Dear parents,

This is my last week with the Kangaroo class. It has been a very fun and interesting experience; the students and I both learned a lot from each other! Teacher Angel will be back on Monday to continue the class for the rest of the semester. We are all very excited to see her!

This week for phonics, we learned the letter P-p (pig, puzzle, puppy, pencil, pumpkin) and reviewed the letters N and O.

For math, we finished up our Seasons unit.

For motor skills class, we went to the park. We did some stretching and a jog around the park. We hung onto the pull-up bars and then played on the playground.


For social studies, we reviewed our Transportation Unit. We talked about where we would go on what vehicle.

For arts and crafts, we made butterflies. First, we colored in our butterfly outlines. Then, we cut them out.



Finally, we glued popsicle sticks for their bodies.


August continued his usual standard of good work this week. He cried again when we had to hang from the pull up bar in the park. He has difficult keeping his arms out in a T and moving them in small circles.

Christine really likes hanging from the pull up bar. She has great handwriting and writes her letters and numbers very well.


Dora has been a handful this week. She has been calling me "Annie" instead of "Teacher Annie," despite constant reminders that she has to call me "Teacher."

























Ellie is adjusting well to school. She gets a bit teary at times, but is learning to understand directions in English - "wash your hands," "go to the bathroom," "drink your water." She often asks for her sister Joyce, but is able to stay in class for whole periods now.


Jae continues to maintain her usual standard of good classwork and great class participation. She got in trouble for not lying down properly during naptime and had to face the wall.

Jason has been doing his classwork better this week, i.e. he completes the work with less resistance. He got in trouble for eating a piece of a leaf in the park.


Leetrue tends to draw dinosaurs and transformers before he will color the pictures in his workbook. I often remind him that he has to finish his classwork first before he can draw whatever he wants.

Tanya has been naughty this week. On Wednesday, she refused to sit in her chair and lay on the ground instead. She was put in the baby chair for the rest of the class.

Dear parents,

This week we learned the letters N-n (net, nest, ) and O-o (octopus, ostrich, otter, orange, ox). We also learned the following rhymes:

* Nnnnn....
* Can you feel teh sound of 'N' when you touch your nose?
* Can you feel the sound of "n' when you touch toes?
* You can't feel the sound of 'N' when you touch your toes,
* The sound of 'N' is made through your nose.
* Nnnnn.......

* Oscar Otter loves to play
* Among the rocks of the pool,
* Jumping of fand jumping on,
* Again and again to keep cool.

For math class, we finished our Seasons unit with fall, and talked about the clothes you wear during the fall.

For social studies class, we continued with our Transportation unit. We talked about vehicle goes where, e.g. The taxi goes to Taipei 101; the airplane goes to Bali Island.

For motor skills class, we went to the park. We did stretches and a leisurely jog around the park. Then we played on the playground.

For arts and crafts, we made pictures of cars and boats from cutting out pieces of construction paper and gluing them together.



August is very good at listening to the teacher and participating during Phonics class. During Physical Education, he could only hold onto the bar for 2 seconds during PE before he dropped. When we hold out our arms in a T, he has difficulty holding his arms out for long. He should play more games that involve throwing and catching and climbing to build up his upper body strength.

Casper still has trouble focusing in class when he has to listen to the teacher, but he always does his written classwork with great care and precision.

Christine likes to tell very long stories. She got in trouble for hitting Casper instead of telling the teacher that he was bothering her.


Dora has been naughty this week. Several times, after being told she has no play time, Dora would run off and play instead of facing the wall. She had to sit in the baby chair for a long time as a result. She also lies to the teacher about whether she was playing or not.

Ellie is adjusting really well to class. She cries less for her mother and sister, and has begun sleeping and eating without Joyce. She does her work nicely and is slowly picking up English directions like "Get a chair."

Jason has been better about doing his work this week. However, he still lacks self-control in that he assumes a lot of authority for someone who is not the teacher; e.g. telling the other students want to do, etc.

Jae continues to do great work. She cut out the shapes for her boat really precisely, and it looked great when she put it together.

Leetrue likes to draw Transformers this week. He often has to be told to finish coloring the
worksheet before he can draw Transformers.

Tanya has been naughty during nap time this week. She won't lie down properly and instead talks and runs around.

Dear parents,

This week for phonics we learned the letter M-m (map, monkey, mouse, moon, McDonald's).

For social studies, we started our Transportation unit. We learned about space shuttles/rockets, helicopters, and jeeps, along with cars, trains, boats, bicycles, and many others. We also read transportation-related stories for Story Time: ABCDrive and On the Go.


For math, we continued with our Seasons unit. This week, we discussed the clothes you wear in the summer when you go to the beach.



For motor skills class, we went to the park with Teacher Cory's Wolfpack. We did stretches, a jog around the park, and relay races. Afterwards, the kids got to play on the playground and slide.

