One of my Elementary Schools seems to always have something interesting and fun on in the afternoons.
Today, after Kyuushoku, all the students in the school were given a little peice of paper with some writing on it and space for 3 different stamps. After brushing their teeth, they rushed off to find the other people in their group. Using the whole school, each student knows which group they are in. One particular girl in grade 3 studies English at an English school, so she confidently told me what I needed to do and included me in her group.
There were two activities in the gym. The first one was using a hoola hoop. two groups together, had to stand in a circle holding hands, then, using the hoola hoop, they had the get the hoop around the circle without letting go of their hands. It was very fun. The second game was a kind of line janken game. Using balancing beams and two balls, the students had to balance on the beem holding the ball until they met in the middle, then they jankened then the loser left and gave the ball to their next team mate, and the winner continued on. The first person to the other end wins. The third game was in the lunch room. The students were put into 3 groups and in pairs they had to balance 2 balls using two sticks and walk around a cone and back. At the end of each activity they got a stamp on their paper. It was a fun time.
This particular school has also had other activities such as running practice every lunch time and recess for the whole school for a few weeks before their school marathon, a circus performance the students got to watch and invite the local kindergarten and people from the old people`s home to watch too. They have also had professional Sumo lessons for the grade 5 and 6s. One of my first weeks here was a school trip to climb the mountain behind the school. That was really fun. It took all day to get up and back. When I arrived in the morning they gave me a bell to put on my bag to ward off bears apparently. And all the students had bells too. But everyone packed a lunch and off we went, and it turned out to be a beautiful day! I have also seen once a library truck that came to the school where the students could borrow books.
There are so many good opportunities for the students at this school to learn and grow within the community. I am really enjoying it here.
