Making Kanji Fun — Part 2: Low Tech and High Tech Ideas May 23, 2012

I am continuing my quest to make kanji learning fun and enjoyable for my kids.  I stumbled upon a super simple idea that Austin and Ethan seem to really like.  When given the choice of how to practice kanji at home, this is currently the method they always choose.  They have a kanji workbook from UICS (their Japanese school) that they are going through.  After they complete a page in their workbook, I use a memo pad and magic marker to write the kanji on one piece of paper and the readings for that kanji on another.  Instead of playing concentration with those kanji “cards” (which would take too long), I have the kids separate the kanjis from the readings and then lay the cards all out on the floor face up so that they can see both the kanji and the readings.  The boys then go through and match the readings with the kanjis.  Once they have paired them all, I go through and check to make sure the pairings were correct.  If they were, they are done.  If there were several wrong or if I noticed that they seemed like there were several that they were unsure of when pairing the cards, then I will have them separate them again and play the kanji matching game one more time to really solidify the kanji and their readings in their minds.  So far, this has been an enjoyable, relatively painless way for them to begin instantly recognizing the kanji they are studying and I have been impressed at how they are able to rattle off all the readings of the kanjis in each set I have made for them.  The standard way to study kanji in Japan is just to write it a million times.  But this gets old fast for Austin and Ethan and I have noticed that they can copy the kanji ten times on “auto-pilot mode” but then not be able to remember the reading or how to write it if I take the book away and quiz them on it.  So, this game seems to be an effective way to help them keep the kanji in their long-term memory after they have done the traditional writing of the kanji in their workbooks.

Another fun way the boys sometimes practice kanji is through iPad apps.  There’s a series in the App Store now called Kanji Yubi Doriru (which means drills for writing kanji on the screen with your finger) that covers the kanji learned in elementary school from first through sixth grade.  I got the free version of the second grade kanji app for Ethan last year and he liked it, so I upgraded that one and purchased the rest in the series so that Austin and Ethan (and later Katie) could  use them to practice kanji when they didn’t feel like writing in a workbook.  I also have a free app called Kanji Ninja that quizzes kids on all 1006 of the elementary school kanji, though we haven’t used this one as much so far.  There’s just something about getting to use a screen for homeschool that ignites a spark of interest in the subject, especially when it’s a subject they aren’t naturally all that excited about to begin with.  The Yubi Doriru apps have a place for practicing the kanji on the iPad screen and also quizzes for how to write and read the kanji.  To see part one of this post, go here.

Whenever we can add even a little bit of “fun factor” to the learning of kanji (or any other subject) the boys are very responsive and are much more whole-hearted in their studies.  But, isn’t that true for everyone? Don’t we all prefer to do something or learn something when it’s fun instead of boring?   I recently came across this YouTube video by the Volkswagon company that illustrates this truth in an interesting way.   The company showed how they could get more commuters in a Swedish subway station to take the stairs instead of the escalator by turning the stairs into a giant piano.  Volkswagon calls this “Fun Theory.”   I first saw this Volkswagon video and read an inspiring post about incorporating Fun Theory into our homeschooling over at this blog by a lady named Laura Grace Weldon.  I really like her blog and plan to follow her posts for more inspiration in my own homeschooling.

Here are a few photos of the boys playing their kanji matching game a few days ago.  Notice the third buddy who was included in the study session.

Good job, Pengy! You made a pair!

A few of the third grade kanji cards.

Some of the fourth grade kanji cards, waiting to be matched.

Austin reviewing his fourth grade kanji.

Ethan and “Pengy the Penquin” worked as a team to play Ethan’s matching game with the third grade kanji.

A Goal Accomplished: 50 Books! May 19, 2012

“I want to read all fifty of the books in the Kaiketsu Zorori series, Mom!” Austin told me four months ago.

It was the start of the new year, and a school assignment was for the boys to come up with a goal they wanted to accomplish during 2012.  Austin had just begun to get interested in a Japanese children’s book series aimed at boys called Kaiketsu Zorori, which is a silly, slapstick series about the ongoing adventures of a sly super hero fox and his two sidekicks.  It’s not exactly great literature, but it was the first Japanese book series that Austin and Ethan had shown interest in reading, so I was quite happy that they had found something they were interested in and I could see it was helping them gain fluency in reading Japanese.

