QD Learning
2016 April Newsletter
April Updates
We started the month by 2 high-energy Spring Camps with 10 awesome companies showcasing their creations in our world-famous QD markets. "Ornate Arts, Mechanical Menia, Flower Fly, HY Oldy, Matt's Wallet, Snacks & Craft, Bright Smiles, Egyptian Treasures, The KI Smoothie Store, CMT Studio." I have to mention their names since they still have pre-paid marketing dollars to spend.
Anthony joins the QD family to focus on the academic hour and lead one of the groups. Welcome Anthony! 11 students have started their very first jobs at QD and we will be issuing their badges soon. Our facebook live broadcast (hashtag #qdlive) is gaining tractions and will continue to let our students exercise their "stage muscles" every Friday.
All classes have started the rehearsal mode and are getting ready for the May variety show. All in all, April is a magical month for us to witness the creation of so many new things.
- Director & Co-founder, Wei
After-School Program
Words of Flight
Speed networking to pitch ideas
Ornate Arts presenting on demo day
Hy Oldy (Harry) winning the competition
Learning about brands
Smiling after the "shark tank" session
Egyptian Treasures winning the race
News reporter Ethan
News reporter Alyssa
The happy reporter crew
From terrific bulletins to treading the boards, well, so to speak – the students learned of the famous bard William Shakespeare. Combining Shakespeare’s quality of words and the quality of the earth of which we live, our tenacious troubadours penned their own sonnets and soliloquy’s to promote Earth Day and how we can help save our very own Globe Theatre upon which we all live. From Romeo to recycling, the students salvaged plastics and shoeboxes to create dioramas and works of art to portray their knowledge. Ethan went above and beyond with his environmentally sound diorama stage that spoke artistically of the bard and saving our globe. But the very rafters shook with all of our performers and portrayers and I was deeply touched by their wit and wisdom of the subject. Willy himself couldn’t have written a better performance – and perhaps… he never did!
Kirra and Charlize busy with their creations
Ethan examining the shoe box to plan his diorama
Checking out some of William's masterpieces with Mr Jerry
If indeed birds of a feather flock together, then truly that prose took wing as the QD students gathered their paints and pens to create QD’s own Book of Birds in honor of John Audubon week. Together, our fine, feathered friends dipped their beaks into the plethora of books of fowls provided by QD – and with that education, as Audubon did in his day, proceeded to paint and categorize birds of every size, shape and color. The wise-eyed students were then treated by a visit from professional bird rehabilitator Susan Doggett, who brought not only her vast knowledge of wild birds throughout Orange County, but two in the feathered flesh for the students to see a rare close up of. Students were privy to see what most haven’t – a bird’s eye view, that is face to face, but not too close of course of an owl and a raptor. Questions and answers flew as awe and wonder stilled the room. It was a beautiful moment to see these children look upon nature – thinking of their world and how we share it with them. The teamwork of Kirra and Jordan, working together at a furious pace designed a page of the colorful flamingo and its habitation. I’d wager from the colorful and artistic designs all the students created, that more zoology books are in store… and upon our shelves soon!
- Lead Program Instructor, Gerald Hapeman a.k.a. Mr Jerry
Celebrating the Audubon week
Our 1st visitor - Owl
Our 2nd visitor - Raptor
Updates from Miss Daisy
Anthony Pina Joins the QD Family
Anthony Pina is a second year physics major at California State University Fullerton. He has been tutoring his peers as well as other students throughout his academic career and is highly dedicated to advancing both his own education and that of others. After graduation he hopes to continue at CSUF to get a teaching credential for high school math and science.
Welcome Anthony! Look forward to great things from you.
Public Speaking Class
Many of our students in our five public speaking and leadership classes in Anaheim and Irvine are steadily completing their speech projects to earn certificates for the six levels in the program. Eleven students have earned the Competent Communicator Bronze certificate and five have earned the Competent Communicator Silver certificate. Three students are a few projects away from earning the Competent Communicator Gold certificate. These students will be recognized at the QD Learning Variety Show in Anaheim. A number of our students will also be showcasing their skills at the Variety Show.
We are enrolling new students regularly. Our new students are also making steady progress with the other students because our program allows students to work at their own pace. One especially diligent student who joined in March 2016 earned her Competent Bronze award on April 15, 2016.
Our Irvine public speaking classes met at the Corporate Park for the last time on April 30, 2016. The two classes will meet at the Crown Culture and Arts Academy at 10 Truman in Irvine beginning .
Public Speaking Instructor, Harry Yan, DTM, PDG & Ted Triplett, ACG
Please check out the album for our public speaking classes.
Art Class
In Chinese, it is called “Ying and Yang” (阴阳). In Japanese , it is called “Notan”(浓淡). In English, it is called “positive and negative”. Yes, the name lost all the cool and Zen in English. Fortunately, we still get a lot from this project. On a 4 inch square paper, we designed, outlined and cut. We have to think of the construction, the balance, and of course the positive and negative. Another big change from the original Notan art is that instead of black and white, we used colorful paper card. Just look at those brave color combinations, you can tell QD art class really takes the traditional Asian art form to a new level.
- Fine Art Instructor, Phoebe Teng
Please check out the gallery here for more artwork from our art class students.
Chinese Class
IQ 100
April is full of diligence and energy in our Chinese language class. I am so proud to see our IQ 100 Students behave passionate , creative and motivated in Chinese learning process. With the positive attitude, IQ 100 students have improved gradually on the understanding of Chinese cultural concept, translation, pronunciation and example sentences.
