tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47881792803559674732024-03-12T19:50:29.197-07:00Japanese SchoolI'm an American parent of two girls, one six years old, the other three. They are learning Japanese at an English-Japanese elementary school and a Japanese preschool.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-77220650716948009512013-12-03T21:04:00.000-08:002013-12-03T21:04:37.874-08:00せっけんさん Sekkensan (Mr Soap) Japanese Kids Song (with subtitles)<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/FY4ziU3ajvQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br><br>
Sekkensan (Mr Soap) is a Japanese kids' song that my three-year-old daughter is learning in Japanese preschool. She and my older daughter are singing it on this video. I subtitled it three ways ... in hiragana, romaji, and in English. The song is about the wonderful smells of soap and the association with one's mom! Grammatically, it's more like phrases than sentences, so it's easy for even the youngest children or Japanese beginner student to learn.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-36785153111320860172013-10-01T23:16:00.000-07:002013-10-01T23:16:01.097-07:00Fall Festival, or あきまつり for Kindergarteners<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tSZdWWgHwaI/UXIxlJl_1xI/AAAAAAAAAmk/2GoaD0t2dBA/s1600/2012-10-05+10.34.41.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tSZdWWgHwaI/UXIxlJl_1xI/AAAAAAAAAmk/2GoaD0t2dBA/s320/2012-10-05+10.34.41.jpg" /></a>I love the Fall Festival, or あきまつり, my daughter's school puts on every year. She goes to a bilingual Japanese-English school here in Michigan now, which is connected to the Japanese immersion preschool she went to for two years. Anyway, at the fall festival, all of the kids get to wear kimono or happi coats and carry around an omikoshi outside, chanting 'wasshoi, wasshoi.' I think that means heave-ho or something like that. An omikoshi is the thing you see in the picture below. It's like a portable Shinto shrine, but the teachers don't exactly delve into the details of what it is. They say, 'Hey kids, let's decorate the omikoshi!! Ok, now let's carry it!' It's lots of fun.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-89232566932633009952013-09-11T12:02:00.000-07:002013-09-11T12:03:17.793-07:00Field Trip to the Post Office (郵便局の遠足)Please have a look at the video below, which shows a journal entry for my three-year-old, who is learning Japanese. The purpose is for me to read it to her so she can remember the different things she did at her Japanese school and can express those things by herself eventually. Journals are a great way to learn a foreign language because they are personal to you and therefore are more accessible as a memory than just a dialog from a textbook. Thus, it helps your long-term retention of new vocabulary. Plus, it's fun.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Lb1DX9Ef3Pc?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-53362686634833725682013-09-03T21:25:00.000-07:002013-09-03T21:25:02.836-07:00Week 1 Japanese Kids' SongsAt 11 pm this evening, my three-year-old daughter started singing the "te o tatakimasho" song. In fact, there are four songs she's been singing constantly this week, and here they are.
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Teku Teku (clip clop)<br>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/stNsMmGVotQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Hajimaru Yo (Here we go)<br>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_qPzMVW5EMo?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Gu Choki Pa (rock paper scissors)<br>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/1dTdtKHt3Kc?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Te o Takakimashoo (let's clap our hands)<br>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/SFH3f25pdCo?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-47866215671872642942013-08-17T06:20:00.000-07:002013-08-17T06:23:49.011-07:00What ... these six-year-olds don't clean up their American classrooms? Why Japanese school children clean their schools.<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gjaGZ3NC2mI/Ug94KuqCGfI/AAAAAAAAAtI/qEZQLfPHN2E/s1600/clean.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gjaGZ3NC2mI/Ug94KuqCGfI/AAAAAAAAAtI/qEZQLfPHN2E/s320/clean.jpg" /></a><br>
When asked, my Japanese friend told me what surprised her about American elementary schools in America was that the children don't clean. And by clean she means washing desks and shelves with a rag, sweeping the classrooms and hallways with brooms, older kids doing periodic cleaning of bathrooms, etc. In Japan, students clean the school like this starting in elementary school and continuing through their high school years. For about 15 minutes a day, it's おそうじ (o-souji) time, or cleaning time. Students, teachers, even administrators drop everything, pull out the buckets and mops, and give everything a good scrub with soap and water.