“That sounds like a great goal, Buddy!” I replied, thinking that it would probably take a VERY long time for him to read fifty whole books.  But, here we are just four months later and he has already accomplished his goal!  Using a list of all fifty titles in the series as his guide, Austin tenaciously read (and greatly enjoyed!) every book on the list, crossing off each one as he read it.  Ethan has also read several of the Kaiketsu Zorori books and has set a goal for himself of reading 18 books before the end of the year.  I’m excited to see him accomplish his goal too!

Great job, Austin!  Now what are you going to read next??

The last book in the series that Austin read. He’s happy he accomplished his goal, but a little sad that there aren’t anymore books left for him to read.

Ethan’s in the middle of reading this book in the series.

Katie can’t read Japanese yet, but she enjoys looking at the pictures.

Reflections on Mother’s Day May 15, 2012

“I am thankful for Mommy because she makes great food!”  “I love Mommy because she’s an awesome snuggler!”  As we munched on the delicious chocolate cake that Bryan brought home for Mother’s Day on Sunday, these were some of the sweet comments that the kids made as they reflected on why they are thankful for me.  In addition to encouraging words from Bryan and the kiddos, I was given handwritten love notes from Austin, Ethan, and Katie which they put into the mailbox so I would think the postman had delivered them.  And, at school Katie painted a portrait of me and made a hanging decoration in the shape of a caterpillar with my face on it.   What priceless gifts!  I felt very loved and appreciated on Mom’s Day this year!!

I especially appreciated the loving words and notes from the kids because, to be honest, it’s often easy to struggle with feeling that what I do every day to take care of and nurture my family is not all that meaningful and important.  Shouldn’t I be out doing a “real job” where I can receive accolades and a salary?  In my heart I know that what I do for my family is extremely important.  I am making myself available to them, caring for their physical and emotional needs, putting bandaids on owies and cleaning up barf in the middle of the night when someone gets sick!  I am their kindergarten and elementary school teacher three days a week (actually, every day of the week) and I sacrifice my own free time, sleep, and other needs in order to give myself to them while they are young and need me the most.  But when I’m washing the same dishes and laundry day in and day out, knowing that I’ll have to start all over again tomorrow, it can be discouraging and I can wonder if what I do really matters.  So, it’s affirming when my kids tell me that I’m the best mom in the universe and shower me with hugs and kisses.  And it’s encouraging to see them starting to mature and become wonderful little people who can (sometimes) serve others and make good choices.  And some day (I hope!) they will be positive influencers in the world because they had a mom who wholeheartedly invested in their lives and made them a high priority.

A Bible verse on this topic that has encouraged me over the last ten years since Austin was born is this:

Mark 9:33-37 (NIV) ³³ They came to Capernaum. When he [Jesus] was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” ³⁴ But they [the disciples] kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. ³⁵ Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” ³⁶ He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷ “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

It’s easy to feel like mothering is a pretty thankless job a lot of the time and it’s easy to wish for something more public, more “great”.   Moms are, without a doubt, servants to their families in many ways and I don’t know anyone who has ever told me that they are aspiring to be someone’s servant!  But Jesus says that it’s the servants of others who are actually the greatest in his kingdom.  And he says that when we welcome little children (with their constant questions, spills, messes, runny noses, bad table manners, and sibling arguments that never seem to end) we are welcoming God himself.  Wow, if I could only keep that perspective when I’m picking up toys and washing the fifteenth load of laundry or dishes for the day, I wouldn’t struggle with wondering if my job is significant or not!

I recently ran across several different online articles about the value of mothers and this one in particular was very encouraging to me about the significance of my role as stay-at-home mom to my three precious treasures.

I am also extremely thankful for my own wonderful mom who juggled working full-time with caring for my brother and me in sometimes less-than-ideal circumstances.  She is an “energizer bunny” type who is passionate about her work and the causes she cares about.  And she has always done a great job of making me feel loved and accepted by her for who I am, even when my choices have sometimes been different than what she would have preferred.  She is also an incredibly enthusiastic grandmother to our kids and a cheerleader for our family.

Thanks for giving me life and sacrificing yourself in countless ways for me over the years, Mom!  I love you with all of my heart!

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The Exciting World of Radishes! May 12, 2012

We just finished up a month of studying radishes, using a terrific book by TOPS Learning Systems.  We spent a month creating greenhouses out of milk cartons, learning about things like hydrotropism, phototropism, and geotropism, and testing the effects on radishes of things like overcrowding, lack of light, salt water, and vinegar.  We also closely observed the radish seedlings’ growth and made detailed sketches of their cotyledons, tap roots, hypocotyls, and true leaves.  We had a few extra seedlings left over that we didn’t need for experiments, so we decided to plant them in our vegetable garden with the hope of being able to enjoy some zesty radish salad in a few weeks!  After a little break, we plan to move on to the next TOPS book that involves growing and experimenting with corn and beans.  This was our first time to try a TOPS book, and we loved the clear instructions, the humorous pictures on all the print outs, and the fact that all the experiments could be done using simple items that we already had around the house.  Here are some photos of the kids enjoying their radish experiments.