For arts and crafts, we made bunny hats for our Easter Day celebration. First, we colored in our ears. Then, we cut them out. Last, we attached them to a headband to make our hats.



We also dyed hard-boiled eggs pretty colors to make Easter eggs!


At Tree House, we looked for eggs that the Easter Bunny had hidden. Everyone managed to find an egg filled with chocolate!

We also went to the Main Public Library this week, where we read stories together: Olivia and Whistle for Willie.

It's been a very exciting week!



August he has been much better about not being Number One. He doesn't get as upset as he used to if he isn't first. On a separate note, when we went to the park and did an exercise where we hung onto a pull-up bar, he cried/complained that it hurt him. He could use more physical activity to develop his muscles and coordination.


Casper has been getting into trouble for playing with Tanya in the bathroom instead of taking care of his business. He has been better at listening to the story during Story Time, but still gets distracted by his surroundings. He won his relay race with August.

Ellie has been adjusting to Tree House. She has been spending time in Teacher Cory's class with her big sister Joyce to help her get used to her new environment. She cries when she misses her mommy, but is generally very sweet and quiet.

Christine has maintained her usual standard of good schoolwork, good participation, and listening to the teacher. She likes to talk a lot without raising her hand first, and has to be reminded to raise her hand if she wants to talk.


Dora has improved a lot this week. She is much better about staying in her seat and not hitting the other children. She was very sweet to Ellie when Ellie was crying about missing her Mom.

Jae continues to do good work, listen to the teacher, and is a very attentive student. She really likes to do things "the same" (e.g. coloring using the same colors) with her friends.

Jason has been better at listening to the teacher this week. He really likes singing in class and loves performing, but has to be reminded not to sing because it's not the right time for it.



Leetrue has had some trouble listening to the teacher this week because he is daydreaming a lot and distracted; e.g. instead of listening to the teacher and waiting to be dismissed, he tries to go and play before we have actually said goodbye.



Tanya has trouble staying in her seat and listening to the teacher. She still refuses to wash her hands with soap without a reminder. Otherwise, she will try to line up without having washed her hands first.

Dear parents,

It was great getting to meet you all for the parent-teacher conferences! I hope we can continue to build the foundation of your child's life education together. The Kangaroos are a really great class and I continue to enjoy my time substituting for Teacher Angel during her maternity leave.

This week for phonics, we reviewed the letter J-j and learned the letters K-k (kitten, key, king, kite, ketchup) and L-l (lamp, lion, leaf, lamb, lemon), along with the following series of rhymes:

For J-j:
*Boil some jelly crystals and wait for it to set,
*Stew some strawberries and what will you get?
*Squeeze some oranges into a nice tall glass,
*You'll have jelly, juice and jam in nice big jars.
*What are the J words in this rhyme?
*Jelly, juice, jam, jars.

For K-k:
*There once was a king,
*Who knew Karate and Kung Fu,
*He loved to have a friendly fight with a kicking kangaroo.
*Kick and box and punch
*Ouch, and yikes, and scrunch!

For L-l:
*Lovely lollipops on a stick,
*Lovely to look at,
*Lovely to lick.



For social studies, we continued with our "Food" unit and talked about whether we liked to eat popcorn, cookies, muffins, popsicles, and jello. Everyone liked popsicles, popcorn, cookies, and jello, but few students actually liked muffins.

For math, we continued working on seasons and discussed what clothing to wear in rainy spring weather.


For motor skills class, we sewed thread through bears, which helps students develop their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.


For arts and crafts, we colored and cut out pictures of foods we learned in social studies class to make a book.

Dear parents,

This week for phonics, we reviewed the letter I-i and learned the following rhyme:

*Insects may be small,

*and cute and very pretty,

*But watch out when they bite,

*'Cos they can make you itchy!

We also learned the letter J-j (jeep, jam, jar, jacks, jungle gym, Jae, and Jason).

For math class, we worked more on classifications. We finished up our classifications of food and furniture items.

For social studies class, we began our “Food” unit. We talked about cake, pie, ice cream, potato chips, chocolate, and donuts, and which ones are our favorite. Many students - August, Jason, Jae, Christine - liked ice cream the best, while others chose something different; Tanya likes cake and Leetrue likes potato chips.

For motor skills class, we played a target game where we threw beads into a bucket. Everyone had to first stand behind the gold line. Some kids took a few tries (and had to move a little closer), but everyone managed to get their bead in eventually.

For arts and crafts class, we made a Spring scene of baby animals, since Spring is the season when baby animals are born. First, we cut up strips of green paper for our “grass.” Then, we glued the grass onto a background sheet. Next, we cut out baby animals: ducklings, goslings, lambs, chicks, and bunny rabbits, and glued them onto our sheets. Finally, we drew and decorated our Spring scenes with crayon.