2009 second semester started on Tuesday September 2nd and it was good to see all of our friends back from summer vacation. We also welcomed two new teachers from the U.S.A, Miss Ebony and Mr. Greg.

Hi. My name is Miss Ebony. I’m from Los Angeles, California in the U.S.A.
I like singing, dancing, sewing and reading. I enjoy going to concerts and art museums. I look forward to getting to know all the Beanstalk students and parents.

Hello everyone! My name is Mr. Greg. I’m originally from South Carolina in the U.S, and I just moved to Nagoya from Kyoto. I’m really looking forward to getting to know all of the great kids in our Robby Rabbit class.
If you have any questions or thoughts, please feel free to contact me. Thanks.

Tuesday July 7th was Tanabata. The story of Tanabata come from an old Japanese fairy tale about the god of the sky, Tenkou and his daughter Orihime.

Orihime wove clothes for the gods all day everyday on a special machine called a Tanahata. It is believed that the word Tanabata came from the name of this weaving machine.

Tenkou was worried because his daughter did nothing but weave clothes all day every day. He decided that it would be a good idea if he introduced her to a man, and decided on a young man named Hikoboshi. He was a hardworking caretaker of cows who lived on the other side of the Amanogawa river. Amanogawa is “Milky Way” in English.

When Orihime and Hikoboshi met, they fell in love at first sight and spent all of their time together. They spent so much time together in fact, that they totally neglected their respective duties and as a result the cows became sick and the gods’ clothes became old and worn out.

This made everybody including Tenkou, the god of the sky and Orihime’s father quite mad and he forbade them from meeting each other anymore. Tenkou took his daughter back to the other side of the river and put her to work, but the two lovers were so distraught at being forced apart that they could not work at all. They could do little but stare across the Amanogawa river with a deep sense of longing.

Seeing his daughter so sad distressed Tenkou so he decided to allow Orihime and Hikoboshi to meet, but only one day a year, on July 7th, and only if they worked hard throughout the year. Knowing this, they worked as hard as before so they could meet on that one day each year.

Traditionally, people would wish for clear skies on on July 7th so that the two could meet over the Milky Way. If it rained on that day, the water level in the river would rise too high and the couple would not be able to meet because they could not cross.

People wished this by writing the wish on a piece of paper called a Tanzaku and hanging it on the branches of a bamboo tree. Nowadays people write their own wishes on the paper.

At Beanstalk the children wrote their own wishes in English and hung them on a big bamboo try in the gym. Everybody wore their yukatas including the teachers, and some of the boys wore jinbeis. Everybody looked really nice all dressed up in their traditional garb.

If you look closely below you can see “tanabata matsuri” written in calligraphy on yellow paper on the wall behind the students. Believe it or not, the Deedee Deer students wrote those themselves during their shuji classes every week.

After arriving and getting changed into our yukatas, we all sat down and wrote out our wishes on the tanzaku. After that we moved to the gym and performed the songs that we had been practicing for a few weeks. First, Missy Mouse and Deedee Deer class sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Then Robby Rabbit class sung Mr. Sun, which is a song that was new to all the parents so it was a lovely surprise. After that, Deedee class sang It’s a Small World and then all the students joined in and sang the Tanabata song together.

Beanstalk International Schoolでは、下記の期間に於きまして2009 Summer Schoolを開校いたします。これまで通りのZoo-phonicsをベースにしたPhonics、英会話学習、様々な科目を取り入れたLearning　Centerの他、今回はBeanstalkのプログラムで特に定評のあるMathに重点を置き、日本の教育システムの中で見落とされがちなコンセプトをハンズオンで楽しく学習して頂きます。全てのプログラムを英語で行う事により、お子様の英語力にも磨きがかかり、前向きに楽しく学んでいただく事ができます。名古屋はもとより他府県からも毎回たくさんの方が参加される人気のプログラムです。

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本日現時点で、国内新型インフルエンザ感染者の情報は入っておりませんので、予定通り本日から授業を行います。ただし、連休中海外へ渡航なさった方は、帰国後10日間登校を見合わせてください。ご理解いただきまして、誠にありがとうございます。スクール事務局

As the H1N1 virus has not spread to Japan, Beanstalk International School will be open as planned from today.
Please note that for families that have been overseas during Golden Week, please start school at least 10 days after you have returned to Japan, just to be on the safe side.
Thank you for your understanding and co-operation.

Beanstalk and Deedee Deer Class welcomes their new teacher Mr. Ricky, from the United States of America.

Mr.Ricky and the Deedee Deer class

He is looking forward to spending the year with the Deedee Deer class and cannot wait to meet the parents of the students.

The Beanstalk Halloween Parade is

The weather seems to be good for the Halloween parades, so we are happy to announce that we will proceed as planned.

Please put on your custume and bring your Trick ot Treat bag and join us for the Halloween parade.
See you there!

Happy Halloween!

Two of the most popular activities at Summer School are the pool and cooking.

We are all having a lot of fun at the 2008 Beanstalk Summer School.

In one of the new activities this year, the children helped to make pancakes and they turned out to be very delicious!

Of course the pool was also one of the highlights and we were able to get some cool relief from the hot Nagoya summer almost every day. There are so many activities and fun things to do that the students are certainly sleeping very well every night during the 4 weeks of Summer School.

We had a special visit from Mr. Makino, a specialist physical education instructor, and he lead the children in some fun physical activities in the gym. As you can see from the photos below, the children got a good workout and had a lot of fun.

Mealtimes are great for bonding with new friends, and snack-time and lunchtime provided plenty of opportunities for this. Some children bring their own lunch from home prepared by their mother, and some students order the school lunch. Either way, it’s a great time to communicate with friends and teachers.

We made various crafts during summer school, including these bubble paint fans. Just in time to take to fireworks festivals.

７月21日からスタートした ’ 08 ビーンストーク　サマースクールには、名古屋市内はもとより愛知県外のお友達も含め延べ100名を超える2歳から小３までのお友達に参加して頂き、スクール内は毎日子供達の笑顔と笑い声で溢れています。

Zoo-phonics を用いた英語レッスンの他、プールやクッキング、インドアジムでのエアロビクスや体操など、体を動かしながら覚える英語表現は、自然と身につき子供たちの記憶に残ります。おうちに帰ってさっそく覚えた英語を披露し、パパやママを驚かせているビーンストーク キッズがたくさん誕生しているようです。

もちろん通常のプリスクール生は、小さな先輩として、外部からのお友達に先生が英語で何を言っているのか教えてあげたり、スクールのルーティーンを説明したり日頃の成果を発揮しています！参加して下さった外部生の方には、せっかく覚えた英語を忘れないように英語学習を継続される事を願っております。

In July we held our much anticipated Tanabata Festival party. The children had been practicing the Tanabata and other songs as well as musical instruments.

First off we had a short observation lesson so the parents could see how their children are progressing in their studies. After that everybody wrote their wishes on their own tanzakus and hung them on the bamboo tree in the hope that they would come true. Then it was time to show off the songs we had been practicing for weeks. Everybody did a great job singing and playing instruments, with one student playing the Tanabata song on the piano!