Frontpage: "Koi-nobori" craft
Many Koi-nobori have appeared again at Kinder Kids school this year.

Expanding future possibilities

They may seem to be similar, but if you look at them closely,
the shapes and the patterns of the ﬁns are different and unique.
They have comical expressions, but they seem to be boldly ﬂying in the sky.
We hope all students grow up big and strong like their Koi-nobori!

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We look forward to
your ideas!
“Hiraku” provides useful informationand the latest news related toEnglish and childhood education.

・Your recent interests
・Topics you want us to cover
・New content etc etc…
If you have ideas to contribute,please share these with us!
“Hiraku” Editorial Department
TEL：06-6135-0150
Mail： hiraku@kinderkids.ed.jp

Published in
May 2022 Vol.21
Next issue isplanned to comeat the end of July

Kinder Kids Inc.
TEL：06-6135-0150
Pulala Tenma 2F, 3-1 Ikeda-cho,
Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka. 530-0033

www.kinderkids.com

The new Elementary School established by Kinder Kids, opened in April
Interview with new employees who are graduates of Kinder Kids
Successful Examinees File007
GradClub New Leader Message & New G1Camp Report
日本の心と、英語の力。Kinder Kids inc.

Eight core programs

Inﬁnity Global Elementary School
ﬁnally opened

In order to make the best use of the abilities acquired at Kinder Kids, such as high level of English
skills, inquisitive mind, and ability to speak out in public, the elementary school will focus on thefollowing eight programs.

Inﬁnity Global Elementary School, which was developed byKinder Kids, opened with their ﬁrst entrance ceremony on
April 11, 2022. The greatest feature of our school is the①Multilingual education in English, Japaneseand Chinese②Skill-based class placement (individual / group)

educational method that adopts eight unique systems such

③Subject-based specialist teaching and tutor
support system

as multilingual education in English, Japanese and Chinese,④Project-based learning system (individual / group)

subject-based specialist teaching system, project-based⑤Reading enhancement program(extensive reading, speed reading, English/
Japanese/Chinese reading comprehension)

hands on learning, and ﬁnancial education, and itʼs an
unprecedented type of global school.
In these uncertain times, we aim to create "a School where⑥History, Geography and Social studies throughtraveling

everyone can be happy", as a guide for children to develop a⑦ICT-based learningstrong will and to open up their future.

⑧Financial educatio

Motivation for school establishment

First excursion

Our aim is to nurture our children to become bilingual and have an international perspective and a broad

In April, We visited Shitenno-ji Temple and Abeno Harukas

view of the world, under our school policy of “Japanese Spirit with an International Future”.
Kimiko Nakayama, the director of the school, who experienced ﬁrst-hand raising her children in a
rapidly changing world, felt a sense of crisis that Japanese old education system may be left behind byother countries, and started searching for a school that was working on "how to help children develop
the skills that only humans have” and “how to solve the problem of increasing truancy". But she couldn't
ﬁnd any. So she felt, "Iʼll make it if there isnʼt any!", with the same feeling as Kinder Kids wasestablished. Kinder Kids opened the new elementary school in collaboration with Inﬁnity Global School

ICT lessons on the electronic blackboard

near the elementary school campus in preparation for one of
the core programs of the elementary school, "Travel around
Japan".
Children who visited both the historic building and thetallest building in Japan felt the ﬂow of human history athigh speed. There were various discoveries in familiar places!

(Principle Otani). A school that has the same desire to change the common sense of the education
Kats

Shitennoji

Uemachi-suji St.

junior high school. We together support global education that is linked from preschool to high school.

Momodani Sta.

Tanimachi-suji St.

system, and in April 2022, at the same time as elementary school, Inﬁnity Global School opened the new

uya

ma-d

ori

St.

INFINITY GLOBALELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Tnnoji Park

Abeno Harukas

t.

iS

uj

i-s

ur

uk

s
at

m

Ta

TennojiSta.

For 2023 Admission Information Session,please check the Elementary School homepage
or Kinder +From the left: Kimiko Nakayama, Director.,
Ian Mackenzie, Principal., Masaki Otani, Principal
1

Memorable ﬁrst-year enrolled students

HP

Kinder+1-2-22 Karasugatsuji, Tennoji-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka（Located on the ground of the Kinder Kids Academy
Tennoji Yuhigaoka School）
2

Spotlight

Graduates of
KINDERKIDSInterview with new employees who are graduates of Kinder Kids
This spring, four Kinder Kids graduates returned to Kinder Kids as new employees.
These former Kinder kids preschoolers are now our fellow co-workers. They frankly talked

Welcome on board

about their memories of preschool, how they studied English after graduation, what were
their motivations for working at Kinder Kids and their aspirations for the future.