Austin proudly displays one of his activity sheets.

Katie doing her best to fill out the activity sheets.

Some of our activity sheets from the TOPS textbook.

A self-watering greenhouse.

Examining the effects of four different environments on the growth of radish seeds.

The seedlings in these paper cups are ones we grew to put in our garden later.

Radish seedlings growing in their planters.

The mini-planters were placed on a styrofoam tray and the tray was filled with water to keep the radish plants hydrated.

Two finished greenhouses and some of our mini-planters.

The boys are making mini-planters out of foil for growing radish seeds.

Each radish seed was placed on a numbered spot on a wet paper towel inside the greenhouses. We used the numbers to record the development of each seedling.

Greenhouses made from milk cartons.

Austin and Ethan love hands-on activities and science experiments, so our radish activities were a big hit with them.

Katie carefully places seeds in a milk-carton green house.

Katie wasn’t able to join in every activity because some were a little tricky for her, but she did participate in quite a bit. Here she is checking radish seeds and recording the stage of growth they are in.

Flashback: Easter 2012 May 6, 2012

Because we live in Japan, Easter is easy to forget.  It’s not a holiday on the Japanese calendar and there are no bunny rabbits, Easter cards, or egg dying kits in the stores to remind us that it is coming up.  It’s up to us to remember Easter and to figure out how to celebrate it as a family, since there are  no expectations around us regarding how to celebrate.  So, as a family we have come up with some of our own traditions for celebrating Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection.  One family favorite is our Resurrection Eggs kit.  It’s a carton filled with a dozen colorful plastic Easter eggs.  Inside the eggs are small items that remind us of the main events of the Easter story.  For example, there is a rock inside one of the eggs to remind us of the stone that was placed in front of Jesus’ tomb.  In another egg there is a small toy donkey to remind us of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and in another there is a small piece of white cloth to remind us of the linen that was used to wrap Jesus’ body before it was placed in the tomb.  Our tradition is to read the Easter story together and then open the appropriate eggs as we get to key points in the story.  The kids look forward to taking turns opening each egg and remembering together what Easter is all about.

Another fun  activity we enjoy is baking “resurrection rolls” together.  Several years ago, I found a recipe for the dough, which I make in my bread machine.  After the dough cycle has finished, we make a couple of dozen dough balls, which we flatten and then wrap around a marshmallow that has been dipped in melted  butter,  cinnamon and sugar.  The marshmallow represents Jesus’ body and the butter, cinnamon, and sugar are the oil and spices that were used to annoint Jesus after his death.  When the rolls are baked, they represent the tomb where Jesus was burried.  When they have cooled, we cut off a small piece of bread from the side of  the roll (or, just take a big bite!)   The marshmallow has melted and the inside of the roll is hollow — giving us a picture of the empty tomb after Jesus rose from the dead.  Austin, Ethan and Katie, absolutely LOVE making and eating these rolls and it is one of the highlights of Easter for them each year.

Our final tradition is to go to our small  church to celebrate Easter on Sunday morning.  This year we had a very family-friendly service, with Bryan and our co-worker Tomoaki preparing a Bible story,  talk, and games that the kids could enjoy along with the adults.  Then, after the service, the Takizawa family hauled out the candy-filled Easter eggs they had prepared and the adults took a few minutes to hide the eggs around the outside of the church building before the kids went on a wild and crazy Easter egg hunt.  All in all, this year we enjoyed a great combination of fun and serious ways of celebrating the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

Baby Lucy and her dad enjoying Lucy’s first Easter.

Katie with her buddy Yuno.

Katie was very excited about the eggs she found (with some help from Daddy!)

Alan and Kidong watch the kids hunt for eggs.

Look at all the eggs I found in the Easter egg hunt!!!

Mr. Takizawa and his daughter Remi did a great job with music on Easter morning. We sang a combination of Japanese and English songs.

Bryan and Yoshie telling the Easter Story at church.

These rolls were so popular, they didn’t last very long.

Yep, the “tomb” is empty!

Excited to eat!

Freshly baked resurrection rolls!

What’s inside the resurrection eggs

Resurrection eggs kit

Dipping the marshmallows in melted butter, cinnamon, and sugar before wrapping the dough around them.

