Hello parents!
This week for phonics, we learned about the letter I-i (igloo, ice, ice cream, itch).

For math class, we worked more on classifications. We had to cut and paste food and furniture items into either a grocery store or a furniture store.

For social studies class this week, we continued with “Families” unit. We talked about what we do in our families (reading books with Mommy, playing on the computer with Daddy, playing with our sister, fighting with our brother, etc) , and did coloring sheets about helping Grandma with the shopping and the cooking.



For motor skills class, we joined Teacher Cory’s Vikings for a Physical Education class in the nearby park. We did some stretches, a jog around the park, and some relay races. Everyone had a great time exercising outdoors!

For arts and crafts class, we made a “Nest of Baby Birds.” First, we glued paper plate halves onto colored paper, as our nest. Then, we colored in our nests. Then, we made baby birds for our nests by cutting out shapes for their bodies and wings and gluing them together. Finally, we glued them into our nests.

Individual comments:

August is a very sweet boy. He generally follows instructions well and is especially good at sitting properly. He has been an unusually picky eater this week, and was resistant to eating some snacks and meals this week; he was better about eating them when sent to the office to finish his food.

Casper has been much better behaved during Story Time this week. He still has to be reminded not to touch (and bother) the other children sitting next to him when they do not want to be touched. He is very neat about his work.

Christine does her work well. She tends to forget to raise her hand before speaking, and has to be reminded that she shouldn't talk until she's been called on.

Dora has been making lots of great strides. She can stay in her seat for longer periods now. She still often requests for teachers and staff to accompany her, however, rather than play with the other children.

Jae continues to keep up her usual standard of good work and good behavior, i.e. sitting properly and listening. But she tends to play too much with the whiteboard instead of lining up properly.

Jason has been better this week He’s a bit rough with the other children and that can get him into trouble sometimes when the other kids cry that Jason has hit or pushed them, etc.

Leetrue really likes to draw dinosaurs. When he finishes his work before the rest of his classmates, he likes to draw dinosaurs. He has a habit of playing with his food if the snack is bread; he tears the pieces of bread off and gets the table very messy. He had to eat his snack in the office once as a result.

Tanya is a very cheerful child. She has to be reminded to drink her water. The classwork that involves scissors tends to be a little difficult for her, but that's normal for her age.

Hi everyone,

This is T.Angel. I have been really busy with my new-born baby for the last couple of weeks. Being a brand new mom has been a very busy task.

It was amazing to have a little one grow in my tummy. After 40 weeks, he was finally born. Gosh! It was painful when I was giving birth to my son. I was glad that my husband didn’t faint in the labor room. I asked him to call my parents at approximately 7 a.m.

Luckily, less than 20minutes later; Theo was delivered by doctor Zang at 7:17a.m.

The doctor complemented that Theo has beautiful skin complexion and he’s a big baby.He weighs 3760 g and his height is 52cm. Most of our friends say that I was very brave and had a high tolerance for pain. But, I think the courage came from a mother’s instinct. Some yoga teacher once told me,” It is painful for moms to delivery their babies; it is also painful for babies to fight through the birth tunnel as well.”

I’m thankful to my mom and dad who gave me a chance to come to this world.Especially to my mother; imagine the pain that she had gone through just to give birth to me. I would also like to thank my husband who was there with me when I needed him the most. Lastly, I would like to thank to all of the staff members from Tree House; without your support and help the last 40 weeks it would have all been harder.

I miss the noises from our school (at least the kids can talk to you), especially my Kangaroo class. I also miss the school and I will see you in a while.

Take care,

xoxo T.Angel

Dear parents,

This week for phonics, we learned about the letter H-h (hand, hen, hose, horse, hammer). We also learned the following:

* "Help me, Help me," says the hare,

* "The hunter's getting near."
* "Hurry, hurry to my house,
* You'll be safe in here!"

* Hhhhh... (said as a sigh of relief.)

We also reviewed the letters E-e, F-f, and G-g by practicing how to write them. And we reviewed the letter E-e by learning the following rhyme:

* Exercise your elbow in every way you know,

* And make the soudn of 'E' as you move it so.
* E...e...e...e..., E...e...e...e...,

* E...e...e...e..., E...e...e...e...

For math class, we finished up our classification pages from last week.

For social studies class this week, we started our "Family" unit. We talked about Mommy and Daddy, sisters and brothers, and Grandma and Grandpa. Jae, August, and Casper have sisters. Jason and Dora have brothers. Everyone has a Mommy and Daddy and a Grandma and Grandpa.

For motor skills class this week, we played a ring toss, a game which helps kids to develop their eye-hand coordination, spatial reasoning, and gross motor skills. While it took most of them several tries, the students were very excited when their rings landed on the posts.

For arts and crafts class, we made leprechaun hats for St. Patrick's Day. Some students still have a tendency to use too much glue, which makes their paper soggy. We are working on using less glue.

We also had a special field trip to Daan Park, where we celebrated St. Patrick's Day by wearing our leprechaun hats and searching for hidden gold chocolates that the leprechauns left behind.

Casper has had a good attitude about school this week. He was especially good at the ring toss, landing many of his rings on the first try. He likes to tattle on other students who speak Chinese, although oftentimes, they are not actually speaking Chinese - he's just mishearing them.

Erin continues to do good work in the class. She wants to move up to Teacher Cory's class, but I explained to her that she cannot change classes until she starts speaking more English.

Jae continues to do good work. She is an eager learner and likes doing new activities.

Leetrue does his work and answers questions well. He has been drinking his water nicely this week, without any spills. He still has trouble restraining himself from running off before the class is actually dismissed.

