The Christmas Project, Dec 2014

This December at Horne Learning Services we are doing something fun for the children. 

The Christmas Project started last week and was the first of 3 parts the children will be involved in.

Our students' snowflakes decorate the wall

Part 1 - Make a snowflake

Part 2 - Design a Christmas Tree

Part 3 - Write a letter to Santa Claus

So Part 1 was finished last week (8-13th Dec) and you can see the snowflakes on the wall in the picture above. 

Parts 2 and 3 will be done this week (15-20th Dec). All 3 parts will be assessed for creativity, effort and good English. The overall winner of The Christmas Project will receive this little trophy:

Winner's trophy for The Christmas Project, Dec 2014

There will also be 2nd and 3rd place trophies, in addition to consolation prizes for other notable efforts.

Trophies ready to be presented to the Top 3 The Christmas Project entries

In Part 1 of The Christmas Project, students had 3 attempts at making a snowflake using various coloured pieces of paper and a pair of scissors. There were some excellent designs.

Students busy designing snowflakes in Part 1 of The Christmas Project, Dec 2014

Creativity often means getting messy!

A student looks at one of his three snowflakes

The top 4 scoring snowflakes from Part 1 of The Christmas Project, Dec 2014

The Christmas Project marking scheme

We are looking forward to this week where Parts 2 and 3 will be done. Part 2 - designing a Christmas tree, will be about creativity once more; Part 3 - Writing a letter to Santa Claus, will focus on imagination and good usage of the English language.

Prizes will be distributed next week (22-27th Dec) to all the best projects in class!

December 2014 Newsletter

Seasons Greetings and a very Merry Christmas to all of our current and former students! We hope you'll find happiness in reaching out and giving to others, particularly at this time of year.

December is always a busy month at Horne Learning Services, as schedules chop and change, students stop and start, and rearrangements have to be made. What's more, Mr. Duncan is working on a new syllabus for 2015 which includes a topic for each month with fun exercises to test students' grammar, reading and comprehension, speaking, listening and creative writing skills. We hope to have the entire 2015 syllabus prepared before the end of December.

Current enrollment for Horne Learning Services is at 99% with just one space available for an adult class on a Wednesday night. Students wishing to join our classes may be added to the waiting list. This is also a good time to remind you of the Rules & Regulations page (which can be found near the top of the blog). Please have a careful read of these items which have been designed through past experience, so that both you and us can move smoothly through our English learning journey together.

December 2014 is under way and this month students will enjoy Christmas wordsearches, making snowflakes, designing a Christmas tree, writing a letter to Santa Claus, and more speaking opportunities. It should be a fun month to end the year!

Movie Week - November 2014 - Tangled

It's movie week time again at Horne Learning Services, and this time it's Tangled.

Above are the main characters, Flynn Ryder, Rapunzel and Maximus, in the Disney hit, Tangled. A take on the story of Rapunzel, this movie is full of laughs and action.

Movie Week at Horne Learning Services is done under strict exam conditions of a listening test. However, students are free to laugh out loud and enjoy the movie while answering the questions :)

What would happen if robots ruled the world?

What would happen if robots ruled the world?

What would they make humans do?

How would the world be different?

Is it possible for there to be a robot uprising, and how would the earth and life on it appear if that happened? This is the topic of our speaking time in English class this week. We are looking for lots of creative ideas from our students

Have fun and we look forward to hearing your views!

Completed English Course at Mega View Hotel, Kuantan

Horne Learning Services recently completed the 12-class English course at Mega View Hotel, Kuantan. During the final class, Hotel Director Andrea Loo gave a short speech following which, we presented her with a plaque. She was accompanied by the HR Manager, Mandy.

Mr. Duncan presenting a plaque to Andrea (Hotel Director, left) and Mandy (HR Manager, right)

Mr. Duncan also presented certificates of course completion to staff who satisfactorily attended classes. The course ran from June - October, 2014.

