FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: IS IT AN EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE CENTER OR A PRESCHOOL?
A: We are both. Moomin International Kindergarten offers Educare and aims to educate with a holistic approach by offering an integrated program of education and personal development for children aged 6mos-6 years old, when children are learning the fastest. Children learn that support and help are available and this helps them to form strong identities, minimizing stress and be comfortable learning. Early learning is particularly powerful simply because it happens first, but it also really influences how children develop skills, laying the foundation for school and life.
Q: HOW DO YOU TEACH TO CHILDREN BELOW 3 YEARS OLD?
A: Babies are active learners from birth (actually, they are learning inside the womb too!) They are the fastest learners as their brains are still forming. We take advantage of this plasticity by doing activities with them, not rushing them, surprising them and making all activities fun and exciting, while supporting their growth, social, and emotional development. The whole world is new to them, and they have insatiable curiosity to learn. Couple this with learning in a multi-age environment and the result is eager babies learning with autonomy and independence, wanting to do more and more and surprising us with their fast development.
Q: HOW DO YOU TEACH TO CHILDREN ABOVE 3 YEARS OLD?
A: They are the next fastest learners! Their brains are still growing and they seek opportunities to learn from everything around them. They learn largely through relationships and interactions with the people who are important to them, parents and educators. We treat every moment as a learning opportunity. Children develop a positive and strong sense of identity, learn routines and experience feelings of competence, confidence and empowerment through being helpful, being able to predict what comes next, and teaching others how to do things!
Q: WHEN DO YOU TEACH ACADEMICS?
A: Cognitive learning is happening every day at our kindergarten. Just not sitting down in a desk and having worksheets, but by using the knowledge, building on experiences and exposure to real world uses. Counting jumps or beans, communicating in correct sentences, telling stories in sequential order, understanding and following multistep instructions, able to think critically. Through exploration and experimentation. Children are exposed to a variety of tools to explore and learn how things work and what they are used for. They pick up skills that will allow them to draw, paint and write when their brains are ready at around 4 years. All areas of learning are covered through projects that emphasize Play, Peers, Passion and Play.
Q: WHO ATTENDS MOOMIN INTERNATIONAL KINDERGARTEN?
A: The kindergarten serves both the international and the local community. Everyone is welcome to apply. Our diverse families are multi-national and multi-lingual. Some families have two parents working. Some families have two children with us. The current student body includes children from Chile, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the US, India, UK, Portugal and Taiwan.
Q: WHAT CURRICULUM DOES THE KINDERGARTEN FOLLOW?
A: The kindergarten adheres to the Finnish National Early Childhood Education and Care Curriculum guidelines, and also to Scandinavian learning traditions, adapted to the Japanese environment and learning opportunities.
Q: HOW DOES THE FINNISH EARLY EDUCATION SYSTEM DIFFER FROM OTHER SYSTEMS?
A: The Finnish Early Education System focuses on creating individual learning plans for each child, supporting each child based on their unique needs and pace of learning, enabling all children to achieve their potential. The Finnish system does not support memorization or traditional testing. Instead, it focuses on hiring highly educated teachers to support the children in all aspects of growth through play, not only education.
Q: IN WHAT LANGUAGE DO CHILDREN LEARN?
A: The principal language of instruction is English. Most of our children are exposed to a minimum of two languages daily. We also offer Japanese, French and Spanish.
Q: ARE CHILDREN WHO DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH ACCEPTED?
A: The kindergarten accepts children who do not speak English and provides support in French, Spanish, and Japanese to ease in the transition. Children are amazing at picking up new languages. We encourage parents to trust their children and have confidence that they will learn in a short period of time.
Q: WHERE IS THE KINDERGARTEN LOCATED?
A: The kindergarten is located on a quiet street in Akasaka 2-18-12, Minato-ku. This is is within 6-8 minutes walk from Akasaka, Tammeikesanno and Roppongi 1-chome stations. It occupies the 1st and the 2nd floor of a fully renovated 275m2 building.
Q: DO YOU PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION TO/FROM THE KINDERGARTEN?
A: The kindergarten does not currently provide transportation. If your family needs transport, please contact us.
Q: DO THE CHILDREN WEAR UNIFORMS?
A: No. The children wear their own comfortable and appropriate for the weather clothing. The children go to the park everyday, thus we recommend that they wear comfortable shoes and clothing appropriate for running etc. When children go outside, they wear fluorescent jackets.
Q. WHAT ARE THE MEAL OPTIONS FOR CHILDREN?
A: It is documented that healthy food has a positive impact on children’s learning and development. Children eat a snack in the morning, a healthy and delicious bento style at lunch and two afternoon snacks, catered by Kids Deli Tokyo. It’s suitable for children over 12 months old.
Q: WHAT IS THE AFTER SCHOOL CLUB?
A. The after school club is a program offered everyday from 2:30 to 4:30 pm. Workshops are conducted in different languages and include e.g. tinkering, architecture, the arts & design, music, theatre & dance. We welcome parents to get involved in the development of the program with different interests.
Q: DOES THE CENTER OFFER BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL CARE?
A. Yes. We aim to be a flexible option for parents. We are able to arrange care before and after school until 7pm. Talk to us about your needs.
Q. DO YOU OFFER MONTHLY TUITION?
A. We offer a term and monthly payment programs.
Q. WHEN/HOW CAN I ENROLL MY CHILD?
A. To ensure that the best decision is made, there is an admissions procedure. It starts with a meeting with our team, a visit to the school, and an application form.
Since many of our families are expats, we accept applications are all year-round for all children. Children are accepted and can start anytime during the year. We welcome and support families with children 4 months to 6 years old-and through the application to primary school. The kindergarten also welcomes children with families staying in Japan on a temporary basis.
Q. WILL THE KINDERGARTEN COLLABORATE WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS?
A. Yes. We believe children's early education is multi faceted and we welcome collaborations with potential partners that share the interest in high quality personalized early childhood education. We partner with professionals in education from Finland and the Nordic countries.
Q. HOW DO PARENTS PARTICIPATE IN THE EDUCATION OF THEIR CHILDREN?
Parents are fundamental! Educators partner with parents to support the child and maximize wellbeing. Daily communication via Homeroom, a private App, through a notebook with the day’s highlight, and verbally with teacher during pick up and drop off. Family Participation Day once per month for 1 hour to celebrate their children’s development and birthdays, view projects, and do an activity together. Also, we hold a Parent-Teacher conferences and reports once per term.
Q. HOW IS MOOMIN CHARACTERS INVOLVED?
A. Moomin International Kindergarten is operated independently by Zava Holdings Inc., who has acquired a license from Moomin Characters Plc. This means that we can use the characters in our daily activities and use them creatively to learn. This is the first Finnish early education center in Japan and we couldn't imagine a better partner to launch and spread the word about the excellence of Finnish education. We are incredibly excited to make Finnish early education available to children in Japan and look forward to welcoming you to our center in Akasaka.
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