Director of Studies
Greetings and thank you for the opportunity to join the Telsa community! Although Ms. Trung introduced me to the families in an email, I will take a few lines to write a little about my journey to Tesla.
I grew up in California, attended Occidental College, and spent the first fourteen years of my educational career in a coastal suburb of Los Angeles. My international experience started in 2005 in Tokyo where I spent nine more years teaching IB Physics and leading curriculum development. The last six years have been dedicated to the transformation of teaching and learning at international schools in Ho Chi Minh City.
The last few weeks have given me the opportunity to interact with many teachers, students, and parents. I have learned a tremendous amount from everyone, but the interviews with parents were the most enlightening. Tesla is in the process of a transition and it is important that we ensure that every stakeholder understands what this means to student learning and development.
Although I will explore many educational topics with Tesla Talk over time, my initial goals are to bring clarity about the curricular changes being made to enhance the learning experience of your children.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Tim Vanderpool
Director of Studies
ICT&AI Teacher
Students were working with Arduino (Micro: bit) in the display of a Christmas tree. Using LEDs and the string input to display text.
Grade 1 students were working on the creation of an animation called raining in April where they were able to set dialogues and create the raining effect combining different backgrounds.
MYP Coordinator
Sharing the Planet
This week Grade 2 students added the final touches to their project related to the unit of inquiry “Sharing the Planet”. They learned how to draw the Earth and then coloured the oceans and green areas using oil pastels. Finally, they drew boys and girls watering the plants and planting trees – showing their desire to keep our Earth as green as possible. Well done, Grade 2!
PYP Coordinator
Director of Admissions
Tesla is now a candidate for the IBPYP; IBMYP; IBDP and that means that Grade KG is the first year of Primary School, the same as all other IB World Schools around the globe. At Tesla, KG children (aged 5yrs – 6yrs) are beginning their International Baccalaureate (IB) journey in the first year of Primary School. This is very different from the Vietnamese National curriculum, where they begin Primary School when moving to Gr 1 (6yrs – 7yrs).
KG is a period of tremendous cognitive growth. Children at this age are undergoing a large amount of change very quickly and are learning to see the world in many new and interesting ways. However, it’s also important to realize that even at this early stage, there are fundamental skills that children need to acquire in order to be successful later in life. These core cognitive skills will help them be successful at an early age, but children will also build upon those skills as they get older. Each week in Tesla Talk we will introduce you to 5 core skills for KG to develop. Today we introduce the last important and foundation skill:
Understanding and following multi-step directions
A typical day at school is full of multi-step directions, and the number of steps will only increase as students grow and progress. In KG, most directions come in a series of two or three steps, and your child will need to be able to understand and follow these directions without too much confusion, and without constantly asking for the directions to be repeated.
Being able to complete multi-step directions is another kind of skill that students will need well into adulthood. It’s important for all people to be able to hear multiple steps in a process and follow directions. Being able to follow multiple steps can help everywhere from baking a cake to performing complex duties inside of a laboratory.
At Tesla KG is our first year of Primary School and therefore we know that it is important to begin teaching KG children, critical thinking, communication, and other core skills as early as possible. These are building blocks upon which students will continue to rely as they grow older. Without establishing these skills early in life, students will be left at a disadvantage as they continue to move into higher levels of education.
Important information for our current families and friends in regards to any younger siblings / younger children that you may like to enroll for the New School Year August 2021 – 2022. Tesla Admissions is now open, please apply to ensure that your place is secured early, as some grades may fill up fast creating a waitlist for August 2021.
Please submit the Inquiry Form at http://beta.tesla.edu.vn/en/admissions/saving-program/, and the Admissions Team will contact you.
If you would like to receive more information regarding enrollment, please contact Tesla at: admission@tesla.edu.vn.
Tesla is pleased to offer a limited number of Academic Scholarships ranging from 25% to 100% for new MYP students for the next school year 2021-2022. Please note the closing date is coming soon on April 28th 2021, please apply now!
If you would like to receive more information regarding enrollment, please contact Tesla at: admission@tesla.edu.vn.