Alpha-SYC Blog

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T20:33:00.005+07:00

Valentine's Day (today!!) saw our older kids preparing cute and lovely owl cards for their mummies (it's always for mummy and never for daddy on Valentine's Day...why is that so?). We wish everyone a lovely Valentine's Day with all their loved ones.

Welcome back

2012-02-01T08:12:00.001+07:00

We welcome our ASYC family of students, parents and family back to school after the Tet holidays. We hope that all of you have had a good holiday and have refreshed yourselves for the second half of the school year. Our next celebration will be Valentine's Day.

Tet Funfair 2012

2012-01-17T21:59:00.003+07:00

Deja vu! It rained again, just as it did last year, at almost the same time. It hasn't been raining for the past few days. When the early morning drizzle faded away, we thought it would be a great day. The sun came up till mid-afternoon when it started raining at about 3.45pm.

Nevertheless, the show must go on, and it did in spite of the rain. We hoped that everyone enjoyed themselves despite the rain. Here's wishing all families of ASYC a very happy and prosperous Tet.

School will close from 19 to 31 Jan 2012. Classes will resume on Wed 1 Feb 2012.

2012-01-06T16:01:00.002+07:00

HTV came today to film our ASYC kids for a TV programme which will be shown after Tet. I'm sure there will be many excited parents.

Christmas Celebrations

2011-12-23T22:58:00.004+07:00

Santa brought Christmas cheer to ASYC today ... well, at least for most kids except for some of the youngest who saw a great big red and white monster. Santa gave away presents bought by parents - what is Christmas without presents anyway? Thank you teachers for planning the class parties and office staff for organizing the whole celebrations. Special thanks to Mr Tam who sportingly dressed up as a really cool Santa (complete with sunglasses) and for putting up the Christmas decorations. All your efforts are very much appreciated. Wishing one and all a very merry and blessed Christmas.

Star of the Day : Santa Tam and his little helper

Mr Tam's handicraft

Happy birthday, Baby Jesus!

K2B

K2A

K1B

K1A

Nursery A

Nursery B

Pre-Nursery B

Pre-Nursery A

Christmas Preparations

2011-12-16T11:03:00.006+07:00

Teachers and staff worked hard to prepare for Christmas. The photos speak for themselves.

Celebrating Teachers' Day - Day 2

2011-11-18T22:36:00.004+07:00

This is the 2nd day of our Teachers' Day celebrations. We would like to wish all teachers a very Happy Teachers' Day - thank you for your wonderful efforts in teaching and taking care of your little kids. We would also like to thank all parents for their lovely gifts which have made our teachers feel very appreciated. Parents and students were delighted with the concert put up by our teachers and students. In the afternoon, we had a special lunch and a special Teachers' Day Lucky Draw which made quite a few teachers very happy too.

Celebrating Teachers' Day - Day 1

2011-11-17T12:09:00.006+07:00

This year, ASYC celebrates Teachers' Day over 2 days; the first together with parents via an invitation to join their children in class. So today, we had the privilege of several parents coming to class to see how their children learn. It was a good occasion for parents to get to know the teachers better and vice-versa. Many interesting lessons were taught in the various classes. Tomorrow, we will celebrate Teachers' Day first with our students and then on our own. School will end at 12.00pm tomorrow. There will be no classes on Sat in view of Teachers' Day which falls on Sun 20 Nov 2011.

Official Opening of The Happy Schoolhouse

2011-11-14T13:27:00.005+07:00

The 3rd Alpha preschool - The Happy Schoolhouse (THS) - was officially opened on 11.11.11. It was a small and simple ceremony. Parents of ASYC are most cordially invited to visit THS if they are in the vicinity. It is near the airport. The address is 55, Lam Son, P2, Q Tan Binh. Tel : 0838440045

http://thehappyschoolhouse.blogspot.com

Halloween Celebration

2011-10-31T21:25:00.005+07:00

ASYC classes celebrated Halloween in their own preferred way this year. Some classes had games while others put up class performances. All children went home with a bag of treats; some with additional "ghostly" lollipops; some with balloon swords given by Mr Pirate himself.

Halloween Outing

2011-10-28T21:15:00.000+07:00

ASYC had our Friday Special/Halloween Celebration at ABC Indoor Playground. Children never tire of playgrounds, and ABC is no exception. All our kids had an enjoyable time as shown in the photographs.

