Morgan Rothschild Academy Toddler Room May News 2009

The Toddler Room  has two birthday’s this month. We would like to say Happy Birthday to Mary on May 5^th, and Taka on May 9^th!

Time off  There will be no school Friday April 30^th - May 4^th at Morgan Rothschild Academy. Chinese government has declared these days as a national Shanghai Holiday. School will resume Wednesday May 5^th. 

Spring Concert I would like to thank everyone for coming out to our fifth Annual Spring Concert at Morgan Rothschild Academy. All the students were so excited to show off their hard work. We had a ton of fun performing and hope you enjoyed the show!

Conferences: End of the year conferences are soon approaching at Morgan Rothschild Academy. The toddler room conferences will be held on May 20^th and May 21^st. I am excited to share/show the progress and growth each of your children has shown this year. If you have not signed up for a conference time, please contact us as soon as possible.

Mother’s Day! We would like to wish all our mother’s a Happy Mother’s Day.  Mother’s Day falls on May 9^th this year.

M.O.M

M is for the many times you’ve hugged me.
O’s for the outstanding things you do.
M is all our memories together.
Mom, I’m so glad I have you!

One Song and One Poem to Practice English at Home:

Hokey Pokey
Hands on Shoulders

Ms. Katie.

Morgan Rothschild Academy Preschool Room Autumn Overview 2008

To begin, I would like to say what a pleasure it has been to work with each one of your children these past few months at Morgan Rothschild Academy.  They are all so very special to me!  There isn’t a day that goes by that one of them does not delight me by their progress and their show of kindness to each other in our Preschool Room. 

Darren gives hugs to his classmates often.  Nio always shares his toys with others on the bus.  Lisa fixes Vangi’s hair and offers her a seat beside her.  Lucas helps his classmates up the slide with an outreached hand.  Vangi wipes tears away when she notices a classmate cry.  As the loving mommy in the play house, Yvonne feeds all the kids who pretend to be dogs, cats and sheep.  Alex proclaims that he likes Nanna (Vianna) “because she is very nice.”  Christopher and Vianna share the magnet letters to build great chains on the board.  Maggie and Vangi absorb themselves in fits of giggles before nap time as they try to tell each other “Shhhh!”  These past couple of months we have missed Melody, so each of the students helped to make a giant card for her to see upon her return.  I am proud of the students’ kindness toward each other as it has helped to foster new friendships at Morgan Rothschild Academy.

Apart from showing our consideration, we have been learning to verbalize it with consideration phrases and greetings such as “Please,” “Thank you,” “I’m sorry,” “How are you today?” “I’m fine, thank you.” “Good morning,” “Good afternoon,” “Good-bye,” “See you tomorrow,” and “No, thank you” at Morgan Rothschild Academy.

From Ms. Michelle.

Morgan Rothschild Academy Toddler 2 Room April Newsletter 2008

Dear Families, It looks as if spring is finally here in Shanghai! Time really does fly when you are having a good time and we certainly have been having a good time learning and making new friends at Morgan Rothschild Academy. The Toddler 2 Room is very excited to welcome two new students, Fin and Yoyo, to our class. They are an excellent addition and already seem as though they are seasoned MRA students.

     We in the Toddler 2 room have been busy preparing for springtime, it being our March classroom theme. We have enjoyed and explored the subject of spring in all of our core learning components; language and literacy, number, science, music, and art. By incorporating a theme that has been chosen according to the students’ interests, we have been able to construct a curriculum that not only includes the fundamentals of learning but also makes the lessons captivating and enjoyable at Morgan Rothschild Academy.

       In our Language and Literacy component, we learned various vocabulary words that are associated with spring. The first two weeks had a focus on weather and the last two weeks had a focus on the signs of spring. We constructed a weather wheel and every morning we go to the window to see what type of weather needs to be placed on our wheel. Morris really enjoys being the “weather helper” and is always the first to inform me if it is raining. For our signs of spring lessons we were able to dissect and explore various types of flowers. Dennis told me that his favorite flower was the Tiger Lily because it was orange like a tiger.

       For our word component we have been focusing on a different letter every week. Each letter is introduced by also showing words that start with that letter. These words are words that the students already recognize and know at Morgan Rothschild. After our lesson the letter is then used as the class password. After our lesson on the letter ‘T’, Yoyo recognized the letter ‘T’ on his Thomas the Tank Engine shoes.

       In our science component we have used various hands-on activities to encourage active exploration among the students. We went on a nature walk to see spring emerging in our own school community. Kevin loves to go outside and look for grasshoppers and butterflies in our schoolyard. We also had a lesson in which we explored changes in volume using different shaped containers. Martina loved making predictions as to how much water would fill the triangle shaped container.

