When I set up The Montessori Goldmine, I stumbled across a new to me blog Montessori Genzaemon, I was surprised and happy to discover that it is in Saitama, so I sent Yasuyo and email and passed the link to a couple of my friends who kids go to a small Montessori school. Yasuyo is planning to open a kindy next April and so at the moment she is doing weekend classes which involve the parent too, which is a great idea because the parents get to learn about Montessori and get to understand about how the equipment is used and why. So, Saturday Ebi-kun and I met up with Megumi and Elena's families and went to have a look round.
This is the organic vegetable garden, the children get to garden, pull up veggies and catch bugs
Ebi-kun looking for bugs...
Then we went over to the Montessori house, a couple of minutes walk
from the farm and the kids all got some work out.
It was lovely to see the kids settle and get engrossed in their work
The house has the front room and kitchen set up for the Montessori class and another large tatami room which is used for Jr high and High school students that can come and study in the evening. When I was talking to ebi-kun on the way home, he sounded really surprised about the fact that there was equipment like our in the house, I think, he thought we were the only ones with it!
After we had visited the house we went to the tomato house, which is pretty big.
And we were shown how they grow the tomatoes, each tomato plant grows from the table, one tree per table, the roots are submerged in roots in water, nitrogen, calcuim phosphate-nutrients necessary for the plant, this is known as the Hyponica Method and they harvest about 10,000 tomatoes from one tree per year! Amazing.
We got to try the tomatoes, they were delicious, juicy and sweet
So, before we left I bought 2 kilo's to take home. We went for lunch with Megumi's family, it was a really hot day and Ebi-kun was feeling under the weather so we turned down the offer to play and just went back home after lunch. I really enjoyed meeting Yasuyo and seeing round the farm, I would have loved to have set up a place like this. Her plan is to have the kids working outside for a couple of hours each day and then they help prepare their lunch and then in the afternoon they go to the Montessori house to work there, it is a shame that it is quite a trek for us to get there!
What a nice place!!! I would like to go with my kids. Could you please tell me where in Saitama is that school? I've been reading your blog for months, I really enjoy it. Thanks a lot,
ReplyDeleteBeatriz
Hi Beatriz,
ReplyDeletethank you for leaving a message!
it is about 10min drive from Higashi Kawaguchi station, there is a bus that goes that way too.
Where abouts are you?
I read that blog too, and she seems like a really neat lady. I am thinking of trying a similar type of routine at home, where we try to spend time outside for a while in the morning, and then the kids help out around the house, help prepare lunch, and in the afternoon while the littlest is napping, the oldest can be doing "school work."
ReplyDeleteyes, I think she is onto something. Ebi-kun comes home from yochien shattered so he is happy to sit and do quiet work because he has all his 'beans' out and with kids, that is what they need :o)
ReplyDeleteThanks, I live in Koshigaya, so it's no too. Do you know the address? I could go by car. where do you live?
ReplyDeleteBeatriz
we are near Ageo, I asked Yasuyo to put a contact address on her blog, I don't feel comfortable just passing it out.
ReplyDeleteDo you have kids?
Yes, I have two boys (5 and 9 years old). Thank you very much, I hope she put the information in her blog soon.
ReplyDeleteshe has, top righthand corner!
ReplyDeleteIt is so interesting to see the international boundaries crossing through the blog world! Yasuyo is a good friend of mine, I am a blog follower of yours, and yet we live continents apart and you got to meet her! How fortunate we are to live in a world that can facilitate that kind of interaction!
ReplyDeletewow, it really is a small world, such a shame we can't all get together in real life for tea.
ReplyDeleteI also wish we all could meet together in real life! What a surprise that Susanne knows you by blog.
ReplyDelete