To Parents Of 4 Year Old Pre-School Children Is Your Child Ready To: Fill & Download for Free

We lived in an Apartment complex. We had two boys, 4 & 6. 1st day of school for the six year old. The four year old is playing with other pre-school children, so we thought, Until the phone rang to tell us that they had two boys of ours ready to start classes.I went to rescue this little angry 4 year old! His big brother's going? Why should not he?

This question is rather broad. Indeed it would take several books to do the answer justice. What follows is a too brief outline of how they do the pre-school thing in Japan.Please keep in mind that the times, numbers, prices, etc. are not standard throughout Japan. The numbers used here are, more or less, typical.IN JAPAN -Pre-school attendance in Japan is pretty much universal. It is not mandatory, but the participation rate of 3, 4, and 5 year olds is close to 100%.There are two types of pre-schools in Japan. For convenience sake, let us call them Day Care and Kindergarten. Both of these come in public and private varieties. The following is mostly about public Day Care and public Kindergarten. Private versions are similar, but usually cost more and may offer more in the way of services or prestige.By far the most common pre-school is Day Care. In many communities Day Care is the only choice available.DAY CARE -Ages -Day Care is for kids from 6 months through 5 years of age. The school year runs from 1 April and ends 31 March. The children are grouped into cohorts according to birthdate. That is, little Taro born 31 March and Hanako born 1 April will be in different cohorts. Most Day Cares will have six cohorts; 6 months, 1 year old, 2 year old, 3 year old, 4 year old, 5 year old.Parents need not enroll their kids at 6 months. As mentioned above, they need not enroll their kids at all. That being said, nearly all kids starting from age 3 are in Day Care or Kindergarten. There is virtually no home schooling in Japan.Hours -Generally speaking, the Day Cares are open Monday through Friday from 7:30 in the morning to 7:00 at night. Practically speaking, if a parent shows up with a kid at 7:15 in the morning, they will be able to make the hand off. If something delays the parent from getting to the Day Care until after 7:00PM, they will not put the kid on the street. Such, too early and too late practices are frowned upon and are rarely abused.Saturday, Sunday, and Holidays -There are provisions for kids to be looked after during these times. Usually the municipality designates one or more Day Cares to be open on these days. It may not be the one your child usually attends, but there are places the kids can be looked after. There is a nominal fee for using these ‘extra’ services.Drop in -There are also provisions for parents whose kids are not currently enrolled to be looked after on a hourly or full day basis.In addition, there are drop in play centers at Day Cares or Kindergartens for parents to take their kids to have a play with other kids of similar age. These are free or a dollar or so to use. In this case, the parents stay with the kids while at the facilityThese facilities are commonly used when the weather makes outside play impracticable. They are also popular with parents whose kids will begin Day Care or Kindergarten the following spring. Sort of a warm up.Class Size -As mentioned above, most Day Cares will have six cohorts. Generally speaking there is one teacher* assigned to each class. One cohort may have several classes, depending on the numbers of kids and space available.The cohort sizes are as follows:6 months to 1 year old: one teacher per 3 kids.1 year olds: one teacher per 5 or 6 kids.2 year olds: one teacher per 5 or 6 kids.3 year olds: one teacher per 20 kids.4 year olds: one teacher per 30 kids.5 year olds: one teacher per 30 kids.*If one or more of the kids are special needs kids then additional teachers are added as needed.There are often extra hands at the Day Cares that help out where need be.Teachers -These days, most, if not all the pre-school teachers are college graduates who have majored in education. Pre-school teachers are overwhelmingly female. They are, for the most part, happy, committed, and good.Attendance costs -The cost of attending Day Care is calculated using a sliding scale based upon the parent’s income. This can range from zero up to as much as 5~600$ per month. This upper number is very large and would represent the costs for someone with BIG money. Generally speaking, the costs of attendance are not odious. It should be noted that the cost of school lunch is covered in the monthly fees.Additional costs -Many pre-schools also require the purchase of a ‘uniform’. These ‘uniforms’ usually consist of: a shirt of fairly tough fabric, t-shirt, short pants, a hat or cap, small school bag, a smock like thing for eating lunch, and other things I can no longer remember. These items change depending on the age of the kids. The above list is what the average 3~5 year old has.Crayons, paste, scissors, and the like that make up a kid’s ‘tool set’, are bought by the parents. These items are usually purchased as a set from the pre-school and can be replenished as necessary. There is no profit taking in this exchange.In addition there are other incidental fees for excursions and the like.As mentioned, lunch costs are included in the Day Care fees. In the case of Kindergartens, the lunch costs are in addition to enrollment fees.Funding -The costs of running public Day Cares and Kindergartens is shared between the municipality, the Prefecture, and the National government. The local communities carry, by far, the largest share of the financial burden.A Typical Day -It would take a book to describe all the types of things that happen in a Japanese pre-school. I will limit myself to just a couple of examples.It probably isn't necessary to say, but Japanese pre-schools are very happy places. Happy- happy!A typical day for 3, 4,and 5 year olds always begins