Holiday Spirits

Holiday Spirits

by internationallanguagehouse ♥ 0 Leave a Comment
In line at the light-up ceremony

International Language House has been getting quite into the Christmas spirit this month!

Our first Friday of December, we hosted a light-up ceremony for the Christmas tree in our school’s front yard. Kids and parents alike received drinks, snacks, and candles to enjoy the evening.

Singing “Silent Night” together

The second Friday of December was the day of our Christmas show! We have been rehearsing for weeks and were so glad to finally present to all our families!

This theme’s year was based off of the Warner Brothers animated film The Polar Express.

In the film, children are woken up in the middle of the night to ride a train to the North Pole. Because everyone gets on the train late at night, all the children wear their pajamas in the movie. Naturally, we wanted to do the same:

Some Saturn class kids with Michiyo Teacher after the show

For our more formal songs, we were able to change into some classic outfits as well:

A quick warm up before starting the show

It was a wonderful time! Thanks to everyone who came to our events so far. It’s been a fun month!

We have just one more week before Christmas break!! We are hoping to have lots of time to play this week to make up for all the rehearsals recently.

Thankful, Thankful, Thankful

Thankful, Thankful, Thankful

by internationallanguagehouse ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Have you ever experienced Thanksgiving in Japan? Every year at Language House, we bring some American history to our school to celebrate the holiday!

For the last few days before the actual day of Thanksgiving, we spent time making Pilgrim hats, Native American feather headdresses, and turkey headbands.

We also spent time making dreamcatchers, which are a part of Native American culture. It’s important for us to understand both the story of the Pilgrims and the Native Americans when talking about Thanksgiving, since both groups of people have different perspectives.

Mercury class’ dreamcatchers displayed on the ceiling of the second floor.

On the day of Thanksgiving, which falls on a Thursday every year, we invited the preschoolers to watch us perform our skit that we had rehearsed.

We also had everyone bring in some food for our Thanksgiving feast! We brought in various types of vegetables to wash and insert into a yummy soup, as well as some fruit for a refreshing fruit salad.

The performance and the feast were both so much fun!! We love being able to celebrate fall together in a way that’s not common in Japan.

Every Thanksgiving, we like to show appreciation for what we have in our lives. ILH is thankful for such warm-hearted kids, a cooperative team of teachers, and a happy atmosphere where we can share our languages with each other.

What are you thankful for?

Father’s Dinner

Father’s Dinner

by internationallanguagehouse ♥ 0 Leave a Comment
A night full of laughs and hamburgers!

Last Saturday night, ILH hosted a dinner for our Saturn and Mercury classes’ fathers!

At each table, the kids were able to draw on the paper-covered tables while the dads got to talk with the teachers and get to know each other a little better.

After eating and drinking a little bit, all the fathers gave a self-introduction, talking about their jobs and hobbies.

We also got to sing and dance together after the meal, which was really fun! We were also treated to apple pie and ice cream….yum!

Thanks to everyone who came to the dinner and spent time with us at International Language House.

To the Jupiter class this year, we are excited for you to join us with your dads next year!

Fall Field Trip

Fall Field Trip

by internationallanguagehouse ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This year our school went to こども自然公園 for our annual fall field trip!

The weather was very sunny and a little windy. We did lots of walking through nature. But we had to be careful not to get any prickers on our pants!

We also found many big sakura tree sticks and played a sensei scavenger hunt, complete with a stamp rally.

As we went through more of our walking route, we were able to fill in more spaces on our maps, and it was really fun to look forward to the next stop. We colored sakura trees, drew scarecrows, and got to meet many different kinds of chickens!

Our lunch picnic was also very peaceful, as we found a lovely spot by the lake, where we were very close to the ducks.

We are looking to next year’s field trip! Thanks to all the chaperones who came along with us on our journey!

Halloween!

Halloween!

by internationallanguagehouse ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Spooky season may be over, but we are still fondly looking back at our Halloween celebrations.

Every year at International Language House, everyone is encouraged to come in full costume (handmade ones are encouraged!). Together, we walk around the immediate neighborhood for some trick-or-treating.

Once we return from our morning trick-or-treating, the school holds a stamp rally for parents and kids to enjoy together. We even perform some Halloween dances for everyone to see! This year’s songs were Orange Pumpkins and One-Eyed, One-Horned, Flying Purple People Eater!