August has been great this week. He has had fewer crying incidences and is good about doing his work. He shared some candy with the class after snack time.

Tanya is a great eater - she always asks for seconds and has a very healthy appetite. She is always eager to give an answer. She was caught playing with the bathroom door when she should have been in class.




Christine does her work well and understands the lessons. Sometimes she tends to daydream during class.

Dora has improved a lot this week. She is able to stay in her seat for longer periods of time. She often takes things that are not hers, so we are working on learning to not take things that are not ours.

Jason is a great leader for sing alongs and chants. He has good energy and does good work when he focuses. But many times, he plays around instead of doing his work and listening to the teacher.

Dear parents,

This week for phonics, we learned about the letter G-g (goat, goose, garden, game, guitar). We also reviewed the letter F-f.

For math class, we worked on classifications. We had to cut and paste clothing and toy items into either a clothing store or a toy store. Some students had difficulty with this task and pasted some of the items into the same store.


For social studies class this week, we continued with the “Hobbies” unit. This week, we talked about talking on the phone, taking pictures, playing pool, playing darts, and playing with magic.


For motor skills class this week, we played with Play-doh, which is great for working their fingers and manual dexterity. It got a little messy in the end.


For arts and crafts class, we made “Jack and Jill” dolls. First, we learned the Jack and Jill rhyme (with hand movements!) and recited it together. Then we colored in our Jack and Jill dolls. Last, we cut out the dolls so we could play with them.

On a special note, this Monday was Jae's birthday. We celebrated with strawberry cake and a party. Happy Birthday Jae!

Individual comments:

Casper really likes to color and is very precise about his work. This makes him work a bit slower than some of the other students, and when he falls behind, he has a hard time rejoining the group when his work isn't finished yet. As for his behavior, he had to face the wall because he pushed Christine when she went to sit down.

Dora has improved a lot this week, although she still gets out of hair chair easily and takes things that don’t belong to her. We have talked about how "We will call Mommy if Dora is good." She is picking up a lot more English, understands more, and can express herself more.


Leetrue was always the first to finish his workbook exercises this week. He cried when Jason said he couldn’t come over to Jason's house. I told him that maybe he can go to Jason's house another day.

Jae does her work beautifully, follows directions, and understands the lessons. She plays with Christine too much when they sit together, and they are no longer allowed to sit together. Sometimes when Dora acts up, Jae has been great at explaining to the other students that “Dora doesn’t understand because she is too little.”



Christine has been great this week. She approaches everything with a good attitude. She listens to the teacher and does her work well. I asked her about her trip to Bali and she said that her mommy bought her ice cream.

Erin is generally very good in class, always among the first to raise her hand, and usually has the right answer. She had to face the wall on Friday because she hit Casper in the face. We talked about how we can’t hit other people.

August was very good about sitting down for Story Time and when it was time to start phonics lessons. Sometimes he cries when he isn't first in line, and August and I talked about how you can't always be first; sometimes you can be second or third and that's OK too.


Jason has been better this week at listening to the teacher. He was a great leader at "1,2 Buckle My Shoe." Jason and I had a talk about bullying and how if he is mean to his friends (pushing them around, hitting them), he will have no friends one day.

Tanya is speaking more English (but still mixed with a lot of Chinese) and generally seems to understand everything I say. Also, she and Casper have been bothering each other less. She has been a bit naughtier lately – less inclined to listen the teacher, running around when she should be sitting down, refusing to play outside when they are not allowed to play inside, etc.

Dear parents,

This week for phonics, we learned about the letters E-e (elephant, elevator, exit, engineer, envelope) and F-f (farm, fire, feather, feet, fish).

For math class, we worked on matching. Most of the students grasped the concept fairly quickly.

For social studies class this week, we continued with the “Hobbies” unit. This week, we talked about those of us who like to garden, play cards, play games, jump rope, exercise, etc.

For motor skills class this week, we played a game where we had to toss coins into a bowl on the ground. Everyone managed to get a coin into the bowl, some even on the first try! We also threaded string through beads, which presented little difficulty to anyone.

For arts and crafts class, we made a “Spiral Snake.” First, we colored in our circle spirals to create the skin color of our snakes. Then, we cut out our circle spirals. Last, we attached a string so that we could hang the snakes up and they could dangle freely in all their spiral glory.

Individual comments:

Casper was a handful this week. He was crawling all over the floor during Story Time, and as a result, couldn’t go out for play time after class. He had to face the wall after school when he ran off to play before the class was dismissed.

Dora missed half of Monday’s class, as well as class on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We were happy to see her return on Friday. While she still cries for her mother, she seems to be adjusting to my presence as substitute teacher.

Leetrue has trouble focusing. He has been better about drinking his water when I have him drink it separately from the other students. He had to face the wall after school when he ran off to play before the class was dismissed.

Jae has been a great student. She’s always very clear on what the assignment is, and if she needs help, she’s good at finishing the tasks for herself.

Christine was absent from Monday to Thursday. She returned on Friday to her fellow classmates who were all clamoring to sit next to her. She has made a seamless transition back into the classroom.

Erin shows good English comprehension. While she continues to express herself primarily in Chinese, she occasionally breaks into English spontaneously. She understands the letters very well and their corresponding sounds, and always has the right answer.

August was very pouty this week. He had to stand when I took away his chair for kicking Erin under the table. He had to face the wall after school when he ran off to play before the class was dismissed.

Jason was very lazy and wouldn't listen to the teacher this week. He had to stand in the corner several times for not listening to directions and being disruptive.

Tanya has been adjusting to the class nicely. She is more assertive and has been speaking more English in general. She is always eager to raise her hand and give an answer.