Keeping Up English At Home - 1st Grade

One of the ongoing discussion in nearly every international parents group that I'm a part of includes the question of 

"How do I keep up my child's English?"

There are many families like our which are raising bilingual/multilingual children in a place where English is a minority language. This means it is not the community or school language. During the baby/toddler/preschool years language is mostly something you hear and repeat, which makes it easy to reach "native level" or "fluent level". However, as the child gets older, the challenge increases exponentially.  In this series of posts I'll share what had worked for us with the hope of inspiring others to give it a go.

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First grade is a time of many changes and challenges. New school, new schedule, new responsibilities...  One of the things that helped provide stability for Zilla during the transition was our English homework time. Since he was used to having this time it was something comfortable and expected.

As the year went on we did have less and less time for English study so I had to adjust the plan to fit with the amount of time and energy that Zilla had.

We started the year with a goal of doing 3 things each day - a writing activity, a reading activity and a math activity.

The reading activity focused mainly on phonics.  We found the Bob Book series to be perfect as it is graded readers. Each book is small so I could slip a couple in my purse to read together on the train to/from school.

The motivation for the math activity was twofold. The first was to continue the math Zilla had been doing previously (montessori based with some Kumon mixed in). The second was to give him the English vocabulary needed for math along with the English/American style of math.  In the end we only did math about half the year, until he finished the Star Wars 2nd Grade Math book was completed because he needed more time for the school math and he had a good grasp on the vocabulary.

The area Zilla dislikes the most and incidentally struggles with the most is writing.  Perhaps this is because it requires so much practice? Or because he was studying 3 other writing systems at school? When a child is really not interested it becomes part of the teacher's job to create interest. The thing that caught his attention and held it to the point that he was able to get over the wall that he had been up against was the Star Wars Writing Skills book. After that we could move on to other writing exercises.

There are many great books and activities to choose from. Each child's area of interest will differ as will the area which needs a little more attention. It is ok to slow down, speed up or change courses as needed. We have gone through times where it was fun to work on English together, and times where it was very frustrating. It is all part of the process.

So, if you're headed down the same path and want some more ideas click on over to the Amazon.jp store for links to other books and activities we've enjoyed and found useful!

Setting up a Child's Room in Earthquake Country

Q. How do you set up a child's room in a small house in an earthquake prone area?

A. Very carefully! 

Luckily for us many of the items used to make a room safe for little kids are the same items that we need for earthquake preparedness.

This topic comes up from time-to-time. It is something I also wondered about and tried my best to do at our house so I'll share what I've learned.

On 3/11 (large earthquake in Japan) my baby and toddler were napping in my bed, upstairs, when the quake hit. Even though we were far from the epicenter the quake was strong enough to give our area a good shake. I was downstairs when the quake started and upstairs with the kids when it intensified. I don't remember going up the stairs but I must have flown!

Here are some things you can do to prepare a child's room (and any room for that matter) with earthquakes in mind.

1. Have as little furniture in the room as possible.
Many quake related injuries in Japan are from falling items. The homes and apartments here are built pretty well but that won't stop them from shaking.  If you can, don't have dressers, bookshelves and other heavy pieces of furniture in a room used for sleeping.
When placing things on shelves keep in mind the kind of damage they could to if they fall off. We try to have heavy items on bottom shelves and lighter ones on top shelves.

2. Brace the furniture that is in the room
There are poles (braces) that can be used to help stop dressers and bookshelves from tipping over. There are also plastic strips and non-skid pads that can go under pieces of furniture.

3. Consider sleeping on futon.
Since futon is on the floor there is no danger of falling out of bed.

4. Be aware of glass.
Lamps, windows and other items can crack or shatter in a quake.
We chose a lamp made of strong plastic that was pretty durable. It holds up well when the kids accidentally knock it down so I feel confident it won't break if knocked over by a quake.
The ceiling light fixture should also be looked at. While most are fastened with a back-up hook to prevent falling in the case of a quake, I try not to have a glass fixture in the sleeping rooms.  If the place you are living is not your own you may not have any control in this area but I'll address that in the next point.
Check the windows. Sometimes there are already shatter proof window panes in sleeping rooms.  In older places like ours that is not the case. There are plastic sheets which can be used to line windows so if they crack the glass does not shatter all over the room.