Halloween

2011-10-09T11:04:00.009+07:00

ASYC will be celebrating Halloween on Fri 28 Oct 2011.

Some information about Halloween :

Halloween is celebrated on 31 Oct every year.
It is a Western festival that is fast gaining popularity in the East.
Halloween began as a festival from Ireland to ward off evil spirits.
People carve out scary faces and figures in pumpkins, place a candle inside and set in their windows to scare away evil spirits and enemies on Halloween.
The traditional colours used for most Halloween decorations are black and orange.
Characters associated with Halloween : ghosts, witches, skeletons, vampires, werewolves, bats and black cats
People celebrate Halloween by going trick-or-treating, which means children dressing up in costumes to look like traditional characters, such as witches and ghosts, and go from house to house and say "trick or treat".
Most will give treats - candy or small toys.
Many homes will be decorated with Halloween themes to scare away evil spirits

(Source : http://www.teach-nology.com/themes/holidays/halloween/)

ASYC celebrates the fun part of Halloween by giving out candies and having our children wear costumes of any kind. Nowadays, Halloween is celebrated with all kinds of costumes; it need not be scary. We celebrate Halloween as one of the many international festivals so as to increase the international awareness of our students. Last month we celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival. In Nov, we will celebrate the Indian Festival of Lights - Deepavali, and in Dec, Christmas.

Over the next 2 weeks, our children will be doing activities, crafts and worksheets in preparation for Halloween.

Mid-Summer Festival

2011-10-01T22:15:00.006+07:00

Apologies for the late entry. For Mid-Autumn Festival 2011, we decided to give our kids a treat by inviting the Lion Dance Troupe to grace our school premises and also bring luck for the new school year. Our kids were delighted to see "lions" prancing around in the school and their classrooms. Even the young ones soon shed their fear and began enjoying the dance as much as the older ones did.

First Day of School

2011-09-05T20:14:00.004+07:00

Today, 5th Sep, is the first day of school for all students throughout Vietnam. ASYC welcome all our students back to school today. How they have grown over the summer holidays! They came back to newly-decorated classrooms, new teachers and new friends.

Over the summer holidays, ASYC has upgraded our facilities to include the following :

- all vinyl flooring have been replaced with imported ones which are better, more durable and of course more expensive

- all wooden whiteboards and noticeboards have been replaced with customized glass blocks

- we have a new School signboard

- 2 new Little Tikes playground sets have been added

- new children's tables and chairs have been added

We have done these for the benefit of our kids and we are confident that they will enjoy the new school year ahead.

Now where's my child's name?

All ready for school - the parents, I mean!

Still sleepy...

Shoes lost in transit?

Rabbit balloons to brighten the new schoolday

Mr Tam ready with his "zapper" aka thermometer gun!!

More balloons

Welcome banner

New signboard

ASYC Celebrates Father's Day

2011-06-17T22:17:00.000+07:00

We invited all busy fathers to spend some time with their kids at the ABC Family Fun Center in celebration of Father's Day on Sunday 19 Jun 2011. We're glad that a few fathers, and mothers, turned up. To all fathers, ASYC and our kids wish you a very happy Father's Day.

ASYC 2nd Anniversary

2011-06-09T11:03:00.006+07:00

Teachers and staff of ASYC celebrated our 2nd anniversary with a dinner and karaoke session - Vietnam-style of course. Thanks to our sporting teachers and staff who gamely took to the stage, the celebration was one of fun and laughter. We also welcomed back some of our old staff - Mr Hanh, Mr Huong and Ms Nga.

School Holiday

2011-05-29T22:35:00.001+07:00

ASYC will be closed for one week from 30 May to 4 Jun 2011.

School will re-open on Monday June 2011.

Graduation Concert 2011

2011-05-27T22:31:00.003+07:00

ASYC celebrated our 2nd Graduation Concert with 19 graduating K2 students. It was an occasion for show-casing the various class performances, and our children did well. We thank all teachers for their hard work in preparing their class performances and training their students. We thank all parents for taking time off to share this happy occasion with us.

