Road to Kindergarten


The next Monday (July 2) will be a big day for Musa. He’s going to begin the journey of being formal student in a Japanese kindergarten. As the newbie, he has to catch up his friends in the class who have already started their school three months ago. Musa couldn’t enter kinder at the same time like other kids once the new academy year nationally kicked off on April in Japan because he was still two years old. However, when a kid turned 3 years, it is possible to apply kinder after normal period as long as the school still has quotas and opens the recruitment. That’s what we did 🙂

Lebih lengkapnya tentang celoteh post Instagram yang saya share di atas akan dibahas di bawah. Ada beberapa hal yang perlu saya jelaskan tentang TK di Jepang.

Agak mengejutkan bagi saya bahwa di sini TK bisa dimulai dari usia tiga tahun. Cepet, ya? di Indonesia umur segitu masih playgroup, sedangkan di Amrik juga masih preschool. Lebih wow lagi kalo nyimak sebagian psikolog, salah satunya bu Elly Risman, menyarankan masuk sekolah baiknya dari umur lima, mengingat di usia 7 tahun lah otak mereka baru siap nerima pelajaran kognitif seperti membaca dan menulis.

Dulu, saya nggak kebayang masukin anak sekolah sedini itu, bahkan sempat terpikir jika kami berada di Indonesia mungkin saya akan pilih homeschooling melihat beban anak sekolah zaman now tidak seperti yang seharusnya. Namun, jujur aja, kalo kami dikasih kesempatan tinggal di negara maju selama masa pendidikan dasar anak, keinginan saya justru sebaliknya: sebisa mungkin anak bisa ikut sekolah. Beda soalnya pendekatan mereka sama negara kita. Di negara maju yg saya tahu seperti Jepang dan Amrik, anak balita nggak diajarin baca tulis, apalagi syarat “sudah bisa membaca” saat masuk SD, dan sekolahnya bisa dibilang isinya banyak main-main aja. Belajarnya sambil main. Mainnya seru-seru, serius, dan fasilitas memadai. Ala-ala Montessori gitu.. banyak program keluar sekolah dan bikin craft juga. Wah, senang lihatnya.. jadi boleh banget laaah masih kicik ikutan sekolah biar kereatif 😂

Balik lagi ke Jepang..

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Eid Mubarak 2018


Posted from egadioniputri‘s Instagram with improvement

HAPPY EID from our family to yours! Never stop spreading #love because our creator is Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim 🧡

Mohon maaf lahir dan batin ya, gaes.. tulung dibukakno lawang pangapura sakombo-ombone kanggo arek telu ndhek foto iki 🙏🏻 .

family eid picture at odaiba, tokyo, japan

Walking around Odaiba with Om Fio after Eid prayer

Saking keasyikan #bermaafmaafan sampai lupa upload ucapan sendiri di mari, jadi jatuhnya sudah hari #lebaran kedua untuk wilayah Jepang 😬 Lebaran yang sangat berkesan bagi saya karena kehadiran adik @fioagani ke Tokyo (waza-waza dateng dari Niigata), jadi berasa terobati kerinduan akan keluarga di Indonesia. Karena dialah ada sesi foto di atas, maklum ngajakin turis main. 😆 . Continue reading

JR Tokyo Wide Pass 1: Golden Week Holiday


Posted from Aisar’s Facebook with improved pictures

Thanks to JR Tokyo Wide Pass, we could travel to as far as Nikko, Izu, and Kusatsu Onsen in Gunma without breaking the wallet!

And seriously all the venues posted here are kids friendly and accessible, by train or bus ride. One thing to note, we got into the bottom of this beautiful 100 m deep waterfall in Nikko, not by foot, but by an elevator! Who would build an elevator near a waterfall, if not Japanese.

I seriously adore this country nature and the people who built it.

NIKKO

Nikko station Tochigi Japan

Nikko station from the front. We could feel the sensation of “heritage site” since this starting point. The stations we passed along Nikko Line are also designed in vintage style.

Shinkyo Bridge - Nikko - Tochigi - Japan

That famous Shinkyo Bridge. We decided to walk to reach this spot because the traffic jam was terrible when we arrived at Nikko station. It’s not far and even interesting to see the stores along the main street which some of them were listed in the walking map.

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