Christmas party in Takatori

The Kidz Group Christmas party is ON!!!

Next Saturday, December 24, let's meet at the Takatori Kouminkan at about 2:00 to help Doug set up. Other guests will be coming from 3:00. This is the information I have from Doug:

Location: Takatori Kouminkan (click HERE for a link to a page with a photo and map)
Time: Set up from 2:00, party from 3 to 5
What to bring:

- It's a pot luck party, so please bring a dish to share. Finger foods are best: rice balls, veggies and dip, fruit, etc. (I'm going to bring CHRISTMAS COOKIES for dessert! Doug and Graeme are going to bring homemade soups so we can have something warm, too.)

- There will be a few soft drinks on hand (tea, etc.) but if there is something else you'd like to drink, please bring it.

- If you would like to take part in a gift exchange, please bring an ENGLISH book, wrapped, with a note on it saying what age group it is best for. If it is a book that is especially interesting for girls or especially interesting for boys, please also make a note of that. One twist on this gift exchange is this rule: YOUR BOOK MUST NOT BE NEW!!! We want to encourage people to recycle and share books!! If you don't want to give away any of your own books, check out Book Off - sometimes they have a selection of books in English.

Saturday, December 10

I don't have much time but I wanted to remind everyone of this week's homework:

A LETTER TO SANTA!!!!

And make it a good one! I don't want to see anyone write like this:

Dear Santa:


I want a new Wii game for Christmas.


Love,
Bobby


Remember that when you write a letter, ESPECIALLY when you are asking for something, you need to think of who is reading it. Ask about that person. Tell him a little about yourself and what's happening in your life these days. Don't forget to wish Santa a Merry Christmas and maybe ask him some questions.

We'll meet at Provenzanos' this week - bring an apron if you have one!!

Meeting Saturday Dec 3

Hi everybody - Just a quick note to say that we are going to meet at Provenzanos' this week. (We thought we might have a field trip, but too many families can't go on the field trip, so we'll plan it for another time.)

See you Saturday!

Ropponmatsu again!

Hi everyone - sorry I missed the class last week! I heard you played some games and worked together on a story. I'm sorry to say that the Provenzanos won't be able to come this week, either - we have a school event happening on Saturday morning. SO, Doug and Graeme will be supervising things at Doug's clubhouse in Ropponmatsu again. I will see you in TWO weeks!!

Saturday, Nov 19 meeting

Just a reminder that Christie's away this weekend, so everyone will be meeting in Ropponmatsu at the clubhouse (Doug's place). Hope it doesn't rain too hard!

Another fun Halloween - check out the photos!

Hi everybody -

Despite the rain and smaller numbers this year, Fukuoka Kidz Group managed to have another great Halloween party! You put together some amazing costumes and helped to think up some hilarious games -- the balloon relay race was hysterical!

Check out some of the photos!
1. Click the link below
2. Click "slideshow"
3. When the slideshow starts, click "show info" in the top right corner to see some captions

Ready? Click HERE to start!

I'll see if I can get some photos of some of the other events from some of the other moms.

See you all next week, at Provenzanos' place as usual! Don't forget to do your homework :-)

Haaaaalllllllloooooooweeeeeeeeen!

Hi, Kidz Group families:

We had pretty small numbers last weekend, but the gang has managed to organize what looks like a very fun, action-packed Halloween evening for everyone this coming Saturday, November 5.

On Saturday, we will NOT have our usual morning class. Instead, we will gather at the Provenzanos' place from about 5:30 p.m. Bring a bento to eat, if you like, and a costume (of course!). Make sure your costume is something that is easy to move/run in. IF IT DOESN'T RAIN, we'll head off into Minami Park for a number of exciting activities from about 6:00.

IF IT RAINS, we'll have a shorter version of some of those exciting activities held INSIDE at Provenzanos' place.

What to bring:

a bento (if you don't eat at home before you come)
a costume (something that is ok to get dirty, just in case...)
a flashlight
shoes that are good for walking/running

Please tell Christie how many people in your family will join the party (adults are welcome! Adult drinks are also ok (!) so bring your own beer or whatever you'd like to drink).

We are looking forward to another great Halloween adventure!

October Schedule

Hi Kidz Group families: Just a quick note to say that next week (Oct 8) we'll have class at Provenzanos' as usual. Oct 15 Christie will be away, so you'll meet at the CLUBHOUSE (not Kashi Jimusho) in Ropponmatsu for an activity day. You DON'T need to bring your workbooks/pencils, etc. on the activity day - just shoes and clothes that are good for running and playing! We are also thinking about a Halloween event, but it looks like we'll have to do it one week AFTER Halloween... let's talk more about that. See you next Saturday! Christie

Angus, Richie and Sophie's homework

ok, you need to finish your outline and write your folk tale. When you finish, write the whole story as a post on your blog. I'm looking forward to reading your stories!

Happy September

Hello, Kidz group gang!

Summer vacation has finished and we're back into the swing of things. I heard from Doug that only a few people met last week. This week is the first week of our new, improved organization! As you probably remember, we are not going to meet at the Kashi Jimusho in Ropponmatsu anymore. Most Saturdays we will be meeting at the Provenzanos' place, in the big tatami room. Starting time is the same - please be here by 10:15 and we'll get down to business by 10:30.

Most days (unless Christie has to dash off to work or something) it will be ok to bring your own lunch and eat here after the lesson is finished.

Let's talk more about the kinds of study and activities we'll do when we meet this Saturday.

I'm looking forward to hearing about everyone's summer holiday!