Photo-taking Day

2011-05-18T12:54:00.002+07:00

With great excitement and anticipation, all teachers and students waited patiently as our poor photographer, Mr Hiep, got caught in the rain and was delayed. Make-up kits and lipsticks ruled the day. It was a bit of a disappointment that the actual photo-taking only lasted a few minutes as compared to the waiting and preparing. Next will be the excitement of seeing themselves in print.

Graduation Concert 2011

2011-05-11T17:21:00.003+07:00

ASYC's 2nd Graduation Concert will be held on Fri 27 Mat 2011 at the Indoor Auditorium. All the classes are now busy preparing for the concert. Class photographs will be taken next week. We warmly invite all parents and family members for the concert on Friday morning at 9am.

International Water Day 2011

2011-03-22T23:17:00.000+07:00

ASYC celebrated International Water Day 2011 by bringing the older classes to the water park for a refreshing change. Our K1 and K2 classes certainly had a splashing good time at Dai The Gioi Water Park in District 5.

CRAFT : Paper Bag Owl

2011-03-17T16:00:00.002+07:00

We will be learning the letter 'O' next week for English. The Nursery classes will be doing the Paper Bag Owl craft which is designed in-house. The older kids will be doing a Paper Bag Octopus, also an original design - this'll be the subject of another blog entry.

If you would like to do the Paper Bag Owl at home, just download and print out the template below. If you're from another country, please note that the paper bag size in Vietnam may be slightly different from that in your country. Please adjust accordingly.

Colour the template as you like and cut out the head and wings.

Apply a thin layer of glue and paste as shown.

The final product - a paper bag owl. It is placed over a used plastic bottle which serves as the stand - a good way to recycle plastic.

A different owl with more details added

Yet a third owl - this one with "feathers"

Template - Paper Bag Owl

Wishing Ms Ha a speedy recovery

2011-03-14T16:58:00.002+07:00

Ms Ha, Head Teacher of K1B was unfortunately hospitalized for appendicitis. Her operation went smoothly and everyone at ASYC wish her a speedy recovery.

CRAFT : NEST

2011-03-09T12:52:00.008+07:00

We're learning the letter N now and what better way to learn than to do a craft. The Pre-Nursery and Nursery classes are doing the Paper Nest Craft. Here's an illustration :

The completed paper nest

To make it stand, just make a simple paper stand and paste the nest on it.

You just need a template and some brown paper.

For the K1 class, they're doing a Paper Bag Nest - a little more complicated. The K1 students need to go out to collect dried leaves, grass, sticks and twigs. Then they have to prepare the paper bags and choose their own leaves and twigs. The K1 teachers help to glue the leaves and twigs to the bags while the children colour the eggs and cut them out. The completed craft looks something like this :

You'll need a template, a bag to keep your leaves etc and of course, a paper bag

TAS-VN Nest Craft Template

International Women's Day 2011

2011-03-08T16:05:00.005+07:00

Today is International Women's Day. ASYC wishes all our female teachers and staff a very happy Women's Day. In addition, our children put up a colourful display of their appreciation for their teachers on this special day.

School Inspection

2011-02-22T21:43:00.000+07:00

A school inspection by the local education department was scheduled for Wed 23 Feb 2011. Here you see our teachers busy preparing for the inspection after school on Tue.

ASYC Newsletter Vol 2 (2010-2011)

2011-01-28T09:02:00.000+07:00

ASYC Newsletter Vol 2 (2010-2011)

Tet Fun Fair 2011

2011-01-27T08:38:00.003+07:00

Bright and sunny at noon. Cloudy at 2pm. Drizzle at 3.30pm!!! What a way to start our Tet Fun Fair. Fortunately the Vietnamese belief is that rain is good fortune - so we happily put up with the occasional rain that decided to join us for this happy occasion. Parents and children had an enjoyable time playing all our games. Teachers had worked very hard to prepare the games, decorations and prizes. The office staff had worked hard too to get all the admin, prizes and set-up going. The kitchen staff chipped in to cook the food and clean up the place. It was great teamwork - thank you everybody for making this the main event of the year.