<br><br>The practice comes from Buddhist traditions that associate cleaning with morality. The Japanese school curriculum goes beyond the core subjects and also strives to teach cooperation, a sense of responsibility, and public morality. Doing daily cleaning is seen as contributing to this. If you've ever seen how clean Japan is - the graffiti-free subways, the litter-free streets, the tidy neighborhoods whether rich or poor, you will understand this a little bit more.
<br><br>My daughter's Japanese school here in Michigan only does a one おおそうじ (oosouji), or big cleaning, before the end of the year.<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-22915967668375663882013-07-30T13:39:00.000-07:002013-08-17T06:25:39.300-07:00Three おべんとう obento lunches<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hpXdcaWwzQ8/UfgifRtxkvI/AAAAAAAAAr4/rtcCruf5XkE/s1600/2013-07-16+08.49.31.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hpXdcaWwzQ8/UfgifRtxkvI/AAAAAAAAAr4/rtcCruf5XkE/s320/2013-07-16+08.49.31.jpg" /></a>
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Obento 1 (for こどものひ Children's Day). Imitation crab, rice, carrots, rasberries, grapes, broccoli<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MSv8__f_h7E/Ufgig54QTnI/AAAAAAAAAsM/Kv9d77F3pUU/s1600/2013-07-17+08.30.33.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MSv8__f_h7E/Ufgig54QTnI/AAAAAAAAAsM/Kv9d77F3pUU/s320/2013-07-17+08.30.33.jpg" /></a>
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Obento 2. Hotdog, onigiri with nori and furikake, carrots, rasberries<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7b07QEzd_Q8/UfgifQP9wQI/AAAAAAAAAr8/D3Ycof66yc0/s1600/2012-09-03+21.30.47.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7b07QEzd_Q8/UfgifQP9wQI/AAAAAAAAAr8/D3Ycof66yc0/s320/2012-09-03+21.30.47.jpg" /></a><br />Obento 3. Family Obento: Coldcut sandwiches, apple slices, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, carrotsUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-66321645631228918122013-07-15T08:30:00.001-07:002013-07-15T09:00:07.396-07:00First day of Japanese Summer Camp<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tEULNa5gfww/UeQTOJh9JvI/AAAAAAAAAp8/V9oc1PPnfUs/s1600/2013-07-15+08.29.34.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tEULNa5gfww/UeQTOJh9JvI/AAAAAAAAAp8/V9oc1PPnfUs/s320/2013-07-15+08.29.34.jpg" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wMGx2TOLknI/UeQTOohREAI/AAAAAAAAAqE/BuFvlotJcv4/s1600/2013-07-15+08.31.48.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wMGx2TOLknI/UeQTOohREAI/AAAAAAAAAqE/BuFvlotJcv4/s320/2013-07-15+08.31.48.jpg" /></a><br>
It's the first day of Japanese summer camp here in Michigan, and both my six-year-old daughter and three-year-old daughter are old enough to go this year. It's a full-immersion environment, so I am eager to see how my youngest one enjoys it and makes friends. <br><br>
Of course, I wanted to make them a cute obento (お弁当) for their first day. This is plain rice (ごはん) with nori (のり) "waves," fish-shaped omelet (たまごやき), broccoli (ブロッコリ), clementines (みかん), and grapes (ぶどう). A typical kids' lunch in Japan with five colors. Healthy and easy to make ... IF you have a rice cooker. I used a food coloring marker for the fish eyes and smile, which I'm sure will bleed and look terrible by lunch time. It's better to use a hole punch and nori to make little details.<br><br>
I buy the obento boxes (お弁当ばこ) from <a href="http://www.jlist.com/category/141">www.jlist.org</a>. They have a great selection of boxes, much better than our local Japanese store, and good prices as well. The heart one is <a href="http://www.jlist.com/product/CHP221">here</a>, but I can't find the other one anymore. Since the items are shipped from Japan, you do have to pay international shipping, but it's not that bad. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-68302525208255852322013-06-10T01:00:00.002-07:002013-06-10T01:19:40.560-07:00Reading Japanese Is Easier Than English<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QKouo1fzAxs/UbTNg1PrP3I/AAAAAAAAApA/ir2za4N2HHI/s1600/IMAG1823.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QKouo1fzAxs/UbTNg1PrP3I/AAAAAAAAApA/ir2za4N2HHI/s320/IMAG1823.jpg" /></a><br><br>"Japanese is easier to read," says my five-year-old daughter reading her Nontan ノンタン library book. And it is!
