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