We also hold a fashion show, and each kid gets the chance to show off their costumes in front of everyone. Voting cards are passed out, and everyone votes for their favorite scary, funny, or unique costumes!

After lunch, the kids go in small groups upstairs to the HAUNTED HOUSE… If you’re brave enough to withstand the dark maze and scary creatures, you can escape through the back door down the slide! Phew!

Our teachers at ILH all love Halloween, and loved how excited our kids were to celebrate with us! We are already looking forward to next year!

If you would like to see more pictures of the adorable costumes we saw, please check out our Instagram link to the right of the page!

Typhoons and Trophies

Typhoons and Trophies

by internationallanguagehouse ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Long time, no see! What an eventful past couple of weeks we’ve had!

Typhoon Hagibis hit the area on the day of our originally scheduled Sports Day, thus postponing until the following Saturday. (From all of us at the kindergarten, we hope you and your families were safe during the storm.)

The events of Sports Day this year resulted in a landslide win by the White Team! CONGRATULATIONS! Both teams worked very hard on their cheers, dances, competitions, speeches, races, and marches. We are proud of everyone who gave it their best effort!

As of this week, we are happy to announce a new addition to our blog site. If you look at the top menu, you will see a new submenu titled “Useful Phrases.” Feel free to click around and explore.

We would like to begin storing a collection of phrases to use in the home together with your child. Our goal is to have the list gradually grow with additions from people like you, so feel free to comment or email us with phrases you would like to use at home with your child in English.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Welcome, October!

Welcome, October!

by internationallanguagehouse ♥ 0 Leave a Comment
Collecting acorns in the park

Fall is here! The weather is still relatively warm, but signs of the new season are here. Persimmon fruits are in season, leaves are turning brown, and Halloween themed snacks are showing up in our kids’ snack bags.

International Language House has less than two weeks left until Sports Day, so we have been doing a lot more practice every day! Today we had our first practice at Chiku Center, so things are starting to feel official.

We a have seen a lot of improvement in a lot of our students as practices progress…good job, everyone!

Sports Day Prep!

Sports Day Prep!

by internationallanguagehouse ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Sports Day is next month! We have started to prepare in various ways; running, jumping, balancing, drawing, cheering, etc.

This time of year is when every child’s athletic strengths and weaknesses come out for us all to see! These qualities, as well as responsibility and leadership, were very important for choosing a captain.

Sports Day is a unique Japanese concept to our English teachers. It has been fun to think about games from a foreign perspective! We are all looking forward to it.

Until next month, may we continue to have lots of successful practice!

Cooking Day

Cooking Day

by internationallanguagehouse ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

September 18th was Cooking Day! Thanks to all the help of our volunteer mamas, we were able to have everyone participate. Our dish of the day: curry!

In our curry, we put in many different kinds of vegetables: potatoes, eggplant, onions, carrots, and tomatoes.

Waiting for the food felt like 1,000 years! But it was delicious and definitely with the wait.

Making food together with your child is great for teaching how food is made and for teaching them safety. It also gives them a sense of pride, because it’s something they made!

Maybe at home, you and your child can try to create something together in the kitchen!

Big Plans and Big Quakes

Big Plans and Big Quakes

by internationallanguagehouse ♥ 0 Leave a Comment
Jupiter class spent some time sharing about their summer vacations

Welcome back from summer break! Our second term started with a very full day, but Language House kids all had a very good attitude!

The schedule for our first day back started off with our opening ceremony. Everyone was excited to be back! We talked about some big events coming up in this semester, including Sports Day, for which teams have officially been announced.

Our day also included a big earthquake drill, simulating quakes bigger than our normal simulated earthquake drills. This meant that all mothers came to pick up their children by foot, as if the roads were too bad to use any vehicles to go home.

Since our students were on summer break for the month of August, our monthly birthday party for August birthdays was also held today. It was fun to celebrate with face paint, dancing, and the Fruits Basket game!

Our Jupiters, the lowest class in our kindergarten, have now been a part of the daily life at ILH for 3 months. From the second term, they will be even more integrated as they learn to take on the same responsibilities as their upperclassmen. These include Show & Tell, leader roles, and Project BOB, otherwise known as Language House’s optional at-home practice English booklets.

As our first day back comes to a close, we hope the kids will keep up the enthusiasm and get back into the ILH groove with us!