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Saturday Japanese Class News

December 2008

1: Class I
2: Class II
3: Class III
4: JFL
5: Lower Grade Class
6: Middle Grade Class
7: Higher Grade Class
8: Middle School Class

Class I

We will finish covering Ha line in December. At the same time, children are practicing writing their names. Compared to the earlier in the semester, the children have improved tremendously!
The hiragana-book production, which we started after completion of the Ta line study, has brought many smiles to the children's faces. The children were curious and interested in the whole process of book making! We will continue with book making, and add Na line and Ha line this month.
Winter break will start soon. Please be sure to speak Japanese at home. We look forward to seeing all the children again in the new semester. Enjoy your winter vacation!
(Ms. Nakatake)

Class II

Those children who were shy in the beginning of the semester are now comfortable with the environment and speak up in the classroom.
This month we are learning describing words. As the children learn to add more description, our goal is to have the children be able to write sentences with more details!
As we develop more of the describing words, we are introducing more opposite word pairs as well.
One of the goals is to increase vocabulary by incorporating the use of picture books, songs and etc.
(Ms. Ozeki)

Class III

This new class which started at the end of September is coming to the end of the semester already!
There still are many children who can not write Hiragana without reference, but they are working diligently with their hiragana chart in hand.
As we practice the short sentences, we are introducing katakana as well; However, this is no easy task for the children.
Students are enjoying learning through the experiments & activities such as origami, yajirobei and magnet games.
(Ms. Umehata)

JFL

I am happy to report the success of the annual candy house event, in which we participated for the first time. For JFL students, it was an excellent experience to interact with other students of the same age group, and be exposed to their Japanese through the combined class. In November, Greeting & self introduction was the theme. It is challenging to speak clearly & loudly in Japanese. Especially for teenagers, speaking clearly & loudly is embarrassing sometimes.
We are also working on singing Japanese children's songs. Our goal is to have the students sing in Japanese to learn to speak & pronounce Japanese more naturally. In December, we are planning to recap all the topics from the fall semester.
(Ms. Yamada)

Lower Grade Class

Many of the parents think "my kids speak Japanese", but it is actually a difficult task for them to speak Japanese outside of their own family. The annual candy house event was an excellent opportunity to work on overcoming this difficulty. We thank you for all the help and support.
One of the reasons they feel more uncomfortable to speak Japanese outside of their family is the difficulty in understanding different vocabulary. They have no problem with the Japanese they have been using in their family since pre-kindergarten, but they still have difficulty in understanding new Japanese words. Children are very into learning kanji right now. Please ask what they learned in class this week, and please listen to what they have to say. There are not many class days in December, but the agenda is full with Calligraphy etc.
Please see handouts for details.
(Ms. Sakamoto)

Middle Grade Class

November started with a review of the annual candy house.
This was not only a "fun event", but also allowed us to interact and help children of other age groups. It also gave us an opportunity to learn Japanese through real-life experience. We thank you very much for all the support, such as donation of candies.
We returned to the study of "hungry planet" after the candy house. We first reviewed the names of typical foods, and then practiced categorizing the foods using the nutrition pyramid. We have started studying American and Japanese food customs using categorization of the foods above.
We will be busy trying to complete this with so few class days, on top of the end of semester work. Let's work hard the last month!
(Ms. Shrecker)

Higher Grade Class

We studied about nutrition through the "hungry planet" in November. The activity was to categorize foods into 3-color groups (Red, Yellow, Green), and to judge whether or not their meals that day had balanced nutrition, and identify what is missing (or too much).
We also discussed what is going on in other places of the world using the pictures in hungry planet (the week's worth of food photograph). Some countries have a very different life with no fish or meat. We also discussed why.
It is a great opportunity to speak Japanese during the winter break when you spend more time with your family. If you can use Japanese at home, please be sure to do so. Children often have difficulty with "Te, Ni, Wo, Wa(ha)", so please correct them if they make mistakes.
(Ms. Miyajima)

Middle School Class

We finished the annual candy house event. This event began when these children were in the 1st grade, and became a regular event for the Saturday Japanese Class in Kodomo No Ie.
This project is a fun Halloween event for the children, but it is actually a real-life-based learning experience where children take initiative to plan (with the aid of teachers), sell candies, and review the results. They learn the marketing process and Japanese descriptions and vocabulary used in that process. A learning event where all the children in the whole school participate is unique and this is the only one in the entire US to my knowledge. We thank you for your donation.
We will return to the study of Hungry planet after the candy house. The middle school class will analyze the relationships among average life span, obesity rate, and food culture in each country.
(Ms. Douglas)

Thank you: Ms. Bray-Ali, Ms. Kono

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