This week in Science class we learned the concept of a "food chain" and my class got a chance to make their own food chains to display in the class. This activity was a good way to introduce food chains and food webs, and also a great opportunity for the class to practice their fine motor skills by gluing together paper chains. In math class, the children learned how to use an addition chart. It took some practice, but they eventually got the hang of it and some of the children even started double digit addition using their charts. We read "What Does Pig Do" together in reading class and talked about calendars. I was impressed with the improvement in group reading, everyone was eager to participate. I am pleased with how co-operative the class has been during morning exercises, and it is nice to see everyone participating and warming up their little muscles for the day. Getting the blood flowing is good for a sleepy brain early in the morning. In arts and crafts this week we looked at the famous painting by Edvard Munch called The Scream: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scream. Then I had all the children create their own versions of the scream and we talked about how the pictures made us feel. There were some very creative pictures.

Tony is such a great kid and he is very friendly and funny towards the staff, however I feel like he sometimes does not enjoy the company of the children in his class. I don't see him engaging with other kids in the class although he is constantly joking and laughing with me.

Adam is a very funny and intuitive child. He is also smart as a whip and has a gift for noticing details. My concern with Adam at the moment is his "sportsmanship." He tends to get very upset and sulky when he doesn't win a game or finish his work first.

Terry really likes to shout out answers. The answers he shouts out are always correct, but he needs to practice some self-control in this area. I am aware that Terry knows the answer but I need to make sure that everyone else understands the material also.

It was nice to Ian back in class today and I know all of his friends missed him. Welcome back Ian!

I would like Ethan to concentrate on his work more in class. Again this week he did not finish his phonics activities because he was fooling around while I was helping another student. Although I constantly remind him to focus, he needs to maintain that focus while I am helping other students.

Emily volunteered to read several times during group reading. I am very happy with her progress. In math class she remained focused during the lesson and she followed instructions very well while using her addition chart.

Erin persists in arguing with other students and talking and whispering to the other girls in class while I am talking. She has a lot of potential but I often see her making faces or sticking her tongue out at other students instead of focusing on my instructions.

Melissa is also frequently fighting with other students. She has made improvements over the last few weeks and I am very proud of her, however she still gets aggressive with other students, often grabbing their belongings or pushing them in line.

Joyce's work is satisfactory, however I would like to see her pay attention to her work a bit more instead of wandering around the classroom and hovering around my desk. She is a joy to have in class but she needs to draw the line between work time and play time.

Paige reminds me so much of Frank. She is well-behaved and a good influence on her peers. She tried her best this week during math and her efforts paid off. I never see her give up or say "I don't want to do this," and as a result she always finishes classroom activities with an understanding of the material.

Stephanie is a fairly good student and she tries to stay focused in class. I would like to see her following instructions more efficiently. There are a few girls in the class who seem to have a hard time following instructions, so Stephanie is not the only one. I often have to say things several times and then call their names individually so they will listen. I would like to see her a little bit more responsive.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you all at the haunted house next weekend!

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a good and productive week. We have been having fun and working hard getting ready for Halloween. This week we reviewed what we have learned so far in science class. So the children should know the difference between birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and insects. They should be able to tell you the different characteristics of each. Also, they should know the 3 different ways to identify a mammal. In math class we worked together on a Halloween activity. We had to add double digit numbers in order to reveal a secret Halloween message. Most of the children in the class found this quite difficult, but I think with some hard work they will be able to figure out the sums on their own. This week's wordsearch was a vast improvement and I am proud of my class for applying themselves and really working hard to find the words. We learned a Halloween chant, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear the children's lovely singing voices during music class. They really know a lot of the words and they all have their favorite songs from the C.D. Thank you all for playing it for them at home.

Emily worked very hard in math class this week and she was determined and focused throughout the lesson. I was proud of her listening skills and her great effort.

Sometimes Joyce says the funniest things. She is a very clever girl and she often surprises me. During math class she came to me and said "teacher I don't know how to do it" and when I looked at her work she had gotten almost all the answers right.

Paige's confidence while reading seems to be improving. She still finds it difficult sometimes to sound out all the words but I am very impressed with the improvement. She is always willing to participate and she always applies herself during class.

Melissa has her ups and downs. It is sometimes difficult to get Melissa's attention and she is often busy talking with her friends or fidgeting with things in her hands. I truly believe Melissa is capable of great things she just needs to focus a little bit more.