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English has crazy spelling rules that can be broken (ex: sight, site, cite, psyte, seit ... ok, i made up the last two), hundreds of sight words to memorize, and lots of frustration for beginning readers before they can read a book on their own. The Japanese language has a hiragana alphabet chart to memorize. Once you do that, you can read a children's book. By yourself! Yes, it gets more complicated than that afterwards, but for beginners learning to read in Japanese is straightfoward. If you take the letter "su" す and add the letter "shi" し, you get sushi すし. The names of the letters are the same as their sounds. Spelling is a breeze. None of this "H says hhhhh. T says tttt. S says sss" nonsense. In fact, there are no such things as spelling bees in Japan because it would sound like this: Spell the word "sushi." "Hmm, SU, SHI ... sushi." Boring.
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If you don't yet have a hiragana chart, here are some cute ones from hiragana mama's blog. Start memorizing!
<a href="http://hiraganamama.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/hiragana-charts/" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://hiraganamama.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/aiueo.gif" /></a> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-62181422189166968602013-06-04T11:22:00.001-07:002013-06-04T14:12:20.529-07:00Sports Day (運動会) with 98% parent attendance!Parents outnumbered the students for our recent Sports Day, which is called Undokai (運動会) in Japanese. In Japan, this is a huge event, so of course at our school it is as well. All but two students in our school of nearly 100 students had their parents there to watch them participate in different sporting events. Many kids had both parents and there were a few grandparents in attendance as well. Our elementary school is a dual-immersion bilingual Japanese-English school with roughly half Japanese families and half American families. Thus, the Undokai events included competitions from both cultures.
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Here are pictures of the three-legged race, a typical American game, as well as the たまいれ (tamaire), a Japanese beanbag toss game in which two teachers hold laundry baskets or something on their heads and two teams (white and red teams) try to get as many beanbags of their team's color as possible into the baskets before the time is up. The whole crowd joins together to count the beanbags at the end ("ichi...ni...san..."). The school had us parents do several tug of war games against the other parents and a crazy balloon pop race in which we raced to sit on balloons and pop them. We were exhausted by the end, but it was lots of fun.
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JETqilVnPYs/Ua4vVL-JmrI/AAAAAAAAAoo/Ngh07frsa5Q/s1600/IMG_1879.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JETqilVnPYs/Ua4vVL-JmrI/AAAAAAAAAoo/Ngh07frsa5Q/s320/IMG_1879.JPG" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LMlY1yQ9j54/Ua4vcwzGDvI/AAAAAAAAAow/H4HerBBEEms/s1600/IMG_1915.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LMlY1yQ9j54/Ua4vcwzGDvI/AAAAAAAAAow/H4HerBBEEms/s320/IMG_1915.JPG" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-84419123901144269062013-05-30T00:00:00.000-07:002013-08-17T06:28:16.208-07:00No Nestle Quik for Lunch<img alt="" src="http://media.cygnus.com/files/cygnus/image/VMW/2009/OCT/300x300/itoenoiochabottledgreentea_10110558.png">One time my daughter came home from school without her Dora thermos. She had mistakenly put someone else's Dora thermos in her backpack. When I went to wash it, I noticed inside was mugicha, which is a kind of barley tea. It seems like such an adult drink to me, unsweetened barley tea, but here it was, in a Dora thermos for a three-year-old. The preschool, like schools in Japan, tells us to only send water or "ocha" おちゃ (any kind of Japanese tea) for the kids to drink with their lunch each day. Absolutely nothing sweet. No juice, no sweet tea, etc.<br><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-20859492765060975402013-05-06T12:50:00.000-07:002013-07-15T02:19:16.556-07:00Is It Possible to Make an English-Japanese Bilingual Yearbook?<a href="http://www.sotsuenalbum.com/wordpress/wp-content/themes/sotuen201103/img/pic_typea_l.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://www.sotsuenalbum.com/wordpress/wp-content/themes/sotuen201103/img/pic_typea_l.jpg" /></a>Since my daughter's school is very young, they have never had a yearbook before. So I've decided to head the yearbook committee. The problem is that none of the easy-to-use, print-on-demand online yearbook creation companies can handle Japanese characters. Why, you ask?
