Kindergarten

[Tsuyako]

That looks delicious! When I was that age all we'd get was a cheap sandwich or something >_<

[Orodreth]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

Definitely not strawberry.　I seriously cannot imagine anyone in Japan being able to eat that without gagging.

It`s dried shiso leaf powder - yukari.

ETA: That`s a quail egg, by the way. Not a normal sized egg.

Hahaha, thanks. I'd still like to try that though.

[asakuraT]

[

QUOTE=Nyororin;463229]Believe me, it really cuts into the budget. Kindergarten isn`t required, so it`s entirely up to the parents whether they send their child. The kindergarten my son goes to is a private one, so it`s a bit higher than average - but not all that much of a difference (think around 28000/month in comparison to 25000/month for public.) At the end of the year we will get a sort of refund voucher from our town, as there are no public kindergartens in the immediate area

.

Ooops, here in Duesseldorf we have a monthly fee of 350 Euro set off the o'bento lunch of 50 a month and entrance fee....
And no cute hats, alas!
Such a hat my husband had on his kindergarten photos, he comes from Nagoya area, by the way

I am considering sending the younger daughter to Japanese kindergarten by two reasons:1- it may help teach her the father's language since I speak no Japanese to her.

Regardless of what their ethnic background is, you *still* have to take a foreign language in school. Just having a parent who speaks a different language natively doesn`t magically grant you that ability. Language isn`t genetic.

This is what I ve been thinking , too. Is it a good enough reason to "go Japanese"?
Or with a less effort take Japanese as foreigh language in school, going international?
What is the experience of mixed couples in your surrounding?

The second reason to choose Japanese kindergarten is difficulties with getting a place in international kindergarten.
Setting aside the fact that the further school will be free of charge in case of Japanese and really expensive in case of ISD, the kindergarden dilemma is still here.
I am afraid to go Japanese since I know almost nothing of their activities. How different is it from Anglo-American one?

[fuu]

Wow I can't get over how cute your son is!!!!
I can't believe just how much it costs to send a child to school there. Here in Canada its really different. I have one son going into grade 6 and one going into grade 3. They both started in what we call Jr. Kindergarden. They are in public shcool and it costs me out of my pocket only for school supplies*pencils crayons, etc*, lunches, and clothes. There are other costs through out the year like pizza days and field trips but there is no tuition until the child is ready for university. Thats when we're talking about 10's of thousands of dollars T_T. Also at the school my boys attend there are no uniforms. I wish there was. It would make it alot easier on me. And right now is the last week of School for them. They will start their new grades in September. Just out of curiosity....... how much does it cost to attend Elementary, Middle, and High School???

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by fuu

Wow I can't get over how cute your son is!!!!
I can't believe just how much it costs to send a child to school there. Here in Canada its really different. I have one son going into grade 6 and one going into grade 3. They both started in what we call Jr. Kindergarden. They are in public shcool and it costs me out of my pocket only for school supplies*pencils crayons, etc*, lunches, and clothes. There are other costs through out the year like pizza days and field trips but there is no tuition until the child is ready for university. Thats when we're talking about 10's of thousands of dollars T_T. Also at the school my boys attend there are no uniforms. I wish there was. It would make it alot easier on me. And right now is the last week of School for them. They will start their new grades in September. Just out of curiosity....... how much does it cost to attend Elementary, Middle, and High School???

The prices would be lower, especially for the uniform, if this were a "public" kindergarten. As it stands though, it`s a private one so quite a bit higher when it comes to additional costs. Tuition alone is similar for both public and private though. I think that part of it is that kindergarten is not required. It`s optional, a choice made by the parents. Mandatory education is only elementary and middle school.

Elementary is almost entirely public, with very very few private specialty schools (think elite rich people). In general, there are no uniforms, and the money paid out of pocket is for supplies and lunch. I`ve heard it`s around US$80 a month - of course, that`s not set for each month. Supplies are bought in a bundle at the beginning of the year, etc. That isn`t counting clothes, school bag, etc.

Middle schools are mainly public, but there are a number of private ones. Most of the private schools are linked to private high schools. It may sound rough, but passing the entrance exam to a private middle school is a lot less challenging than doing it for high school when *everyone* is trying to get into a good school. If you`re in the linked middle school, there is no exam, and you get to relax once you`re in.
Public is a little more than elementary school - most all middle schools (at least around here) have uniforms, so you have to figure that in.　
Another big difference is that there is a big school trip, often to the other side of the country lasting close to a week, which you make small payments toward over the 3 years of schooling. The full price for the trip is usually in the US$500 to $1000 range.

High school isn`t mandatory, and is dominated by private schools with only a few public in each area. Prices are all over the map. Public high schools tend to be of higher academic standards, and are harder to get into but cheaper. Private range from bottom of the barrel to specialized to a certain field (some focusing on things like pre-med, etc). None are cheap.

[fuu]

Wow those price are high. Here you have to stay in school until your 16. And without a highschool diploma you pretty much can't even get a decent job. My oldest son who is 11 now already knows what college he wants to go to and what he will study. We've done some checking around just for information purposes and it will cost around $30 000. Ouch. My pocket book. Well I hope your little one is enjoying school. Kindergarden can be so much fun.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by fuu

Wow those price are high. Here you have to stay in school until your 16. And without a highschool diploma you pretty much can't even get a decent job. My oldest son who is 11 now already knows what college he wants to go to and what he will study. We've done some checking around just for information purposes and it will cost around $30 000. Ouch. My pocket book. Well I hope your little one is enjoying school. Kindergarden can be so much fun.

Just because education isn`t mandatory after junior high school doesn`t mean that you can get by without it. You can barely get a decent job without a university degree, let alone without a high school diploma. Japan has some of the highest educational expectations (in terms of the base educational level of the workforce) in the world.
Around here, even McDonald's requires you to either be in high school or to have graduated.

It sounds like your son is really motivated. I wish him (as well as your wallet) the best.

[NovemberRain]

Your son is very cute in the uniform. He looks like he's going on an adventure. XD It looks great.

[eleKtrickpenguin]

Ooooo... Your son is sooooo adorable!!! I wanna plushie version! ^___^

[PinaYade]

I think he looks very cute.

In Holland (where I live) we don't have uniforms. I understand the pro's and con's, and I think I would hate uniforms if I had to wear them... but I since I never had to wear a uniform... I really like them.

When we where in Tokyo we saw 3 young girls in school uniforms taking the train (JR line Shinagawa station) and they had like a security cord? Is that a possibility?