Friday, April 08, 2011

Erica's Kindy Entrance Ceremony

To be honest I still think it's a bit of a fuss for just kindy starting...

Speeches, introductions, performances from current students, presentation of a name tag, some singing and a brief orientation for the parents. It all took about 30 minutes.

Not so easy these days to get a good photo of self-conscious/shy/naughty three-year old!

Three Girls

Clockwise from top left: Erica being presented with her name tag; being led back to her seat by a kindy teacher; in a circle singing the ABC song; watching the video in the hall before we started.


Being presented with her name tag.

Singing
Sitting for the group portrait.

Erica, kindy kid!

Group shot, Yokomatsus in the centre.






3 comments:

Lulu said...

Congratulations to Erica! Wow, can`t believe she is already going to kindy- I started reading your blog around the time she was BORN!

Hard to believe it will be me sending my boys in a couple of years.

Just out of curiousity (and feel free to pm me privately about it or if you prefer not to share that is fine)- is sending Erica to a more international kindy more expensive than normal kindy. I am thinking, if we can swing it money wise, that I might send Noah and Shion to a similar style kindy- from what I have seen the prices are usually not that much more expensive. Did your girls have any issues once they started shougakou?

Rachel said...

I'll post here in case anyone else is interested in the answer! It's more expensive - can't but be, since in our town a third child gets free hoikuen...

However, I found it a great way to emphasize English in the early years.

I work at the place, doing other classes, so I get a staff discount. The fee is 40,000 otherwise. What YOU pay at a hoikuen though will vary depending on your income.

What do you mean by 'normal' kindy - private 3-yr kindy, hoikuens' 3- to 5-year old classes, or public youchien, which is only about 5000 a month, but only for the final year before school.

As Erica is 3, she will complete this kindy's 2-year course, then go on to public kindy for a year before school starts. Amy and Lena did this too, and that year was enough for them to catch up on the school-type Japanese they needed to keep up in class.

They do have some issues in school, but they are not based on individual performance, they are basically racist. Probably my biggest problem is staff or authorities who accept it to easily when they don't do well, brushing it off as 'they are bilingual', when I want them to be pressed as hard as the others to do well!

Jovilla said...

You have the most beautiful daughters!
Jo in Michigan