Katie joined in to make the rolls too.

Christian Academy in Japan’s School Support Services May 6, 2012

One fun supplement to our homeschool curriculum is our membership with School Support Services (SSS) of Christian Academy in Japan (CAJ), a K-12 Christian school in Tokyo.  We live too far from Tokyo to participate in many of the activities they offer, but we all enjoy being able to check books out of both the SSS office library and the CAJ school library.  About once a month we send an email to the SSS office with a list of all the books and DVDs we want to borrow.  They gather the materials, pack them in a box, and mail them to our house.  We have a month to enjoy them and then send them back.  Since there are no English libraries in Utsunomiya, it’s a wonderful way to always have new and interesting books for all three of the kids to enjoy.  Since we are only borrowing them, we don’t need to have unlimited shelving space to house the books long-term.   As you can see from the pictures below, everyone gets pretty excited when a box of books arrives at our front door!  We are really thankful for this service and for the very sweet ladies who run the SSS office.  In addition to library privileges, we have also taken advantage of educational consulting and testing.  It’s wonderful to have access to these resources for our family.

 

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Making Kanji Fun! March 7, 2012

Sometimes it can be overwhelming to think about needing to learn between 150 to 200 new Japanese-style Chinese characters (called kanji) every year when you are an elementary school-aged boy who is also learning to read and write well in English and (frankly) would much rather be out playing sports or building with Legos than writing the kanji characters over and over again to memorize them.  So, I’ve recently been trying to think of ways to put a little more excitement and variety into the kanji learning experience.

One idea I have tried is to print out a blank board game and use kanji cards and a dice to practice kanji with the boys in a fun way.  They roll the dice and the number that comes up is the number they can move on the board, but only if they can correctly read that number of kanji.  If they can’t, then they can only move the number of spaces they were able to read.  We’ve also included some chocolate chip rewards for getting past certain spots on the game board — chocolate is always a big motivator in this house.

Another thing I’ve done is to purchase a kanji bingo game from Amazon Japan.  When I bought the game, I thought it would include cards for all the second and third grade kanji, but unfortunately it only included a few of each level.  So, I used the boys’ textbooks to make many more cards for the game and then divided them into sets.  Playing kanji bingo helps the kids (and the mom!) to think about the parts that make up each character since you must match either the top half of the kanji with the bottom half or the right side with the left side to play the game.  We can also use the cards to play a rousing game of “Old Maid”.

An educational consultant told me that taking a multi-sensory approach to learning the characters can be really effective.  Instead of simply writing them on paper with pencil, she suggested having the kids use their fingers to “write” the kanji on a rough surface like sandpaper to help it stick in their brains.  I liked her sandpaper idea, but decided to choose more interesting surfaces like a square of fake grass, colorful corrogated cardboard, and a wide scrubbing sponge.  We’ve also tried making the kanji with playdoh, pipe cleaners, and glitter glue, and by forming them on a cork board with push pins.  But the most delicious study method we’ve done so far is to have the boys write them on sugar cookies using a chocolate pen — yum!!

My hope is that these non-traditional ways of practicing the characters will help make the kanji easier for the kids to remember and also help them develop the feeling that memorizing kanji can actually be fun.  So far, my students have given these activities rave reviews!

What could be better than kanji on a cookie?!

Katie wasn’t quite ready to draw any kanji on her cookies, so she just went with rainbow sprinkles.

The boys used chocolate pens to practice some of their kanji from this week.

The kids posing with some of their multisensory kanji learning materials.

Ethan tried his hand at making a stick-pin version of the kanji “au”.

Ethan with the Kanji “ataru” and a Play Doh snake. We used the world map placemats to protect the table.

Of course, you can’t JUST make kanji with the playdoh. You have to make snakes and other creatures too!

Austin showing off the kanji “ochiru”, which means “to fall”

This is the kanji “au”, which means “to meet”.

This is the kanji “shiru”, which means “to know”

This is the kanji “ta” or “hoka”. It means “other”.

Kanji bingo for 4-6th grade kanji — we’re prepared!

Some of the kanji kids learn in second grade

Checking the answer sheet to figure out which kanji piece makes a pair with theirs.

The bingo board

Mom makes kanji fun!!

We Love Baby Lucy! March 1, 2012

The day before Katie’s birthday, our dear friends Megan and Jason Doddrige had the awesome joy of bringing their first daughter, Baby Lucy, into the world.  I was in the waiting room when she was born and it was so exciting to hear her first cry coming from the delivery room!  The day she and Megan checked out of the hospital, they made a brief stop at our house so that the kids could meet their new friend.  Here are some precious photos of them enjoying their first meeting with their new pal.