HLS Owner, Fidelia (left) and Chief English Trainer, Duncan (centre) with staff of Mega View Hotel Kuantan, posing with their certificates

Horne Learning Services would like to place on record their thanks to Mega View Hotel Kuantan for giving us the opportunity to train their staff in the English language, and for providing us with 'roti jala' from time to time :)

Tinkerbell and the Pirate Fairy - Movie Week September 2014

This month's movie should suit both boys and girls as it contains pirates and fairies. Tinkerbell and the Pirate Fairy will be showing at Horne Learning Services this week where a little sprinkling of fairy dust can go a long way!

As usual, students will have questions to answer, and due to the movie being a little shorter than usual, they will be engaged in a related speaking assignment for the remainder of the class.

Sit back and enjoy!

The "Chocolate" lesson - for adults

This month we are conducting a special lesson dedicated to chocolate - the food of the deities. Students will read a short article about chocolate, where it comes from, and how it grows. They will answer several comprehension questions on the topic.

Mr. Duncan will then present five different chocolate items for tasting. Students will then right down lists of words that describe the taste of each piece of chocolate.

Samples of chocolate ready for tasting in adult classes in September at Horne Learning Services

The final part of the lesson will see students have an opportunity to speak to the class on the topic of chocolate.

We are looking forward to this exciting class and hope our students will find it worthwhile and memorable!

The Night Project Aug 2014 Winners

The Night Project was a huge success at Horne Learning Services. We saw a lot of creativity and unique designs both in the children and adult categories. It was extremely difficult judging the entries and selecting the winners. 

Here are the winners of The Night Project:

CHILDREN:

WINNER: JIA YI

Jia Yi's winning entry for The Night Project with the 1st place trophy. She made a book with pictures, a poem, an essay, a short story and more, in a very creative way.

Mr. Duncan with Jia Yi, the Night Project winner in the children category

2ND PLACE: BRANDON

Brandon's entry came in 2nd place in The Night Project. We liked his clean and attractive design and the two pieces of writing he included inside

Mr. Duncan posing with Brandon and his trophy for 2nd place in The Night Project

3RD PLACE: ISAAC

This entry by Isaac was chosen for the 3rd place trophy. He used toothpicks and a stand in his Night Project, along with a piece of writing concealed inside

Here is Isaac receiving his 3rd place trophy for The Night Project with Mr. Duncan

4TH PLACE: HAN YII

This collection of little comics was presented by Han Yii. This was different from others and very interesting

Mr. Duncan presents Han Yii with his certificate for 4th place in The Night Project

5TH PLACE: YONG CHUAN

This is Yong Chuan's work for The Night Project. Of the remaining selections we identified this as unique in design, creative, and possessing a good piece of writing

Yong Chuan with his 5th place certificate in The Night Project, posing for a photo with Mr. Duncan

ADULTS:

WINNER: YI CHIEN

Yi Chien's entry for The Night Project was deemed as the winner. It was a simple yet beautiful design, with an accomplished piece of writing inside, and a sketch on the back

Here is Yi Chien with her winner's plaque and certificate for The Night Project, presented by Mr. Duncan

2ND PLACE: JESSICA

Jessica's work for The Night Project was a brilliant correlation of words and pictures

Jessica with her 2nd place certificate for The Night Project

3RD PLACE: MS. CHONG

Ms. Chong's piece was really neat and creative and she quite brilliantly made the "G" of NIGHT in a moon shape!

Mr. Duncan poses with Ms. Chong as she receives her 3rd place certificate

Our congratulations go to all the winners of The Night Project, along with our thanks to all who took part! If you didn't manage to win this time, perhaps our next project will bring more rewards.

The Night Project 2014 Recap

The Night Project 2014 is running from 11th - 23rd August, 2014 at Horne Learning Services English classes. The Night Project is open for all of our students, both children and adults, with prizes awaiting the 5 best entries.