with the Morning Meeting.During this time roll is taken and the teacher asks each kid how they are doing? At the same time the teacher looks at the renrakuchou (連絡帳). This is a little booklet that is daily passed between teacher and parent via the kid. The teacher will write a bit about what little Hanako did that day, or any concerns, or why little Taro has a bump on the head. Parents, usually mom, will write about concerns, or to please ask the teacher to make sure Hanako takes her medicine after lunch. Where’s the medi? It’s in the renrakuchou or in the small school bag, mentioned above. You will often see the medi taped to the chalkboard. Usually the teacher already knows about the medicine thing, because mom gave her the heads up at drop off.The renrakuchou is an excellent way to keep the parents and teacher connected. There is often not enough time to have much of a discussion when picking up or dropping off the kids. If the parent wants to have a deeper discussion the teacher or the head teacher of the pre-school is always more than willing to lend an ear and offer advice.The renrakuchou also contains a calendar of all the events, excursions, and happenings concerned with the pre-school, contact numbers, the kids medical info, the kid’s doctor’s info. It a regular little dossier.In addition to the personal stuff, the Morning Meeting is the time the teacher gives the class the run down on what they are going to do that day and what is coming up on the calendar.Following the Morning Meeting there is often a show and tell time. Kids are invited to speak if they have something they want to share.Following this the day’s activities start. This is not the place to describe all the stuff that happens in a pre-school day. I will limit myself to a few observations.Groups -Every pre-school class I’ve ever been in, and I’ve been in hundreds, has groups of 4 to 6 kids. These groups are made by the teacher with careful attention to the make up. A good teacher will group; leader types, with good followers, not so good followers, and trouble makers. The inexperienced teacher will be much more careless in group making. These groups will form again and again throughout the day and throughout the term. They are changed from time to time.Today’s Leaders-Each day, or week, has a new set of leaders for various tasks. These leaders are usually one or more members of the groups mentioned above. Tasks include: taking the attendance book to the head teacher and reporting how many were absent, being the first line in the lunch preparations (more on lunch below), and taking care of various classroom duties.Morning meetings with singing. Kids in groups and the day's leaders are standing.Coming to order -There is an enormous amount of play, both free and directed, in Japanese pre-schools. The teachers will switch between the two as they progress throughout the day. That is if they are making Halloween masks and the kid’s attention starts to lag, they will close that session and give the kids a break to do something else. A bit later, or the next day, they will return to the masks. The teachers spend a lot of time practicing / training the group to stop one thing, come to order, and get ready to do something else. This isn’t done in an overbearing manner, but is also done as a type of play.Lunch Time -Just before lunch there is a general clean up time. Gotta clear the decks because it’s time to eat. Then everybody washes their hands and lunch preparation starts. Lunch preparation involves: table and chair arrangement, distribution of eating utensils, cups, etc. each group usually sets up their own table.The lunch usually comes on carts in big pots and carrying pans along with stacks of plates, bowls, cups, and chopsticks. The food must then be divided into portions. Depending on the age and group, such tasks as portion division and serving are handled by the kids. The day’s leaders are often the kids doing the portioning. They then pass the plates and bowls on to the other groups. There is always an adult around to give guidance should the need arise.When all is served out the lunch begins when everyone puts their hands together and say, itadakimasu, which means something like, ‘thank you for this food’. At the end of the meal, everyone again puts hands together and says, gochisousama deshita, which means something like, ‘thank you for this food I just had.’Most cities are very serious about giving the kids a healthy balanced lunch. They are well aware that a lot of kids get away with being picky eaters at home. The school lunches in Japan are among the healthiest in the world.There is usually a snack time in the afternoon.Nap Time -In the warmer months many Day Cares have a nap time. The kids all have little futons and they lie down for a nap or some quiet time. Teachers use this nap time to write in the renrakuchou exchange booklets.Health Checks -Pre-schools do not exist as some sort of free floating entity, they are, of course, embedded in a social, political, and bureaucratic nexus. Because Japan has a national health care system, pre-schools are a convenient place to give the kids health checks /screens. The following health checks are routinely given: general - twice a year; teeth - twice a year; ear, nose and throat - once a year; eyes - once a year.The Japanese are big into screening. Pretty much everyone in the country is screened once or more a year. They believe in catching things early, so they do not have time to develop into something more complicated and costly. Now there’s an idea.Vaccinations are no longer given a most pre-schools. They are, instead, administered at local clinics or the big main hospital. There is very little of that foolishness about not having vaccinations.Another point that should not be forgotten is that in most parts of Japan the health coverage for kids is total. That would be spelled: FREE. In some municipalities this FREE coverage extends till 18 years of age. In most communities this FREE coverage