5. Arrange the room wisely.
Sometimes there are things you can't change like light fixtures or needing a dresser in the room. When that is the case think about how things might move in a quake.
For example, if a dresser or bookshelf fell over would it hit a space that someone is sleeping in? If a light fixture seems potentially unsafe, don't have someone sleep directly below it.

6. Keep shoes/slippers handy.
If there is a strong quake and things fall it can be dangerous to walk around even inside the home. Having thick soled shoes or slippers near by for both kids and adults can save you from accidentally stepping on something while checking to see if everyone is ok.  Our house slippers are crocs-like clogs.

Here are some simulations of what can happen inside during an earthquake.
Earthquake Test: Bedroom Simulation
Shaking Effects Simulation
Bedroom with anchored furniture

One of the things that we have from the 3/11 quake is a lot of footage of the quake happening. It gives us a chance to look inside real homes to see how things may moved with a strong quake. There is much to be learned here but these can also be difficult to watch, especially for those who have experienced a strong quake.

During a real quake (Warning: may be hard to watch)
News report with real footage  (Warning: may be hard to watch)

Here are links to other pages with more earthquake preparation information:
Tokyo Disaster Preparedness Manual
American Red Cross Earthquake Preparedness
CDC Earthquakes

Check out the Amazon.co.jp store page for some more earthquake preparation items.

Breakfast on the Their Own

One of the great things about the kids getting bigger and becoming more independent is that they can sometimes give us (parents) a bit of a break.
Sunday at our house are crazy with everyone getting ready for church in their own way. The kids usually get ready pretty quickly and then are ready for breakfast when the rest of us aren't ready.  I've been trying various ideas for breakfast foods that they like and easily serve themselves without making a mess. Last night I wiped up these blueberry muffins and they were a real hit!

Blueberry Muffins (original recipe)

http://www.inspiredtaste.net/18982/our-favorite-easy-blueberry-muffin-recipe/

Heat oven to 200 C

My variation (measurement based on US cup size)
Dry ingredients - whisk together in bowl
 1 1/2 cups of flour - this time was 1 cup of bread flour, 1/2 cup of almond flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar,
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon


Wet ingredients - whisk together in large measuring cup
1/3 cup grape oil
1 large egg
 1/3 – 1/2 cup (80 ml – 120 ml) milk (add to oil and egg to fill to 1 cup line)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry. Be careful not to over mix. Just mix it until the dry ingredients are damp.

Add 1 cup of blueberries

Pour into 12 muffin paper liners, bake 20 min.

Dresden Philharmonic Children's Choir in Tokyo

#LittleLuther joined us for a special concert of the Dresden Philharmonic Children's Choir at Tokyo Center Lutheran Church earlier this week. It was wonderful to hear them sing in a number of languages and with various styles. Zilla and Mega had fun trying to guess which language each song was in. The kids couldn't choose just one favorite song but I think the Festival Sanctus by John Leavitt was my favorite.

Would you like to have a listen? Check out Der Philharmonische Kinderchor Dresden on youtube or on iTunes.

#Luther500
#nrkluther500

Tooth Fairy or Throwing Teeth? 5 Fav. Tooth Books

We've had some interesting adventures with loosing teeth. The most recent was Zilla having a tooth come out just as the plane we were on headed down the runway to take off. It was a bit or a surprise and with hankies, tissues and other helpful items stowed in the carry-on baggage we were in a bit of a pinch. Also, where do you put a tooth when you are on a plane for the next 12 hours or so? Also, how does the tooth fairy make a visit on an overnight flight?

Thankfully I had a small bag handy for the tooth and Zilla doesn't believe in the tooth fairy... but he did still ask if he could have some money!

We have a number of tooth themed books that we enjoy from time to time. Here are out 5 favorites!


1. Throw Your Tooth on the Roof: Tooth Traditions from Around the World by Selby Beeler
2. The Tooth Book by Dr. Seuss
3. The Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist by Stan & Jan Berenstain
4. Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile by Tomie dePaola
5. Maisy, Charley and the Wobbly Tooth By Lucy Cousins