Category: Photos

Our trip to the zoo

On Thursday May 14th all three classes went on a field trip to Higashiyama Zoo. Some of the mothers from our Robby Rabbit class were kind enough to volunteer their time and come along and assist the teachers in looking after our middle class. We would like to extend a big Thank You to the mothers who came along and helped us.

Robby class at the zoo

Deedee Deer, our oldest class left their parents at home and found their way around the zoo all by themselves with Mr. Ricky. While looking at the seals and talking to their teacher in English, some children form another school were amazed to see Japanese children conversing all in English and asked them about it in Japanese. It was funny to watch the Deedee Deer students react to being spoken to in Japanese, they were unsure if they were allowed to speak in Japanese, as they speak English all day at Beanstalk International School 🙂
higashiyama_zoo_2009
Our youngest class, Missy Mouse class came with their parents and as it was their outing they were very excited.
Higashiyama zoo 2009
Everybody had a great time and we were all very tired at the end of the day. We are sure that all the students, and some of the mothers and teachers too, slept very well that night.

Beanstalk welcomes Mr. Ricky

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

Mr. Ricky

Mr. Ricky is from California and has been in Japan teaching since 2007. He graduated from University of California, San Diego, and enjoys reading, traveling, playing tennis, snowboarding and hiking.

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

Setsubun Festival 2009

Beanstalk International Preschoolでは2月3日節分の日に、プリスクールのお友達とSETSUBUN SUSHI PARTYを行いました。
この日は2歳児の新入生さんから5歳のお姉さん、お兄さんクラスの方まで、自分で巻いたのり巻きをいただき、SUSHI PARTYの後は豆まきセレモニーも楽しみました。
Beanstalkでは欧米のイベントだけでなく日本固有の行事、文化も大切にしています。この後は3月のおひな祭りもお祝いします。スクールの皆さん、楽しみにしていて下さいね！

February 3rd is Setsubun day in Japan and on that day we had a Setsubun Sushi Party at Beanstalk International School with our preschool students.
All of our students, from the newly enrolled 2 year olds up to our oldest 5 year olds rolled and ate their own “nori maki” sushi all by themselves. (Some of the youngest students maybe had a little help ☺ ).

After lunch a scary oni (demon) came and tried to enter the school but he was scared away by all the students throwing beans at him, in the traditional bean throwing ceremony.

The demon was driven away from the school by the courageous bean throwing of the students

The traditional bean throwing ceremony, or Mame Maki, is thought to symbolically purify the home (in this case the school) by driving away evil spirits that bring misfortune and bad health, and bringing in good luck.

At Beanstalk International School, we celebrate not only western holidays and events, but also Japanese cultural events that are an important part of life for children growing up in Japan. Upcoming events will be Valentime`s Day and the Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival) in March. We look forward to having a lot of fun with our students at these events.

Winter School 2008

From December 17th to 24th, we held two, 3 day sessions of Winter School at Beanstalk International School.

Our first session focused on physical development, with our professional gym instructor Mr. Maki, who you may have seen appearing on television recently, leading the students everyday in a program designed to increase their physical strength.

The second session held from December 22-24th was of course a Christmas theme, with lots of festive crafts and activities as well as a lunch party on Christmas Eve. The children really enjoyed baking muffins as a Christmas present for Mummy and daddy, and the looks on their parents` faces when they were given the muffins was a great reward for all their hard work.

Many of our regular students as well as Spring and Summer School repeaters came to Winter School 2008 and many also invited their friends.
With everybody being familiar with the Beanstalk seasonal schools, teachers and friends, it was a relaxing holiday season atmosphere. We all had a great time and look forward to seeing you all again at Spring School 2009!

Beanstalk International Schoolでは去る12月17-19日と12月22日-24日の
2セッション（各３日間）2008 Winter School Programを実施いたしました。

17日−19日の1stセッションには、テレビでお馴染みのプロフェッショナル
ジムインストラクターMr.Mackyをゲストに迎え”体力アップ”をテーマに
スクール内の室内ジムで体操プログラムを楽しみました。そしてもちろん英語のレッスンも十分に行い、Internationalな雰囲気を満喫して頂きました。

22日-24日の2ndセッションでは”Christmas”をテーマにクラフト等の様々な
アクティビティーにチャレンジし、24日のイブにはランチパーティーを行いました。子供達が一番嬉しかったのは、パパやママへのプレゼントにマフィンを
焼いたcookingの時間です。そして子供達が焼いたマフィンを受け取ってくれた時のご両親の笑顔は子供達にとって最高のプレゼントになったことでしょう。

今回のWinter Schoolは在校生とこれまでのSpring, Summer Schoolに来られたリピーターの方で満席になりました。たくさんのお友達に来て頂きましたが、
皆さんスクールにもすっかり慣れているので、スタッフもリラックスムード
満点の暖かいホリデイを過ごさせて頂きました。Thanks for coming !
See you at our Spring School!

