Dear Reader,

  Happy Halloween! I haven't written to you in such a long time that
  I wonder if you've forgotten about our newsletter. For those of you
  who are getting this JacksonFive Newsletter for the first time, you
  are receiving it because you have asked me to send it to you at
  www.path2english.com.

  How was your Halloween? We had a very exciting Halloween at
  JacksonFive. Our teachers and students dressed up and "Trick or
  Treated" between the classrooms. When the children showed up to
  "Trick or Treat" at other classrooms, they are asked to "do a trick"
  before they can get their "treat". The children used many of the
  English songs and poems they learned to perform for other classes.
  They even learned a few special Halloween songs for this event.

  Our teachers really got into the spirit of things. They dressed up
  as clowns and animals. Teacher Tom, who dressed up as a clown,
  even volunteered to perform from classroom to classroom. He made
  one balloon animal for each of our numerous students. He certainly
  spread a lot of happiness and excitement wherever he went.

  We had such a good time with Halloween this year. At the same time,
  I think it is important to remember the purpose of these special
  events. They are for the children's enjoyment. Sometimes however,
  these events become a big marketing event for the schools. I have
  seen other English schools spend weeks, if not months, on their
  Christmas programs. The children's performances are rehearsed again
  and again until they are perfect. Pretty boring stuff for the
  children.

  Here is a bit of reader news. A few of our fellow readers just
  dropped in at our school last month. Although I always enjoy a
  social visit from our readers, one of these readers dropped a
  challenge in my lap. She wanted me to help "save" her children.
  Though both her children have gone to famous, expensive English
  schools in Taichung, they have become frustrated in their learning
  and didn't want to go to school anymore. She didn't know what to do
  and wanted to know if our school can help her children.

  After assessing her children, I told her that these children are very
  eager to learn and easy to motivate. They kept initiating English
  conversations with me, even after the assessment was over. This
  result was very surprising to her especially since one of her
  children was always eager to reject English. I explained to her that
  children rarely are to blame when they reject English. It is usually
  the way they are taught and the environment they are in that creates
  this negative feeling towards English. I know for a fact that young
  children have unlimited potential to learn a language. If they can be
  guided properly and encouraged, they can ALL develop a strong inner
  love and motivation for English.

  This said, the reader in this story brought her children to our
  school this Tuesday night for their first class. At first they were
  very hesitant because of their previous bad experiences. They kept
  holding on to their mother. It took a bit of effort to remove their
  mother, our reader, from the classroom ^_^ However, by the end of
  the evening class, we saw a BIG change in their attitude. They were
  playing and laughing with the other children and their teacher during
  break.

  This reminds me of another reader who send her kindergarten aged
  child to our school only this summer. She said her son, Howie, asked
  her why she wanted to drive him one hour each day to attend our
  school. She said, "I can drive you 10 minutes to a nearby school and
  worry all day about you, or I can drive one hour to JacksonFive and
  not worry. I rather drive."

                                                 "Going the extra mile!"
                                                  JacksonFive

  P.S. In September, all the teachers at our school went to Tainan
         during the weekend of "Teacher's Day". We found this "Bed
         and Breakfast" http://www.a--ma.idv.tw/ on the Internet. We
         had a very good time at this B&B. Like our school, you can
         REALLY feel that this owner put a lot of "heart" into his B&B.
         This place was much more fun than staying at a five star hotel.
         The owner made all the difference and I'm strongly recommending
         this place to all our parents and readers.