Tsumiki Preschool is a Japanese instructed preschool and extended day care program for children ages 2 to 5. We are committed to providing each child with stimulating daily experiences to enhance personal growth. We believe early childhood learning experiences are vital to ensure academic success in later school years. It is also important to grow socially, emotionally, and physically for well-rounded outcomes of human development. Therefore, we provide challenging, yet appealing curriculum for each child so all children’s interests and emotions are respected. We also strive to fill children’s experiences with the culture and traditions of Japan to acquire Japanese language development and understanding.
Classes
Penguin Class: Ages 2-3
Focuses on learning to listen to the teacher’s instructions, build Japanese vocabulary, follow simple rules and routines, and manners for eating. The penguin class also introduces children to scissor use, utensil use, and promotes independence in self-help tasks. Toilet training is also focused on in this class.
Shirokuma Class: Ages 3-4
Building on skills acquired in the penguin class, the 3-4 year old class focuses on enhancing concentration by listening and performing three step tasks, understanding longer stories, enhanced vocabulary building, and hiragana reading skills. Numbers from 1-10 will be the focus of math skills and build- ing understanding of 1 to 1 correspondence. Children are also introduced to more sophisticated art projects including origami and extensive scissors use. Children will also be taught and ex- pected to follow rules for using certain tools and games played with peers.
Iruka Class: Ages 4-5
The iruka class focuses on more complex learning. Children will learn how to read easy picture books independently, listen and retell stories read by the teacher, and start writing hiragana letters. Children will also be focusing on grouping objects in groups of 5 and understanding how to build 5. Games with multiple rules requiring cooperation with one another are played and multistep origami will be taught in class. Leadership and responsibility will also be introduced to the children by designating a teacher helper each day, with tasks to perform for peers and teacher.
Curriculum
Each class will be provided with age appropriate materials and will not only focus on fundamentals of academics but also basic daily routines and self-help skill tasks. We will promote independence for task performance and peer cooperative play throughout the curriculum.
- Language/Reading: Group conversation, books, introducing and expanding vocabulary, learning letters, sounding and making letter associations.
- Music: Singing, dancing, rhythm instruments, finger play, and rhythmic dancing.
- Social Study: Learn about family, people of different cultures, maps and holidays, enhancing social skills with peers through interactive play.
- Art and Craft: Experiment with different art media and working materials. Emphasis on learning to use materials (scissors, crayons, paint, glue, etc.) appropriately for both structured and creative craft time.
- Math: Learning numbers, size, objects, shapes and counting. Learning colors and mixing colors, learn how to use the calendar.
- Science: Learning with senses, earth, plants, seasons, animals and insects. Themes for science will be introduced by following the seasons, holidays and cultural events.
Schedule
