Front cover: Craft Frog s Chorus
The rainy season is around the corner.
It is about this time of year we hear Frog s Chorus song. All the frogs withhydrangea inspired umbrellas are singing happily with their mouths open wide.

E x p a n ding fut ure pos s ibilit ies

This bright artwork really pops from the page; you can almost feel the musical rhythm.
If you listen carefully on a rainy day, you can hear so many diﬀerent splashes
and ﬂows. What sound did these little frogs hear?

9Please shareyour 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 inMay 2020 Vol.9
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

Reading aloud is great for a child s brain development!
Interview - Successful Examinees File 003

Staﬀ Spotlight

How to make Decoration Rolled Sushi 2
Japanese Spirit with an International Future. Kinder Kids inc.

Reading aloud is great fora child s brain development!

Frozen Frog

What kind of play do yourchildren engage in at home?

Multiple beneﬁt s f r om r eading aloud.

In recent years, with the development and spread ofvarious digital media, there have been many opportunities to use smartphones and tablets during childrearing and education. Do you ﬁnd yourself constantly staring at your smartphone? Where fun andinteresting sounds and visuals ﬂow one after another, children are often passive and thinking less. We
are also faced with the challenge of children withlittle life experience being exposed to fantasticalvirtual realities and not grasping real life. It is an
important time to form connections in the brain anddevelop the mind so I recommend you encouragechildren to play with toys and don t only show
videos. In this column, we are going to talk about
reading aloud.

Picture books for children
For a child, a picture book is like a toy ﬁlled withimaginative possibilities. Animals, magic, the universe, the future and the past. Each time they turnthe page, a new world that they ve never known
opens up in front of them. Young children enjoy thesimple pleasures of reading, looking at the pictures,
humming rhythmical words, enjoying changes in thevoices and expressions of speech, and being excitedby the stories developments. Reading aloud allows
children to connect with the world and society they
are encountering for the ﬁrst time and it s an excit-ing and irreplaceable play experience. However, nomatter how good the picture book is or how well achild can read it, it is so much more enjoyable whenshared and expanded upon by adults.

1

FeatureStory

What s going tohappen…!

I wonderwhat it is…!

This is sointeresting!

This is soexciting!

Rich vocabulary

Emotional understanding

Diverse world views

Knowledge

Forming relationships

Imagination

Rules of the world

Expressive ability

Wisdom, etc.

Children are able relax when listening to stories
read aloud. They feel free to think about their imaginary world. Together with the characters in thestory, it is an opportunity to experience various
feelings such as joy, sadness and regret, and tounderstand the pain and emotions of others. Theseexperiences nurture emotional understanding anddevelop their minds. Reading aloud is much more
important than we adults think. Now that we are in
the midst of digitalization, and increased exposure
to easy to digest media, reading aloud is even more
important to help build the foundation of an inquiring and creative mind.

this story!

2

Available
to buyThe key to reading!

Kinder Kids
students favorite
picture books

Children will be able to interact moreeasily with the world shown in thestory when it s read in a warm voice.

Being held in someoneʼs arms oron one's knees
Being close and sharing their feelings
Sense the movement of their mind
from their expression andconversation Adjust the speed toa pace that the child enjoys
You can repeat your childʼs scenes

Kinder Plus "Recommended Picture Books" Ranking! 2019

"Recommended picture books" features books that have been popular favorites fora long time such as "Swimmy" and "The Rainbow Fish". These books are often
handed down or given as presents by older brothers or sisters. Check out the "Recommended picture books" and we hope you can ﬁnd your child s favorite!

“Maisy Goes Shopping”

Lucy Cousins ／Author
Candlewick

A series of picture books by a British author, Lucy Cousins. It has been translated into
many languages and loved in numerous countries.
Story

Charley and our favorite mouse make a trip to the grocery store to buy lots of goodies …

“Doctor Maisy”

Lucy Cousins ／文・絵

Candlewick

We ve heard that after reading this book, children have felt more at ease andwere able to see the doctor without crying.

Singing Snake

Story When Maisy was playing doctor with her friend, Maisy actually got hurt …

Manytages!
advan

What should we do?

NaokoAkamatsu

We ask Kinder Kids
Teacher, Naoko!

If they re not interested
in picture books!
If you emphasize your enjoymentof reading, your child may become
interested and want to read with you.

Through reading aloud, you can shareand empathize with other people's emotions. In the future this exposure will
help to build foundations for forming
meaningful, positive relationships.
If children become familiar with picture
books from an early age, it will promote
good reading habits and aid their
growth into independent people who
can consider and solve problems.

3They turn pages andlook away while reading!
In that case, you can skip the reading
according to your child's pace andtalk when your child seems tolose focus on the story.

