Parklife: Kindergarten park-safari in Iwatsuki

Peter Here,

As well as teaching in the 'peek-a-boo' English lessons at Lolipop Kindergarten on Friday the 19th, I was very lucky to be taken on a school trip with the 'nen-cho' (oldest year, 5-6yr olds) classes to Iwatsuki Koen (Park).

The park was beautiful, with a zig-zag red bridge across a large pond. If there was a stereotypical image in my mind of how countryside Japan would look, it would be this.




We trekked through the narrow lanes, into a clearing and then played 'exploring' through bamboo thickets and hide-and-seek. It was brilliant, as it took me right back to my Scouting days, and gave me a chance to quiz the kids on what the words for trees, leaves, animals and such were in English, without reaching for my flashcards. Then they were asking me what other objects were too in Japanese. Some of them were even asking me without prompting! Between us we learned both English and Japanese for Pebble (小石, Koishi- which literally means 'little stone, or Ishi 石), Cedar (杉材, Sugi-zai), Leaf, (葉っぱ , Happa), Spider (蜘蛛, Kumo) and lots of others.

Back to the Work Routine

Pete here,

September was the beginning of the Autumn term for schools, and a welcome return to my routine after the often chaotic pace of the Summer 'Holiday'. The return to the Lolipop Kindergarten on Friday in particular was punctuated by being immediately set upon by the kids, who must've missed their walking-climbing frame during the break. Touching!

My weekly schedule has an essential structure, with some extra lessons/days in school happening periodically.

MONDAY
Morning: Shirayuri Kindergarten
I go with the bus to greet the kids in English as they board, then in school I do three 15-20 minute lessons for the different classes. Usually this is singing, basic words and actions (head/shoulders/knees/toes etc.), however up until the middle of October I will be helping them prepare for their Sports Festival (by dancing and marching like a lunatic, mostly)

Afternoon: Shiramizu English Class
I teach one hour at the Shiramizu English Club, in the hut next to the dojo. Most of the kids at the club have had at least one previous Intern teach them, so their English is much more advanced than at the kindergarten, or with other kids their age. The songs are more complicated, and they get to use more constructed sentences, and even ask questions!

Evening: Shiramizu English Class
I teach Setsuko, our adult English Student and #1 Intern supporter throughout the years. Recently I have also taught her some German!

TUESDAY
Morning: Shirayuri Kindergarten
This is the same as Monday. Sometimes Arakawa Sensei also comes to the school and teaches the kids 30 minutes of Karate per class, and I act as assistant- very very fun!

Afternoon: Shiramizu English Classes
Tuesdays I teach 3 classes, each with different age and abilities. It certainly keeps your brain active trying to come up with ways to teach! These classes run right up until Karate training in the evening.

Evening: Training
The first Adult training session of the week.

WEDNESDAY
Morning: Training
Training starts at 10:30 so there's plenty of time to get up and ready for the day. This session is usually slower paced than the evening sessions and more care is taken to explain the techniques. This of course changes when a tournament is approaching, or if the kids are on holiday. This training is almost always followed by lunch together; a very important part of the social calendar!

Afternoon: Shiramizu English Class
This one hour class is quite late in the afternoon, so I get a few hours after lunch to prepare and plan for the rest of the day.

Evening: Adult Conversation Class
This is a new one for the Autumn- a weekly hour-long session with over 20 adults! This was quite scary at first, but now after the third lesson I'm getting into the swing of it, with some 'genki' banter as well! this is only for ten weeks, so the course will finish in November.

THURSDAY:
All Day: I.C.E, Nerima
I.C.E. is a private School that provides, amongst other things, english conversation classes. I teach 5 lessons to kids between 6 and 12 and one Adult. This is a great job as the location means i can catch a bit of the Tokyo atmosphere during lunch, and after work. I often spend just a little longer than usual getting home as I stop in a noodle bar for some food and check out Ikebukuro or Shibuya.

FRIDAY:
Morning-early Afternoon: Lollipop Kindergarten
Possibly my favourite job! I get picked up by the School Bus at Himemiya Train Station and essentially get to play with the kids until lunchtime, then afterwards take 15-20 minute lessons. These days are almost always fun, and the kids are adorable here. Sometimes they have special activities arranged, like painting and the teachers and I hang them outside to dry, making a beautiful marquee.