Fire Station Visit

On Thursday November the 22nd, both Missy Mouse and Robby Rabbit class took a field trip to a fire station.

Missy Mouse class at the fire station
Missy Mouse class at the fire station

We watched a demonstration of firefighters climbing a tower and rescuing someone from a fire. We also got to have a close look at and climb inside what is apparently the newest most modern rescue fire truck in Aichi prefecture.

There was even more excitement when an emergency call came in while some of the students were inspecting the inside of an ambulance. The alarm bell went off and we all had to scramble off the ambulance quickly so that the medics could drive the ambulance away to the emergency.

Moon Viewing / Otsukimi

9/14中秋の名月にちなんでBeanstalkでは生徒達がお月見団子作りにチャレンジしました。

Miss Katherineのレシピに添って米粉をコネコネ。皆大はしゃぎで肝心なお月様よりお団子作りに大興奮。お味のほどは…？でしたが自分で作ったお団子の前で皆そろって「ハイ！ポーズ！」
Robby Rabbit class with the Tsukimi dangos they made themselvesMissy Mouse class

この日Beanstalkは「Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory」ならぬ「Miss Katherine and the Dango Factory」と化しました。

本日のお団子プロジェクトの責任者Miss. Katherine and her recipe.
Miss Katherine's dango recipe

Mission 1:お団子を作る前に手を洗って準備をする。
The first thing we had to do was wash our hands before we handled any food.
Mission 2: Miss Katherine の説明を聞く。
Next we listen carefully as Miss Katherine explains how we are going to make the dangos in her Dango Factory.
Mission 3:分量を計ってボールに入れてお粉をコネコネ！
Carefully measure out the ingredients, and mix them all together until you get the right consistency

Mission 4:お湯でゆでてきな粉とあんこを乗せたら出来上がり！
Boil them in hot water, then roll them in kinako (soy flour) or top them with anko (red bean paste) and they are ready!

Summer School 2008

Mosaic image of some of the fun things we are doing at Beanstalk Summer School 2008Two 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。

Tanabata Festival

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.

All the students and teachers and some of the parents came in yukatas or jimbeis. Everyone looked very cute and the children were excited to be dressed so nicely and to see their friends in their traditional festival garb.
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!

2008 Spring Excursion to the zoo!

Beanstalk International Schoolでは去る5月16日（金）に2008 school excursionと称しプリスクールのお友達、教師、一部のお母様、お父様方総勢43名で東山動物園に行って参りました。
On Friday May 16th, the students, teachers, and some parents (Missy Mouse class) participated in the 2008 Beanstalk Spring Excursion to Higashiyama Zoo. A total of 43 people took part.

Robby Rabbit class at the zoo

入園2年目のRobby Rabbit Classのお友達にとっては、ご親族以外とのお出かけ初体験となり、数日前から皆さんドキドキしつつとても楽しみにしていました。前もってお友達と手をつないで上手に歩く練習をし、走らない、押さない、大きい声で叫ばないなど団体行動のマナーを確認、当日はその成果がバッチリ見られ、迷子もお怪我もなく楽しく帰ってこられました。また日本の幼児が英語で話している姿に外部の方から驚きの声もいただきました！

For Robby Rabbit class, our second year students, this represented the first time that they have gone on an outing without family members! Leading up to the excursion, the children had been very excited about the trip and the days of practicing their “excursion skills”; walking hand in hand, no running, pushing, or shouting, seemed to have paid off and we enjoyed an incident-free day. We also heard complimentary comments from other zoo-goers remarking on our Japanese students conversing with teachers and each other in English!

Missy class at the zooParents joined us with Missy Mouse class at the zoo!

最年少のMissy Mouse Classでは、大混雑にびっくりされたお子様もいらっしゃいましたが、実際に見る動物に大はしゃぎ！保護者の方からは、あんなに幼くても彼らなりの世界あり、お友達とのかかわりも見られた良いチャンスでした…とのお言葉を頂戴いたしました。現地まで送迎して下さった保護者の方、園内に同行して下さった方、どうもありがとうございました。そしてお疲れ様でした。次回のexcursionを楽しみになさってください。

In our younger Missy Mouse class, some of the students were surprised by the large crowds, but were very excited at seeing the animals up close for the first time, not just in pictures. It was a great opportunity for the parents to observe their children in their own word, conversing with friends and developing their social skills.

We would like to thank all the parents who brought their children to the zoo, and also those who joined us inside the zoo as well.

zoo_mosiac2.jpg

Beanstalk Introduces Miss. Katherine

As 2008 begins, it is with pleasure that we introduce to you Miss. Katherine from the U.S, who will initially be assisting Miss Mary in the older Missy Mouse class.
Miss Katherine

Hi!
I’m Katherine, from Connecticut in the northeast United States.

I came to Japan one and a half years ago and have been teaching English ever since.

I love music and art, but my hobby is sewing.

I am really looking forward to getting to know everyone at Beanstalk.