“The Wheels on the Bus”

Annie Kubler／文・絵Childs Play Intl Ltd

This book is easy to read for moms and dads who are not very familiar withEnglish. It's even more fun to act like a bus driver and read rhythmically with gestures.
Story The wheels on the bus go round and round, round, round and …

“Maisy Cleans Up”

Lucy Cousins ／文・絵

CandlewickThis is a collection of simple but useful English. Children canlearn phrases about cleaning and organization in a fun way.
Story Maybe this can make cleaning fun for children!?

“Big Pumpkin”

Erica Silverman ／文S.D. Schindler ／絵
AladdinEven though it s large, the details are carefully drawn.
With humorous characters and repetition, children arealways drawn into this picture book.
Story The witch has grown
the biggest pumpkin
ever and the ghosts
try to move it but…

Angry Apple

www.kinder-plus.com

4File003

Successful
Examinee

Y.M

Entr antくん

受験年月
Gradeat exam

SchoolOsaka

Test date

January 2020 (The third exam in 2019)

Grade

Pre-2

Let's draw a pattern in the umbrella.
There are all kinds of patterns in daily life, lines, ﬁgures, letters of the alphabet, ﬂowers,plants, creatures, food, rain, stars, and so on, that add color to our lives.
Children are good at drawing patterns. After drawing the ﬁrst and continuing to draw
more and more, a rhythm will be created and a fun pattern can be created easily. Draw
patterns on the umbrella while chatting with your child about the sound of rain, drops
falling, puddles ... and other aspects of the rain, as well as their favorite things.
Now, what does the umbrella look like?

K3

How I studied

At home I studied past questions several times.
When I encounter a word that I don’t know or a difficult
word, I made a rule for myself that I can make up my own
sense of meaning by combining it with surrounding
sentences. This way I can enjoy working on it.
How I studied

Vocabulary

I've been taught by my teacher how important
it is to memorize words since I was in K1 so
I memorized words with word cards, sight word
sumo and writing games. Through these games
I was able to enjoy learning new words.

How I studied

Writing

I liked reading English picture books that I wasinterested in and was reading on a daily basis.
When I worked on my journal, or weekly homework,
I used a dictionary that I had practiced
with enough to be able to use on my own.
Family Support

How I understood the questions

Instead of just sticking to studying English,
I supported him to be able to enjoy studying.
I also tried to learn new things while working
I try to keep it simple when I have to explain
on past questions.
some difficult questions but if he shows an
If ever a sports name or a country
interest in a question, I explain in some detail.
name that I have never heard comes up,
For the journal homework, I helped him soI will try to research it and broaden my knowledge.
he could write what he wanted to write.
What do you like about Kinder Kids!

Next Goal

Kinder Kids teachers showed me that English is fun.
The teacher's sound advice, and the accumulation of
information learned in lessons really helped me a lot.

This success gives mea sense of accomplishment.
I am aiming to pass Grade 2.
*Refer to group test site results

Kinde r Kids

Our overall results
受験年月
Test
date

January 2020 (The third exam in 2019)

Passing rate ofGrade 3588％

受験年月
Test
takersPassing rate ofGrade Pre-2

K3

1 ／8 名Questionnaire conducted by: General Research Ltd. Survey period: February 22-25, 2019
Survey method: Internet Survey summary: Comparison of services oﬀered by 10 English focused pre-schools
Survey participants:1048 Japanese adults M/F aged 20-50

6

StaffInterview

Osaka Bay

Spotlight

SchoolOsaka Bay Manager
Hiromi Seyama

7

e are located on the 8th ﬂoor of Bay Tower,
which is a landmark in the Osaka Bay Area. It
has good access to the center of Osaka and islocated in a complex facility directly connected tothe station. It is popular with working parents. We
are working hard every day to ensure that we continue to provide a place where parents andstudents can come with smiles and feel safe.
Kinder Kids has gained a lot of trust in our uniqueEnglish curriculum, but also because there aremany education professionals who encourage
students to grow in their own unique way, and beaware of what they are interested in. We try not tomiss even a small emotional change in ourstudents.
Childhood is such a remarkable period. We feel a
big responsibility to nurture children during suchan important period for their development andwhen we have more responsibility, it becomes more
rewarding. It is also a great challenge for us to
support parents so that everyone can raise theirchildren in their own way while helping them feel
connected to the growth of their children.
In addition to classrooms, the school is equippedwith a kitchen and a large gymnasium that canaccommodate a basketball court, providing anenvironment in which children can bring out theirpotential. The ceiling is high and the school isbright with sunlight. In fact, students are learningand even playing hard today!

