Our rooms
Three rooms by age, two teachers in each
Every room has a Japanese-speaking teacher and an English-speaking teacher. Here is what a child does in each.
Ages 2 to 3Twos room
A first school room: low shelves, a rug and a teacher at floor level.
Sings morning songs in Japanese and English
Hears the names of foods and animals in both languages at snack
Pours, scoops and spoons at low shelves
Rests after lunch on school days
Ages 3 to 4Threes room
A room for choosing work and sharing the morning circle.
Takes part in a morning circle: a greeting, the weather and a song
Chooses work at the shelves while teachers speak beside them
Counts steps and blocks aloud in Japanese
Listens to a picture book in each language
Ages 4 to 5Fours room
A room for longer projects and a hand in the festival days.
Helps run the morning circle and pick the song
Works on small projects with a partner
Tells a short story from a picture book in either language
Plants and tends the garden bed in spring
Moving up
How a child moves from room to room
At the right age
Children move up when they turn three or four, usually at the start of the school year, after the family and the teachers have talked it through.
A visit first
Before a move, a child spends a few mornings in the new room with a teacher they already know.
Kindergarten
Children stay in the fours room until kindergarten. In spring the teachers talk with each family about what comes next.
See a room in use
A tour takes about an hour in the morning.