節分 Camera 1
Today we celebrated “Change of Season Day.” February 3rd marks the eve of the first day of spring according to the the old lunar calendar of Japan. We explained about the day in English, passed out beans, read the children a story and then the scary demon came. Some children cried but most got up close and pelted the demon with beans to force the bad luck out of the school. They yelled, “Demon out! Good luck in!.” 鬼は外！福は内！I hope everyone does this at home. It is a lot of fun!!
☆Unfortunately, 18 children were absent today due to sickness. We hope everyone can experience 節分 next year.☆
節分 Camera 2
Here are photos from our second camera. We hope you like them.
Snow Day
Though it was cold yesterday, we still found some time to go outside and play. The snow fell from the late morning and we got just enough to make small snowballs. The children were very excited.
Hmm…I wonder what this will taste like…
Goo~~~~~~~~~~~~d!!
The Park
This morning I took a sneak peek at the park. The workers are really picking up the construction pace. This park is not Hilltop’s. However, as owner of Hilltop International School, I thought it was necessary to participate in all of the four workshops to help decide on the park design. The neighbors living in 龍田陳内came together and we all gave our thoughts on what we thought the park should look like after completion. On the day of the final workshop, I asked for permission to allow our students to play at the park in the morning (9~9:30am) and afternoon (12:30~1pm). The neighbors agreed. The city hall officials added that they have no jurisdiction over who uses the park. They also added that many other kindergartens who do not have a large play area use parks near their schools. The park will be ready for use in March. We can’t wait!!
Some new trees and bushes.
Swing Set
One of the many new trees.
Iron Bars
Combination
This area will be covered with a roof.
One of the many benches in the park.
| その他 | Comment (0)The Wright Brothers
Grizzly class learned about the Wright Brothers on Thursday, January 26th. After they learned about the brothers, the children drew many wonderful pictures. I was really impressed to see such detail and neatness in their work.
Flurries in Kumamoto
We had some flurries in Kumamoto this week. The children were very excited to see snow and try to catch some of it on their tongues. It was cold but we bundled up and enjoyed the very “interesting” weather.
| グリズリークラス, パンダクラス | Comment (0)
１月の誕生会 & Welcome Party
We celebrated the birthdays of 3 children in January. We also welcomed a new student to the Hilltop family. It was a great party!!
| 誕生会 | Comment (0)
January 16~18
Here are some photos of Panda class going to the park. It was very cold but the sun was shining bright.
On January 14th, we bid farewell to Isa. He was at Hilltop from November. He is Japanese but was living in Bangkok, Thailand until the heavy rain and floods forced him to come back to Japan.
Now that all is well in Bangkok, he was able to return. We will miss you, Isa!!
Here are some more photos of a beautiful day at the park.
January 11th
Here are some photos of Grizzly class. They were taken on January 11th. As you can see, the children are having fun but also very focused doing their work.
Christmas Party (Camera ①)
Panda performed a cute role-play for Presentation Time. The children remembered their lines well and most importantly, had fun.
After our role-play, we sang some songs.
We even did a little dance.
They were great dancers.
Then we had a “snowball fight.” Big Panda Parents vs. Big Panda Students. It was a lot of fun.
Then we let Little Panda kids have a try.
The Santa’s Little Helpers Relay was a big success. You can see that we all had a terrific time.
SANTA CLAUS really did come to town!!
Seeing is believing. ( But we did have some doubters in the audience.)
Cookies were passed out after the party. It was a very festive day!!