<blockquote>"(The multitude of characters in the Japanese language) cannot fit in the 256-character code space of 8-bit character encodings, requiring at least a 16-bit fixed width encoding or multi-byte variable-length encodings. "
(Wikipedia)</blockquote>
Or put more simply, when I type in Japanese on the yearbook layout software, nothing shows up. *sigh*
There are yearbook companies in Japan, like <a href="http://www.sotsuenalbum.com">sotsuenalbum.com</a>, that can easily handle Japanese characters, but I can't navigate the sites very well and the shipping would be crazy expensive. So I may just have to photoshop each and every name onto the pictures beforehand. Lots of work.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-70058089570374317492013-05-01T09:28:00.001-07:002013-05-01T09:28:31.175-07:00The Japanese Momotaro Story and Momotaro SongIt was a special day at my daughter's Japanese-English kindergarten. High schoolers came to perform the play "Momotaro" (Peach Boy), which is a popular kid's story in Japan. In the story, an old lady finds a little boy inside a peach. Crazy.<br><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CJOwHVvgR8A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br> She came home happily singing the Momotaro song, which I had never heard of before.<br><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pOcyqSeru2o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-21837989674065573472013-04-28T09:06:00.000-07:002013-06-10T01:18:07.202-07:00A few favorite Japanese kids' songs - with some listening practiceTon Ton Tomato-chan (Pow-Pow Little Tomato)<br>Listen for the use of と to mean "with," as well as very child-like pronunciation of あそぼう (let's play) and かくれんぼ (hide and seek).<br>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NdaaiT4fz0U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
Omocha No Cha-Cha-Cha (Toys Cha-Cha)<br>Listen for さよなら (goodbye) and こんにちは (hello).<br>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NY07jTpXxHs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
Anpanman No Okao (Anpanman's Face)<br>Listen for the use of the honorific お in the body parts. おめめ instead of め for eyes, おくち instead of くち for mouth, and おはな instead of はな for nose.<br>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UEhjkC0IhN8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
Inu No Omawarisan (Doggy Cop)<br>Listen for どこ (where) and ~ても form of verbs ('even when').<br>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BrqVkdGHJZs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
Donguri Koro Koro (Acorn Rolling) <br>Listen for いっしょう に あそびましょう (Let's play together).<br>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aRsKXLjE-ng" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
Genkotsu Yama No Tanuki-san (The Badger From Genkotsu Mountain<br>Listen for また あした (see you tomorrow).<br>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/w3nSuJtrBSc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-53998211146030440452013-04-22T14:33:00.000-07:002013-04-23T22:51:06.002-07:00First Graders Walk to School (Mostly) on Their Own<a href="http://www.komei.or.jp/km/kochi-yamane-takahiro/files/2012/04/00389-1.gif" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://www.komei.or.jp/km/kochi-yamane-takahiro/files/2012/04/00389-1.gif" /></a>My Japanese friend has decided to take her six-year-old son to Japan for a few weeks starting this month to experience first grade in a Japanese school. Her biggest worry is him walking to school without her. In Japan, most elementary school kids don't ride a school bus. They follow a sixth grader "hancho" (group leader) and walk in small groups to school, mostly on their own. And guess what, that is where we get the term "head hancho" in English.
