iOP "Learning Support for International Children”

 

In cooperation with the Hitachinaka International Exchange Association, we conducted educational support activities for international children in Hitachinaka City. During the spring break at elementary and junior high schools, our students organized an online event for children to do arts and crafts in Japanese so that international children could learn Japanese language through activities. 23 Ibaraki University students participated in this activity.

Preparations began in February and we met online once a week to work out the details of the event. The actual event was held for an hour from 10:00 every morning from March 25 to 29 during the spring break for elementary and junior high school students. The students drew on aluminum foil with a water-based pen and floated it on top of the water as a scientific experiment, learned about sweet potatoes (a specialty of Hitachinaka City), and learned where the ingredients for school lunches came from.

Elementary and junior high school students who participated in the activities said that it was fun and that they would like to participate again, and an staff of the Hitachinaka International Exchange Association gave us positive comments, saying that they could see the interest of international students in learning Japanese language was increased.

Ibaraki University students also gave positive comments by saying "when I became a teacher in the future, I might have to take care of international children, so I thought I would be able to make use of it in the way of dealing with them and speaking," "in the process of preparing after much consideration, it became an opportunity to think about how to relate to children and Japanese language support," and "we were able to carry out a project that the participants would experience for the first time, and we enjoyed giving opportunities of science experiments and learning Japanese language for students."