Preparation for Tet

2011-01-20T08:44:00.004+07:00

ASYC classes have put up decorations in preparation for Tet. Yellow apricot and pink peach blossoms now "bloom" all over ASYC. We have also been preparing for one of our biggest and probably the favourite event of the year - the Tet Fun Fair 2011. Parents had a great time bonding with their children last Tet and it will be no different this year. Tickets are on sale now at 30,000vnd per booklet of 6.

Tet Fun Fair 2011
Date : Wed 26 Jan 2011
Venue : ASYC
Time : 4.00pm

Friday Specials

2011-01-07T10:17:00.005+07:00

Friday Specials are what we look forward to at the end of each week - to end the week with a blast. It's a day of games, activities and art & craft.

Warming up

Now for the real challenge

1, 2, 3 ... PULL

Getting ready for the next game

Saigon Bridge is falling down?

Close in

This is how you stick a flower to the branch

Sand-play

See what I've done

You can't catch me

Running for his life???

This is how you hang your balloon on the antler

YES, this is the way to go

Oops...not quite

Happy New Year

2010-12-29T14:14:00.002+07:00

2011 is almost here and we at ASYC would like to wish all staff, teachers, parents and children a very happy and fabulous year ahead. Have a great holiday.

Christmas Party 2010

2010-12-23T13:48:00.006+07:00

Teachers spent their rest time at lunch preparing for the buffet high tea party for their children in the afternoon. The balloons and candies have already been done yesterday. Our kids woke up from their afternoon nap to their first buffet party in school. While it wasn't the neatest affair (as expected), it was indeed an afternoon of joy, laughter and happiness, as Christmas should be. All students go home with a big balloon, a lollipop, a candy cane and a present from their parents. A merry and blessed Christmas to all ASYC staff, children and families.

Prep for Christmas

2010-12-20T08:38:00.002+07:00

It's Christmas time again. Town is packed with Vietnamese keen for a piece of the festive action, especially at night. Here in ASYC, we're also in the Christmas mood as our teachers put in loads of effort to decorate their classrooms for Christmas.

We'll be having our school Christmas party on Thu 23 Dec 2010.

The architect of our main door Christmas decoration.

Ms Huong explaining the Nativity scene to her students

The Nativity

Blowing balloons for Christmas Party give-away

EFL Updates

2010-12-07T09:48:00.003+07:00

Here's an update on what we've been teaching our kids in English. We're up to the letter "H" now. We take 2 weeks for each letter and our kids learn two to four new words for each letter. In addition, we learn numbers too. 1 to 5 for the young ones and up to 1,000 for the oldest K2 kids. Songs and interactive games are also good for learning English and we have lots of these to make our lessons fun. This is a sample of our own flashcards.

Friday Special

2010-12-03T16:16:00.000+07:00

For this week's Friday Special, we visited Go Go Indoor Playground - a perennial favourite among our kids. The visit brought smiles and cheers all round. Please see the class blogs for more photographs of the activities of the week.

Happy Teachers' Day

2010-11-19T08:36:00.005+07:00

Tomorrow is Teachers' Day in Vietnam but we're celebrating today so as to give teachers a break tomorrow. Mr Ben and staff of ASYC wish all our teachers a very Happy Teachers' Day. Thank you for taking good care of our students, for ensuring that they learn well, for feeding and cleaning them up, for teaching them good manners ... for so many things. We have a dinner tonight to celebrate this special day and to thank all our staff and teachers.

A present for teacher

More presents for teachers

K2 dance

Dance by teachers, choreographed by Ms Thuan

Patriotic Vietnamese

Dance by K1A

Dance by K1B

Solo by Ms Nga

Our teachers in ao dai

No prizes for guessing who sticks out like a sore thumb.
Thank you, teachers, for a very nice Teachers' Day present - my new ao dai.

ASYC Newsletter

2010-11-18T08:32:00.001+07:00

Here's the first issue of our school's newsletter in colour.

ASYC Newsletter Vol 1 (2010-2011)

Halloween Concert

2010-11-02T20:57:00.004+07:00

ASYC had our Halloween celebration last Fri 29 Oct 2010. We were entertained by a dog show and a comedian from the local circus. Our children had a great time parading around in their Halloween costumes. All went home happy as they had a good "trick or treat" harvest of crackers, lollipops and candy.

The "ghosts" are actually lollipops wrapped in tissue, in case anyone's wondering...

