Showing posts with label playgroup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label playgroup. Show all posts

Thursday, 13 April 2017

Raising A Bilingual Child

This is something I get asked about often so I thought I would do a round up of where we are now!

I'm not sure I would have lasted long in Japan if I hadn't come across the playgroup when Ebi-kun was a baby, he was about 6 weeks old the first time I went along, very much for me back then not him! 

We would meet weekly, usually on a Thursday at a room that we could hire in one of the members apartments. We would sing songs and play some games with the babies/toddlers then usually go for lunch outside (weather permitting). Sometimes we'd meet up at a jidokan - the city play centre or at the park and we would have regular events at the weekends.

The kids became firm friends and even though they don't see each other that often you would never know.




All our kids in the group are mixed race and bilingual, in some cases trilingual and the main purpose of the group was to have an English speaking environment for the kids to hang out in. We made it a rule that only English would be spoken, that was the adults too, which works most of the time. Now the kids are older, Japanese tends to be their play language or they switch back and forth but I do think that having the playgroup structure in place when they were little made a huge difference.

It's hard to believe that most of these kids have been friends since they were babies. Unfortunately now they are older, we don't get to catch up as often but it's great that as soon as they do see each other, they are off having fun as if it were only yesterday they were hanging out.




As we live in an area with very few foreigners we also felt it was important for Ebi-kun to have friends that were mixed race like himself so that he never felt weird or strange because he doesn't "fit in" with the local kids. He is different and that's something I want him to be proud of, not ashamed of. 

Apart from the bullying incidents in the first grade, he hasn't had any issues, he has found his place and his friends now think it's "cool" that he is bilingual. He doesn't get embarrassed about his English and knows that he can use it as a secret language sometimes!





Having a fully bilingual child isn't an easy job and there is zero luck involved. It requires the parents to be dedicated and consistent in what they believe to be the best way forward. For us, that means using English as the family language and 95% of the time only English in the house.

We try to watch the TV and films in English, we listen to English podcasts and music and chat with friends and family back home when ever possible. 

Every morning Ebi-kun reads a chapter of his book to me and at night I read to him before bed, we have just started the next epic journey... Lord Of The Rings. I know some people will think that at 11 he is too old to be read to be I think it gives us a great connection. Sometimes it is hard to find something in common to talk about, books bridge that gap. And there is the plus that we often watch the film version afterwards and dissect and compare it to the book.

Writing is the one thing that we need to keep on top of, the rest falls into place but after a full day at school the last thing he wants to do is sit down and do a load of writing.

I don't believe in workbooks or drill sheets so I try to make the writing fun, like the Dr Who story sheets and Mini Writing Books on topics that he is currently interested in. I'll do a separate post on what he is up to at the moment.

Trips back to the UK are important too, having a grasp on the language isn't enough to be bilingual, the culture plays a part too and the best way to absorb the culture of a country is to be there. So although I joke about getting out of this hot sweaty hell hole in the summer, it isn't just for my armpits benefit, I want Ebi-kun to absorb as much of his heritage as possible.

So yes, he has missed the summer fireworks and festivals in Japan and sometimes we have missed a Japanese event because a playgroup event takes priority - Halloween, Easter and Christmas parties are the main get togethers these days. But I feel that those sacrifices are worth it and that being bilingual and carrying both cultures with him are well worth it.

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Wednesday, 28 October 2015

Halloween 2015

Yes, I know it's early but we have to hold the party when everyone can make it and unfortunately the 31st wasn't a good day for it! But that doesn't stop us!

This year Ebi-kun wanted to give the zombie look a miss and go for something more blood suckily exciting... I have to say (and I might be slightly biased here) he does make one fine vampire!


We had a great potluck with some delicious dishes such as the Monster Eye and werewolf claws...


Baked bat wings, nom, nom (OK it's chicken!)


And some tasty severed fingers with chopped flesh and black spaghetti - doesn't that look appetising! I'm considering turning up with some cute Disney themed food next year just to see everyone's reaction :D


Our host lives across from a big park so he fired up the BBQ, just look at the racks of ribs - not exciting unless you live in Japan and you know how hard they are to come by!


Trick or Treat was a bit more complicated this year as the kids were given a map with picture clues and they had to figure out which house matched which clue before they could go and ring the bell. After that Ebi-kun did his game and then the kids just played as the adults nattered and drank!

We did have one casualty and I thought Ebi-kun had inflicted the injury at first, it turned out that heading a football with your sunglasses on the top of your head is a really bad idea!



Once it went dark we moved inside and the kids watched Back To The Future as we continued chatting (and drinking!)

Lots of fun was had by all, and I think we make quite a handsome Vampire family (my husband doesn't seem to think so, he managed to bruise his face whilst taking off the make-up, nope, I have no idea how either!)


