tony – He is a curious child and likes to ask many questions.
Melissa – She is a sweet girl.
Adam – He is not yet familiar with days of the week.
Joyce – She likes to play with Paige and sit next to her.
Stephanie – She is outspoken in class.
Terry – He is outspoken and likes to participate.
Ethan – He is a smart boy, and likes to participate.
Have a great weekend!
Teacher Jennifer

Dear Parents,

Hi! Today is my 2nd day taking over Teacher Sandi's Dolphins class, I found that everyone in this class is very active and talkative. I am getting to know each student's personality better, and learning how to make them behave.

This Tuesday, we had a birthday celebration for all the kindergarten children born in December. Ethan from our class had a birthday cake and got a present. He also shared gift packs with everyone. He enjoyed the celebration very much and was very happy.

As Christmas is approaching, we are using our class time to practice the Christmas show and dance. We only have less than two weeks before the performance, so we handed out the script to each child to bring home, and asking parents to help your child remeber his/her lines.

About each child:

Emily - She likes to play with Erin.

Tony - He likes to ask many questions.

Terry - He is a sweet child and can read well.

Ian - He is well liked by his classmates.

Melissa - She is talkative.

Paige - She is quiet.

Joyce - She is a sweet child and likes to smile.

Adam - He is talkative in class.

Erin - She is observant.

Stephanie - She is talkative.

Ethan - He is very active in class.

Have a great weekend!
Teacher Jennifer

Important Announcement

To all parents,

This is Teacher Paul and I have some unfortunate news to report.
I took Teacher Sandi to hospital this morning because she wasn't feeling well.
Both the doctor and all the staff members at Tree House are very concerned for her health.

Teacher Sandi wants me to tell everyone that she is sorry that she has been absent many days this month because of her health.

We wish her the best and hopefully she can get well soon.

Hello, I hope your week was a good one. This week we started rehearsals for the Christmas show. The kids are very excited and very cute. The children will be bringing their scripts home next week so please encourage them to practice their lines. I have started a "writing practice" class in order to improve the children's penmanship. Some of you have expressed concerns about your child's writing, so I wanted to focus on that for a while and make sure everyone is able to print clearly and neatly. We will be working on printing for a period each day. On Tuesday we will be visiting the Fire station, so don't forget to send your children to school dressed for the outing.

Melissa is progressing well in terms of her class work, however I sometimes have to tell her to sit down too often. She also has a tendency to play with things in class when she should be listening. Melissa is a very smart girl and I think she would get more out of the class if she focused.

I usually have to repeat myself several times before Stephanie listens to me. She constantly wanders around the room and talks while I am talking. I have tried moving her around the room but she seems to talk with everyone. Stephanie needs to practice her listening skills so she knows how to do the work.

Erin has a tendency to do things after I tell her repeatedly not to do them. I always find her playing with stickers and other toys during class time. Erin needs to know that there is a time to play and a time to work.

Paige is doing very well in the printing class. She takes her time and she really focuses. She is also doing a good job reciting the script. Keep up the good work.

Joyce needs to know that sometimes she has to focus on the task at hand. She is very smart, and very capable of doing class work, but sometimes she refuses to concentrate and instead, distracts other students.

Emily did really well this week and she is doing a great job in rehearsals. She seems very happy these days and her class work is impressive. Keep up the good work.

Terry is progressing, and his class work is impressive. His writing needs some work as it is a bit sloppy sometimes. Also, Terry sometimes has a tendency to shout with his friends, or even to continue talking after I ask him to stop.

Adam's writing is a bit sloppy at times and he often does not leave spaces between his words. Sometimes he prints his letters backwards. I will continue to help him practice his penmanship. Otherwise, he is working hard and I am proud of him.

Ethan has a tendency to get upset and whine sometimes. I am trying to break him of this habit. He needs some work on his spelling, but he also needs to focus and not give up half way through an assignment.

Ian is quiet and attentive during class. I am very impressed with the quality of his work and the pride he takes in doing a good job. Keep up the good work!

Tony sometimes becomes rough with other students and with me. I know he does not mean to hurt others, but he needs to know that he should be more careful around others. He is doing a very good job in class and he is working ahead in all his books.

Have a great weekend!

Hello everyone, it was great to come back to work after being sick last week. This week we worked on word problems in math class. The students cannot do the problems independently yet, but they can accomplish the work as a group. In reading class we read a story and practiced reading comprehension and spelling. In science class we had a small oral quiz and I was very pleased with what the children could remember. On Tuesday, we went on an outing to the local television station and the students got a change to sit in front of the blue screen. We had a really great time. We learned new stretches in phys-ed, and I taught the children the "banana cheer" (you should ask them to show it to you). We will start rehearsing the Christmas play soon, so please encourage your children to practice at home.

Paige was a very attentive student this week as usual. The quality of her spelling is improving everyday. Her reading comprehension is also good, she can always answer the questions about the stories we read as a class.

Melissa sometimes needs to be reminded to pay attention and stop fooling around. She has a hard time staying with the class and I often have to tell her to stop flipping the pages in her book. That being said, she can usually complete her work with only a little help from me.

Stephanie was a bit silly in class this week. I had to tell her several times to sit down and to pay attention. She tends to play with things or daydream while I a teaching a lesson. However, she did finish her work in the end. I would like to see her applying herself more in class and talking to her classmates less.

I was very happy to see Joyce participating in morning stretches this week. It is usually difficult to get her to stand up properly and join the class in the morning. I was happy to see her participating with her friends.

Emily seemed like a happy little girl this week. She was focused and payed attention to the lessons, which made it easier for her to work independently on the assignments.

I noticed Erin participating more this week, and getting the right answers! I am glad to see this improvement. I will continue to work with her on her reading ability. Erin sometimes finds it hard to focus and often disrupts the class. I would like to see her working a bit more quietly.

Adam is like a whirlwind of energy. He has a lot of energy and this is a good thing. I think sometimes it is hard for him to focus but when he does focus he can produce very good work.

Ethan got in trouble a few times this week for having outbursts in class. He sometimes becomes very loud during morning exercises and thus, finds it hard to follow the routine because he is fooling around. This week I did, however, see an improvement in the number of times I had to remind him to focus on his work. He payed attention through the whole reading lesson on Thursday and I was very happy.

Terry did very well this week. He volunteered answers and also volunteered to read aloud several times. I also noticed him reading to his friends on Thursday while we were getting ready to go home. Keep up the good work, Terry!

Ian seems to be opening up more. He is socializing more with his classmates and seems happier. He is also producing good work and I notice more confidence in his voice when he reads in front of the class. Way to go Ian!

Tony worked ahead in all of his books this week. Since Tony is older, I usually give him work that is a bit harder. He had a good grasp of the material and worked very well independently without disrupting the rest of the class. Good Job Tony!

I hope everyone has a relaxing weekend. I look forward to seeing all of your children back here on Monday, and I look forward to reading through the script for the Christmas show with them.