The sweet new family

Looking a little nervous, but enjoying the experience.

Ethan the proud older brother-type friend.

Katie is VERY glad baby Doddridge turned out to be a girl.

Yep, Baby Lucy and long-time buddy Pink Bear are about the same size!

Katie Turns Five! February 29, 2012

When I went into Katie’s bedroom to wake her up on the day of her birthday, I heard these muffled words from under her many blankets: “Mommy, I’m five!!!!”  Katie was VERY excited to increase in age this month!  She disdains being small and is always ready to prove she’s a big girl.  Now she has a larger number in her age to prove it!   Unfortunately, on Katie’s birthday I was still recovering from a stomach flu and Bryan was out of town, so the celebration on her actual birthday was a bit mellow.  We did manage to go to our favorite cake shop and everyone chose a special cake slice to celebrate with.  Then we went to Toys R Us so Katie could choose something special with birthday money she had received.  So, I think she had a good time!

A few days later, tons of friends from school and the BEST Club gathered at our house for a fun (and very pink!) celebration of Katie turning the big five.  We had great weather that day, so the kids had a tons of fun playing outside at the park with Bryan and our good friend Yoshie.  Katie was showered with piles of feminine presents and she thoroughly enjoyed all the attention.

Here are some photos of her birthday celebrations:

Katie’s preschool teacher, Mrs. Tomuro

Sweet girlfriends from school.

Katie’s school buddy Mitsuho-kun gave her an adorable treasure box with a real key.

Katie’s preschool teacher made her these adorable bags for holding her lunch and her books.

Katie and Mina

Wow! A big present!!

With long-time friend Mio

Emi and Kanako are always very sweet to Katie

Everyone is listening to Toshi play the ukelele

Toshi serenaded Katie with the Happy Birthday song on the ukelele

Chisato and Masato enjoying the snacks

Mom and Dad with the Birthday Girl

Yukari-san, E-chan, and Mio

Emi and Kanako

Masato

Rika

Chisato

Serina

Mitsuho

Mai

Kazushi

Funny boys relaxing

Eating cake on Katie’s real birthday

Everyone chose cake with pudding on top

I’m five!!!

Outside the cake shop

Good buddies!

The Fascinating World of Cells! December 20, 2011

Mitochondria, Golgi apparatus, plasma membrane, lysosomes, and more!  Since we’ve been studying together about plant and animal cells, these are the fascinating topics we’ve been learning about in science.  We read about them in our science book, watched videos from the library and on You Tube, and downloaded a couple of free iPad apps that let us see the inner workings of cells close-up.  Then, to finish our studies, we made three different models of cells to help us remember the different parts of a cell and what their functions are.  The first model the kids made was with Play-Doh on paper.  The kids used Play-Doh to form the shape of the organelles and then placed them on stiff paper to make a 2-D model of an animal cell.  A few days later, the kids and I baked a cake and then used candy, cookies, and other yummy building materials to make an edible model of a plant cell.  The result was quite tasty and the BEST Club students in our weekly Tuesday night Bible discussion were more than happy to help gobble it up!  Finally, the boys used their favorite building material of all — LEGO!! – to build a two-dimensional plant cell model.  Since I was a biology minor in college, I particularly enjoyed refreshing my memory on the parts of cells and all of their cool functions — and the kids seemed to enjoy these fun learning activities too.

Here are some photos of the kids’ various cell models.

Austin and Ethan’s Lego cell next to the picture from our textbook that they modeled their projects after.

Ethan shows off the pores in the cell wall that let things in and out of the cell.

Proudly displaying their project.

The rough endoplasmic reticulum of our cake model was made with a blue chocolate pen and mini chocolate chips.

The nucleus was a “Choco Pie” (a popular snack in Japan kind of like a Ding Dong). The nucleolus was a chocolate truffle ball!

The green part is a chloroplast and the cream-colored cookies are the Golgi apparatus.

The finished edible cell model with graham crackers as the cell wall and whipped cream as the cytoplasm.

Proud of thier project!

Ingredients for making the cell cake

This is fun!

Ethan’s Play-Doh plant cell model.

The kids’ finished Play-Doh models. Katie’s project is in the top left, Austin’s is next to it, and Ethan’s is on the bottom.

Ethan’s cell

Katie’s cell

Austin’s cell

Working hard to make their Play-Doh cells

Our biology textbook.