Ebi-kun has already told me he is looking forward to his Halloween Muffin Tin Tin, so no doubt there will be at least one more halloween post before the end of the month!

And a quick plug, just in case you missed it! Get yourself the Fast & Fun Ghoulish Halloween Treats ebook & BONUS printable labels...




Wednesday, 23 April 2014

Bilingual Play Group Easter Egg Hunt

As the kids are getting older and have their own things to do, it is getting more and more difficult to have get togethers, which is a shame. We always do the egg hunt though and it is always great fun. Usually Eater Sunday falls on the same weekend as the 'perfect cherry blossom viewing day' but not this year. Which was good in a way because we didn't have to battle for a picnic spot. 

We usually send the kids to go and look around the big squirrel enclosure whilst the rest of the adults hide the eggs BUT the squirrel enclosure was damaged with the snow a couple of months back and will be closed for the rest of the year, luckily the kids were too busy playing football to care!

Ready to start the hunt…


We also had to use a different spot to hide the eggs and it turned out to be a bit harder than usual! We will know for next time. Once the eggs were found we had a picnic lunch, we had a great spot under one of the cherry blossom trees. The weather wasn't great, certainly rather chilly but at least it didn't rain!


We seem to be over run with boys at the moment which is a bit rubbish for the girls, especially since their ages are so spread out. Of course the boys were just happy to be playing football at every chance. I organised a treasure hunt of sorts, last years was too easy to I had to up my game, so I made the questions but wrote them in code.
Once they had cracked the first easy code they had to go and ask Yasutoki with the magic word to get the code breakers….


I had a spare copy of the quiz so I gave it to a couple of the dads, it took them soooo long to figure out the magic word! The kids got it straight away. Do you know it? You probably say it to your kids too…What's the magic word?

Please!


I was really impressed how well the kids worked together in teams to figure out how to break each code and then go and find the answer to the questions…




And of course they needed a special prize for all their hard work…



I only do this to entertain myself really! The kids all thought it was funny which is what I love, not sure what the new families to the group thought, best they know know about my daft sense of humour, rather than Halloween!



And guess how the day finished? Yes, more football - Lads vs Dads, the lads are getting much better and the dads are getting older, won't be long before the lads are wiping the floor with the dads. Dave - one of the dads just wouldn't quit until the dads had scored a goal! He is worse than all the kids put together :)



Another great, fun filled day! Did you get up to anything exciting for Easter?

Thursday, 3 April 2014

Bilingual Playgroup Picnic

April 1st was a full on day for me, with the registration for Clear The Clutter closing and all the stuff that needs to be done on the back end for that and the we had a picnic planned with the bilingual playgroup so I needed to make a bento too and leave the house in time to catch the 10am train.

I did manage a quick April fools joke on Ebi-kun…I screamed like crazy and shouted there was a mouse in the washing machine…totally had him :) Need to be more prepared next year!


Turned out to be a beautiful day for the picnic, the cherry blossoms were perfect! We managed to find a lovely spot under the trees, the kids played well and us moms had a good chat and catch up.


Obligatory hanami shot…


Ebi-kun found his own spot to enjoy the view…


It's much harder now to meet up now the kids are in school, which is a real shame, I miss the regular weekly meetings, as much for my sanity as for the education side of things.





Wednesday, 1 May 2013

Golden Week Part #1

Golden week is split into to 2 long weekends this year, so the first part we had a regular sort of weekend. Saturday the boys went off to footie and I went walking boot shopping - a little tale to be told there... I really wanted some Merrell boots but when I got to the store I realised they were more than I wanted to pay. So thought I would just get some cheaper ones. I tried several pairs on and either they didn't fit or they didn't have my size so I left the shop empty handed. 
So I walked through the shopping centre feeling very sorry for myself but then I discovered a sports shop I didn't know existed. Went in and the exact boots that I wanted were in a flash sale - less than half price! I tried them on, half expecting them not to find but they did - I felt like Cinderella - well if Cinderella wore bright orange walking boots ha!

Sunday wasn't very exciting, Aikido followed by shopping. We did stop at the home centre to get some plants and then planted the green curtain for this year, we are going with all passion fruit this time!

Then Monday we had a playgroup trip to the zoo, it was a lot of fun and the kids all seemed to enjoy themselves, they all looked suitable exhausted at the end of the day! I love how this zoo has so many great interactive things for the kids to try, not just looking at the animals.


Ebi-kun got a new admirer, I think A-chan was quite smitten by the end of the day - very cute, they were pretty much inseparable.


We even ran into Peter Rabbit - one of the oddities of the zoo is that it has a replica of the Beatrix Potter  house and garden.


We decided to head out about 4pm so we missed the bad traffic, the weather was glorious, good day all round! Did you have an exciting weekend?

Thursday, 18 April 2013

The Easter Egg Hunt - a wee bit late!