Halloween Preparation

2010-10-21T08:31:00.005+07:00

Preparations are underway for a fun Halloween. Everyone's excited about dressing up for the occasion. Parents have been very supportive in acquiring Halloween costumes and masks for their children. Teachers have been busy decorating and making masks for the day. Our work this week centres on Halloween too, and next week too. Have a look at some of the decorations.

Friday Special - A trip to the Zoo

2010-10-15T21:09:00.007+07:00

The Zoo has improved quite a bit since our last visit. There's a new crocodile park, a white tiger and the hippo and its cousin, the pygmy hippo are now "housed" in separate pools of their own. Vietnamese are still unable to resist feeding the animals and the pygmy hippo had a good snack of Vinamilk this morning, courtesy of a "kind" Vietnamese lady.

Our kids enjoyed themselves despite the hour-long ride there. We tested out our self-made walking rope this morning - it worked fine with the little kids. Have a look.

Please browse our class blogs for more photos.

B for Butterfly

2010-10-07T16:09:00.003+07:00

The K2 kids did a craft project on butterflies for English class (B for Butterfly). They had a good time decorating their butterflies (with a little help from teacher on the head and feelers). The completed butterfly craft is nice and colourful. Well done, kids.

A new month

2010-10-01T22:29:00.000+07:00

A month has passed since school reopened. Our children have settled down well in school and celebrated our first event of the school year - Mid-Autumn Festival. For October, we look forward to a school excursion in mid-Oct and to Halloween Celebration in end-Oct. Teachers are already busy planning for these 2 exciting events.

Our teachers have completed their first-aid training at the Binh Tan Education Department. For some, it is a revision of what they have already learnt. This is part of ASYC's on-going efforts to ensure that our teachers are trained to give first-aid for minor injuries.

Ms Tham, our K1 teacher, has been promoted to Vice-Principal. Congratulations! ASYC has expanded to about 140 students and Ms Dung, our Principal, needs an assistant to ensure that ASYC continues to maintain our high standards of care and education. Ms Tham will move to the office to start work once a suitable replacement has been found for her.

Mid-Autumn Festival 2010

2010-09-22T18:15:00.002+07:00

ASYC teachers were very sporting as they dressed up as MAF characters to entertain their children. Each class put up an item as their contribution to our celebration. A goodie bag awaited each child on their way home to complete a wonderful day for everybody.

Please visit the class blogs for photographs of the events.

Some updates

2010-09-17T17:08:00.006+07:00

It seems like we just celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival (MAF) 2009 a few months back, and here we are preparing for the our MAF 2010 next Wed.

MAF Lantern

Our new ASYC bags have arrived and we hope that parents will support us by getting these lovely bags for their children.

We have also been busy during the week prior to school opening, upgrading our decoration and equipment - we hope that parents like what our teachers have done. Please do check the class blogs for more updates.

Teacher Attachment to PCF Bishan East (Singapore)

2010-08-07T22:43:00.002+07:00

Ms Dung from ASYC and Ms Nga from TAK were attached to PCF Bishan East Centre in Singapore from 2 to 6 Aug 2010. Apart from observing the classes, both teachers also taught lessons on various aspects of Vietnam to K1 and K2 students. It was a good bilateral exchange programme as teachers learnt a lot from each other.

We were also invited to the school's National Day Celebration concert and to the Bishan East National Day Celebration Dinner hosted by Mr Wong Kan Seng, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs, and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.

The Alpha Schools - Vietnam send our deserving teachers to Singapore to learn the latest trends and developments in preschool education so that we can implement them in our kindergartens in Vietnam.

Ms Nga, Ms Dung and Mrs Irene Wong, Principal, PCF Bishan East Centre

Ms Joyce, Ms Nga and Ms Dung visiting a class

Vietnamese coconut candy for everyone

Genuine sacks from Vietnam for the sack race!!

New Classes for 2010/2011

2010-07-26T08:29:00.003+07:00

This week, we will emplace our children in their new classes for 2010/2011. This will allow them some time to get used to their new teachers and classroom. So those in Pre-Nursery will go to Nursery class, those in Nursery class will go to K1 etc.

We will be re-decorating the classes - so things will be a bit messy for the next few weeks but it is all for the better as your children will start the new school year with new decorations in class.

