kodomo No Ie

KNI Newsletter

February 2010

1: Goals for this month
2: Let's Sing! Songs of the Month
3: Invitation of Girls’ Day event
4: Top 3 Favorite books chosen by leading teachers:
5: Dear Parents,
6: January donations


It is so pretty to see the mountain range is fully covered with snow. Kids after kids come to us to report “There is snow on the mountain!” as soon as they arrive at KNI. The end of January was very cold and rainy… I am glad to see the sun shows her face to us. We have some kids with a cold here and there. Please take good care of yourself, since the cold weather will most likely continue for a little while. Let’s chase away any sickness through the roasted soybeans throwing event (‘Mame-Maki’).

Goals for this month

- Get accustomed to the traditional ‘Setsubun’ event, by wearing a ogre (=‘Oni’) mask you made, throwing roasted soybeans to chase away the evils in your mind (=’Mame-Maki’), and listening stories about history of the event.
- Enjoy playing Ogre & singing songs.
- Mid Age Classes: Practice jump roping using a jump-rope chart
- Older Age Class: Challenge different tasks, trying to complete the ‘Achievement Chart (=’Gambari-Hyo’)’ (Jump rope, pole climbing, one-leg hopping, ladder climbing, tying a knot, using chopsticks, finger-knitting, top spinning, etc.)
- Get accustomed to and enjoy the Girls’ Day event (=‘Hina-Matsuri’), through making special craft dolls for the event
- Willing to do perform good habits of personal hygiene particularly important during winter (gargle, washing hands, etc.)



Let's Sing! Songs of the Month


Renge - Shaberu de hoi (Fun with Shoveling)

Momo - Kon Kon Kushan no Uta (Song about Coughing & Sneezing)

Sumire - Tsubomi (A Song about a bud)

Kiku - Pachiriko Pachirin Nandaro-na (What is the sound Pachiriko Pachirin?)

Ume - Harukaze-san to Cha-cha-cha (Cha-cha-cha with Spring Breeze)

Sakura - Do Re Mi no Uta (Do Re Mi)

All classes - Ureshii Hina-Matsuri (Happy Girls’ Day)

Copies of above songs are placed next to the attendance sheet. Please take one home and enjoy it with the whole family.


Invitation of Girls’ Day event


Date: February 28, 2010 (Sun) 1:00-1:30pm 2:00-2:30pm (2 performances)

Location: Huntington Library Japanese Garden

This is an annual performance of a musical play by Sakura-class. Please join us with your friend and family.


Top 3 Favorite books chosen by leading teachers:


Renge…. Neko Gamu (E-225/Cat Gum),
Penguin Hoikuen-da (E-185/Penguin Preschool)
Guri to Gura (D-007Guri & Gura)

Momo…. Kuzukago Obake (C-005/Garbage Bin Moster)
Lulu-chan no Kutsushita (A-056/Lulu’s Socks)
Makkurakkura (E-163/Pitch-pitch-dark)

Sumire…. Kudamono Kudamono (E-221 Fruits Fruits)
Tunnel wo Nukeruto (E-235/After that Tunnel)
Kingyo ga Nigeta (A-006/Goldfish fled)

Kiku…. Sekai ichi Warui Kaijyuu (C-128/The Worst Moster in the World)
Reina and Yuki Daruma (C-138/Reina and Snowman)
Hanbun Cho-dai (Q-053/Give Me Half)

Ume…. Daruma-chan to Tengu-chan (D-037/Little Dharma & Little Goblin)
Maa-chan no Mahou (F-058/Maa-chan’s Magic)
Chotto Dake (F-186/Just a Little Bit)

Sakura…. Oshiire no Bouken (C-067
Ii-ha to Ah-ha (E-130
Robot Kamie (B-004)


Dear Parents,

Back in October when we had a parent teacher meeting after the Halloween open house, I talked about how we handled disputes among children. Some parents requested that I discuss this in the newsletter to share my thoughts with those who weren't at the meeting. I haven't had a chance to do so until now.
As children develop relationships with others at school, the likelihood they'll come into conflict with one another increases, and we believe that these experiences play a significant role in their development. Through these encounters, children learn:

To express their feelings and needs to their friends
To understand that some children see things the same way they do, while others do not
To recognize the importance of fair play
To see things in new ways

We believe that these are not lessons that the parents or teachers can easily teach, but the ones that the children need to learn by themselves through their own social interactions. Therefore, we try not to intervene in disputes between children too soon. Instead, we let them take time to figure out how to solve the situation by themselves. In this process, some children who haven't yet developed language skills can get frustrated and sometimes end up hitting their friends. In those occasions, we listen to both sides, let them learn how to apologize, and use this as an opportunity for them to learn how to solve this kind of situation. We don't usually report this type of incident when the children apologize to each other and solve the conflict by themselves. However, I've heard that there are some parents who were unhappy that there was no apology from the parents of the child who hit. That was probably because we didn't report to them what happened since we think it's not necessary to tell the parents if this kind of dispute was solved already between the children.
(This is not the case when a conflict leads to a big accident or causes injury to the children involved.)
We hope you will think of Kodomo no Ie as a big family. When you feel frustrated the way we handle this kind of situation or need an explanation, please don't hesitate to call us. We would love to talk to you until you feel satisfied.
Also, if you see the children having a little fight, or mishandle the small animals in the yard after school, please talk to them as the same way you do to your own child.
We all are part of raising the KNI children together, and a dispute can be a great learning experience for both sides.

January donations

The donation for the month of January was $55.78. Thank you for your support.


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