Last week of the first semester!

Hello Jaguar Class

In phonics: We did the y sound and the variation of Z sounds.

In reading: We reviewed what we learned in book three of McGraw's Reading.

Science: This week we did double the science again to catch up, which went very well. The kids are all finally grasping the structure of the science book and they enjoy the challenge.

Individual comments:

Andrew went from being a shy hermit crab, into a full fledged rockstar. He is constantly the first one to complete his class work and I can tell he loves to take on new challenges. He has a competitive spirit, and I will be utilizing this to push him further in the coming semester.

Irene has definitely come a long way and I am glad to say that she is increasingly becoming more focused and it is definitely showing in both her written and reading ability. I feel she is a good problem solver and I have come up with some ideas for the future that should push her even further.

Gwen has really become the rock for the other students in our class. Every week I've seen her help the other students both with assignments and the general wellbeing. She has a great heart and I am really glad to have her in the class.

Its only been about six months, yet the change in Timmy's confidence levels are incredibly different. He went from being shy and saying he hated learning English to one of the top in our writing. This clearly has given him a boost in his esteem and I will be making he does the same for his phonetics!

Tony is already above the children his age and I greatly believe this is the push start he needs to become an all around better student. He is working with students a bit older than him, so it forces him to mature in his work ethic as a student. He learns quickly and with the new semester I expect his writing speed to quicken too!

Julia has had the biggest change of all the students in my class. She was timid, shy, and hated participating in class. Looking back at her and seeing where she is now is fascinating. She is very comfortable in the class and has made sure that she helps both herself improve everyday. I cant say enough about how responsible she is and how happy I am to see all shes done thus far!

Yo-Yo has grown a lot as a student here in Jaguar class, and I hope you both are as proud as I am of his achievement thus far. I know there is a lot of room for improvement but were all moving to support Yo-Yo and I know he will be successful in the future thanks to all the hard work we put in!

Leo came in being one of the top students in the class, but hes steadily declined as the course has progressed. He has full capability to gain the top spot in our class again but he needs to be in class to do so. If not, he will learn to take this as a class that is just filler and will loose importance in his perspective.

Devon has had a rough time adjusting from kindergarten to elementary but I am happy to see that he always keeps that cheerful attitude. Lets both as teacher and parent make sure he realizes his responsibilities and keep him focused on being the greatest student he can be!

Hanna Banana has been terrific from day one! I have never had to worry about her behavior and she has always had a thirst to learn more. This attitude is the reason why she is destined for success in her education. Her one true difficulty is in phonetics and I will make sure she has more practice in the up coming semester!

This semester has finally come to an end, and I must say it has been amazing seeing each students progression. Each student is making clear strides to improve and I can honestly say that I am proud of my class. So your children enjoy the break, because next semester will be filled with more challenges and lots of new interesting coursework!

Have a great weekend!
-T. Jason

Almost finished with the Semester

Phonics: We did the y sound and the variation of Z sounds.

Reading: We reviewed what we learned in book three of McGraw's Reading.

Science: This week we did double the science! We worked on Mammal's and discussed the difference between them and other ones.

Individual comments:

Yo-Yo is getting back to a more productive student. He still needs to work on speed, but I think the double science was beneficial to him.

Andrew was the first one done with the science.

Irene fluctuated a lot this week. She got all her written done and comprehended all her work but took much more time than it was needed.

Gwen did well with her written, but had struggled pronouncing a few words in the the science. She understood the words, but

Timmy had struggled with the double ll sound. So I will practice more of those next week!

Tony did his work as usual, but he was very antsy this week. I believe this was because Chinese school ended

I cant say enough about how good Julia's work ethic is! She has the greatest attitude even when it takes her a long time to figure an answer.

Leo was not here much this week, lets get him caught up as soon as possible!

Devon was unpredictable this week, he was good a few days when reading but completely reverted back to bad behavior on others.

Hanna's memory continues to amaze me, she retains knowledge so quickly and is proficient in most aspects. Just needs to continue to push her self with her out loud reading.

Have a great weekend!
-T. Jason

Hello jaguar Class!

Phonics: We started long vowels A and E.

Reading: We read "Time Magazine for Kids: Going Camping."

Science: We started our section on Animals and how we can differentiate between the different groups. We also learned how to compare and contrast things.

Individual comments:

Yo-Yo was much better behaved this week. He got all his written done, and i wish the best on his tests in chinese school.

Andrew behaved well and as always finished written work on time. However, he needs to put more effort in his vowel recognition, since he was confusing short a sound with e and u.

Irene was great, honestly I am astonished how quickly she improves. She is able to break down pretty complicated words on the first try!

