Birthday Lunch at Kawashimo

Each month Claire's yochien has a special "birthday lunch" for the kids as well as a program for all of the kids of that birth month. Audrey, Olivia, Gigi and I were able to go.

First they brought them up and sung to them in Japanese.

Then they had the Moms come up and we sang more Japanese songs.

This was followed by a demonstration of a very elaborate clapping song that ended with "Rock Paper Scissors."

Then all of the kids came up and got a partner and had a Rock Paper Scissors "last kid standing" contest!

Whenever Claire would sit down, Gigi would go over and hug her. :)

Claire didn't mind a bit! :)

Happy Yochien Birthday Lunch Claire!!!!

Yochien Lunch Menu

At the beginning of the school year, Ai Sensei asked us at the bus stop if Claire would like to start having Japanese lunch on Mondays and Wednesdays and a sandwich and milk on Fridays. I said yes, but I wanted to hear how she liked it after the first week and then again, to make sure she liked it.

Sensei told me that she ate very well and I asked Claire and she said she liked it. One day she came home and told me, "MOMMY! GUESS WHAT?!?! There was a FISH in my lunch today!" But she didn't seem to mind and I ask her every Monday and Wednesday and she says she likes her lunch.

So spring forward to this month when I notice the menu in her handouts in her backpack



but I couldn't exactly read it.



So I asked Mick to take it to his Saint of a secretary, Miss Nika-san and she translated it for us.

Claire Bear will be the most Japanese of us when we leave here, that's for sure! Speech, experience and expanded taste buds!

Claire's Entrance Ceremony - April 2011

The Japanese school year begins in April, not August or September, and goes through most of the summer, taking August off.  The opening ceremony is a BIG deal and the Japanese knew this and dressed to the nines for it. It was funny to see the Americans (save our friend Charlie, married to the fabulous Harumi, who was in his Sunday best) in regular clothes! Gaijins!!!!

First we gathered in the playground area for a few songs.



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I like this picture because you can pick out the American in the background! :)  (Next year we'll know to dress up!)

Then we went inside their classroom where they took roll

Patiently waiting her turn!

Hi Mommy!!!

Here she is raising her hand and saying "Hai!" (Japanese for "Yes")!

 I'm so proud of our Claire Bear!



She can recognize her name in Hiragana!

We ended with a class picture with the Moms.



Gigi wouldn't let me go without her!

It's going to be a great year!

Last Day of Tamago Class

The Japanese school year ends in March, takes a few weeks for spring break and then starts up again in April. We absolutely loved Claire's first year of yochien and will miss Ai Sensei as her teacher!

Ai means "love" in Japanese and I told Ai that "I" (pointing to myself)  "Ai" (making a heart in the air with my fingers) "Ai" (pointing to her). :) 

It was a small, happy class and Claire made great friends!

Such a funny picture with Claire in her classic "Hook 'em Horns/Peace sign" pose and Ai Sensei's peace sign looking like bunny ears on Ryu.  :)

Claire's two best buds were Emmalie, as the only girl, and Ryu, just because he's so funny!

Claire learned so much and I'm so proud of how she adapted to her immersion into her fabulous Japanese school. She learned routines and songs and played and did art projects and crafts galore and then played some more....and learned to change her shoes over and over again!!!!

I love you Claire-chan!!!!!

Kawashimo Nicole from the early 80's

I "met" someone via my family blog yesterday. She commented on one of the Yochien postings,

So glad you posted this. I am 30 years old and live in California. I went to this school when I was your daughter's age. Unfortunately, I lived in Japan for only 2 1/2 years. I have been blessed with a trip back to Japan this year and was trying to locate this yochien. I have had vivid memories of my time at this school, but have few pictures to really solidify those memories. I was amazed at the pictures; exactly as I remembered! I will be visiting March 31-April 10th. Hope your daughter enjoys it as much as I did.

I sent her an e-mail saying I'd love to meet up with her and arrange a visit to the Yochien and she sent me this picture of her class. She is the little girl in the red outfit! :)

The uniforms were just switched to the current ones Claire wears a few years ago. I think they had these for a long time! They also still have the safety pin with the cute tag with the kid's name on it. I just forget to pin it on Claire.

How neat to connect!  

Thanks for writing Nicole! ☺

Rehearsal for Music Festival (Happyokai)

This morning, all of the parents from the Tamago class were invited to a rehearsal for Kawashimo's Music Festival. It is a rather large production, where the kids need to arrive by 9:00, they perform for a few hours, take a break (bring your own) for lunch and then resume performing until around 2:00, so they wanted to make sure us parents were prepared for all of our tasks.