Shinagawa
SchoolShinagawa School Manager
Juri Duboue AbeBehind-the-scenes story

WInterview

Recently I met one of my students for the ﬁrst
time in a while in Grad Club. It was nice to seestudents I d seen growing up while they wereat Kinder Kids for 5 years until their graduation. I remember looking at them and thinking
how much they have matured since graduation
then the next thing I ve heard is one saying totheir parents we are so glad that we learned
English at Kinder Kids! . I felt that my eﬀorts
over the past 10 years had paid oﬀ. I could feelthose students had grown up a lot by being
able to express their gratitude to their parents.
This is one of the treasures I have gained
through this work.

HPFacebook

8F Bay Tower East, 1-2-2,Benten, Minato-ku, Osaka-shi,OsakaIt is a convenient location that is close toShinagawa Station and is located on thepremises of Shinagawa Prince Hotel. It canbe accessed by train or car. Although it islocated in such an urban area, our school issurrounded by a quiet and calm atmosphere.
In addition, there are many parks in the surrounding area, each with its own uniquecharacteristics, and the energetic children
look forward to when the teacher says,"Which park do you want to go to?". What wealways value is communication. When I go tothe park with my students, we ask them where
they want to go ﬁrst. We respect their opinion
as they know each park s features.
Mainly focusing on the growth of children,
we strive to improve communication among
parents, teachers and staﬀ, and to create abetter environment for children to growhealthy in mind, body and spirit.
I think Kinder Kids have an educational environment to develop the skills needed in a
global society.
Through one day's activities, children learn a
lot by playing with friends of diﬀerent ages.

Our children learn to have consideration forothers by being involved with friends, internationally minded teachers and staﬀ, and develop theability to convey their thoughts and feelings toothers. All of our staﬀ aim to nurture children s
conﬁdence in themselves and their ability to play
an active role in the world.

Behind-the-scenes story
When I was talking with elementary school
teachers, they told me that a Kinder Kids'graduate gave a speech in English in front of
all the children and they told us how great itwas. Speech contests not only require yourEnglish level, but also your imaginative andexpressive skills. I learned that students are
doing their best by demonstrating thestrengths that they have learnt in Kinder Kids
and that was a very rewarding feeling.

HPFacebook

1F Shinagawa-PrinceResidence, 4-10-31 Takanawa,
Minato-ku, Tokyo

8

Let's make a phonics cartoon.

Laughing Leopard

1A fun dish forchildren and adults

Let's enjoy the world of four-cell manga with your children using aphonics character! In the manga, there is a leopard girl who isalways energetic and steady and an octopus boy who has an interestin various things and likes a challenge. What are theytalking about? Choose from the following threelines to complete the cartoon.

How to makeDecoration
Rolled Sushi

Orange Octopus

Rain leak22

Fｒog
We will introduce frog sushi rollsthat are great for lunch on arainy day. It's easy to make withcheese kamaboko and cucumber. Change the expression ofthe frog's eyes as you like!

Ingredients80g + 100g of Seasoned sushi rice (with vinegar)
3.7 g of Seasoned powder (Aona Furikake)3 sheets of dried seaweed (for hand rolling)
2 Sticks of cheese kamaboko (10cm each)
5 sticks of cucumber that has cut in a half (10 cm each)

Recipe by Ms. Ninomiya who works
in Kobe Seaside s kitchen. She
holds a Level 1 instructors
certiﬁcation for sushi from JSIA
(Japan Sushi Instructors Association).

6Preparation

Mix the seasoned sushi rice (with vinegar) and seasoned powder1

Cut into half of the dried seaweed that was used in Step 2 and wrap
the cheese kamaboko

3

On one of the sheets of dried seaweed, put the sushi rice made in step 1,and put the cucumber that is prepared in step 2 and roll it over everything4

Spread half of the sushi rice on the rest of the sheet of dried seaweed

5

3「Can you hold this?」

9「The roof is leaking.」

Place the 2 sticks of cheese kamaboko on the rice prepared in Step 5, and make sure to leave
the space of 1 cm and ﬁll the gap with the rice6

Put the roll prepared in Step 4 on the rice prepared in step 6

7

47Wrap the cucumber with the dried seaweed that has been cut in half2「Why so many?」

4

Place the rest of the sushi rice on both sides of the cucumber sushi roll, arrange the line and roll it entirely

8

Cut it to round slices and place the eyes of the frog madewith sushi seaweed on it

9

9

Add
the frog seyes using
a toothpick.

9Tips on how tocut neatly.
Wet the entire knife bladewith water. Every time you cut
it, just wipe it oﬀ with a damp
cloth and wet it again withwater. You can
cut cleanly!

10