Everyday is fun at Kinder Kids
I am delighted to have a chance
to do things to make children happy
from now on

I will keep trying new thingsand light a ﬁre in the kidsʼ curiosity

When I was attending Kinder Kids, I really enjoyed the daily dance

together.

lessons. I also remember singing ABBA's "Money, Money, Money" while

After graduating from Kinder Kids, I enrolled in an international

holding a bill with the teacher's face on it in the play for the K3

elementary school but in junior and senior high schools, both were

Christmas Concert.

completely Japanese speaking environments and my English speaking

After graduation, I attended Saturday class for about two years, andthen I studied English using English workbooks. Then, when I was astudent who was crazy about K-POP, I went to Korea and made full useof my English to make up for my lack of Korean language ability. My
strongest motivation to apply for Kinder Kids was that I didn't want tolose my English skills by not using it, and also I have a long-lasting
memory that every day was fun when I was attending Kinder Kids.
Now that I'm working as a cover teacher, I don't have much time tointeract with children as homeroom teachers, but I'm trying my best to
get the children I meet every day to think "I want to meet Miku".

At Kinder Kids, I was happy to be given the role of "Grumpy" in the play
"Snow White". It is a wonderful memory that the entire class worked

Miku Nishimura
Cover Teacher【Graduated】
Kinder Kids Nishinomiya School(in 2006, transferred from Ashiya
School)【Educational Background】
Public elementary school →Integrated private middle andhigh school → Doshisha University

ability declined.
However, I focused on improving my reading and writing skills in the
junior and senior high school classes.
At university, I joined a group of international students and spoke
English with them, and gradually regained my English skills that I
naturally acquired as a child.
Now I am able to speak English without any difﬁculty.

I want to help children improvetheir English skills beyond the
expectations of their parents
enjoyed playing and speaking with my friends in English and naturally

was always looking forward to going to Kinder Kids because theAfter I graduated from Kinder Kids, I enrolled in an international

teachers were kind and I could make many friends.

primary school and attended summer school abroad during summer

Nara Tomigaoka School（K1 Homeroom teacher）

3

I had many opportunities to homestay in foreign countries, but when I
worked part-time in the online section, I realized that my English level
had dropped and I started to think about how to brush up my English【Graduated】
Kinder Kids Higashi Osaka School (in 2003)

skills once again.

【Educational Background】
Public elementary school →Public junior high school →Public high school →Kwansei Gakuin University

I want to improve children's English level beyond the expectations ofI also like children, so I decided to become a preschool teacher.
both the children themselves and their parents. In order to do that, I
think it is important for preschool teachers to actively talk to them andteach them various things.

【Educational Background】
International elementary school→ Integrated private middle andhigh school → Kobe University

I remember I really enjoyed drawing and doing crafts at Kinder Kids. I

gained English abilities without realizing it.

holidays.

【Graduated】
Kinder Kids Osaka School(in 2004)

My ambition was to join this company
because I realized that Kinder Kids
was a place where I could makethe most of what I am good at

I didnʼt feel like I was studying at Kinder Kids. On the contrary, I justKonomi Nakayama

Akifumi Nakayama

Inﬁnity Global Elementary School

Shane McDonald

After graduating from Kinder Kids, I moved to Canada and after that to
the United Kingdom. I was always in an English-speaking environment,

Online Teamso I think my English ability hasnʼt declined. I kept studying English but【Graduated】
Kinder Kids Ashiya School (in 2005)

the environment I grew up in Kinder Kids already helped me to improve【Educational Background】
Elementary and junior highschools in Japan, Canada andthe United Kingdom →Lewes Sussex Downs College

I wanted to join the Online team because I was conﬁdent that I could

I suppose I was able to adapt quickly to my new place abroad because
my language level.
use my own skills as a video creator. I want to further improve mycurrent ﬁeld of expertise while playing an active role in all otheraspects.
4