       In our math component we have been focusing on recognizing numerals, shapes, seriation, and making patterns. We had one lesson in which we incorporated mathematics and art. We made rainbows using semi circles. The students all really enjoyed placing different colored circles in the right order to make a rainbow. At Morgan Rothschild, the students improved their fine motor skills by using scissors to cut out different sized raindrops. The students then glued the raindrops in descending order from largest to smallest drop. Emily concentrated very hard on this project and insisted on completing it all by herself.

       In our music component we have been learning various different songs for our spring performance. We are very excited to work with the Toddler 1 class for our spring show. All of the students really enjoy singing and learning new songs at Morgan Rothschild Academy. After learning the song “Clementine,” Patrick told me that he wanted to sing it by himself. He said, “Ms. Sofia, just Patrick sing Clementine.” Vanessa just loves singing the song, “I like to eat apples and bananas.”

       In our art component we have been creating some wonderful projects with a spring motif. When we made our weather mobiles Lilian told me that he was going to give his weather mobile to his mother. We also made spring visors to wear when we go outside to keep the sun off of our faces. Fin loved wearing his spring visor when we went outside to the playground.

       This upcoming month also proves to be exciting and learning filled! Our April theme is insects. We will also be working continuously on our own garden, which should be ready to work on by the end of the week. I encourage you to keep writing your comments in the daily progress reports. I really appreciate your comments and also enjoy hearing about your child at home. I look forward to seeing all of you at our spring performance at Morgan Rothschild Academy!

All of my best,

Ms. Sofia

Morgan Rothschild Academy mentioned in the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Delegation for

Morgan Rothschild Academy mentioned in the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Delegation for

Diversity 2008 Agenda

In 2008, we received a group of educators from the U.S. The visit was organized by the National Association of Independent School http://www.nais.org/

Following is an excerpt from the delegation’s schedule.

Tuesday, July 29

Shanghai

Go-to Person:  Gene Batiste

Dress:  Business Casual/School Dress

·        Breakfast from 7:00 A.M. to 8:00 A.M.

·        Coach departs Equatorial @ 8:30 A.M.

·        Name of School:

Morgan Rothschild Academy (9:30 AM – 11:30 AM)

Host:  Morgan Huang Founder.  Mr. Huang will give us a thorough introduction to MRA’s programs, including the reading, math and science curricula.  Questions, of course, are welcome.

Context:

The Morgan Rothschild Academy (MRA) takes a particularly innovative approach to  early childhood education, an approach not seen until now in mainland China.  Morgan Huang, MRA’s Taiwan-born and Harvard-educated founder, conceived this bilingual academy for children aged 2 to 6 years, in 2001, during a visit to the mainland.  Today, in each classroom children learn from one English-language teacher and two Chinese-language teachers.

Morgan Rothschild Academy strives to meet the high expectations of parents, who are concerned about results and academic learning in an early childhood program.  To address these expectations, MRA makes its educational results evident to parents and, at the same time, helps parents to understand

the school’s own expectations for the children. 

For example, Moran Rothschild Academy teachers draw up monthly curricula for their students, detail every lesson under each subject area, and display these for parents’ reference.  Morgan Rothschild Academy teachers treat every child as a unique individual, and work earnestly to ensure that each child’s own particular personal and academic needs are met.

Agenda:

à 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM:  Presentation by Morgan Huang, followed by Q&A.

à 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM:  Tour of the facility; talks with teachers; introductions to young students in the Morgan Rothschild Academy.

à 11:30 AM:  Coach departs Morgan Rothschild Academy.

·        Visit Qibao Ancient Town, w/ Lunch in Qibao Restaurant (12:00 PM – 1:30 PM; Lunch Own Account)

Teacher Feedback from Morgan Rothschild Academy Preschool Room Teacher 2008-2009

Teacher Feedback from Morgan Rothschild Academy Preschool Room Teacher 2008-2009

My decision on coming to China and to teach at Morgan Rothschild Academy was a difficult one.  It meant leaving a tight knit family, friends, and a significant other.  I have been living and teaching in Shanghai for eight months and never regretted my decision on coming here.  The City is English friendly and extremely easy to navigate.  The language barrier is not a problem; I have already learned many words just from teaching at the school.  The culture’s history, values, and traditions are deeply rooted in the city and it has been a wonderful learning experience.    I also have gotten the opportunity to travel to other surrounding cities in China.  The knowledge that I will come home with will be priceless. 

       I am the preschool teacher and Morgan’s Rothschild Academy.  I thoroughly enjoy it, the children are wonderful!  They amaze me on how brilliant they are.  Some children can speak three languages!  The small class sizes at allows for more one-on-one interaction with each child.  I have really gotten to know each child’s personality and come to love them.  Morgan Rothschild Academy is bilingual and has English Speaking administration to help with anything I need at school and at home.  The other Chinese teachers are very helpful as well.  The Chinese teachers along with the other English teachers have become like family to me.    My ESL teaching experience in China and at Morgan Rothschild Academy has helped me become a better teacher and I feel I will be more valuable to future employers.