Once everyone has settled down, it will be easier for us to introduce new changes for the new school year.

ASYC's 1st Anniversary

2010-06-08T14:19:00.004+07:00

It has been exactly one year since we opened and we are thankful for the great response given by parents. We celebrated our 1st anniversary with games for the children and a dinner-cum-karaoke to thank all teachers and staff for their contribution to making our kindergarten a success.

Mr & Mrs Poh, Cassie and mum came from Singapore to celebrate with us

Today is also the official opening of The Alpha Kindergarten at 3 Nguyen Ba Tuyen in Tan Binh. So we have good reason to celebrate.

International Children's Day 2010

2010-06-01T22:21:00.001+07:00

Today is International Children's Day. Let's enjoy the day and take a break at Go Go Indoor Playground. The children never tire of this lovely indoor playground. A doggy mascot and balloons completed an exciting Children's Day.

End-of-Year & Graduation Concert 2010

2010-05-28T21:46:00.000+07:00

A year has passed so quickly and we have now completed the final leg of our school year. We had a great concert today to celebrate the graduation of our K2 students and also to have some fun. Please do go to the various class blogs for more photos and information.

Trip to Dam Sen

2010-04-03T22:37:00.003+07:00

The K1 and K2 students took a trip to Dam Sen Park, a theme park in HCMC. It was a Friday morning and there was no crowd, so we had almost the whole place to ourselves. The children enjoyed themselves and had sandwiches (VN-style) for lunch - "picnic" and "sandwich" were what they had learnt in their English lessons so they were just putting theory into practice!

New Pre-Nursery Class

2010-03-22T19:23:00.000+07:00

Due to a happy situation of excessive demand, we opened our 2nd pre-nursery class today. Our apologies to parents whose children had to be put on the waiting list last week. We had to get the classroom in shape before we could accept any more students. Thank you, parents, for believing and trusting in our quality of education and care. It gives us encouragement to do an even better job.

Friday Treat

2010-03-05T12:14:00.000+07:00

The younger ones spent their energy on the artificial pitch in games organized by teachers. The older ones had a wet time, soaking in the water and fun. Do have a look at the class blogs for updates.

Tet Fun Fair

2010-02-04T22:58:00.000+07:00

After days of preparation, the day of the Tet Fun Fair finally arrived. It was heartening to see parents having a good time with their children. One objective of the fun fair was to create an opportunity for parents and children to have fun together - seems like this was achieved very well. Even TAIK parents and students came to support us. ASYC would like to thank all parents and children for their support, and I would like to thak all teachers for the hard work that went into the making of a very fun and successful fun fair.

A fun fair is never complete without snacks and drinks.

That's a good toss!

The most popular stall - fishing ... mostly by parents!!

The easiest way to win a prize!

Roll the ball into the lucky number

Lucky Dip

Shoot 'em down!

Lollipop Tree

Irresistible lollipops!

Feed the hungry monster!

Trying their luck at the lucky dip

The ever-popular bring-the-cans-down stall

Let's see who gets a prize

Well done

Friday Treat

2010-01-29T23:03:00.001+07:00

We had our Friday Treat at the indoor playground at The Gioi Tre Tho Gau Gau in Go Vap. The service here is really good - they have water for the kids and even delicious snacks for teachers. Their staff are on hand to give assistance and play with our kids. On top of that, they even upload photos on their website for us.

I will just post two photos here. I encourage you to go to the class blogs to see the photographs of each class.

Tet Preparation

2010-01-25T11:36:00.007+07:00

New Year's Day has come and gone. We're now moving into the Tet festive mood and everyone's busy doing decorations in preparation for this auspicious celebration. What is known as Tet to Vietnam is the Lunar New Year to China and the rest of Asia. Vietnamese are very good with their hands and all these decorations that you see are products of their handicraft.

The yellow "lucky" flowers are apricot flowers found in HCMC while the pink ones are peach blossoms, usually found in Hanoi.