Afternoon: Shirayuri English Club
For two hours I teach kids from 3 to 6 years old. This is mainly things that I cover in the lessons earlier in the week, but in more detail. Sometimes the very young kids get really tired so it can be a little tricky to get them motivated, but usually a game or song wakes them up a little! The older kids are amazingly switched on though, so it's great to teach them.

Evening: Karate, support and Training
After Shirayuri I get an hour or so to eat and unwind, then I help Arakawa sensei with his evening elementary class. This involves correcting stances, footwork and explaining things when I can!! After this class is the junior High School class and I train with them, they're certainly good enough to put me to shame so I get what I can from them.

WEEKEND:
I only have one commitment, and that's Adult training on Saturday evenings. Usually though, I do find that I've agreed to be part of some event or other, so I'm never kicking my heels and it's great to feel like I'm really part of something. However, I do use some of this time to do the more mundane tasks like shopping and washing. Some things never change no matter where in the world you are!

Lolly Pop Kindergarten

Carl here...

I'm fully aware that the last few posts (excluding the intern interviews) on here have been all about sightseeing. I thought that I should write a post about work, since when not training, eating chocolate, sleeping, reading the mammoth 'Wheel of Time' series (I'm onto book 11 if you were wondering!), climbing mountains and generally having a great time, I do occasionally have to work... OK, not occasionally actually. I work Monday to Saturday and my schedule is crazy busy, even if I do say so myself...

Anyway...

I landed a job at the Lolly Pop Kindergarten in Iwatsuki in October last year, where I now work every Friday morning. It's really a dream job, all the teachers are really cute... I mean, nice... really nice people... the kids are great, the pay is very good and they even feed me! What more could you ask for?


This is me working hard!

My usual routine is this:

09:30
I get picked up at Kita Kasukabe Train Station

10:00 - 11:45 ish
I have a great time with the kids, building sand castles, playing football, playing Sumo with the kids (no really!) etc...

11:45 - 12:45
I help the teachers serve the lunch to the kids. This is actually pretty impressive, the kindergarten cater for approx 300 people everyday, the foods always delicious and totally healthy and it's all done like clockwork.

12:45-13:45
Teaching, yes I do actually do some proper work too. My hour is usually broken down into 3x 20 minute slots for 3 different classes. The classes are soooooo easy to teach because the kids and teachers are so enthusiastic...

After finishing work here, I get dropped off at Toyoharu Train Station on the Tobu Noda Line. I catch the train to Omiya and chill out for an hour or so before I catch the 15:30 new shuttle to Yoshinohara for my second job of the day.

The past two weeks however, have been a little different... Apparently the principle decided that I'd been working too hard so I should go with the kids on their next field trip. And this is what we did:



...we went to a nearby farm... and were met by a local farmer and a Cable TV Crew!



...were given a short talk about 'chicks'



...we then handed out the animals to the kids... with mixed reactions...



...uncertainty



...indifference




...fear(?)



...though most of the kids had a great time...



After stopping a few of the poor animals from getting squashed to death by over-zealous kids, and 'saving' a few birds from their occasional bids for freedom, the kids were all instructed to turn around and face the rice field and release the birds en-masse...





All that was left was the interviews with the teachers...


This is the kids bullying a shy kindergarten teacher into giving a TV interview...

...and the kids for the evening news...



After the birds had been set free, and the interviews finised, we loaded up the kids and headed to a local supermarket where we were all treated to small ice cream and chocolate snacks. Then it was back to the kindergarten for lunch and my short teaching stint.



The following week was just as good... I went on a very short bus trip to the local temple with the kindergarten 4 year olds, which is around the corner from the kindergarten.



We split the kids into two groups, the first group went to see the small garden and pond and the second went to the temple.





Camera shy... indeed!


Pose!

It was a very sunny, but very windy day and more than a few of the kids caps were teken away by the wind. After looking around the temple and garden the kids went hunting for acorns and seeds for the craft classes back at the kindergarten.



Then it was back to the kindergarten for lunch.

See, as my readers will no doubt agree, I DO work sometimes....!