<blockquote>Sometimes children living in the same neighborhood go to their school in a group. In places where there's a lot of traffic on the roads, parents and school employees take turns watching at the crosswalks to make sure the kids can cross safely. Children are taught to raise their hands to let car drivers see that they're crossing; sometimes they also get special flags to use at the crosswalks. And certain elementary schools have their younger pupils all wear the same sort of brightly colored hat when they're on their way to or from school to make it easier for drivers and others to see them. <br>From: <a href="http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/schools/q5.html">Web Japan</a></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-5649753732451685132013-04-19T22:55:00.000-07:002013-04-22T14:36:55.493-07:00American Flag Origami Even a Five Year Old Can DoMy daughter is now five and has been doing origami since she was three, so she is pretty decent at the easy ones. But I was surprised when she picked up this latest one I showed her after only being shown once. It's a 3D puffy heart. It's not that hard, but kindergarteners often get frustrated when the paper won't cooperate. My normally codependent five-year-old was surprisingly independent and motivated with this origami, which was neat to see.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1jSD5ffNBac" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-67225020661559529262013-02-09T15:12:00.000-08:002013-04-20T21:36:28.544-07:00Omochitsuki お持ちつき : Japanese for 'Let's Help Five-Year-Olds Pound Rice With a Giant Mallet' <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lLvqyduR_AY/UXMQ97u5NMI/AAAAAAAAAm4/wulHVU6tAFc/s1600/2013-02-04+mochitsuki.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lLvqyduR_AY/UXMQ97u5NMI/AAAAAAAAAm4/wulHVU6tAFc/s320/2013-02-04+mochitsuki.jpg" /></a>Every Japanese elementary school has a giant wooden mortar and a hugely heavy mallet for this fun activity called Omochitsuki おもちつき, which is translated as rice pounding. Omochi is cooked rice that is so banged up that it resembles dough, and my daughter says that's her favorite food. Yeah, I know ... did she even consider chocolate? This beginning-of-the-year activity is fun because everyone gets a turn at pounding the rice with the sledgehammer thing, regardless of age. And you end up with an edible product. Bonus! When I lived in Japan, my host family took me out to the grandma's town in the countryside where they cooked the rice in stacks of bamboo steamers over an open fire for the event. When it was done, the whole neighborhood took turns pounding the rice, but with two people doing it at the same time with some kind of rhythm. A little nerve-wracking, but it was fun.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-5364677039726825992011-09-25T19:37:00.001-07:002013-04-22T01:13:40.258-07:00FREE JAPAN FESTIVAL IN NOVI<p><img alt="" src="http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd43/images_miindia/Events/JBSD_JapanFestival_2011.jpg" width="235">The Japan Business Society of Detroit is hosting a Japan Festival on Sunday, October 2nd from 1-4pm at Novi High School (24062 Taft Road, Novi, MI). Hey, it's free of charge! The program will include: Cultural Performances, Workshops such as Tea Ceremony(茶道), Origami(折り紙), Calligraphy(書道), Traditional Games & Childrens’Attractions(縁日), and Japanese Food(日本食). </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-60944301771414455502011-09-17T21:34:00.000-07:002013-06-10T08:32:29.000-07:00Do Your Friends Have Piano Teeth?