Expanding future possibilities

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20“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［Our apologies for changes］
In Hiraku Vol.19, we announced therenewal of the phonics characters, but
the introduction of the new charactershas been postponed to the 2023-2024
school year. We apologize for this change.

Published inMarch 2022 Vol.20
Next issue isplanned to comeat the end of May

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

Nagoya Noritake School has ﬁnally opened!
People & Culture
KINDER KIDS Composition Contest

www.kinderkids.com

日本の心と、英語の力。Kinder Kids inc.

Nagoya Noritake School

Featured spot “Noritake Garden” surrounded by culture and nature

Higashiyama Line

Maizu

offering creative cuisine or cafe.
The Nagoya Noritake School was openedLineSotobori-dori St.
Nishi Endoji
Shopping Street

Nagoya Express Circle 1

Endoji Honcho
Shopping Street

ing ceramic works, paintings, and sculpturesby various artists, and a French restaurantru

NagoyaCastle
Fushimi-dori St.

from the Meiji to Showa eras, a gallery display-

Kamejima Sta.

.
Stmuseum exhibiting ceramic wares manufactured

iori-dekei
M

There are a variety of cultural facilities, such as aNoritake Garden

Rivergreenery, such as a babbling brook and biotope.

Sengen-choSta.

Nagoya Noritake SchoolToyota
Commemorative
Museum ofIndustry andTechnologyHori

In a rich natural environment surrounded bya.
St

theme of “Discover the Culture, Rest in the Forest”.

koSa

The Noritake Garden was established under theEndojiShopping Street

Shikemichi
Historical Preservation
Districtr Sta.
i CenteKokusa.
Staa
YanagibashiygoNaCentral Market

as a part of the “Urban Oasis”......whereri St.

Sakura-do

Nishiki-dori St.

Marunouchi Sta.
Sakuradori Line

Fushimi Sta.

time passes slowly.

Historical and cultural environment
with red brick buildings from the Meiji era

Nagoya Noritake School has opened!

Multi-language Education / What is Kinder Kids International Academy?

In February 2022, our second school in Nagoya, Kinder Kids

The most unique feature of this program is the “Development of Multilingualism” that children learn notInternational Academy Nagoya Noritake School opened in the

only English but also Japanese and Chinese, and learn to speak in three languages.

Noritake Garden (Noritake-no-Mori) area, which has recently

The Academy was established based on our desire to provide "more convenient and fulﬁlling services" tobeen gathering attention. We had many families participating infamilies where both parents are working as more women have started to advance in society. All children

every school information session that started last summer, andattend the long-stay course 5 days a week and have fewer days off. A variety of programs are included inwe were happy that this school opening attracted many families.

the daycare, such as gymnastics and educational classes taught by professionals. In addition, "Rakuraku

On the ﬁrst ﬂoor, there are classrooms, gym, and a special room

Touen” (Schools provide a bedding and diaper service) has been introduced.

designed for the Kinder Kids phonics garden, and on the second
ﬂoor, there is a rooftop garden where children can freely

In April 2020, the 20th anniversary of Kinder Kids, two Kinder Kids International Academies were opened
in Osaka City. The Nagoya Noritake School will be the third academy school.

move around.

We deeply appreciate that so many people

The school started with 3 grade levels; Baby, Nursery

have expressed interest in our school evenand Toddler in February. From April, K1 classes will

Facebookpeople who knew the Nagoya school orAll children and Kinder Kids staff are looking

siblings of our graduates. All of us at theforward to meeting new friends.

Nagoya Noritake School are committed soLet's make lots of wonderful memories at ourbrand new school!

HP

before we opened, including reviews fromstart and the school will become livelier.

1

Convenient for a shopping
at a nearby large shopping mallthat children can make many precious
Junna Ojima,
Branch Manager

memories and are truly happy to be a
student of Nagoya Noritake School.

3-1-36 Noritakeshinmachi,
Nishi Ward, Nagoya, Aichi

2

People & Culture Kinder Kids staff members come from many countries, such as the United States, Canada, United Kingdom,

007 Christine Portelli

008 Sulaymane Sillah

From Gozo, Republic of MaltaFrom Washington D.C., United States of America

K3 Class teacher, Nishinomiya School

Operations Manager, Osaka School

A small island ﬁlled with history

I am from Washington D.C.

The Republic of Malta is made up of 3 islandsin the Mediterranean Sea. My home island ofGozo is ﬁlled with many historical stories andI was always surrounded by the beautiful
scenery that is ﬁlled with history and nature.
You should deﬁnitely visit a megalith templecalled “Ggantija”' which is older than the pyramidsof Egypt, and "Ta' Pinu", a church with artisticallydesigned interiors built by combining various traditional architectural styles. The nearby island ofComino has a popular beach called “Blue Lagoon” ina secluded area. It was featured in the ﬁlm Troy.
starring Brad Pitt. It is a must see place which keeps
attracting tourists from all over the world with its
crystal clear blue water and white sand!

The United States of America is a melting potof cultures. Whether you are visiting the southor the north, you can ﬁnd each region has adistinct and unique way of bringing people
together. The upscale shopping districts, tosports venues that draw hundreds of thousandsof people in the streets. The city has a richculture and sense of unity. A world where music
brings people together for good food and laughs.
I always feel my roots from the music by Chuck
Brown that has a lively energetic rhythm ofGoGo.

Bilingual country ﬁlledwith people loving to talk3

Australia, and China. Let's start our journey to Kinder Kids World and meet people and cultures from all around the world!