Stephanie is a very smart girl. She can follow instructions when she listens but sometimes it is hard to get her to stay in her seat and stop talking. During lessons I have asked her to sit at the front facing me instead of the other students and I think this method is working.

Erin seems to spend a lot of time fighting with other students and bickering and making faces at other students while she should be listening. When she arrives to class late she often breezes in disrupting the whole class instead of entering quietly and finding a seat. Academically I feel she is progressing, however I would like to see her fighting less with her classmates.

Tony makes me laugh everyday when I see him. I am very happy to see he has developed a routine now at school so he is not constantly forgetting his water bottle, passport, and reading books. It is nice to see him maturing and becoming more independent and responsible for his belongings. Way to go Tony!

Adam has an incredible memory. When we played the science review game today, he had his hand up for every question. I am very proud of his social progress also. At the beginning of the semester he seemed to have frequent outbursts and now he is more in control of his emotional responses.

Terry loves to set a good example for the rest of the class. He always helps his classmates with their work. The other day Terry was helping Adam with his work and Adam said: "teach me how to do it, but don't do it for me" and Terry was a wonderful teacher. I am very proud of his sensibilities, he is a strong and sensitive little boy.

Ethan, as you know, is adorable. He tries to focus in class, but sometimes it takes him twice as long as the rest of the class to finish an activity. I don't think this is because he is slower that the rest of the class, I think it is because he is often thinking about everything else except the task at hand.

Ian did very well this week in math class. He was very excited when I was teaching the lesson and said: "I know how to do this, my mommy taught me!" Ian is always up for a challenge and he rarely asks me to help him during classroom activities. Good work Ian!

I hope I see all of my students beautiful faces at the haunted house next weekend. Have a great weekend.

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful week. I forgot to mention the monthly reports in my last blog. I wanted to tell all the parents not to worry about the "incomplete" check marks on your children's reports. These check marks do not indicate that your children are doing poorly in school, these boxes are marked as "incomplete" because we haven't covered and mastered the material in these areas yet. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding but I assure you that all of your children are progressing at acceptable rates.

This week we worked on some addition and subtraction in math class. I think the students are finally getting a handle on basic addition and subtraction. In reading class we read a story called the Seven Sillies and the kids thought it was very funny. Then we learned the word "reflection" and I was very proud of your children for remembering what this word meant. In science class we reviewed plants and mammals, and talked about the life-cycle of a frog. In phonics we discussed the difference between the sounds "th" and "sh." We also learned about when we should add an "s" to the end of a verb: such as, 'she sits,' 'they sit.' I was happy to see most of the children completing their word searches this week, as it used to be quite difficult for some of them in the past.

Adam is making good progress in his reading. Please encourage him at home to sound out the words at home while reading. The more he practices the easier it will be for him to identify the sounds of the vowels and consonants.

Terry is doing very well in the area of reading. He is able to read larger words all the time. I am impressed with his ability to identify patterns both in English and math.

Ethan is progressing nicely. I think it will take him a little bit of time to build up his confidence. He is still very unsure of himself and this causes him to second guess himself while answering questions.

Ian seems to be okay in class although he sometimes gets upset. I have been observing him lately and I think he is an exceptionally sensitive boy. He sometimes isolates himself from the other students and says he doesn't want to sit with anyone. He is keeping up with all his classwork and his reading is improving.

Tony sometimes has a hard time staying in his seat, however he is improving in this area. He has been well behaved for the most part last week. For the most part he finishes his school work and does it correctly, however sometimes he says "I don't know how to do it" when he doesn't feel like finishing a task.

Joyce's reading is improving all the time. Over the next few weeks I would like to focus on improving her basic mathematical skills as she seems slightly disinterested during math class. I think at this point it is important for Joyce to be a well-rounded student.

Paige is very patient. She always takes her time and never rushes. I never see her pushing her way to the front of the line or knocking into people trying to get somewhere first. She shows the same patience in her work. She is thorough and likes to understand and finish things before she moves on. Please encourage her to ask me if she does not understand something.

Emily is a sharp student who seems to take joy in completing her work. She continues to impress me with her ability to catch on to classroom activities. She also has a very good memory for vocabulary. She doesn't find it difficult to focus even when there are distractions around her.

Erin likes to talk. While I encourage her to practice her English, I would like her to practice some self-discipline also. I sometimes have to repeat instructions several times because Erin was talking through the lesson. I would encourage her to practice reading out loud at home also. She can identify vowel and consonant sounds but she needs to learn to blend them together to sound out the words. Also, Erin has not been filling out her reading journal at home and only has one entry so far, please ask her to finish her homework.

