Description:

ALTs are dispatched to the "Rakko Kyoshitsu (Sea Otter Class)", a recreational facility for pre-school children and their families. The children and parents are introduced to children's songs and games from other countries, as well as overseas child-rearing information.

Objectives:

The purpose is to expose children in their infant stages to foreigners, and to introduce foreign child-rearing practices to parents.

About "Rakko Kyoshitsu (Sea Otter Class)":

"Rakko Kyoshitsu (Sea Otter Class)" is held from 9:00am to 11:30am twice per month throughout the year.
A child-care specialist manages the overall running of the class, from creating the class content to its teaching. Seasonal activities, such as Christmas, Setsubun, and swimming are included, together with placing requests to the fire department for lectures on emergency responses.
Participation is open to all pre-school age children and their parents with 15 to 30 people per class.

ALT Activity:

A CD containing songs to sing along with, e.g., "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes" is used whilst moving the body.
A question and answer session is set aside for parents wishing to ask questions about child-rearing methods in the ALT's home country.

Visit Request:

A system is in place where the concerned divisions are notified by the Board of Education (BOE) of the ALT's schedule and visit requests are placed accordingly. ALTs are also sent to other locations such as facilities for the handicapped, where their activities are reported to the local residents in the town newsletter.
The Health Services Division decides in early April the parent-infant class' year plan, after which the ALT visit dates are coordinated and decided together with the Board of Education (ALT visits begin in late May).
Furthermore, due to the nature of the class, an ALT who is proficient in Japanese is requested.

Participant Application:

Recruitment for "Rakko Kyoshitsu (Sea Otter Class)" participants is held in March and April every year. Publicity is conducted through leaflets delivered to every home via regional contact persons, and through word of mouth at children's health check.

Deciding the Content and Meetings:

After the criteria are outlined to the ALT, such as "making it easy for children to understand", "both parent and child can play together", and "moving the body", etc., concrete activities are created and requests placed.

Nagashima Town (Kagoshima Prefecture)

Board of Education

School Education Division

Tel: 0996-88-5511

Nagashima Town (Kagoshima Prefecture)

Nagashima Town Hall

Health Services Division

We have received many case examples of JETparticipants being utilised in classes for young children. Making visits to nursery schools and kindergartens are common events, as is story-telling, among others things.