Kindergarten and the park

Kindergarten is not mandatory in Japan.  But it is a great way to involve yourself in the community and help your kid make friends (mine is super social).  While I'm excited about my kid going to kindergarten, because he is so social and loves to do activities, I'm also very opinionated about what the structure should be.  Basically, the more playing, the better.  I believe children learn to become good citizens of the world by being exposed to the world and playing in it.  The Japanese school system is known for pushing students to study hard to pass tests, not for creative learning or individuality.  So, before I was willing to enroll my son into a Japanese Kindergarten, I needed to check it out myself.

The school had an open house today.  My son and I showed up at the appointed time and were walked to the gymnasium.  As we walked through the school, I looked into the classrooms and every single one room was filled with playing children doing various activities.  When we reached the gym, it was filled with toys and we were encouraged to play with anything that interested us.  My son tossed balls into a high basket (like a basketball hoop without the backboard and closed on the bottom); jumped on a trampoline; climbed through a long tunnel; played with playdoh, trains, and marble mazes; cooked for me in a play kitchen; and did a paper craft.  After the "free time," the vice principal lead us in a stretching dance and some foot races.  Then the older kids came into the gym to sing us 2 songs and then do a dance with us.  As we were leaving, my son asked "Can we come back tomorrow?" 

Unfortunately, he cannot start tomorrow.  He has to wait until the school year starts in April.  While some Kindergartens offer classes for 3 years (what we in the states would refer to as preschool and kindergarten), this particular school only offers 2.  So, he has to wait until he is 4 years old when the school year starts.  Even though we were both won over today with the school and it's merits, we will both have to wait to start since he is too young.  (Some families choose to put their children in private school for a year, but we aren't going to do that.)

The rain was slowly dripping this morning - more than a mist, but not quite a drizzle.  But after lunchtime, it had stopped raining.  It was our chance to get out and we took it!  We rode my bike to the bank and the grocery store.  After our errands, neither of us were ready to head home.  So, we decided to ride the bike through Hikarigaoka Park.  Although we had walked along side of it every time we went shopping, we had not yet entered it.  It is such a lovely park.  It is green and lush with tons of trees and various types of scenery.  There is a large pond, and some wooded areas.  There is a beautiful field of long grasses that I could have gazed at for an extended period of time. 

There were lots of people there, but it wasn't crowded by any means.  As I pedaled around, we suddenly spotted a play structure.  I actually thought Hikarigaoka didn't have a play structure, as we couldn't see one on Google Earth.  It is just covered in trees!  The play areas was vast, with many structures to climb on and several swing sets.  We quickly hopped off the bike and began to play.  There were so many things to do!  I could immediately tell that we will be spending lots of time in the future here.