First Day of Yochien

Today was M's first day of yochien. I cannot believe she is in preschool. A couple of you asked questions as to what yochien is and why they start in April, so before I dive into the actual day, allow me to give the small explanation as I understand it in my feeble gaijin (foreigner) mind. We all know the Japanese people value school, and do a lot of it (like Saturday schools), and the prep for school starts at age 3 when most kids can go to public "yochien." It is like preschool for us in the US, only it is offered in the public schools in many areas of the city. Some sections of Tokyo start yochien at public school from age 4 and on, but in our ward it is age 3. The reason they start in April is because the Japanese school calendar and fiscal calendar for businesses start in April. It is custom to have an entrance ceremony so for the last week or so we have seen kids of all ages and their parents parading around town in their navy or black suits/dresses and attending entrance ceremonies. We had the entrance ceremony yesterday and start school today. A friend told me that out of all countries in the world, Japan attends the most days of school. Not sure if this is true or not, but I would not be surprised considering they start you at age 3. There is not a lot of academic work. It is mainly play time as I understand it. Children attend yochien for 3 years (going a bit longer each year) until first grade of elementary school. For the first week or two, the kids go for two hours. Then, they build you up to 3 hours. The entire time is 4.5 hours for the first year, including lunch at school (making obento lunches will be a whole different blog post that I am happy to put off until August when I have to make such a fancy lunch box). Wednesdays are always shorter yochien days. And sometimes they will have a function on a Saturday. School starts in April. Everyone has a holiday in the beginning of May for Golden Week. Then they will have a break in August. They will get a short time off for New Years Holidays and finally have a spring break in mid-March to beginning of April. There are even different types of yochien. My friend Minnie sends Mr. N to a sports yochien where it is focused on activity and sports. A bus for the school picks him up, with teachers on it, but he is doing this by himself at age 3. A friend told me the Japanese idea for yochien is to make them tough and independent, and I saw this today at drop off.

Miyako seemed indifferent about going to school this morning. She was not overly excited but she was not crying about it. Drop off was at 9:10 and we were there a bit early (thankfully Daddy worked from home this morning so I left the K Man at home and could focus on M). In hind sight I wish I had not gotten there early as she just kept watching the older kids go in, and I could sense her anxiety building up as she kept asking me "Is it 9:10 yet?" The drop off was pretty chaotic. You have to get their outdoor shoes off and put on the indoor shoes. I was trying to help her with this amidst the loads of moms and little ones doing the same thing. The teacher came up and told me to let Miyako do it (they eventually want them to come in on their own, change shoes, put the outdoor shoes in their cubby, and go to class), so Miyako listened and started doing it. Then the teacher politely shooed me away. I asked if it was ok and she said yes. So I left. Without saying goodbye to Miyako. Without showing her on the clock when I would be back like we do every week at sports class. It felt traumatic for me. Miyako does well when I leave her. But she always says "hug" and we hug and I typically show her on the clock when I am coming back. I wanted her to have the same security for her first day of yochien. I kept trying to look in the window to see if I could see her, but there were too many people to find her. So, my friend and I went to Starbuck's and bought an overpriced cafe mocha and talked about our little girls wondering how they were doing.

Daddy was able to go with me to pick up Miyako. When I saw her sweet face through the door, she was sitting in her little chair just fine. We had the K Man with us, and she was wanting to sit and play with him (which rarely happens)...makes me wonder if she was glad to see her little brother and a familiar friend. The teacher told Kan she did not cry at all. She got all of the stuffed animals to play with in her arms and played by herself. The teacher thought she went to the stuffed animals because she might have been a bit lonely and playing with these helped her. I am not sure, but it makes me sad to think of her as being lonely. However, it also makes sense since she does not speak Japanese as a first language. The teacher did say when a little boy asked to play with Anpanman, she gave it to him without hesitating. The teacher was very pleased and thought she had a good foundation. She seemed to have fun and enjoyed playing. They also colored and the teacher sang and read books. I wonder if it will be harder on her once she realizes this is every day. Or if she will continue to transition just fine. I was really proud of her. We will typically keep her out on Wednesdays to keep going to BSF, but she will attend Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. She is not upset about going, but she did ask me today when we would do school at home. :) I have some preschool stuff in English to do with her starting in August/September when the US school calendar would start so she has a bit of "school" in both languages. Plus I would like to get a feel for what home school would be like.

You will notice in the picture she has a backpack (that is empty), a yellow hat, an umbrella because it was rainy today, and a bag in her other hand. In addition, I was carrying her large Hello Kitty book bag (separate item from the backpack) with her shoe bag and earthquake guard inside it. They have SO many stinking bags, and each bag needs her name and symbol on it (she is the panda). It is a huge deal and a lot of moms make the bags (and compete about it, or so I hear), but not this mom. I went to the Wal-mart of Japan and bought them. Thankfully we picked a popular symbol and I could find panda patches to put on all of the bags and shoes. They have to carry an earthquake head protector to and from school in case we had an earthquake on the walk to and from school. Her yellow hat she is wearing is the one for emergencies and also for rainy days. She also has a navy winter hat and a light brown summer hat to wear to and from school. They have a bag for dirty clothes where I keep a change of clothes in there just in case she gets dirty or has an accident. She has a book bag for her earthquake guard and shoe bag, and the shoe bag is to carry her indoor shoes because to keep the school clean you wear one pair of shoes just inside the school. Both indoor and outdoor shoes also must have your name and symbol on it. In fact, the indoor shoes need them on the front and heel of the shoe. Sadly one of her pandas fell of the indoor shoes already, but this also happened to my Japanese friend so I was not too worried about it. Daddy may be drawing a panda on the shoes this weekend. The earthquake guard had to have her name sewn into it and her symbol. Since I do not sew, her Japanese teacher helped me out with that one, and sewed her name in like 5 minutes. I cannot imagine what we will do once she starts taking lunch - she has a bento box (lunch box), and a bag for it, along with a cup and a bag for it. She has a hankerchief that needs her name on it and a towel to dry her hands that needs both the symbol and the name. Are you keeping up with all of this?! We take these home on Wednesday and Friday to wash. Can you see why it stressed me out a bit to get this all ready? Thankfully a friend of ours is attending the same yochien and she was so helpful for me - even took me shopping to show me exactly what I needed to buy. It is amazing all of this stuff for a 3 year old. Thankfully the only bag we brought home today was the backpack and earthquake guard. The other bags stay at school until Friday and you just have to bring them on Monday. Poor girl will need a suitcase by the time she is in high school if we keep her in school here just to carry everything. :)

Some of you were wondering if she had an uniform. They do not have a uniform per se, but she has to wear shorts, even in the winter, that are elastic so they are easy to take up and down to go potty. Of course the inside of the shorts needs her name and symbol on them. Her socks also need her name on them, but no panda. She can wear any kind of shirt and it can have writing on it. I bought a pair of khaki shorts and jean shorts (both a bit long for chilly weather) and two pairs of knee socks for when it is cold. I figure we can wear one pair of shorts one week, with the other pair in the change of clothes bag, wash it on the weekend and switch out if we like for the next week. As soon as we got home, she wanted to put on pjs anyways since it was wet and rainy outside, so I imagine she will change clothes when she gets home on most days.

Miyako-chan, Mama and Daddy are so proud of you. You did a great job today, going to an environment that is unknown with a language that is not your first. We pray this makes you stronger and develops great character in you, even from this young age, and that your language skills will improve so that God might use them in you one day. We love you sweet girl!