The whole atmosphere of Malta is very warm andfriendly. People love to talk together and use theirhands to express themselves. We are a bilingual
country and speak both English and Maltese (a mixof English, Italian and Arabic).
My background including experiences from myupbringing and the psychology I studied at university nurtured my work. In university, I co-founded
The Writers Club with a group of other student
writers, which encouraged my writing. We enjoyedorganizing meetings, having writing competitions,and inviting famous Maltese writers to give talks. I
also like drawing and often try to use art as a way toteach the kids about social and other skills.
Now, I am approaching children to teach them not
only English skills but also the importance of
expressing themselves and connecting their life
experiences to stories to enrich the quality of theirlearning.

Ta'Pinu
Lasagna, A story of the bondingof a mother and daughter"Lasagna", which my mother used to make on
special occasions.It was the last dish my mothercooked for me during her life.
My motherʼs lasagna was full of love and care,putting a lot of time and effort into making
everything from scratch, from the pasta doughto the white sauce. I remember as a young girlkneading the dough and stirring the sauce
together with my mother. It was one of thosemoments where I really bonded with my motherthrough this and I remember talking with her
about everything. Making lasagna reminds meof my childhood. The kitchen where mymother was cooking. Whenever I miss her
I cook lasagna and the warm andfamiliar taste makes me feel like I am asmall girl again sitting on the chair inthe kitchen trying to knead the dough.

An encounter with Japan
When I was a student, I was always looking forwhat kind of person I could become and theopportunity to grow into that person. During astay at a hostel when on a random trip, I had afateful encounter with a person who worked inJapan and had different ways of living andthinking. I started to think “I want tobroaden my outlook on life!”, “I want toﬁnd out what I can be!” so I went out
into the world. This fateful encounter gave me a chance to meet acountry, Japan, and a job that I
would always cherish.

LasagnaWriters
Circleoduce
Intr my country !

Ambition broadening my outlook
opened up my future
For a while after I got to Japan, my life wasconsumed by work. I would wake up early, comehome late, and repeat this cycle. When I became
accustomed to this lifestyle in Japan, to give my life
a little more challenge, I started to practice “Wing
Chun Kung Fu”, which is a Chinese martial art often
seen in Hollywood action movies. I have beenpracticing it for 7 years. Now I have continued topass on my Sifuʼs knowledge to my own students
while developing my own style.

Not “PuRIn”! Banana “PuDDing”“Banana pudding” is a classic American family
sweet. It has been my favorite soul food ever since
my grandmother made it for the ﬁrst time when I
was a child.
I hope you will try making banana
pudding at homeBananaPudding

Scan the QR codes to check out recipes
on YouTube (as of Nobember 2021)
4
CompositionContestJudging Criteria＊The honest feelings of the children
can be felt from the text
＊The child has clearly expressed
what was felt through that experiences＊The picture diary makes others
want to meet the child who wrote it

In 2021, we held a contest sponsored by Kinder Kids. We would like to thankall families from 23 schools for the submission of many picture diaries andcompositions of Kinder Kids children and the participation of parents whotweeted about their child's work.
We would like to introduce four excellent works that were ﬁlled with expressions from childrenʼ s unique points of views. We also selected the “HabatakiPrize”, “Kagayaki Prize” and “Kinder Kids Prize” as previous years.
We are planning to hold the 2nd Composition Contest again next year. We
are looking forward to receiving many entries from all of you.

Kumiko Shinoda,
Senior Manager, Examinationand Learning Division［Prizewinners］【Picture Diary Section - Grand Prize】
R.M（Ta m a Pla za S c ho o l・K 2 ）【Composition Section - Grand Prize】
Y. K（ Ta k a ts u k i S c h o o l・K 3 ）【Picture Diary Section - First Place】
M . T（ Y a o S c h o o l ・ K 2 ）【Picture Diary Section - First Place】【Kagayaki Prize】
S . T（ T o y o n a k a S c h o o l・K 3 ）E . I（ S a k a i S c h o o l ・ K 3 ）Y . T（ N i s h i n o m i y a S c h o o l・K 3 ）S . O（ T o m i g a o k a S c h o o l・K 3 ）R . B（ S h i n a g a w a S c h o o l・K 3 ）K . Y（ D o j i m a S c h o o l・K 3 ）K . K（ K y o t o S c h o o l・ K 3 ）【Kinder Kids Prize】
N . I（ K y o t o S c h o o l・ K 3 ）【Composition Section - Grand Prize】
Y. K（T akat su ki Sc h ool・K3）【Picture Diary Section - First Place】
M .T（ Y ao Sc h ool・K2）【Picture Diary Section - First Place】
R.（
I O s aka Sc h ool・K3）

R . I（ O s a k a S c h o o l ・ K 3 ）【Habataki Prize】
C . H（ H i g a s h i O s a k a S c h o o l・K 2 ）K . N（ T a k a r a d u k a S c h o o l・K 2 ）K . M（ O s a k a S c h o o l ・K 2 ）H . H（ F u k u o k a S c h o o l・K 1 ）Y . N（ K o b e S e a s i d e S c h o o l・K 2 ）S . T（ S a k a i

S c h o o l ・K 2 ）【Tweet Prize】
A.Uʼs Mam（Tomigaoka School・K3）※”Tweet Award” is given to a Tweet by a parent/guardian.

5【Picture Diary Section - Grand Prize】
R .M（ Ta m a Plaz a Sc h ool・K2）

6