Until last April, both Kei and Dan attended daycare in central Osaka, where we lived before moving here. Daycare and kindergarten are two different worlds in Japan. Daycares (hoikuen) are run for working parents and comes under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, whereas kindergartens (youchien) are officially educational establishments supervised by the Ministry of Education.When Kei started elementary school I tried to move Dan into a daycare in our present city, but waiting lists for good places are long, and he didn't get into any of the ones I would have liked him to go to. So we made the decision to switch him to kindergarten, and were lucky enough to persuade the principal at a highly regarded local kindergarten to allow him to enter at very short notice.
The daycare in Osaka was run by a Christian organization, and they put on a show each Christmas that included both a nativity play by the five- and six-year-olds and a performance of some sort by each class, including the younger children. The plays by the younger classes tended to be rather chaotic affairs, with lots of running around and singing songs at the tops of their voices. Only the oldest class got to say individual lines, and those just in the nativity play. I'd always thought that was fine - the kids enjoyed themselves, there wasn't much pressure, and it was all nicely age-appropriate. I had no idea that more could even be expected from four-year-olds, until the kindergarten play last weekend.
I think I've mentioned before that Dan's kindergarten is very big on "training." You could see it immediately in the way the kids filed in in their identical uniforms to begin the event with musical numbers, standing carefully in their prescribed places and looking straight ahead. A few gave quick waves to their parents, but among the three pages of information that we'd been given in advance were strict instructions not to wave back, as this would distract the children from their performance. Dan found us with his eyes - you could tell from his smile he'd seen where we were - but quickly returned to his concentrated pose.
They played percussion instruments in perfect time to the song "Bibbety Bobbety Boo" and sang a couple of songs before bowing in unison and filing offstage to change for their play, "The Giant Turnip." The turnip itself had been a class craft project the previous term, and was quite impressive in its own right.
I was amazed by how much the kids achieved in the play. Not only did each of them have at least one line of their own to say, there were also several songs and dances by small groups. Dan was one of three children playing the sun. He did really well, concentrating intently and obviously making a huge effort to get his lines and the little group's song and dance right.
The kindergarten had adapted the story so that not only the people and animals but also the butterflies, the sun, and finally the class teacher had to join the line before the turnip finally came out. Then of course they had to end with a final song.
The whole thing left me slightly dazed. Part of me was really impressed that the children had been able to concentrate so well and remember everything they had to do - out of a class of 23, only three or four were too shy or forgetful to get their lines right. Another part, though, was slightly nostalgic for the vitality and semi-chaos of the daycare performances. Should we really be expecting that degree of achievement from three- and four-year-olds? It all felt a little over the top. But it seems that by putting Dan in a "good" kindergarten, this is the choice we've made.
1 comment:
The part I loved the most about Saki's preschool play this year was that one boy not only cried, he also sat down and refused to move and then he kicked and hit at the teachers who tried to get him to straighten up and do his part. I loved this because he was NOT my child, my child was dancing and twirling and singing on cue and lots of people told me she was so "profesisonal!" My FIRST born was the one who cried and froze on stage. Ah, it was sweet necture NOT to be the parent of the child immobilized by fear this year!
My experience with Osaka hoikuen versus private youchien here mirrors yours by the way.
Laura
Laura
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