Important Notices CCAs begin on Monday. Pilates and KinderGolf have been cancelled. Look for ‘The Shoemaker and the Elves’ field trip permission slips on Monday. November 7th is Hari Raya Haji and the Academy will be closed.

Happy ‘belated’ Deepavali to everyone! EXIT POINT for 'My World' & 'Living Together' on Friday 4 November at 10am.

The trainers from the company 'Fun Mosaic' will be visiting LDA and will lead a special project with the students. A letter regarding the activity will be out on Monday 31 October.

ENTRY POINT for our new IPC unit, 'Celebration' and 'Different Places, Different Lives' will be on Tuesday, 8 November. To start off the new theme, teachers have planned a special activity in school for the students. Each class will be decorated into various celebrations and countries.

“You cannot teach a person

anything; you can only help him find it within

himself.”

- GALILEO

BIWEEKLY

NEWSLETTER October 10th — October 28th , 2011

1 0 W i n s t e d t R o a d , B l o c k C # 0 1 - 1 6 , S in g a p o r e 2 2 7 9 7 7 T e l : + 6 5 6 8 3 6 1 1 2 8 F a x : + 6 5 6 2 3 5 6 7 9 7 w w w . l e a r n d i f f e r e n t . c o m .s g

Monday, November 21 to Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Does your child spend a lot of time "spinning wheels" — working hard without getting things done? Studying, but not retaining information? Starting assignments but not finishing them - or just not knowing where to start? Starting to struggle in

some classes? Just “getting by” but with plenty of effort and feeling frustrated? Beginning to notice signs of learning difficulties with the increasing demands over

the last one year? Is he/she worried or unhappy about school?

Learn Different’s kick-start transitioning program offers students from post PSLE to Secondary 1 the opportunity to discover and practice academic skills and strategies that will improve their ability to learn and help to facilitate their “big leap” into sec-ondary school. The program has been developed by Ms. Sharon Solomon, Founder and CEO of Learn Different.

The 3-day intensive kick-start program is all about learning new strategies for study-ing to ensure success in school. We know that everyone learns in their own unique way. Our experience with young adults suggests that a sense of self and a good in-sight into one's own individual learning style can make a big difference in outcomes at school.

This program specifically addresses some of the challenges students face as they transition into secondary school and teaches helpful strategies to manage their growing workload as more is expected of them. We offer a learning environment where students—and teachers—understand and share the learning journey geared towards their individual needs. Students join a learning community in which all members are dedicated to academic achievement, mutual respect, and personal change and growth.

For more information see attached poster.

3-DAY HOLIDAY PROGRAM for POST PLSE STUDENTS

After Children's Day and

the week long term break,

we had a very exciting

thing happen on Monday.

We welcomed a new stu-

dent to our class, Kaiser!!

The boys have done a

great job getting to know

Kaiser and showing him

These past few weeks have

been quite exciting with

school holidays, fun activi-

ties and new classmates.

The week before the break,

the boys worked hard dur-

ing the short week master-

ing the "air" and "ir" sounds

and progressing in subtrac-

tion. We also had an amaz-

ing field trip to the Kids

Kampong where we went

fishing, learned about many

animals, and were able to

feed them.

Page 2

The Year One class is grow-ing!

We have welcomed new and familiar faces to our class over the past few weeks. Shane added excitement to our class, followed by Gen-na, Luca and Ms. Bridge. Now, our class is more inter-esting and has more life in it! Each personality definitely brought more enthusiasm to our class. Our students have been busy, busy, busy over the past couple of weeks. To-gether with our school-mates, we visited the Pasir Ris Kids’ Kampong wherein

we met and fed different kinds of farm animals. The field trip was a great oppor-tunity for our students to experience the world where we live. Providing students opportunities for learning outside of the school is es-sential part of personal de-velopment. It is also a good way of applying our academ-ic knowledge. The longkang fishing definite-ly challenged our hand-eye

coordination. It wasn’t as easy as it seemed as those fish swam so fast. They

our daily routines and how

we do our work. We are

excited to have him join us

and know he will be a great

addition.