Gwen had minimal mistakes with the comprehension, and was in better control of her fidgeting.

Timmy did much better this week than weeks prior, I just have to make sure I stay alert to his wandering mind!

Tony is doing well as always. He read well and is actually improving in writing speed. Still has a ways to go but hes making stride!

Julia is continuing doing the steps to help her remember her words and what she learns better. She asks many times to make sure she got some of the harder words, and I know she wants to improve a lot.

Leo was doing a bit better this week, he still is acting a bit lazy but I am sure this saturdays lesson will shape him up.

Devon was on better behavior. He can read ok, but his writing is still a ways to go.

Hanna had her first real challenge this week. There was a word she couldn't pronounce and got really frustrated with, so i'll be focusing more on word pronunciation techniques with her individually. Other than that, she was doing as well as ever.


Please take care, and have a great weekend!
-T. Jason

The Start of the New Year!

This was kind of a hectic first week of 2010, I had to travel to Hong Kong for visa issues and within the same week I got ill. Teacher Tom relayed most of the material we had to cover and said, for the most part the class was well behaved and got their work done!

Phonics: We did unit review, which went over the past months of material.

Reading: We read "Snakes" in class this week. This explained the different kinds of snakes and how to compare and contrast these reptiles.

Science: Review the Plants and living things Unit.

Individual comments:

Yo-Yo was one of the exceptions this week, Teacher Tom told me that Yo-Yo made no attempt to do his writing homework and instead drew pictures. So, he lost his fun friday privileges for the next two weeks and I already had a severe talk with him. I hope this is the last time this will occur.

Andrew did all his work but was being quite the jokester with Teacher Tom. I told him not only does he represent himself but, also the entire class. He was a leader before and so he appologized to the teacher and was disciplined accordingly.

I'm told that Irene was very polite and did her homework well. She did however have a bit of a problem with the writing comprehension in the science review section which I think was due to her lack of focus before. She is steadily improving and just needs to remember to stay focused everyday.

Gwen was great to the substitute and got back on the right track. She just needs to read through her reading comprehension questions a little more carefully, since she still overlooks a few questions.

Timmy did well in class and behaved well for Teacher Tom!

Tony apparently was the best in class this week, infact, he was the fastest doing his work when Teacher Tom was teaching. I was very suprised and happy, hopefully he continues to do so!

Julia is staying on the right track. I am really glad to see her self motivation paying off!

Leo was better this week, but still is in need of the Saturday class next week. I look forward to catching him up.

Devon was on and off this week. He did well for me but was misbehaving a bit with Teacher Tom.

anyways the semester is almost over, and there will be plenty of new improvements I am looking forward to adding in the spring!

Take care, and have a great weekend!
-T. Jason

Happy New Years!

This week was another busy week for the class, this week we:

Being New Years this week, we got set and talked about New Years Resolutions. The kids had to think of an achievable resolution, which is something they can do better in the upcoming year, and how they can make these goals possible.

Phonics: We worked on vowel combinations, OU and IE. Also, we did high frequency words that indicate distance, like here, there, and question word where.

Reading: We read "Sam's Song," and even though this was very challenging for the students, by the end of it they not only were able to read it, but completely understand the story. This is another stepping stone because of the added writing elements like metaphors and implications.


Individual comments:

Yo-Yo is getting back on the right track. He wrote faster this week and comrehended the story with ease. He however needs to work on our reading out loud exercises.

Andrew was able to read well this week and pronounced most words properly. But, he struggled with the written, which wasn't because he didn't comprehend, instead it was cause he was constantly distracting himself.

Irene proved she had exceptional problem solving ability this week. She was able to get all the answers correct on the class assignment on comparison, even though she only knew one of the two words! At first I asked if she looked at others, but she then explained to me how she was able to figure out the answers, using only her own logic!

Gwen has been distracted these past few weeks, which caused her to fall back on her reading progression. She had problems doing the story questions and I clearly explained the story and the questions.

Timmy like Gwen has been loosing focus, but I believe its because of the move of classrooms. I think once we get back into our class, this problem will be resolved.

Tony was in good spirits this week. The moving distracting most of the students, but for tony, it actually was no problem at all. He is reading incredibly clear, and I am continuing to see him mature. Keep it up!

Julia is having a hard time with some of her questions, but she is staying very responsible and handling these difficulties well! When she comes across a problem, she tries to solve herself, and if not went straight to me.

Leo was excelling before in class, but like I mentioned last week, hes falling behind quite a bit. I really would like it if he would come Saturdays to catch up on his work and get back to speed!

Devon did superb this week on his reading. There were some very difficult words but he broke them down and was able to say them with ease! great job cookie monster!

