Dear Reader,

    For some of you, this is the first week of Summer Vacation. For
    me, it was the first week of Summer Camp at my school. Time to
    "acquaint" myself with the new group of students and to help them
    adjust to our school (def: become familiar)

    Summer and Winter Camp is typically a time when I'm in better
    physical shape ^_^ I get to show these students how to play 
    basketball, dodge ball, and soccer. It always surprises me how
    much Taiwanese children can like sports if given the space and
    encouragement. They never stop playing basketball or soccer
    during their class breaks. They love it! Actually, they run me
    a bit "ragged" (def: tired or worn out) ^_^
  (420K MP3 recording,
    http://www.path2english.com/Reference/MP3-049-01.mp3 or
    http://home.pchome.com.tw/education/path2english/MP3-049-01.mp3)

    I get a great thrill from seeing kids who didn't know how to shoot
    baskets put one in from the middle of the court. They become so
    happy and I really cheer for them. One parent even mentioned that
    she has never see her son sleep so deeply and so well before ^_^

    We had a special case this summer: one of our students, Melissa,
    supposedly hated English. At least, that was what her mother said.
    Her mother was very worried her daughter wouldn't want to come. I
    told her not to worry. To be very honest, I forgot Melissa's
    problem the first day because Melissa was just like any other
    student. She played. She spoke "no Chinese" in class. She was
    very happy.

    Even Melissa's little brother, Eric, left kindergarten to join his
    happy sister at my school. I do agree however with her mother that
    they are special students, but in a different way. I always see
    big happy smiles on their faces ^_^
  (575K MP3 recording,
    http://www.path2english.com/Reference/MP3-049-02.mp3 or
    http://home.pchome.com.tw/education/path2english/MP3-049-02.mp3)

    One reason why students are so happy is because we use world-class
    educational games at the school. There is one in particular that
    I like to share with you. It is a free educational dinosaur game
    from the BBC website called "Walking with Dinosaurs",
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/dinosaurs/bigalgame/index.html Playing the
    game is like having your own pet dinosaur. The children learned a
    lot of English from this website. They also learned how nature
    works. BBC put together this very good educational game with the
    help of scientists around the world. Children and adults will both
    love playing it because it is mentally challenging, and you have to
    "navigate" through a lot of varied terrains (def: travel through).
    There is only one "downside" (def: disadvantage). You better have
    lots of Internet access because you will not want to stop playing
    it. Because we have 24 hour ADSL access at the school, this isn't
    a problem for us ^_^ Our biggest dinosaur is 2,126kg. What is
    yours?
  (575K MP3 recording,
    http://www.path2english.com/Reference/MP3-049-03.mp3 or
    http://home.pchome.com.tw/education/path2english/MP3-049-03.mp3)

    This week is also the second week of our JacksonFive Writing Club.
    Because I've have seen a lot of improvement in the writing of the
    first group, I'm opening a second e-class. I will only accept 5
    students in this second group so please write me "ASAP" if you are
    interested (def: as soon as possible). Instructions are on this
    page, http://www.path2english.com/Writing_Program/InfoCard.htm
  (347K MP3 recording,
    http://www.path2english.com/Reference/MP3-049-04.mp3 or
    http://home.pchome.com.tw/education/path2english/MP3-049-04.mp3)

                                                     Happy Dinosaur Hunting!
                                                     JacksonFive

NEXT ISSUE's FEATURED TOPIC:

    "Purpose of Education"

  I would like to make this topic an issue you can all contribute to.
  Wouldn't that be fun? Firstly, how would you define education?
  Also, what is the purpose of school? I look forward to your feedback.
  The more the merrier.