Please click on the image for a bigger pix.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

2009-12-24T21:12:00.002+07:00

The Principal, teachers and staff of ASYC wish all parents and students a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

ASYC Newsletter Vol 2

2009-12-20T23:50:00.002+07:00

ASYC Newsletter Vol 2 (VN)

ASYC Newsletter Vol 2 (EL)

Semester 1 Field Trip to the Zoo

2009-11-27T22:35:00.003+07:00

This is our first field trip of the new School Year 2009/2010 and it's the zoo that we're visiting. Excited kids and staff couldn't wait to board the bus for the zoo. We saw elephants, hippos, giraffes and lots of other animals that the children learnt in class. It was a good outdoor lesson today.

Teachers' Day

2009-11-20T11:05:00.006+07:00

Teachers' Day was an exciting day for parents, children and of course teachers and staff. This special day is not only dedicated to teachers but all our supporting staff as well, for without them, the school will not be able to function too. We celebrated Teachers' Day with games in the morning, and in the afternoon, a special lunch for teachers and staff followed by a round of karaoke.

Thank you, parents, for the lovely bouquets of flowers and gifts - we appreciate them very much.

Friday Treat - Soccer

2009-11-13T09:55:00.006+07:00

This morning, we had access to the spanking new mini-soccer pitch at SYC - a very lovely place for our children to play. Soccer star wannabes had a hay day showing off their skills while the less-enthusiastic strolled around the artificial grass playing their own ball games. It was a good and sunny day for outdoor exercise.

Brand new artificial soccer field

Soccer stars

Baby Binh starting young

Even pregnant Ms Trinh cannot resist playing soccer

Halloween

2009-10-30T22:59:00.006+07:00

All the days of preparation culminated into today's celebrations as ASYC kids sang, danced, played games and went trick-or-treating. Even the heavy downpour did not "dampen" our "spirits", although plans had to be changed on the spot. Credit must be given to teachers and staff for the initiative taken to make the last minute changes. Everyone had a good time.

The Gioi Tre Tho Gau Gau

2009-10-22T21:13:00.002+07:00

ASYC had an outing to The Gioi Tre Tho Gau Gau in Go Vap. Of all the indoor playgrounds that we have visited so far, this has proven to be the best in terms of facilities and service. The staff were polite and helpful, even to the extent of playing with our kids and looking after them. The owner, Mr Chuong, was a humble and kind man, and very good with the internet; uploading our children's photos just hours after our visit. Do have a look at the website, and if you'd like a playground for your child to play, this is a good one to go to :

Click on the image below for website and photos of our visit

Here are some photographs of our students playing in the playground. Our apologies if your child's photo is not inside. We've tried to capture as many as possible, but not all.

Halloween - Preparation

2009-10-19T15:43:00.003+07:00

Halloween falls on 31 Oct 09. Although strictly a western celebration, Halloween has become increasingly popular in Vietnam, especially in the last 2 years. ASYC will be celebrating Halloween to expose our children to various cultures of the world.

Friday Treat

2009-10-16T15:18:00.000+07:00

Ms Dung was the teacher-in-charge of this Friday's Special Treat for our children. Our children had an aerobics warm-up followed by enjoyable games.

Mid-Autumn Festival

2009-10-02T16:12:00.000+07:00

ASYC celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival with a mini-concert in the multi-sports hall. We had a rehearsal before the concert started at 4pm. Our children were all excited as they knew that there were goodie bags waiting for them at the end of the concert. There were the usual glitches, which we laughed off, and everyone had fun on stage with parents and relatives clicking away with their cameras and handphones.

Strolling to the multi-sports hall

Lion dance by K1/K2

Song and dance by Pre-Nursery Class

Excited participants

Some Nursery models

Baby model (Playgroup Class)

Pre-Nursery kids clapping to the music

Parents and relatives

K1/K2 dance

Fashion show by Nursery Class

Everyone on stage for the finale & goodie bags

Pre-Nursery kids waiting for their goodie bags

Dining Room is ready

2009-10-01T16:41:00.000+07:00

Good news - our dining room is ready. Our kids had their first meals here today.

Teacher Training - Parachute Games

2009-09-29T13:03:00.000+07:00

We bought 4 parachutes from Singapore - these are to be used for outdoor activities for our children. Teachers of TAIK and ASYC got together to learn the various games that can be played with parachutes. This should add some excitement to our morning exercises.

Making a mushroom

Mid-Autumn Festival - Prep

2009-09-28T13:07:00.002+07:00

We'll be celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival on Fri 2 Oct 09 with a mini-concert and some surprises. Here, Ms Thu Thao is preparing her children for the celebration - they're making lanterns.