Sarah Verdeyen

verdeyener@gmail.com

Morgan Rothschild Academy Celebrated Fifth Annual Christmas and New Year Concert at the Four Seasons

Morgan Rothschild Academy Celebrated Fifth Annual Christmas and New Year Concert at the Four Seasons

Every year at Morgan Rothschild Academy, we hold two concerts for children to perform for their parents. One of them is the Christmas and New Year Concert. The children will use this time to show off their talents of dancing and singing. In 2010, we had our concert at the prestigious Four Seasons Hotel in Shanghai.

In the past years, we had our concerts in the Academy. However, due to the increased enrollment in 2010, we had decided to move our concert to the largest ballroom of the Four Seasons. We were thrilled not only to have families and friends from Morgan Rothschild Academy to come and celebrate the joyous holiday tradition with us, but also we had entertained a few families outside of the Academy. Combined together we had over 120 people came to our concert.

The whole event ran from 1030 a.m. to 1200 p.m. on December 10. Everyone from the Nursery Room, the Toddler Room, the Preschool Room and the Kindergarten Room went up to the stage to perform. Though it is a novelty to parents from the West to see their young children singing and dancing on the stage, the concert is actually quite common in the Chinese culture. Therefore, we at Morgan Rothschild Academy are no exception. That said, children were all very excited to perform at the Four Seasons for their parents to see.

Besides singing the Chinese and English songs, our Kindergarten friends also preformed an English poem, “The Snowman.” Some may wonder if very young children could perform in group. Well, we do remind the audience that all of the performances are “subject to change at the discretion of the artists!” At Morgan Rothschild Academy, we firmly believe that the most important thing is to have fun! If it is not fun, why do it?

Teacher Feedback from our Kindergarten Room Teacher

Future MRA Teachers,

Coming to China and to teach at Morgan Rothschild Academy was one of the biggest decisions of my life. After being here since April 2008, I can also say it is one of my greatest decisions. Throughout my time in Shanghai, I have learned a lot about myself and much about an entire culture that was unknown to me. The children at Morgan Rothschild Acdemy are amazing and have taught me how to enhance my teaching skills and strengthen my lessons and style to fit ESL learners. Teaching is something I cherish and hold very close to my heart, and at Morgan Rothschild Academy I have had the opportunity to be creative and explore subjects I would not be able to in an American school.

Shanghai is amazing! I have met many people from all around the world and have even caught on to many words in the Chinese language. This is an amazing opportunity and a direction every teacher should take before settling down in America.

Hope to see you in Shanghai!
Tabitha Legleiter, 2008-2009 Morgan Rothschild Academy Kindergarten Room Teacher
tabithalegleiter@hotmail.com

Morgan Rothschild Academy proudly sponsored the 2011 AmCham Shanghai 4th of July Celebration

In this summer, Morgan Rothschild Academy was among the top three sponsors of the 2011 Independence Day Celebration organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. The link to the AmCham Celebration website:

http://www.amcham-shanghai.org/AmChamPortal/Event/EventDetail.aspx?EventId=4708&origin=whatsnew-id

We had been setting up arts and crafts booth during the 4^th of July Celebration in the past year. Every year before the 4^th of July, the American Chamber of Commerce will hold a carnival style celebration of the Independence Day in Shanghai. The venue for this year celebration was at the Changfeng Ecology Business District Park.

The weather was awesome with plenty of sunshine. There were tons of activities for the children and adults. Live music and free flow of food and drinks were all over the park. It was an exciting and fun-filled afternoon. At the carnival, we also bumped into several families from Morgan Rothschild Academy such as Adele and Claire Zheng, and, Koki and Ayano Endo. Since the student body of Morgan Rothschild Academy consists of students from the U.S, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, France and et cetera, we think it would be nice for our school to actively participate in the activities of different cultures.

Following is a letter from the American Chamber of Commerce.

Feedback from our 2011 Morgan Rothschild Academy German Family

Dear Mr. Morgan,

My wife and I want to thank you for taking care of our sons Jacob and Johann during the past 3 years, we really had chosen the right academy.

They were happy all the time, learned a lot and most important they always wanted to join Kindergarden the next day.

We appreciated very much your professional communication for any task or issue.

Best Regards

Hermann S.

Summer Fun at Morgan Rothschild Academy Part 2

Every summer at Morgan Rothschild Academy, we have a summer program called Summer Camp Frolic. It is a drop off program from 9 am to 330 pm. The camp this year runs from 4th of July to 26th of August.