(Saint) Sensei Ai prepared an extensive handout for us on what to do and what costumes to wear, etc.

I was very glad that my Mom was able to come to this event and will also be here for the Festival on Sunday!

Gigi is happy Grandma is here too! ☺

Aren't my eyes pretty? And that's chocolate milk on the right side of my face! ☺

There are four songs and they are really long. Sensei Ai must practice with them all of the time because all of the kids did really well!

The other little girl in Claire's class is gone right now, so Claire had the starring role in one of the songs. She did great!

This is Claire and Ko-chan. His parents seem very sweet.

This is where the boys come out and then Claire comes back and they chase after each other.

They got her!

Repetitive, I know, but I love the skip in her step here!

Claire was WAY more involved in the singing and dancing than she has been the last few times, but she still took the time to wave a few times!

And to make funny faces at her sister!

This song was in English. "The Colors of the Rainbow."

 One of the more experienced Moms told me that this is her favorite thing the Yochien does and while long and cold (no heat in the gym), the time passes quickly and it is very enjoyable. We'll tell you all about it after Sunday!

My Little Yochien Mushroom

Yesterday morning Claire was very sad before she got on the bus because she wanted to wear her skirt and we couldn't find it. I hate when she gets on the bus sad (although Sensei Ai tells me that she turns the tears off really, really quickly), so when I found the skirt, I ran it into her.

I walked in and the Tamago (egg...the little kids...I believe the next class up is chickens) class were in their costumes for the upcoming music festival!

The hats! The ties! But oh! The shorts! They're like men's tighty whities, almost! ☺

That little blonde boy always smiles like that. Cracks me and Mick up! Emmaly, Claire's bud, is up north at the bigger Navy base with her family because her Mom is giving birth soon, so it looks like Claire is the only girl. Story of her school life! It doesn't faze our little Princess Tomboy though!

There is an official dress rehearsal on Monday and the music festival itself is the following Sunday. 

So excited my Mom will be here for it! ☺

All She's Missing is the Gumbrella

Claire has her own personal style and it's summed up well in this picture!

Frilly dress up dress?  Check.  Princess jewelry?  Check.  Legwarmers?  Check.  Sparkly shoes?  Check. (Claire, they're on the wrong feet.  "That's okay!")  Oh and it's cold out so Mommy and Daddy are making me wear a coat, under protest.  Reluctant check. 

Grandma and Grandpa sent a Princess "Gumbrella," so now she has two to choose from each and every time she walks out the door.  

She is our Japanese girl!  ☺

Sankanbi - Kawashimo Yochien

Today parents were invited to Kawashimo Yochien for Sankanbi, which is an official "visitation" day.  It was great to be able to get a glimpse into our little Claire Bear's day.  It was amazing on so many small and big levels.  You better get comfortable...I have too much to tell for this to be short and sweet!

I got there a few minutes late and the kids were singing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" in Japanese.  Or rather, Sensei Ai was singing while playing the piano and the kids stood on their designated squares.

We got there a few minutes late.  Claire was up in the middle of the night, for some reason, so I let her sleep in and miss the bus and brought her with me at 9:30....well....9:35.  ;-)  Claire went right over to her square and didn't sing.  But she has the waving and funny faces DOWN!

Then they sang "ABC's" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."  And continued making funny faces.  And waving.

Then they sat down for a game of Christmas Bingo!

Sensei Ai is such an awesome teacher.  Her crafts are amazing, she was great at the piano and she prepares so much for the kids!  She passed out a Bingo sheet for each child and it already had that child's name on it.  I'm sure she had her A+++ game on for us, but she's A+++ always in my eyes!

Whenever Claire had a match, she wanted to tell Mick, Sensei or me.  ☺

Then it was time for an art project. 

What I thought was really interesting here is how there was a line that showed the kids how to cut up and begin to cut out the shapes for decorating the woman's breast, I mean, the Santa face. 

I know learning to use scissors is a big skill that the kids learn in preschool.  I went over to help Claire's friend, Emmaly, and Mick went to help Claire.  Emmaly didn't mind me helping her stay on the lines, but Claire, who is fiercely independent, wanted to do it herself.

They both were concentrating very hard with their tongues sticking out.  :)

Sensei Ai brought out the kids' craft supplies.  What Claire is sticking her finger in is her glue bowl.  No Elmer's containers to get all dried up at this preschool!