This month, we have completed Lesson 9 “Making a Phone Call-打电话” and Lesson 10 “Good Teacher-好老师”. We also had a short review and practice section for the previous lessons by using the appropriate activities, which helped our students consolidate the knowledge and skills before moving on. I am delighted that you all can do a short self-introduction in Chinese independently. (Good job everyone!)
We are continually working with IQ 200 students on the Chinese play, and getting ready for the upcoming QD’s variety show in May. We already get excited and feverish for our performance in May!
- IQ 100 Chinese Instructor, Celene Duan 段老师
IQ 200
Students at IQ200 expanded their Chinese vocabulary by learning the four seasons. By the end of the month, they were able to express their likes and dislikes of the seasons in writing and speaking. At the same time, students participated in making props for the skit and rehearsed with IQ100. I am very proud of what the students have achieved and looking forward to their performance on the stage on May 21.
- IQ 200 Chinese Instructor, Min Tang
Kung Fu Class
Kung Fu Class has made some real progress for the month of April. Students attention to detail and body awareness are becoming higher level. They are able to make proper Kung Fu shapes and are understanding the basic principles of proper power generation.
For the next three weeks they will be dedicating themselves to performance choreography for the May Student Showcase. It promises to be a great show and I can't wait to show off all these kid's hard work!!
- Kung Fu instructor, Sebastian Castellanos
Piano Class
Note recognition along with finger memory is crucial in playing scales and arpeggios. Intermediate to advanced students have been doing popular repertoire songs using these techniques. Our beginning students are all ready to play their songs for the upcoming variety show!
- Music Instructor, Christy Lee
Violin Class
During the month, we have set up another music class which is chamber music for the coming performance in May 21st. Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments. In my understanding, it basically is a type of team work and collaboration. We spent an hour on rehearsing the pieces, each student played their own part, and every part was different. In order to make the sound closer, they had to communicate with their eyes and heart, spoke with their instruments, and listened to each other. So it requires a better work on their own parts, then they can focus on their own at the same time on the other players. Even though it is difficult, but our young musicians felt very excited.
Chamber music class provides a good opportunity to know each other, help students improve their coordination skill on music, and increase their passion on learning music.
Everyone improves a lot this month, and I believe they can’t wait for the coming rehearsal and performance in May.
- Music Instructor, Dan Liu
Private Tutoring
- Math Instructor, Brittany Blossfeld
Other Updates
QD Learning - Irvine Site
QD Jobs
Alyssa - Supply Chief 104
Sabrina - Food Chief
Ethan - Secret Admirer
Megan - Food Chief
Iris - Shop Crew
Jessica - Homework Master
Alex - Tech Crew
Charlize - Messenger
Lauren - Shop Crew/Homework Master 201
Matthew - Librarian
Enzo - Food Chief
QD Live
- Login to your facebook account,
- Find QD Learning
or go to https://www.facebook.com/qdlearning/
All shows are tagged with #qdlive. Our Friday performers will be excited to see some live comments from the Facebook live stream.
Our broadcast usually starts at 4:15pm on Friday and program is usually about 8-15 minutes.
Upcoming Stuff
Important Dates
May 21: Our Spring Variety Show (see details below)
May 28 - 30: Memorial Day Weekend (We will be closed on Saturday - Monday)
June: It is the last month of our school year.
- The last day of our after-school program will be June 17th. You will be billed with a discounted partial-month rate (i.e. it will still be a flat-rate regardless of how many days you will be attending. Unless you will miss more than 5 days between June 1-17th, let us know).
- All of our enrichment classes except private lessons will end by June 15th. If you are taking private tutoring, private pianos, private violins, please let us know your summer plan in advance. Otherwise, the plan is to continue the private lessons during summer.
Spring Variety Show
It will be a fun family night and we are planning to include:
- Piano Recital
- Violin/Viola Recital
- Art Showcase
- Speech-a-Thon
- Chinese play
- Puppetry show
- Kung Fu demonstration and more
Dinner will be provided. Please click here to RSVP.
May Snack & Lunch Menu
FYI. Our lunch plan will be changed in the new school year. Stay tuned for the new school year announcement.
May Cross-Curricular Projects
May 2-6: Astronomy-Star Wars Week,
May 9-13: National Transportation Week,
May 16-20: Puppetry Week, get ready for our variety show
May 23-27: Memorial Day Activities Week
Summer Camp (Anaheim) 6/20 - 8/26
- Musical Theatre
- Creative Writing and Film-making
- Startup
- Science
- Youth Leadership
For more information, check out our Summer Camp page.
Reading, Writing, Math, Art, Robotics, Spanish and Chinese Immersion Camp (Anaheim)
- 3-hour session each day for 5 days
- Small Class (up to 12 students)
- Academic and Chinese Curriculum designed and led by credentialed teachers
We have lined up some excellent instructors for the camps. Look forward to a lot of learnings in the summer.
To learn more, check out our Speciality Summer Camp page.
Summer Camp (Irvine) 6/13 - 8/19
Themed summer camps include (7:30am - 6pm daily):
- Creative Writing and Film-Making
- Youth Leadership
- Musical Theatre
- Science
- Start-Up
To learn more, check out our Irvine Summer Camp page.
2016-2017 School Year Plan
- Additional benefits to our exclusive members (named license to access learning portal, student progress report, closed Facebook group...)
- Alternative transportation plan
- Additional enrichment programs such as programming, Spanish...
Stay tuned for the announcement towards the end of May.
Reminders
Homework Issues
Book Donation
About QD Learning
Email: info@qdlearning.net
Website: http://www.qdlearning.net
Location: 1086 N Tustin Ave, Anaheim, CA, United States
Phone: 866-669-9228
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qdlearning
Twitter: @QDLearning