Program activities include Field trips, English & Mandarin Immersion, science, creative art projects, group games, clay, swimming, B.B.Q., roller blade, museum exploration, Kung Fu, Chinese ink painting, modern dance and many more!
Instead of just staying on Morgan Rothschild Academy campus, we go our very often for fun!

For example, we went to the clubhouse at Forest Manor Clubhouse for swimming. This year, we have half of the students from outside of Morgan Rothschild Academy. We even have children of senven- to eight-year-olds to join us for the Chinese and English immersion classes.

Summer Fun at Morgan Rothschild Academy

Summer Fun at Morgan Rothschild Academy Part 1

 

Every summer at Morgan Rothschild Academy, we have a summer porgram running.
The name is Summer Camp Frolic with two age groups, the younger one is Messy Hands Camp, and
the older group is called Early Readers Camp.
With the academics aside, WATER activities are the most important part of our camp!

Nothing but fun to all of you!

Morgan Rothschild Summer Camp Frolic Newsletter Messy Hands August

Morgan Rothschild Academy

August 2011 Newsletter

Messy Hands  Ë  Ms. Courtney L.

Dear Parents,

It has been great getting to know and interacting with your children thus far in our Morgan Rothschild Academy Summer Camp!  Our “Messy Hands” classroom has been full of old and new friends J  Last month we enjoyed learning about animals at the zoo, as well as fish and all their habitats.  We also went on two exciting field trips where the children enjoyed swimming and splashing at the pool, as well as hands on activities at the Science and Technology Museum!

 

This month’s themes will focus on “Bouncing Bubbles” and “Circus Celebration.”  We also have some exciting field trips planned to the Swimming Pool and Aquarium.  Details will be sent home in advance, so please remember to check your child’s backpack!

Please see below for this month’s activities/lessons:

Phonics:  Letters P,p, N,n, E,e; Sounds:  ck; Vocabulary- pig, spin, cup, pop, puff, neck, nip, hand, man, net, click, clock, cat, kitten, egg, elf, end, well, hen

Art:  Bubble Prints, Bubble Stamping, Clown Face Masks, Circus Hats

Music:  “Here’s a Bubble”, “Circus Animals”

Cooking:  Bubble Beverage, Coke Floats, Popcorn Ball, Rice Krispy Treats

Mathematics/Science:  Sorting, Sets, Matching, Numbers, Counting, Bubble Explosion, Air Bubbles, Body Parts, Sizzle Fun

Show and Tell:  Bubble Makers/Wands (8/3), Pajamas (8/10), Favorite Toy (8/17), Favorite Hat (8/24) 

Looking forward to sharing this fun month with you and your children! 

-Ms. Courtney

Song Lyrics for the Month of August

“Here’s a Bubble”

Here’s a bubble, here’s a bubble.  Big and round, big and round.  See it floating gently, see it floating gently.  To the ground, to the ground.

“Circus Fun”

One little, two little, three little clowns

Four little, five little, six little clowns

Seven little, eight little, nine little clowns

Ten clowns at the circus!

Morgan Rothschild Summer Camp Frolic Newsletter Early Readers

 Morgan Rothschild Academy

August 2011

Early Readers Classroom  Ë  Ms. Kristen G.     

We are beginning our last 4 weeks of summer school, and we have some fun learning experiences planned for your child! Our theme for this month will be communities. We will be learning, writing and reading about people in or community, how we are parts of our community, and what being in a community is all about. We have special activities going on each week:

              Ë    Water Play- Swimming- Field trip to the Aquarium   Ë

(Please see curriculum for the exact dates of these events)

                                                                          

                                     ●Song Lyrics for the Month●

Boom Chicka Boom                                            

I said a boom chicka boom

                                  I said a boom chicka boom

I said a boom chicka boom

                                   I said a boom chicka boom

I said a boom chicka rocka, chicka rocka, chicka boom

                                   I said a boom chicka rocka, chicka rocka, chicka boom

Uh huh

                                  Uh huh

Oh Ya

                                    Oh Ya

One more time only… (slowly, faster, silly, louder, quieter…)

*REPEAT*

English Lessons- Jolly Phonics- Book 5,6,7 and Review: Practice sounds and actions, learn to write letters and form words. Practice letter and word recognition.

Sight Words- Here, to, my, she, one, two, three, do, from, me, of, said, for, what, was.

Journal Writing- Practice letter and word formation, question and answer writing, group journaling, individual journaling.

Guided Reading- “Pop, Pop, Pop”, “Washington, DC”, “Get Set, Go!”, “Ming the Messenger”, “Catch That Bus!”

Science and Math- Grow grass, Shadow Experiments, Sun S’mores, Edible subtraction, cloud drawings.

Art- Tie-Dye T-shirts, Dream catchers, sun catchers, bug wind catchers

Music- These are the people in your neighborhood, One Bottle of Pop- Round

Sport- Relay Races, Obstacle Course, Musical Chairs, Game Day