<a href="http://japanesepreschool.blogspot.com/2011/09/do-your-friends-have-piano-teeth.html" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://xn--28ja2d5d5oqflg5b.up.seesaa.net/image/dekowall3.jpg" width="300"><img alt="" src="http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KFDWK78GL._SS500_.jpg" width="150"></a><p>My daughter checked out one of the Dekoboko Friends (でこぼこフレンズ) books from her preschool's library. It's one of my favorite series(es?), and it's easy to read for a beginner. They have the craziest 12 characters, like the guy with piano teeth, an egg that gets really mad and cooks himself with the heat from his anger, and a chestnut who can't jump rope without tangling it on his huge nose. <br><br>If you don't happen to have a Japanese school to send your child to, try finding easy Japanese-language books such as this for reading with your child to expose them to more Japanese. Besides Dekoboko Friends, my suggestions include Anpanman (あんぱんまん is a character made out of pastry) and Nontan (ノンタン) is a selfish cat who reluctantly learns to share, etc). </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-73818958849459099542011-09-10T12:09:00.001-07:002013-08-17T22:30:14.094-07:00Respect for the Aged Day<img src="http://ryukyuheritagetextiles.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/obaachan_m-day.jpg" width="230"><p>In honor of "Respect for the Aged Day" (Sep 19 in Japan), my daughter's preschool is taking the kids to the post office to mail letters to their grandparents. They get to go up to the counter and buy a stamp and everything! That means at our house we are currently writing letters to her five grandparents, 2 grandmas (obaasan), 1 grandpa (ojiisan), and 2 great grandmas (hiiobaasan). I take dictation and my four-year-old daughter tells me what she wants to write. Here is a sample of what she wrote: "Dear Grandpa, I love you, and have a wonderful day. I love you very much. We went on an airplane. Love, Sheradyn." Have you written to your grandparents lately? Above is a picture of an American woman's gift to her 105-year-old grandmother. Wow! <br><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-80632765107909069882011-08-11T23:55:00.000-07:002013-08-17T22:29:20.688-07:00Sit Like a Rice Ball<img alt="" src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSllCFThIIBMVFNqehX6FiWDW39bamyhq8Qr7XGiS9xOMBK_AsN0A&t=1" /><p>"Mommy, you're supposed to do おにぎりすわり when sensei reads a book." This is what my daughter told me yesterday when she was pretending to be my sensei. The "suwari" means sit, and onigiri means ... onigiri. She showed me, and you're supposed to bend your knees so they make a triangle, like a typical onigiri shape. Cute! But my legs are pretty long, so it's a little uncomfortable. Oh well.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-3890153780950396032011-07-30T21:59:00.000-07:002013-04-22T01:20:29.330-07:00Finish your Hello Kitty obento!<a href=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IiYbA1k8bWo/TjTvJ5bWPWI/AAAAAAAAAb8/k4oVkJ5h70w/s1600/P1060418.JPG"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IiYbA1k8bWo/TjTvJ5bWPWI/AAAAAAAAAb8/k4oVkJ5h70w/s320/P1060418.JPG"></a>
<p>"Mommy, don't put so many edamame in my obento," my daughter has told me. "And don't put corn in it." What a micro-manager a four-year-old can be! Geez, can't she just leave it there if she doesn't want to eat it? Well, I found out that she can't.
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<br />A while back, I went to pick up my daughter early from preschool because she had a slight fever. When I arrived, I panicked a little because I could hear a faint cry from down the hallway. Was she so sick she was crying? Oh no! I was relieved to go in the room and see a DIFFERENT kid crying and my daughter perfectly ok, quietly laying down. So what was the crying about?