Winner, 2nd place and 3rd place trophies (children) are up for grabs in The Night Project 2014 by Horne Learning Services

Winner's plaque in the adult category

Students are given coloured paper, 2 pieces of each colour. With this paper, they are to create something on the topic of 'Night.' They may use as much of the paper as they like. Their project may be as big or as small as they wish. It may take the form of a poster, book, brochure, or anything they like.

Students can use any stationery which we provide, and bring along their own to the class.

Students must include a piece of writing with their project. Primary school students = 80+ words; Secondary school students = 100+ words; Adults = 125+ words

There are 2 weeks to complete The Night Project. Work may only be done in the class. The Night Project began last week, with this week the chance to finish off. At the half-way stage, there has been a lot of creativity and many different interpretations of the theme. We are excited to see the finished articles soon and get judging on which are the best.

All projects will be returned to our students for their own keeping once the judging and prize-giving has been completed.

The Night Project

For starters, I apologise for the poor video quality - we're still trying to figure out the best device we have for video-making!

The video should have everything covered. The only other thing I would add is that students may do as much research at home to generate ideas during the 2 weeks as they like, but they can only work on their project in the class.

We are looking for something unique and creative!

Having said that, we are excited to declare "open" the August Night Project and look forward to seeing our students' creativity in action!

Word Game upgrade

Each English class begins with a word game, a vocabulary building exercise. Sometimes we present students with a word, for example:

PRESENTATION

Our students are then asked to make a list of words by using the letters in the main word. For example:

1. sit

2. pat

3. station

4. sent

5. priest

Another way we exercise vocabulary is by giving students a single letter ie. "B". They then proceed to write down every word they can think of that begins with the letter "B".

Sometimes we will present two letters ie. S,T. Students must then make two words beginning with these letters, that make sense. For example, Sticky Tarts.

We have been practicing these word games for a number of years and the children love it. As of August 2014 we will be slightly upgrading the word game in an effort to try and give our students something new and fresh.

Students will now be making words and calculating the total of all the letters so that each word has a score. Of course, the more challenging letters to use have greater value!

We have another project lined up for August, which we'll discuss soon.

Movie Week for July 2014 - The Croods

The Croods is an excellent movie which depicts a family of cave dwellers who eventually open their eyes to new horizons. Mr. Crood is a stubborn father who only wants to protect his family and whose rules are threatened by the arrival of Guy, who becomes friendly with his daughter and offers greater optimism for the future.

As usual, we have prepared questions which will test students' comprehension skills. So sit back, get your pencils ready, and enjoy the show!

Completed English Course at PC MTBE, Petronas, Gebeng, Kuantan

Horne Learning Services completed a 14-class English course with lab staff of PC MTBE (Petronas Chemicals) at the plant in Gebeng, Kuantan in June 2014.

Mr. Duncan of Horne Learning Services during an English class at PC MTBE (Petronas Chemicals) at Gebeng, Kuantan

We would like to thank Petronas for the opportunity of expanding our business and teaching reach. We have enjoyed offering our services and expertise to the staff here and building their confidence in using the English language.

Completed English Course with CSA Chemicals Sdn. Bhd

In May 2014 we completed our 14-class English course with a group of staff at CSA Chemicals Sdn. Bhd. at Kuantan Port. We thoroughly enjoyed our time teaching English there and made some good friendships with the staff whom we interacted with on a weekly basis.

It all culminated with the final class in May 2014 where we presented certificates of course completion to the attendees, offered a plaque to the management, and in return received a gift from CSA Chemicals.

The main entrance of CSA Chemicals Sdn. Bhd. at Kuantan Port, where we trained staff in English since February 2014

Mr. Duncan, on behalf of Horne Learning Services, presenting a plaque to the management of CSA Chemicals Sdn. Bhd.

Receiving a gift from the management of CSA Chemicals Sdn. Bhd.

Pictured here with Sharon, the HR Manager at CSA Chemicals Sdn. Bhd. It was a pleasure coordinating with her throughout the 14 weeks and we became truly good friends

Final class photo with Mr. Duncan's English class at CSA Chemicals Sdn. Bhd