11
Jan
Kai’s School - Takanawa Yochien (Kindergarten)
Topic: Japan 2007, Kai
Kai in his school uniform, ready for his first day of school at Takanawa Yochien
Kai started school on Tuesday. This was the day we’ve been worried about for months, as we had no idea how he’d react to such a different environment, where he didn’t even speak the language.
The night before he was bouncing off the walls with excitement. It turns out he loved his first day, and he’s loved every day since. He says he doesn’t mind that he can’t understand what the teacher says most of the time. Between miming and the little bit of English the teacher speaks, they seem to work things out. Also, there’s another American boy in the class, who started in December, so Kai has someone he can speak English with.
While Japanese schools in general are more rigorous than US schools, this isn’t the case with kindergarten. It’s mostly arts & crafts and playtime, and not much reading or math. Kai seems quite happy to not have to work as hard as he did at his school at home.
In one respect, however, the school is more rigorous, but it’s a burden that primarily falls on the parents. We were given a 16 page manual before Kai started, outlining a multitude of rules and expectations. From an American perspective, it’s the kind of thing you’d expect from a 19th century boarding school, not a current day public school. For example, for lunch he’s expected to bring a napkin of a very specific size with a ring in the corner, a cup of a particular shape and color, another sippy cup containing water but no straw of any kind, and so on. The only thing we’re not going along with is the expectation that he wear little gray shorts in the dead of winter. The teacher says it’ll toughen him up. Maria says it’s “a throwback to the old British tradition (i.e., making kids miserable).”
Kai is already holding Maria to the Japanese “supermom” standard - read this hilarious article to see what I’m talking about. After seeing how expertly prepared the other kids’ bento lunches were, Kai inspected Maria’s work the next morning, to see if it compared favorably. Fortunately, Maria passed 
Kai’s teacher is going to make a “home visit” to visit our apartment next week, which is something the teacher does with all the parents. Privacy expectations are also something that’s quite different in Japan.
Unfortunately, our neighborhood kindergarten was full, so he’s attending a school that’s about a 30 minute walk away, or about 20 minutes on buses (two different buses are involved, with a bit of a walk between them). So far the weather’s been good - I don’t look forward to that journey with Kai and Eidan on a day when it’s cold and rainy.
Kai is registered already for 1st grade, which starts in April, and fortunately that school is across the street from us (the Japanese go to school year-round, and the school year starts in April).
August 4th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
“The teacher says it?ll toughen him up.”
I’m sorry to pop their bubbles… but wearing shorts in the winter does not toughen anyone up - sure, the kids will get used it… but their bones are already in the primary step to arthritis. Good luck with “toughening up”
You can totally tell it’s just an excuse. Even most boarding school kids in Britain don’t do that anymore (from personal experience). And those who still do are expected to wear strong wool stockings that will protect their fragile bones. The Japanese schools just want to look pretty.