One Week One Post

I'm still a little busy, so today's post will be short.

First, in response to everyone I was able to talk to, thank you for taking the time to talk to me. Your input is essential in making the class the best that it can be. Most of you asked what can be done at home to improve our students learning. Most studies regarding bilingualism (which in this case means assuming Chinese and Taiwanese are your child's first languages) state that children need to have a good level of competence in both languages. This means that at home you should help your child using Chinese. Make sure their Chinese/Taiwanese is good and help them learn things in Chinese/Taiwanese. We will do English at school and the things that they learn can be transferred between languages (even if they don't know the appropriate word).

It is good to welcome back Elijah (back to Peter Pan Class) and Sharon (back to my class) who have been away for the beginning of our school year. They both seem happy to be back, although I think Sharon, and her mum, where a little scared by Sean enthusiastic greeting. I've never taught Elijah before, but he seems to understand what to do and he draws very well.

The music teacher was late this morning, so we had our own music class for a while which was fun. We also read "The Cat in the Hat" which seemed to be fun for everyone. Including storytime was in response to feedback from those of you who were worried about reading. Exposure to literature helps children read.

We had fun in the pool this afternoon. Johnny is a great swimmer, Oscar is and excellent diver (picking up the most tiles every time), and Richard, Vivian Sh and Sophia enjoyed playing in the water.

In science class, we planted some seeds, so we will watch them grow over the next couple of days. Will try to post photos soon.

Glen.