August summer school was a fun filled adventure for us. We spent the middle week learning about Hawaii. We made leis and went surfing. We talked about tropical fruits and used them in our cooking lesson. We also had a very special visit from some Hula dancers! The whole school really enjoyed watching the Hula show, and we all practiced dancing afterward. Everyone had fun during our Hawaii week. We also had a special Bubble Day. We learned to make our own bubble solution, then went up into the garden to blow bubbles. We had fun experimenting with different objects to see what would work to make bubbles. We made pipe-cleaner bubble blowers, we used swimming rings, small hula-hoops, and anything else we could think of to try and make bubbles! We also made colored bubbles and caught these on paper to make bubble drawings! It was a fun filled bubble day.
What a great month we had in September! We started the new school year out by introducing all of our friends to our favorite stuffed animal. We all had fun bringing our Teddy Bears into school and showing them to our friends. We sang with them at circle time and even played games with them in the garden with the parachute. We put all of our stuffed animals in the center of the parachute and let them bounce, spin and move while we sang songs and controlled the parachute. We also took a very special excursion to Disney Sea. Thank you so much to everyone that came and made this wonderful day possible. All of the teachers had a great time. We had a lot of fun on the bus going to Disney Sea singing songs with everyone and talking about what we wanted to see the most when we got there. After we arrived, we split into our groups and everyone got to see many different things, but I do not think anyone could see everything. Of course all of our favorite Disney friends were there as well, like Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Pluto, Chip and Dale. There was Ariel and Aladdin as well as many shows and rides to go on. There was just so much that we have to go again to see everything else that we missed! What was your favorite part of this trip? Thank you again for all the mothers and fathers that helped make this very special day possible, and thank you very much to the kids for coming with us!
What a wonderful Halloween Party! Thank you to everyone who dressed up in costumes and helped to make our party such a memorable event. Everyone looked so good in his or her costumes. We had devils, princesses, cats, rabbits, Indians, Ultramen, ghosts, Alice, Whinnie the Pooh, Minnie Mouse, pumpkins, Spiderman, Batman, Wizards, Witches, Halloween Princesses, Kings, Darth Vader, Bambi, Dinosaurs, Flamingos, Tigers, Lions, Leopards, the Scream man, Fire men, Unicorns, Incredibles, and many more. What a great variety of costumes and ideas. Great job everyone! We sang some songs about ghosts, witches, spiders, skeletons, jack-0-lanterns, and the hokey-pokey. Everyone did well singing the Halloween songs, thank you for trying so hard. Of course, the highlight was trick-or-treating. It was a lot of fun and everyone got a great bag of treats to take home with them. I hope everyone had as much fun as we did. Thank you again for making our Halloween party a success! I look forward to next year.
What a great time we had in December! After all our hard work practicing for Christmas, we had a great party on the 21st. Everyone tried their hardest to sing the songs and play their instruments, thank you all so much. The concert could not have happened without all the kids hard work and dedication. Also, thank you so much to all the parents that participated in our party. Thank you so much for such a wonderful feast! What a bounty of food we had! And of course, we had a special visit from Santa Clause himself! It was so nice to see how much the children enjoyed meeting Santa Clause, almost as much as he enjoyed meeting them! And so many presents! Watching the children unwrap and enjoy their new presents is always a special gift on Christmas. Christmas was so much fun! We also had a special game day on the day after the Christmas party. This was a lot of fun and rewarding, as the kids had worked so hard up until the party, it was nice for them to have a day to relax and play games. They had a lot of fun playing many different games, like musical chairs; duck, duck, goose; and a special game where they pretended to be Rudolph, the red nosed reindeer. Once again, thank you so much to everyone that helped to make our Christmas such a fun and memorable time, we really appreciate it.
We had a great visit to the circus in March. We explored the theme of the circus during the month and learnt about all the different animals and acts involved with the circus. The kids seemed to really enjoy going to the gBig Toph. We talked about their favorite parts of the circus during circle times and shared our memories of that day. We saw elephants, dogs, clowns, acrobats, cats, magicians, juggling, bears, horses, and much more.
On the last day of the term we learned about teamwork with a special craft. We all worked together to create a car and jet plane made out of cardboard boxes. Each child took the responsibility to create a part of the vehicle that we were making. They decorated parts of the car or plane with crayons, stickers, paper, and glue. We than worked together to assemble the pieces into the final creations. These were able to be used by the children during play time. They learned about teamwork as well as how vehicles are created. They really enjoyed making the vehicles and playing with them afterward.
In May we had two very exciting activities. First, all of our students planted radishes in our garden. We then spent time every day watering and watching our plants grow. It was exciting to see these plants grow from simple seeds. Then, to add an extra pleasure to it all, we harvested them and the children took them home to eat! The children were very excited to show off the gfruits of their laborh.
We also took a very fun excursion to the zoo on May 26th. We had a lot of fun viewing many different animals. We saw pheasants, pandas, eagles, otters, lions, gorillas, and monkeys. We took time to enjoy a nice lunch and afterwards visited the cranes, elephants, penguins, polar bears, and even lemurs. Some children took turns sitting on the elephant sculpture. We were lucky to have a beautiful sunny day and everyone enjoyed themselves. Thank you to all the parents that helped to make it such a special day.
Hello! Ifm Mayumi. I have worked in an International school for 6 years in Hiroo and worked in an International nursery in Kawasaki. Ifm a teacher in the Preschool class here at Doremi Garden, where we provide many fun and stimulating activities. I think that creating a comfortable environment and daily routine is very important for children to learn English naturally. Music & Movement (M & M) is good for learning English songs through moving your body with rhythm & sound. We enjoy many dances and movements here for children and their mothers. Join us for some fun movement time together!
Everyone there can speak English fluently and all of the flyers and information for parents is in both English and Japanese. As an American I appreciate the fact that I can talk about my daughter's needs and progress with her teachers in English.
The approach to learning is relaxed and natural. The teachers understand the minds of both young learners and anxious mothers leaving their child alone for the first time. At first I was a little nervous leaving my daughter there, but she enjoys it so much that she asks to go to Doremi every morning when she wakes up. There are cameras in the school so I can check in and see what they are doing by internet anytime I like. Since she has started attending, my daughter has learned an incredible amount, including songs, new words, dances and has developed excellent social skills by playing with the other children. I am very impressed with her progress overall. I can thoroughly recommend Doremi Garden to any parent considering a preschool for their child.
Sherri Leibert
Tokyo, Japan
She graduated from Kunitachi Music University and majored in Music and Movement with the piano (Ritomikku). She has taught music classes and the piano in music schools and colleges. She composes songs for the theater, plays the Japanese drum (wadaiko) and guides children to explore their own physical expressions.
I have worked in both an International and a Japanese school.
I find it a refreshing change being at Doremi Garden. The curriculum gives one so much opportunity for hands on and creative activities.
We do a lot of movement & gardening our very own rooftop garden. Itfs really fun!