Japanese Schools

(Just realised that Typepad has an app for the iPad, am checking it out now)

Kai has been in a Japanese elementary school for 4 months now. And it is soooo different from a Singapore school. Here is how:

1. We do not buy school textbooks before school starts. Apparently, the school will provide it. Maybe they have provided, but I have yet to see the textbooks. All I see are photocopies given to the kids, in dribs and drabs. For most part, the photocopying is quite good. But at times, it hurts my eyes.

2. I go through Kai's assessment sheets now and then to see how Kai is doing. He is doing alright so far. In Japanese schools, when you give a right answer, the teacher will circle the answer! When the whole page is correct, the teacher will draw a flower over the page!!! (I will try and get a photo)

3. There were a few times when Kai got simple stuff wrong. Like when the questions asks how many flowers are there in the picture and Kai writes 2 when it should have been 4. I have asked Kai to explain his mistake. He says it is hard to see the other 2 flowers. And I totally agree. The photocopying is really blur and fuzzy at times, hard to make out the other 2 flowers. I really think the education board can do better than that. Really not fair on the kids.

3. 1 teacher teaches everything! Yup. In Singapore, we have one teacher for maths, one for English etc. Not here. So Kai sees pretty much the same teacher day in day out for 1 year. I understand the system in Australia is like that too.

4. The exception to the above is the English teacher, who I understand is from the US. But I also understand that the system here is such that the US teacher does not directly teach the class. It all goes through that 1 teacher who teaches everything.

5. The other exception is the "international teacher". And guess where is Kai's international teacher from? From Singapore! Would you believe it, in our suburbs far away from the usual haunts where international families usually stay. Kai went up to her and told her he is half-Singaporean, haha. Must have shocked her to hear this little Japanese boy speaking Singaporean-accented English and claiming to be half-Singaporean.

6. A big shocker for me is that there is no set time-table. I think most schools around the world have a weekly time-table. Not here. Everyday, Kai has to write down in his notebook the classes for the next day and pack his bag accordingly. I am not sure if this is how they do it throughout primary school, or if it is only for the first few months for the 1st graders.

7. There are TOO MANY parent meetings. I went to the first one, could not follow what they were saying and refuse to go to the others. Truly, it is a waste of time as mums sit around debating who is to do what. Forget democracy. The class teacher should just assign and rotate assignments. For some assignments, no one wants to volunteer and we sit around looking down for many painful silent minutes as we literally wait for someone to volunteer. Other assignments are so popular that we have a few mothers fighting it out. Know how they settle these fights? Scissors, paper, stone. Seriously. I don't volunteer as I am working. And working full-time. In the city. Not around the school area. But we still have to attend these meetings anyway.

8. Now and then, the teachers will visit the house to speak to the parent. These are scheduled visits. For one week, school will let off early and the teachers will go from house to house. For a working mum, it is a real hassle when school lets out early.

9. We had our house visit in May. This is an epic occasion for most households. The mums will have planned buying the fancy cakes from the fancy patisseries, will have brought out the best china etc. We had Tomo running home all hot, bothered and sweaty. No cake. Regular cups. Not sure if Tomo even remembered to offer some water. I am not sure why the teachers visit the homes, my guess is to see the home environment. Hopefully, the teacher will be pleased to see that we kept it real - messy house, toys strewn everywhere, 2 days worth of plates and cups in the sink, dust-covered TV .....

10. PTA meetings are held in the school. Yet again, the kids are let out early. (You wonder when the kids really study when they are so often let out early for this meeting or that meeting). The funny thing is, the mum has to go to school for the PTA whereas the kid is let out early and has to go back home. What does this mean? That the kid goes back to an empty house. Even a first grader. I thought we understood wrongly and had Tomo call the school to confirm. That was the first PTA I attended. We asked whether Kai could stay in the school, hang out in the playground. The response - he has to go home. Even when there is no one at home? Yes. He just has to wait at home till the PTA has ended.

11. This is the other thing that really gets to me. Kai's English school is a 3 min walk to the left of the school. Our house is a 10 min walk to the right of the school. His English class starts 30 mins after school ends. We had Kai walk to English school directly from school. The teacher gives us a call and says Kai cannot do that. He has to walk home first then turn around and go to the English school. Even if he has no time to hang around at home. Why, we ask? The schools says that if he walks to English school instead of home, they cannot take responsibility. Now, that is a very curious statement. So if he walks home and something happens along the way, the school will take responsibility? Like touch wood, he gets into an accident on the way home, we can sue the school? It is not like the school has a lollipop man at the crossings to look after kids. So if anyone out there who reads this knows what this means, please let me know.

Comments

[Jen]

Too many freaking PTA meetings! I hate taking off work, going to the school, sitting around waiting for no one to make a decision, hmming and hawing. Last year I took it but this year I get angry when they stop talking. Meetings have gotten shorter but still pointles and could definitely be done on email or at night. And it's not like they are changing anything from the 53 years past so why do we need to talk about things? I'm the only one who doesn't have a kindy sports day memory to recreate!

Yes, legally employers and schools take responsibility for the commute. Like most companies in Japan, mine requires a map of my commute and if I deviate in any way (stopping at conbine etc.) then they are not amused. If I have an accident on the way they are responsible. If you do have an accident on the commute the police will immediately notify your workplace.

My son had a problem on the kindy bus home a couple of weeks ago. He was screwing around and bit through his lip. The kindy took responsibility for everything, right down to taking him during school areas to a fancy pediatric plastic surgeon. They decided not to do plastic surgery until his adult front teeth come in by which time he will probably not be in kindy, but they made me sign a form saying I will bring him back and they will take care of that as well. Nice for a working mom to have someone else ferry him back and forth!