We finally had a nice day to hold the postponed egg hunt! This is the first time we have ever had the egg hunt rained off. I didn't matter in the end, it was still fun.

We send the kids off to the squirrel enclosure whilst the adults hide the eggs in the wooded area behind, this is my favourite shot of the kids...


We forgot to take a basket so Ebi-kun used the cool bag, he could have sniffed his eggs out. We had decorated the eggs the week before Easter then the egg hunt got postponed twice but we kept the eggs so they were a bit wiffy by the time we got round to it and no, we didn't eat them!


After the hunt we had lunch and then onto the games - the kids were split into 2 teams and sent on a treasure hunt... Now many of the kids are older we can just let them go and do it.


And a new activity this year was guess how many jelly beans in the jar - this was a big hit with all the kids.


After all that fun it was time for the moms to put their feet up and the dads took on the kids at football!


We eventually got them to wrap the game up but then someone decided to climb a tree and we ended up with all the kids either up the tree or hanging off it at some stage!


A good day was had by all and the egg hunt is usually the first activity of the year and kicks off the fun for the year.



Monday, 9 April 2012

Hanami and Easter Egg Hunting...

 I had an absolute manic weekend, Saturday was last minute getting things ready for school, discovering that I had another 3 items to make and not having enough of the fabric was one of the panics! Somehow got all through that and finished off the order I have been working on just in time to organise things for the egg hunt. The playgroup always has an egg hunt on Easter Sunday.

The weather was beautiful and the cherry blossoms out in full force which meant we would have to battle for a picnic spot with all the locals! Since I usually organise the egg hunt we arrived super early and spread all our belongings out in the widest possible area. We have found that hanging bunting from tree to tree also helps to stake our claim on the little patch on land for the day.

staking out the picnic spot before everyone else arrived

obligatory cherry blossom picture
 I made a Wally egg and had him as a special prize, he even had his own wanted poster! I hid him rather too well so ended up having to give clues.


And the hunt is on... we had 17 kids this year, I think. Of course we always get a couple of the locals wandering up and discovering odd coloured eggs in the bushes and we have to go and tell them to put them back at least we didn't have any crows to battle this year. The kids are only allowed to pick up their own eggs, one old lady was trying to help and was trying to give an egg to one of the kids but he was refusing to take it because it wasn't his, of course this wasn't explained to her so she looked rather baffled.



the hunter and the hunted
Once the egg hunt was done we had lunch. We do pot luck (everyone brings a dish to share) so we never know what kind of lunch it will be! We also had some new families join, the weather was perfect and the company was great, it was a really lovely day.


Jennifer's beautiful cookies
After lunch I had organised a scavenger hunt, as the group is for bilingual kids, it is good to do something where they have to actually use their English. As it turned out we had one confident reader/writer in each team. We had been to the same park a couple of weeks earlier so I had taken photos and now there are bigger kids in the group I incorporated the whole park - lots of running! The scavenger hunt seemed to be a big hit, I was a bit worried I had made it too difficult but apart from a sign that had fallen down they managed to do everything OK.


We has a dad's team too but they seemed to find beer on their scavenger hunt! Must remind myself to join their team in future events.


The kids claimed their prizes, real genuine Easter Bunny Poop and then spent the rest of the time playing, football mostly!


It was a great day, well worth the time it took me to organise the hunt and stuff but I admit by the time we got home I was exhausted! Today is Ebi-kun's entrance ceremony so we need to get suited and booted a bit later on, first we have to go to city hall and up date my alien status or something. There are new rules coming into effect in the summer for foreigners living in Japan so I have to make sure everything is in order.

Thursday, 5 April 2012

Eggs...

Every year the playgroup has an Easter egg hunt, it is always great fun, we usually have a good turn out and it is one of the major events of the year. We have done it for 5 years now and had to change it a little each time due to the kids getting older and the parents getting a bit wiser!
Now what we do, is have each child 10 hard boiled decorated eggs, each egg has their name on it (or mark for the non readers). We introduced this because the older kids were collecting all the eggs and the little ones missing out, it also means we know whose egg it is so we can hide the older kids eggs in more difficult to find places *evil cackle*

So, this week we have been decorating our eggs. I actually bought an eye dying kit this year, the colours are really bright but the orange didn't take for some reason.


We tried using tape and stickers to make different patterns on them and some we left plain.


Once the eggs were dry we got to decorating them using sticky backed felt, googly eyes, MT tape and well, anything else that was lying around.


 The green lion and punky mouse!


A right jumble of unique eggs...


I also made one extra egg and decorated it as Wally/Waldo, of course we had every colour of pom-poms except for red, so orange will have to do. I will hide this one and the child that finds it will get an extra prize.


I have also organized a scavenger hunt for the older kids, we will have a pot-luck lunch under the cherry blossom trees, should be a fun day!
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