Ms Phuong Thao has also decorated her classroom with lanterns painted by her nursery students. Aren't they sweet?

Kitchen

2009-09-25T15:08:00.005+07:00

Our kitchen has been completed. Now all it needs are the inox tables and sinks, and the utensils, and we are ready for business. The contractor has done a good job.

Visit to Tuoi Than Tien

2009-09-18T15:36:00.003+07:00

ASYC kids were thrilled to make a school trip to a new indoor playground, Tuoi Than Tien in Tan Binh District. This is our monthly out-of-school Friday treat to make life more exciting and interesting for our children, and our teachers too.

Updates

2009-09-17T08:50:00.006+07:00

To date, ASYC has 42 children after 3 months. We are thankful for that.

We are building a new kitchen. We are not happy with the catering company that sees to our kids' meals. So we will employ our own chef and cook our own meals to ensure the quality, nutrition and timeliness of food in ASYC.

Work in progress

For last Friday's special treat, ASYC kids had a great time with water play. Water never fails to thrill children and the following photos show that very well.

This Friday, we will be bring them to an indoor playground in Tan Binh for a change of environment. It will be another exciting day for them. More of this tomorrow after the visit.

Aerobics

2009-09-15T21:54:00.003+07:00

We started our new aerobics lessons today. The nursery and K1/K2 kids did rhythmic exercises to the aerobics music and had a good perspiring time working out.

1st Day of School

2009-09-07T15:12:00.001+07:00

It's the first day of school and we are all excited to welcome back our students and also welcome the new ones. These are some activities of the 1st day at school.

Taking weights (and heights)

Learning to greet VN-style

Threading

Pre-Nursery artists

Practicing penmanship

English lesson in the lab

Our values mini-banners along the corridor

Prep for 1st Day of School

2009-08-29T23:29:00.001+07:00

All teachers and staff went for a nice lunch together after our meeting today. Teachers take a well-deserved break (from teaching) as we prepare for the 1st day of school on 7 Sep 09. Next week will be a busy week of preparing the classrooms, materials and decorations to be ready for the big day. (First day of school is a big affair here but back in Singapore, it is just another normal school day!)

Safety Measures and Precautions to prevent H1N1

2009-08-24T08:53:00.004+07:00

H1N1 is quite serious in Vietnam today. ASYC has been taking precautions and measures to keep our children safe. This includes daily temperature taking, physical checks of all students and a campaign to make sure our kids wash their hands well.

Parents, please help us keep ASYC H1N1-free by leaving your children at home if they have fever and symptoms of flu. If they have contacted H1N1, please inform us so that we can do contact-tracing and preventive measures on our part.

Picasso Wannabes

2009-08-07T22:35:00.003+07:00

It's art appreciation day as our kids don their smocks and put Picasso to shame while having themselves a jolly good time. Of course they had to wait while teachers prepared the paints for their very serious work ahead. The kids couldn't wait to lay their hands, or rather their brushes and rollers, on the paper. Once the paints were ready, it was a tough job holding them and their artistic talents back.

ASYC Open House

2009-08-03T08:18:00.007+07:00

Showers of blessings at exactly 9am! What more could we ask for? The scramble to get the prizes out of the rain added to the excitement of the day. Thank goodness the nursery class could accommodate all our visitors. The performances by the circus artistes were fun and entertaining but the games beat them all. Or was it the prizes? Whatever it was, children ... and parents ... went home happy today and that made us happy too.

Marketing & Promotion

2009-07-25T08:31:00.004+07:00

All of us got up nice and early this Sat morning (4am??) to make our way to school and then to the markets to distribute brochures for ASYC Carnival. Here's our staff hard at work at Cho Ba Diem:

Water Play

2009-07-24T20:57:00.005+07:00

It's our first water play for the kids - and were they excited!! The Nursery and K1 classes had great fun but not the Pre-N as many were not well.

Nursery class

Poor Triet and Quan were not well and had to be side-lined

Kindergarten 1 class

ASYC Newsletter Vol 1 (EL)

2009-07-16T16:49:00.000+07:00

ASYC Newsletter Vol 1 (EL)