RECEPTION TWO , MS. ASHLEY ’S CLASS

YEAR ONE , MS. KATRINA’S CLASS dodged our fishnets in a flash. Good thing our students had super quick hands and they were able to catch different colours of fish, no matter how

fast they were! This week, the students got to

know more about Microsoft

PowerPoint. They were click-

ing, copying, pasting, and drag-

ging photos as they carefully

worked on their ICT project

about their family. Honestly, I

was concerned at how they’d

do at first. I was worried that it

might be too much for our stu-

dents to handle and that they

We are continuing to work

hard in all our subjects,

working on the "ou" sound

words and practicing dou-

ble digit subtraction.

after two meetings, our stu-dents already had five slides on their presentation! That is mighty impressive! I am so proud of them! This ICT pro-ject, ‘My Family’, will be com-pleted by next week and a copy will be emailed to par-ents. I now leave you with a quote from one of our students. This was when we were talking about cooperation, working and living together. Shane said: “The world will be a better place if we all work together.” Well said Shane!

Page 3

RECEPTION TWO , MS. KARINA’S CLASS

RECEPTION ONE , MS. GETTY ’S CLASS

Fast, lunch or dinner. They all selected the food they wanted and did a fabulous job by remem-bering that they needed a com-plete meal which contains the food groups we learned about. We had our field trip at Kid’s Kam-pong at the last day of term 1, where the kids met wonderful and exciting animals. The kids went all out when they went fishing with their nets and buckets. Their buckets were almost full with little fish they caught. It was also love at first sight, when each of their hands where kissed by the lovely carp as they fed them. They also fed ducks, chickens, tortoises and rabbits as they went around. The trip ended with an animal pet show, where they had a close encounter with mice, hamsters, rabbits and gerbils. Everyone was so frantic about having touched/carried one in their hands! What a

their partners. This activity gave the children an op-portunity to observe his/her friend more closely and to make sure their drawings included special features on their friends’ faces.

The field trip to Kids’ Kam-pong at Pasir Ris complet-ed the “fun week”. The children had abundant hands-on opportunities to really explore their world. They caught fish, fed ani-mals, watched pet show

We made so much progress over the past few weeks. Before the end of term 1 we learned about taking care of ourselves through the food that we eat. We talked about the food pyramid which starts from a large base which is the grain group that gives us “energy”. Then upward to fruits and vegetables in which vitamins and minerals come from. And moving on to meat, fish and dairy that help to build our muscles and make our bones strong, and, of course, sweets, fats and oils that can only be eaten in small amounts because they are not as healthy. Kudos to Lauren for in-corporating what we have learned when she got sick, by eating lots of fruits and vegeta-bles to help her feel better fast. Also, after learning about the food pyramid each of them made their own menu, either for break-

Our youngsters have been having a lot of fun since two weeks ago. First, they used their drawing skills to create self-portraits with the help of mirrors. They worked carefully and spent lots of time look at themselves in the mirror to make sure they drew what they saw. Inspired by the result, the children continued to chal-

lenge their skill by drawing each other’s portrait. They sat in pairs, facing across the table to be able to draw

great way to end term 1. During the first week of term 2, we went deeper into taking care of our body by knowing about our heart. The children watched a video regarding how our hearts work. Also, we were able to know which activity increases and de-creases our heartbeats. Their ar-tistic side once again was tested when they were grouped into 2’s, and traced their partner’s body on the whiteboard and tried to draw the faces and features of their partners. This was such a fun ac-tivity. In Literacy we rigorously practiced our blending, segmenting and spelling. We also did some prac-tice sentence writing by using the words that the children chose and putting them into a sentence. The younger group, are practicing their “x” and “y” speed sounds, while the older group are starting

and took a chance to carry white mice!! What brave youngsters… We are also very proud of the children in the older group for successfully ac-complishing their term Maths assessment with an outstanding result. Con-gratulations! The younger group was delving into the world of “heavy and light” and en-joyed walking around the school to find objects to

compare. Now they know which one is heavy, heavi-er and the heaviest.