extends through middle school - up to 16 years old. FREE means that problems are caught and dealt with in a timely fashion.There are also numerous events, field trips, birthday parties, graduation, etcetera, throughout the year. Some events include parents and other community members.KindergartenKindergartens are most often used by families that have multiple care givers. These care givers are often grandparents, but stay at home moms are not infrequent.Pretty much everything that was said about Day Care can be repeated for kindergartens. Nevertheless, there are a few differences that deserve mention.Ages -Kindergarten is for kids 3, 4,and 5. Making three cohorts.Hours -Generally a kindergarten’s hours are from 8:00 in the morning to about 2:00 in the afternoon. Many kindergartens have provisions for extended care time. There is a modest fee paid.Class Size -3 year olds: one teacher per 20 kids.4 year olds: one teacher per 25 kids.5 year olds: one teacher per 30 kids.Teachers -Same as Day Care. These days, most, if not all the pre-school teachers are college graduates who have majored in education. Pre-school teachers are overwhelmingly female.Attendance costs -The cost of attending kindergarten is set at around $80 per month. There are the same incidentals mentioned in Day Care. One major difference is that lunch is not included in the monthly fees. Kindergartens typically charge about $2 a day for lunch.Funding -Same as Day Care. The costs of running public Day Cares and Kindergartens is shared between the municipality, the Prefecture, and the National government. The local communities carry, by far, the largest share of the financial burden.A Typical Day -Same as Day Care, but, as mentioned above, the day ends around 2:00 in the afternoon.Finally -Child care is, naturally enough, a shared venture between the family and the community. The community is part of ever larger groupings up to the national level. What this means is that there are national laws, regulations, rules, and the like. Then there is a prefectural (in Japan the states or provinces are called, prefectures) overlay. Then there are local overlays. Think of the national level as setting the base and the prefecture adding to that base, and then the local municipalities as adding on that base.The above only just scratches the surface of pre-schools in Japan. Sorry I couldn't do more.

I love this question. As a pre-school teacher, a special education teacher, and now a mother of a toddler myself, I’ve got a LOT of experience with tantrums. There are five main things that I do and suggest to others for working through toddler outbursts:Understand Where It’s Coming From - When children have a tantrum, meltdown, outburst, or whatever you want to call it, it’s not coming out of thin air (even though it might seem that way). All behavior is communication, and you’ll find that if you look closely, you’ll see that these tantrums are your child’s way of trying to tell you something. I wrote a blog post about the major reasons why toddlers melt down: 4 Reasons Why your Toddler has Tantrums. Once you know what your child is trying to tell you with the behavior, you’ll be better able to address it.Live Through It - This one seems silly, but as a person who’s had children throw chairs at me, attempt to run into the street, and rip all of my pictures off of my walls, living through it is an important thing to remember. When your child is so frustrated that they need to scream, rant, throw, and kick, they’re not in control of their faculties or their common sense. Keep you, your child, and everyone safe so that you can look back on this as a learning experience for all.Don’t Take it Personally - I know that it seems hard. It feels like you’re the worst parent in the world, your child hates you, and any onlookers involved must think you are a horrible person. Usually, though, toddlers aren’t screaming and throwing themselves to the floor because they hate you (no matter what comes out of their little mouths). Usually it’s because they’re so full of feelings, frustration, or disappointment that their undeveloped vocabularies just can’t express. They are doing their best to communicate to you in the only way they can. It has nothing to do with you being a horrible person!Don’t Give In - Just about the worst thing you can do in a tantrum situation is reward the child for that behavior. Though they don’t do it as a manipulative measure to begin with, children can QUICKLY learn that if they act up (or even threaten to act up, sometimes), their parents, teachers, or caregivers will let them have what they want (more playtime, a new toy, the front seat of the bus, etc.). My favorite thing to do is step back about five feet from the child, cross my arms, and say “Let me know when you’re done.” If it’s safe, you can walk away from the child, saying “When you’re ready to talk, I’ll be in the kitchen.” If you’re in a store, it’s more important that your child learns that tantrums don’t deliver good things to them than it is to finish shopping, so you can leave your cart and haul your screaming baby out to the car until she calms down. While you don’t want to be drawn into the drama, (so that means no yelling back, no spanking, etc.), you do want to make it clear in a calm, firm way that this is not acceptable.Forgive Your Child, and Don’t Be Scared - I know that I’m strange, and it’s from my years of working with the students that I did before I had my baby, but I love dealing with tantrums. I think they’re so cute, and I love standing quietly by and shrugging at angry children. The most important thing is that when your child calms down again, you give them a hug and a drink of water, and you talk for a few minutes about how they can behave differently and maybe get a better outcome than the one they got this time. Don’t be afraid of future tantrums-just accept that they’ll pop up when you least expect them, and there’s no way for you to plan your life around them.Good luck!