Whew!  It doesn't look like a breast anymore!  :)  Cute Santa hat!

I walked around the room and admired the art and other stuff.

This is where Claire's work is displayed.  I think the top bird is awesome for a three year old, coloring different parts of the bird different colors.  My girls get their artistic ability from the Wagoner side....it's certainly not from me!

There was one of these posterboards for every month, beginning in April, which is the beginning of the school year in Japan.  Claire is in the top right corner of this one because that's the month she started.  They were a lot of pictures that we have at home, but it was fun to see the captions (short English, longer explanations in Japanese) for the activities.  One was "Plant onion seedling."

This Sensei made for the kids' craft fair that we missed.  I couldn't get enough of this structure!  It is made almost entirely of milk cartons!  The awning was brown corrugated cardboard, but I think the rest of it was paper mache'ed milk cartons! 

Mick says that they must send the Senseis to the United States to get a Masters in Crafts from Michael's!  It was soooooo cool and so sturdy! 

When the kids went outside, I asked Claire to stay back and get a picture in the "playhouse" (as she calls it), she said, "Sure!" and sat down to take off her indoor shoes before she went on the square of carpet.  I am SO IMPRESSED by the discipline and learning of routines here!

Did I say "discipline?"  Well.......she's got the routine down, anyway!  ☺

On our way outside I took off my indoor shoes that the Yochien has by the door for the adults and couldn't resist these two pictures. 

At the Halloween party, all of the adults just took off their shoes and left them all over the floor.  A little too much chaos for Kawashimo, apparently. 

I mean, seriously!  These are regular plastic bags, folded up nicely, origami style.  Unbelievable the detail that goes on here!!!!!  ☺

We went outside and I was the only lame-o parent who put a coat on my kid. 

Claire went right to it!  Seems they have a routine outdoors too.  They work around the playground. 

The fun slides and bridge were first!

And then over to the swings!

And then Ryu came over and gave Claire a ride on the tricycle!

Right after I snapped this I heard Ryu say, "You're too heavy, Claire!"

So they switched places!

We love Ryu!  ☺  This picture reminds me of the scene in the movie "Elf" where Buddy is giving Papa Elf a ride on the tricycle.  "SLOW DOWN BUDDY!"  ☺

  Then they went over in a corner of the playground that I hadn't even noticed before.  

It was a beautiful "sandbox" area under this pretty pergola!

I had seen pictures of Claire in the sand, I actually thought it was dirt, but didn't know where it was.  The kids spent the longest time here.  They really seemed to love it!

Mick and I actually stood back and watched this and discussed perhaps keeping Claire here for kindergarten.  It was just such an impressive day and she's so happy there!  She's only three so we have another year and a half to debate it.  It wasn't on the table before today though!

Then all of the classes came out and they performed a few songs for us. 

This was the first time Mick got to see Claire's waving/not singing in action as he missed the beginning of the day here as well as Sports Day and the Halloween Party.

This was the first time I saw her being a teense naughty and turning around and clowning it up with Emmaly.  Perhaps Kawashimo won't want her for kindergarten?!?  ;-)

And then the kids took off, out of the play yard gate and started running!  I asked Miki, Ryu's Mom what was going on and she said it's called "Marathon" and the kids run around the loop very fast!  The bigger kids do two laps while the red hats just do one. 

Claire came home the other day with a few bonks on her face and she told me she fell...  I figured out today that it was during "marathon."  :(  Good exercise for the kids though!

At the end of the run, Claire and her class ran right inside, without a goodbye to the parents.  They were just following routine!   Sensei Ai didn't even tell them to go in.  She was out in the playground talking with a parent.  No trying to sneak another ride down the slide, no clowning around....I went in and peeked at them and Claire was just stepping out of her bathroom shoes, just having gone to the bathroom, and she waved to me and went into her class.  So let me beat this into the ground.....my 3 year old, without instruction or adult supervision, can go for a run, voluntarily go inside, take off her outdoor shoes, put on her indoor shoes, go to the bathroom (changing out of her outdoor shoes and into the bathroom shoes) and then go into her classroom and wait quietly for her teacher....without instruction?  And she intentionally poured chocolate milk on the floor a few nights ago at home while looking at me straight in the eye????????? 

Forget Claire going to kindergarten there....can I come and be trained on how to be a good teacher and parent?????????

As always, THANK YOU KAWASHIMO!