Successful
ExamineeY.K

Entr ant

受験年月
SchoolTokyo Honko

Test date

January 2022

Grade
受験年月

Level 2

受験年月
Gradeat exam

G1

Tokyo

From April, I was assigned from Kansai to Kanto as a leader of Grad Club Kanto with the mission of
improving the learning environment of Kanto Grad Club and upgrading unique events.
One of the driving forces behind my engagement in Kanto was by leading the "New G1 Welcome Camp" heldin March.
Two years have passed since the spread of COVID-19 and it still hasn't ended yet. Children graduated fromTo prepare for the exam, I took Eiken short-term
preparation lessons online before taking the EIKEN
Grade Pre-2 test. Then, I took Eiken Study Grade2
video lessons before taking the EIKEN Grade2 test.
I enjoyed studying Eiken Online's private lessons
because I could study at my own pace.
The writing course was very easy to understandbecause each time my composition about various
diﬃcult topics were corrected and explained indetail. It was great that Eiken Study lessons weredone in English. Some Japanese words are still
diﬃcult for me to understand, but explanations inEnglish are easier to understand when I encounterwords and things that I don't know.
I love the Eiken Study because the teachers always
encourage children by making it exciting andenjoyable. I also enjoy music played during thelesson, which makes me feel excited!

How I studied

Because I was good at taking the Listening test, I
concentrated on other questions, solved previous
exam questions and reviewed the wrong answers
to aim for a perfect score.
I worked on questions from past exams andreferred to answer examples to practice my writing.
It was a practice like "copying examples of correct
answers", but changing paragraphs and applying
sentences to my own format was good preparation
for writing a sentence of "what I want to say".

How I studied

I practiced speaking English at Grad Chat’s
Eiken interview lesson and I also took theinterview preparation lesson the day before
the second part of the Eiken exam.

5

Osaka

Grad Club Kanto Leader Mayuka Yamada

How受験年月I studiedSpeaking〈Kansai → Kanto〉

New Leader
Messageちゃん(The Third exam 2021)

Listening ／ Writing

Grad Club

File007

the school under various event restrictions.
We paid close attention to infection control and decided to hold a two day trip with the desire for children tohave precious experiences for their growth and to make fun memories with friends. With children's smiles on
our returning bus ride and "Thank you" from the parents, I was glad that we could have the event and at the

Family support for current theme issues

How I studied

As preparation for the EIKEN Grade Pre-2 exam, which
deals with current aﬀairs that require knowledge ofsocial activities and common sense, I bought a bookcalled “Super training for Writing” published by
Obunsha that covered a wide range of topics, and I
talked about each topic in Japanese.
Also, as preparation for the EIKEN Grade 2 exam, I tried
to acquire and understand the necessary knowledge
that dealt with the past questions of the writing andspeaking test.

same time I felt a sense of accomplishment.
As a leader of Kanto Grad Club, I have to take on various responsibilities. Of course I am worried, but I think
there are many things I can notice because I am from a diﬀerent environment. I will review "Things Kansai
Grad Club has, but Kanto Glad Club doesnʼt have”. Besides, I am ready to take on the challenge of "creating
things from scratch" in order to provide the events that are unique to the Kanto region.
● For inquiries to Kanto Grad Club

Message for peers who are studying
Apart from the listening test, there were many words I
didn't know and also the sentences were diﬃcult, so I
was almost discouraged, but thanks to my friends who
took the exam together with me, I was encouraged andcould do my best without giving up.
Everyone, ﬁnd friends who can study hard together andcontinue studying English while having fun.

info@grad-club.com

New G1 Welcome CampFirst camp out away from parents! Everyone smiled

What do you like about Kinder Kids!
I think that listening to English which I naturally
acquired while attending Kinder Kids and plenty ofwords that I learned through playing games helped mepass the Eiken exam.

090-9142-4526（Mayuka Yamada）

all the time, we made lasting memories with our "K3" friends!

Kansai【Lake Biwa】
1 st. Group：March 16th(Wed)〜17th(Thu)
2nd. Group：March 18th( F r i )〜19th(Sat)On the ﬁrst day, we had an original
English Ninja program exclusively for
Kinder Kids children. On the secondday, we invited an outside instructor of
traditional Kyoto crafts, and everyone
made and took home an identicalsouvenir. We also made a group art
piece to commemorate our graduation.

Kanto【Nikko】
March 23rd(Wed)〜March 24th(Thu)Children dressed and becameninjas in the city of Edo duringthe "Samurai Spirits" program!
They were excited to learn
about Japanese culture andspirit.

Fukuoka【Nokono Island】
March 22nd(Tue)〜March 23rd(Wed)We experienced making a ceramic
bowl using a pottery wheel andalso made a large campﬁre on thebeach. Children usually do nothave a chance to experience these
activities! Also, we had a special
program in English at Ogawa
Farm, a local blueberry farmer.

【Message from her Eiken teacher】

She successfully passed the Eiken pre-2
and grade 2 exams in one year by making
good use of Eiken online lessons regardlessof COVID-19 restrictions.
Please continue to enjoy studying English!
6