School Visits

Wow, I have a lot to share and not a lot of time/space to do it. The last three days have been a whirlwind as we have spent all day in one of the schools within the Minamisoma's school district. In all of the schools, it was immediately evident that there are many students in each classroom. They range from 25 in primary to 40 in high school classrooms. Teacher's aides are not common with the exception of severe special needs students.

Our first day was in the junior high school. Junior high students are as rambunctious as they are in the US. They were eager to "show off" for us, I think. They take classes typical to what our students are taking. They show various levels of interest, just like our students. Like in the US, school is compulsory until the age of 16. Things change drastically, when students enter high school. I will touch on that in a bit.

Our second day was spent with an elementary school. These students were very excited to see us. They had taken time to learn how to greet us previously and many students wanted to communicate with us...in Japanese. Some of the younger students kept trying to talk to us although we couldn't say much in return. We quickly learned that limited speaking ability can be made up for by effort and pictures! I was particularly impressed that the students were training for a prefecture-sponsored 2K race. The students trained very hard for this. As young as first grade, they ran a few laps during the PE and recess time.

Our last day was with the high school. It is much more serious as it is no longer compulsory (mandatory). The parents have to pay for books, fees, etc to attend. They also must pass a test to get into high school as well as a test to get into college. It is very high stakes and the environment shows it. The lessons are all teacher-centered lectures, which they feel best prepare the children for the university. There is much less freedom at the high school.

I will try and post more as the week goes on, but I will be without Internet for quite a while so posting may be sporadic. Also, I wrote a story for the Beulah Beacon which you can expect in the next edition.