Learning Support Activity for Children with Foreign Roots @ Hitachinaka (Friday, December 27)

On Friday, December 27, in cooperation with the Hitachinaka International Association, we held a study support activity for children with foreign roots in Hitachinaka City. Seven students from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the School of Collaborative Regional Innovation and 11 elementary and junior high school students with foreign roots in Hitachinaka City participated.

In the morning, the students helped the children with their winter break homework. In particular, students in the 4th grade and above solved test questions as they were scheduled to take an academic achievement test after the winter break. Although the test required reading comprehension skills and was difficult for the children, they began to enjoy solving the problems with the help. The younger students also enjoyed studying with their college brothers and sisters, and it was impressive to see them say, "I can write so many words" and "I can do the multiplication table for 12."

In the afternoon, the children participated activities prepared by the university students. First, the children were divided into booths and made New Year's decorations with origami and colored paper, made their own karuta cards, and drew pictures with paints. Finally, as an overall activity, they played with the cards they had made and played a group game of putting a ball into a cup.

When it was time to leave, each child said, "This was fun!" or "I want to do this again next year. The participating Ibaraki University students were amazed at the children's energy and expressed their desire to participate in the activities again.