In Literacy, our youngsters took pride making a “sound poster” as they reviewed all the sounds covered in Term 1. They also did a very excellent job at spelling! All of the children in the class have soared higher this time and we are so proud of you.

with their graphemes. They have all made great progress that spelling a word for them is like a ritual. In Math, we contin-ued with addition and with our sweet tooth as well. This time we used Mentos instead of Skittles, where they each formu-lated their own addition prob-lem by putting Mentos in two bags and adding them all up. They also learned about ordinal numbers and ranking. Rein-forcement with these topics was done during line-ups, seating arrangement and classroom job assignments in which they ar-ranged themselves from first to fifth/last. A fun way to nourish both our body and mind is by learning how to take care of it. See photos in the collage.

Every child deserves the right to be taught in the way he or she learns best!

3-day Kick-start Holiday Program for Primary 6 Students Transi-tioning to Secondary 1 (code: jr2sec1)

Monday, November 21 to Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Learn Different Centre for Language & Literacy • 10 Winstedt Road, Block C, #01-16, Singapore 227977. Located next to ACS Junior.

Learn Different’s kick-start transitioning program offers students from post PSLE to Secondary 1 the opportunity to discover and practice academic skills and strategies that will improve their ability to learn and help to facilitate their “big leap” into secondary school. The program has been developed by Ms. Sharon Solomon, Founder and CEO of Learn Different. Ms. Solomon has spent the last 13 years working with diverse learners making significant changes in helping each learner discover their strengths, developing skills that suit their own learning profile, and providing an intrinsic model to learning that results in motivation, empowerment and confidence.

About the Program Our 3-day intensive kick-start program is all about learning new strategies for studying to ensure suc-cess in school. We know that everyone learns in their own unique way. Our experience with young adults suggests that a sense of self and a good insight into one's own individual learning style can make a big difference in outcomes at school. This program specifically addresses some of the challenges students face as they transition into sec-ondary school and teaches helpful strategies to manage their growing workload as more is expected of them. We offer a learning environment where students—and teachers—understand and share the learning journey geared towards their individual needs. Students join a learning community in which all members are dedicated to academic achievement, mutual respect, and personal change and growth. The program will help students:

to understand their individual learning needs by exposing students to various writing genres expected of them while providing

basic techniques to write succinctly, and with fewer struggles develop better reading & study skills to integrate strategies and practices into core subjects to focus on the development of better daily habits develop concepts of self-understanding and self-advocacy in a nurturing, safe and challenging en-

vironment. work with brief texts and materials relevant to Secondary One classes

Subjects introduced: English Literature, Writing, History & Geography

“You cannot teach a person anything; you can only help him find it within himself.”

- GALILEO

Who would Benefit from this Program? If the following scenarios sound familiar, our program offers structured support that can provide real help and make a difference in learning. Do you spend a lot of time "spinning wheels" — working hard without getting things done? Studying, but not retaining information? Starting assignments but not finishing them - or just not knowing where to start? Are you starting to struggle in some classes? Were you just “getting by” but with plenty of effort and feeling frustrated? Are you beginning to notice signs of learning difficulties with the increasing demands over the

last one year? Are you worried or unhappy about school?

About the Day Participants follow the same timetable each day but subjects will differ

Details: Note: Students must have completed the 2011 Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE 2011) to participate in this program. As we keep our group size small, confirmation of a place in the program is on a first-come-first-serve basis. No reservations are allowed and a place is confirmed once payment has been made. The organization re-serves the right to make any necessary changes to the program if need be. Cost: SGD$480.00. Fees include lunch and printed materials. Students are advised to bring healthy snacks to eat in the course of the day as this is an intensive program and food is fuel for the brain! All participants are required to have a thumb drive of up to 2 GB and their own lap top as we will be using some ele-ments of technology in class.

For More Information: For questions or assistance, contact Learn Different via email info@learndifferent.com.sg and type “jr2sec1” in the subject heading. Please provide your contact details and one of our program offic-ers will be in touch by the next working day. Come join us and know what smart students know ! LEARN the NEW way! Please visit www.learndifferent.com.sg for other programs including session 2 of this workshop.

9 am – 9:45 am Getting organized; Learning Styles & Learning Strategies

10 am – 11 am Morning Class #1

11 am – 12 pm Morning Class #2

12 pm – 1 pm Lunch & Lounge

1 pm – 1:45 pm Communicate to Participate

2 pm – 3 pm Afternoon Class #1

3 pm – 3.45 pm Q & A, Discussion, Journal Entry - Reflections