Stephanie is focusing more these days. She is learning to be more independent during classroom activities and is actually finishing her work instead of wasting time. Keep up the good work Stephanie!

Melissa is very good at math. She understands simple math problems and can identify mathematical patterns. Her spoken English seems to be improving, however, she seems too shy to try reading. She should be encouraged to read short English books at home and practice sounding out the words slowly. I know she can do it!

I hope your weekend is fun-filled and relaxing and I'll see everyone back here on Monday!

This week was a fun week! We had a couple of birthday girls in the dolphin class, and we got to celebrate the moon festival.

This week in math we worked on the concept of "more" and "less" and the children did some worksheets to help them understand the difference. Their mathematical reasoning seems to be improving. In Science class we reviewed the characteristics of mammals and we made a poster together with different kinds of mammals. In the afternoons we continued to work on phonics. We reviewed long and short vowel "i" and talked about the different ways "i" can sound in different words. For arts and crafts we made Moon Festival playing cards and had fun playing a little memory game with them. I also told the class different legends about the moon festival.

Thank you to the parents who sent Moon cakes to me. I have never had one and I am eager to see what they are like.

Ian seems a bit better these days. I have been keeping an eye on him in class in order to figure out how I can make him more comfortable. He is very quiet and does not fight with the other children. His work is very neat and he grasps concepts very quickly. I will continue to watch his progress.

I was very impressed with Terry this week when I was teaching the class about "integrity." I spelled the word on the board and I asked the class who could read it. I didn't expect anyone to raise their hands, but Terry sounded the word out and said it correctly! I was happy with his effort and it payed off!

Adam is a lively student and sometimes he finds it hard to be quiet. He has an amazing memory for songs and stories. When told him the Moon festival legends he remembered them all the next day. He's usually quick to finish his work and I am happy to say he can stay focused when he is busy, however I would like to help him practice his patience as he seems to get very loud while he is waiting for other students to finish their work.

Ethan is always very eager to help. He tries very hard during class (although he sometimes starts to act silly and it is very hard to reign him in for work). There are a few things I noticed about Ethan and they are his lack of confidence in spelling and sounding out words, and his tendency to take very long while completing assignments. He often erases his work several times because he doesn't think it looks nice. He needs to find a medium between sloppiness and perfectionism.

Tony really needs to check his bag for items when I ask the class to hand them in. I don't know how many times I have asked the class to hand in their reading books or their passports and Tony says: "I didn't bring mine," only to find out later that it was in his bag the whole time. Other than this minor problem, Tony is doing well and progressing nicely. He is always eager to work ahead in his books.

Erin is becoming more independent when it comes to doing class work. She is often one of the first in the class to finish assignments and she usually catches on to material rather quickly. She sometimes becomes loud during lessons but she responds very well when I remind her to be quiet.

Emily is a very bright girl. She caught up on all the material that she missed during break time this week. You don't need to worry about the material Emily missed as she is a very good student who learns very quickly. Her level of reading is improving and she takes great care in her written work.

Joyce's reading is progressing very well. Sometimes she daydreams in class and has to write quickly to catch up, and I often wonder if she is listening to what I am saying because she rarely volunteers answers. I Sometimes walk around the classroom only to find that Joyce has been playing or doodling in her book instead of writing the answers. She has the potential to be a great student she just needs to focus.

Paige is progressing well. She is very artistic like her brother. She is well behaved and eager to answer questions. She is very independent during arts and crafts, whereas many of the other students ask me for help while cutting and folding. She seems eager to do things for herself and often says: "teacher, I can do it by myself."

Melissa is putting forth a good effort. I notice a change in her behavior and she seems less aggressive. Her phonics are progressing and she can sound out words with some help. She seems to be able to identify words on paper. She should practice reading words out loud at home if she can.

Stephanie is a good student for the most part. She can follow instructions and she produces good written work. She sometimes gets distracted and I have to remind her to pay attention. She also seems to get into arguments with the girls in the class sometimes. I have to remind her to be a little bit nicer to her classmates at times.

For the next two weeks the theme here at Tree House is "integrity." We will be discussing integrity and teaching the children the value of integrity.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Halloween is approaching and the teachers are all VERY EXCITED about building the haunted house and having a fun weekend with the kids!