Jason (Australia)

At the moment my daughter attends a local Japanese preschool three days a week and goes to Tokyo Children’s Garden two days a week. She loves it and always asks when her next day at Tokyo Children’s Garden will be. 

We like the idea of her being with her Japanese friends at the local preschool, where she has spent time with them since she was a baby, learning the way Japanese kids learn, being involved in Japanese festivals, and so on. But the uniqueness of Tokyo Children’s Garden—its focus on the child—attracted us. The parent–teacher ratio is good but it is not as important as the fact that the five teachers are with the children all day, and then meet after school to talk about each child and how best to support them in the way they learn.

It’s neither a passive “childcare-like environment” nor an academic “push” environment; it’s one that allows the children to be fulfilled, to have the freedom to blossom into who they are individually as well as within a close-kit small team of colleagues. 

During other summer schools my daughter has attended, she has described the big activities that she has done but with Tokyo Children’s Garden the difference is she talks about each individual person at the school, too.

Communication from the school to us is great, as is our ability to be involved with our daughter’s learning journey. We have started reading the daily journals we receive from the teachers to her, even on the days she was not there. She is very happy and comfortable. I think my daughter and the other children will always be happy, supported, and free because they are the center of attention and what they are doing is encouraged. We’re glad that she is developing confidence and self-reliance to grow, in safety.