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<br />Two little boys had not finished their obento lunches and the teacher was cheerfully encouraging them to eat so they could go outside and play, and it was one of those boys who was quietly sobbing. Meanwhile, the rest of the class was already outside playing. So they sat, and sat, and whined, and ate tiny bites. But lo and behold, they did finish eventually! This whole school year my daughter has been coming home with completely eaten obentos, and I had been patting myself on the back thinking I'm such a great mom and culinary genius. But now I find out the teachers actually train the students to finish their lunches. Some days I am positive I gave her too much food, and now I feel so bad! But I'm so glad to know this because I can continue to pack healthy food for my daughter knowing it will never go to waste. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-14936584698237597812011-02-02T11:58:00.000-08:002013-06-10T01:20:12.667-07:00Snow Daruma?<img alt="" src="http://kaze.tea-nifty.com/note/images/080305-daruma2.jpg"><img alt="" src="http://img01.kitaguni.tv/usr/ch12811/20070218%E5%86%86%E5%B1%B1%E5%85%AC%E5%9C%92%E9%9B%AA%E3%81%A0%E3%82%8B%E3%81%BE.jpg"><br /><img alt="" src="http://www.emstudio.jp/free/data1014/images/main.gif"><p>ゆきあそび Yuki asobi means ... playing in the snow! The kids are doing lots of this lately, and I have to pack a special bag every week with snow gear just in case they go outside to play in the white stuff. And ゆきだるま yuki daruma means ... a snowman! ゆきだるまを つくりましょう! Let's make a snowman! I wondered why they just don't say "yuki hito" or something like that to mean snowman in Japanese. It's because the "daruma", that little round guy that gives you good luck on tests and stuff, is a similar shape to a ball of snow, so it made more sense to say yukidaruma. In Japan, if there is a hat it is usually a bucket or something, since there is no history of wearing "silk top hats" in Japan.<br> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-71245306822594369232011-01-13T13:20:00.000-08:002013-04-22T01:16:58.781-07:00Origami starts young (and simply)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.origami-instructions.com/images/christmas-tree/thumbnails/2-origami-christmas-tree.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://www.origami-instructions.com/images/christmas-tree/thumbnails/2-origami-christmas-tree.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ux09YT337So/TS9vFKfpi_I/AAAAAAAAAbI/8GQGkJMmsaQ/s1600/folding_origami_crane.gif"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 235px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ux09YT337So/TS9vFKfpi_I/AAAAAAAAAbI/8GQGkJMmsaQ/s400/folding_origami_crane.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561786199332981746" border="0" /></a>It's no crane (see instructions below), but this origami Christmas tree, which consists of one careful fold, is actually pretty tricky for these three years olds! I am impressed that Japanese preschools start kids doing origami this early in life!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-87510170437782723562011-01-09T12:46:00.000-08:002011-01-12T12:47:30.544-08:00Udon - yummy!<p>This month, I'm quite jealous. The preschoolers will be donning their aprons and cooking yummy Japanese udon at school. One goal for Japanese preschools is to help kids "learn to enjoy a variety of foods," so they cook about twice a month. Udon is popular in Japan in the winter because it is hot and "warms you to the core." It's made of fat wheat noodles and a fish stock soup, then you top it with things like fish cake (the pink swirly things), seaweed, and fried tofu. Or you can top it with tempura - my favorite! To eat it effectively with chopsticks, get your mouth close-ish to the bowl, grab some noodles with your chopsticks, and put them in your mouth, slurping as you go. You'll have the udon hanging from your mouth as you slurp, which is totally correct. My grandma would have my hide if I slurped and had stuff hanging out of my mouth during dinner, but if it's udon it's OK!! Yay!! <br><br /> <img alt="" src="http://www.cybergarden.net/gourmet/images5/DSC48203.JPG" width="367">><img alt="" src="http://lawrence.tokyobookmark.jp/usr/lawrence/daikitsune02.JPG" width="204"></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788179280355967473.post-47447148664497044252010-12-12T12:45:00.000-08:002013-08-17T22:27:52.612-07:00Learning a Million Japanese Kids' Songs<p> <a href="http://japanesepreschool.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-few-favorite-japanese-kids-songs.html">A few of my favorite Japanese kids songs are posted here.</a></p><p>In my daughter's backpack each week is a summary of what the children did, learned, and enjoyed that week. There are always lyrics of two or three new songs they learned that week. Since school started, that's added up to about 35 songs so far! I thought I would learn all of them, too, by looking them up on youtube or whatever, but it's just overwhelming. All preschool teachers in Japan can play the piano, and every preschool has a piano or organ used frequently throughout each day. Songs are sung throughout the day, and the kids practice special songs for special events that parents attend, like the Autumn Festival, Halloween Party, and the upcoming Christmas Party (Tuesday). My daughter is constantly singing songs like the ones used in your Japanese course. Her favorite is "ookina kuri no ki no shita de," which she pronounces completely wrong after the first line. Very cute! <br><br /> <img alt="" src="http://free.gree.jp/ios/special/images/standard/001/08.jpg"></p>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0