Have a great New Year, see you in 2010!
-T. Jason

Merry Christmas Jaguar Class!!!

This week was another busy week for the class, this week we:

Science book: We finished the chapter on Plants.

Phonics: We worked on the G and X consonants. We also continued working on how to indicate what tense is used in sentences.

Reading: We read "Greg's Mask." Was a bit difficult for the students, but the challenge was overcome and the students seemed a lot more confident with their reading sklls.


Individual comments:

I am really hoping that Yo-Yo learned his lesson from this weeks events. I hope all goes well, and would like to talk more on Monday about his progression.

Andrew like always does fine with written work, but the problem is he sometimes just zones out when other people are reading. This causes him to miss out on the errors other students make which he ends up making himself.

Irene is doing substantially better. Her reading is improving now at a increasingly faster rate. Keep it up!

Gwen put more effort into her written work this week. It still is a bit of a struggle but she listens more and is asking questions at the appropriate time.

Timmy like always was superb. He annunciates each part of words correctly, including the ones he does not know.

Tony had no problems this week. He worked hard and was reading well, he needs to work a little on annunciation but hes clearly making a step in the right direction.

Julia struggled a bit this week with all the reading comprehension, but she kept on persevering and its paying off. Even though she had to ask quite a few questions, she was able to understand the whole story and how to read each word correctly. These are great steps for her improvement!

Leo was not here all week, and missed quite a lot of grammar and sentence pattern work. I will get him caught up as soon as he comes, and obviously the sooner the better.

Even though Devon was sick, he was continuing with a better attitude. Get better soon Devon.

Well, have a good weekend
-T. Jason This week was another busy week for the class, this week we:

We did lots of Christmas activities this week! We not only had festive vocabulary, but also worked on Christmas cards and had the chance to see some holiday themed movies that I watched as a boy.

Reading: We finished reading "Greg's Mask" and the rest of the reading comprehension.


Individual comments:

Yo-Yo's behavior is steadily increasing once again, I hope to see this a permanent step in the right direction.

Even being a bit sick, Andrew continued to do well in class. He enjoyed the winter festivities and I hope to see him at 100 percent next week.

Irene is honestly growing more and more independently. She still has a few minor reading problems but she worked very hard this week. She is clearly very artistically talented.

Gwen had a phenomenal week, she did well in the reading this week. However, she does need to practice more of the reading comprehension, since she was making careless mistakes in the practice book. She is such a compassionate person, always cheering people on and cleaning up for everyone instead of just her self.

Timmy was a bit out of it this week, he had a hard time fully concentrating. He did fine with his written but he always asked questions other students already did prior. But he did do well with the Christmas activities!

Tony was on good behavior this week, I think clearly he wants to be on Santa's Good List!

Julia is really improving on a stable pace. She asks questions on each word she does not know and is taking her reading much more seriously.

It was good to see Leo back more this week, he still however still has a bit of catching up to do.

Devon had some good and bad days this week. That being said, I can tell he is like Henry in the sense that they both are artistic. I hope to see him pursue his natural talents.

Well, have a good weekend
-T. Jason

This week was another busy week for the class, this week we:

Science book: We finished the chapter on Plants.

Phonics: We worked on the G and X consonants. We also continued working on how to indicate what tense is used in sentences.

Reading: We read "Greg's Mask." Was a bit difficult for the students, but the challenge was overcome and the students seemed a lot more confident with their reading sklls.


Individual comments:

I am really hoping that Yo-Yo learned his lesson from this weeks events. I hope all goes well, and would like to talk more on Monday about his progression.

Andrew like always does fine with written work, but the problem is he sometimes just zones out when other people are reading. This causes him to miss out on the errors other students make which he ends up making himself.

Irene is doing substantially better. Her reading is improving now at a increasingly faster rate. Keep it up!

Gwen put more effort into her written work this week. It still is a bit of a struggle but she listens more and is asking questions at the appropriate time.

Timmy like always was superb. He annunciates each part of words correctly, including the ones he does not know.

Tony had no problems this week. He worked hard and was reading well, he needs to work a little on annunciation but hes clearly making a step in the right direction.

Julia struggled a bit this week with all the reading comprehension, but she kept on persevering and its paying off. Even though she had to ask quite a few questions, she was able to understand the whole story and how to read each word correctly. These are great steps for her improvement!

Leo was not here all week, and missed quite a lot of grammar and sentence pattern work. I will get him caught up as soon as he comes, and obviously the sooner the better.

Even though Devon was sick, he was continuing with a better attitude. Get better soon Devon.

Well, have a good weekend
-T. Jason