International preschool / kindergarten in Tokyo, Japan

Keiki Intercultural Preschool, Tokyo:
Keiki Intercultural Preschool is an international kindergarten and preschool located in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo. In the field of early childhood education, there is perhaps no greater area of concern than accountability, both to the parents and to the children. At Keiki Intercultural Preschool we take this responsibility very seriously.

Toddler Program (2.5 to 3.5 years old):

Toddlers’ Half-day Program (9am to 11:50am)
This program offers suitable time schedule for children who still take rest in the afternoon.

Toddlers’ Full-day Program (9am to 2:30pm)
We are prepared with Early Childhood Program involving:

* Physical development
* Fine motor skills
* Gross motor skills
* Math
* Language
* Music & Movement
* Creative art
* Science
* Cooking

Guidance & Discipline
The teachers believe discipline in a positive light, seeing it as a way to “teach children pro-social behaviors” and “guide them along the appropriate path”. Goals of discipline:

* To teach children the acceptable behavior patterns that are compatible with social expectations
* To help children develop self discipline, self-control so that the child is able to accept responsibilities associated with freedom
* To help every individual to realize unique potential and maximum capability
* To assist children in moving towards autonomy and self direction
* To help children come to terms with the social environment
* Ex) respecting peers and instructors, sharing, taking turns, saying please/thank you/ sorry, solving problems independently or with assistance

Process of guidance/ discipline:
* Verbal guidance
* Handling problem situation with intervention, redirection, reminder, choosing from given choices
* Verbal warnings will be given gently but firmly possibly leading to time out
* Time out: not more than age appropriate time of being solicited from the group under supervision.

Preschool Program (3.5 to 4.5 years old):
This program assists the children in acquiring life skills, by introducing them to learning centers that encompass a variety of hands on activities. It helps children in reading skills, language skills, math skills, social and physical skills, as well as promoting confidence and a love for learning in a creative manner. The entire program is designed to be engaging and fun.

* Self helping
* Self confidence
* Independent work
* Group work
* Developing thinking skills
* Control of scissors, pencils, and instruments
* Singing and dancing
* Knowledge of environment
* Role play
* Basic counting
* Patterning and sequencing
* Understanding size difference
* Sorting by color, size, and shape
* Understanding cause and effect and acquisition of early problem-solving skills
* Making predictions based on sample information
* Letter and alphabet formation
* Recognizing their own name and other letters in print
* Showing a genuine interest in reading books with adults
* Speaking in front of a small group
* Recalling events from activities
* Recalling events from a story
* Describing events from photos
* Artwork will become more refined and recognizable symbol/characters will appear

Kindergarten Program (4.5 to 6 years old):
This program will expand the developmental aspects of their individual growth. We prepare them by exposing them to academics while continuing to focus on self-esteem and independence through our enrichment activities. This program provides a lengthened academic day along with plenty of time for social skills work and free-play time. The core of the program will be reading, oral and written language skills, and pre-first grade mathematics.

* Patterning and sequencing
* Introduction to simple mathematics
* Counting, printing, and recognizing numerals
* Verbal spelling and printing first name
* Speaking in front of a group of peers: show and tell
* Attempting to spell and read simple words
* Using problem solving skills in a group
* Fine- tuning large and small motor skills
* Confidence in a school environment
* Reinforcing self-help skills
* Enhancing social skills with peers and adults
* Identifying some basic sight words or symbols
* Understanding time concepts
* Drawing or painting pictures that represent animals, people, and objects
* Understanding that books are read from left to right, top to bottom
* Communicating well with teachers and friends
* Drawing and painting recognizable pictures
* Verbally spelling and printing first and last name
* Solving elaborate puzzles
* Making comparisons
* Understanding the relative position of things
* Reasoning and problem solving
* Ordering and sorting items into simple categories
* Recognizing and differentiating between real and pretend things
* Reading and writing simple sentences
* Telling simple stories and poems
* Skipping counting
* Telling time
* Identifying money and its value
* Understanding measurement – size, weight, and capacit