Saturday update

Ok, guys, our plan is set!!

Please meet at the Provenzanos' place at 9:00 (early start! Just like when we went to Aburayama). We are thinking that we should take our lunches and enjoy them by the river, staying up there until about 1:00. We hope to be back at Provenzanos' place by 2:00.

We'll load everyone up and head off to a swimming hole that is sort of close to the log house where we have stayed in the past. In Doug's car and Provenzanos' van we have seats for 12 people. So far we know these people are coming:

Doug
Monica
Christie
Sophie
Maya

So, we have room for 7 more people in our two vehicles. Wysongs and Koga-Browes ... will you be joining us? If so, do you want to drive your own vehicles?

Details:

MEET: Provenzanos' place at 9:00
RETURN: Provenzanos' place around 2:00

THINGS TO BRING
swimsuit
towel
goggles (if you want)
shoes/sandals that can get wet

BIG bottle of tea/water
Packed lunch

Please contact Christie to say if you will come or not. Thanks!

Activity on 7/16

Hello, Kidz Group families:

Summer vacation is approaching fast! We are thinking about the last few meetings in July and have made a plan. Please take a look:

7/16 Summer Fun activity - swimming at a water hole!! Details to be announced soon (unfortunately, Nozomi can't attend).

7/23 Ren (?) and Nozomi can't attend; we'll have a regular class in Ropponmatsu.

7/30 Last class - Christie can't attend, so Doug will lead this class. Provenzano girls will not attend (they'll be in Canada!).

We'll have no classes for all of August, as usual.

July 2 meeting

Hi everybody -

Kidz group will be held in Ropponmatsu as usual, but Christie and Sophie won't be able to join in - Sophie's big dodgeball tournament is being held and Christie's a linesman ("TWEEEEEEEET!!!" I've been practicing my whistle-blowing...)

Scott is going to help out by teaching the Big Kidz, while Graeme will work with the Pretty Big Kidz as usual. Have fun!

Meeting 6/25

See you in Ropponmatsu tomorrow! It's hot and sticky, so be sure to wear something cool... By the way, it will be Hana's last day with us at Kidz Group, so I hope you can stay for a few minutes after class to share a cool treat with us!

About tomorrow 6/11

Hey, why don't you bring the postcards you've received and we'll share them with each other? Our family has received cards from 5 different countries!!

See you tomorrow!

Next Saturday, June 11

Hellooooooo Kidz!!

Are you starting to receive your postcards? Our family has received FOUR so far - from the UK, Spain, New Zealand and the U.S.A. It's exciting to find them in the mailbox! Are you going to write back to the families who sent you cards? Sophie and Maya said they want to.

Nothing special to report for this week's class - I hope to see lots of you at the Ropponmatsu place this Saturday. If you CAN'T come, please ask Mom or Dad to text me by cell phone or to e-mail so I know you're not coming.

See you Saturday!

Doug has shared this article about kids in Fukushima

Please read this with your parents - it's something for us to think about here in Fukuoka where we have the freedom to go outside as we please...

Click HERE to read

Excellent Postcards!

You guys are amazing! You worked so hard to write your postcards - the people who receive them are going to be really happy to get them.

Here are a few pics of your efforts today:

International Postcard Swap for Families

Yesterday I sent each family a list of addresses for the postcard swap and some information about what sort of things to write in your message. Before our next class, please do these things:

1. Buy or make 5 postcards
2. Write one address on each postcard (see the sample I sent to your parents if you don't know how to do it)
3. If you hope that those families will write back to you, find a small place on the card to write your address
4. On a DIFFERENT piece of paper (not the postcard yet), prepare the message that you want to write on the postcards. Remember to recommend a book or story that you like.
5. Bring your 5 addressed postcards and the paper with your message on it to class at Ropponmatsu next week. Graeme, Doug and Christie will check your message and supervise as you write it on your cards.

See you next week!

Great Cycling!

Well, we had only about 1/2 our members today but we had an active (and kind of sweaty!) bike riding seminar - balancing, going over curbs and bumps, and following an obstacle course. Graeme was the only one who wound up bleeding, so I think all in all it was a good day!

Hana's shirt says it all - "Girls Bike Better!!"

Christie gets a free ride from Olivia thanks to the Trail-a-bike

Maya and Nozomi work on their balance

Plans for 5/21

Carrying on with our unit on bicycles, we are going to meet at Ohori Park tomorrow for a bicycle riding seminar with Graeme, our bicycle expert. Graeme is bringing his student, Shion, to ride with us, so it will be great to meet a new friend. Shion lived abroad for a year and Graeme is helping him to keep the English he learned while he was abroad.

Graeme has rearranged his schedule so he can come earlier than usual, so please see if you can, too! We are going to meet in Ohori Park in the grassy area up the stairs from Kujira Koen. (Between Starbucks and Kujira Koen there is a slope that goes up to the grassy area. Go up there and look for us on the grass opposite the public restrooms.)

Graeme and I are going to be there from 9:45. It would be great if everyone can be there by 10:00 - sound ok?

Things to bring:

Bicycle (Olivia, don't worry, I'll bring the trail-a-bike and helmet)
Helmet
Proper shoes for riding (no flip flops or high heels)
Sunscreen (the weather report says it will get up to 30 degrees tomorrow)
Hat for when you're not riding
Drink bottle (don't forget!)
Lunch (if you like - let's stay and have a picnic on the grass afterwards)
Homework paper (we'd like to see if you remembered all the parts of a bicycle)

E-mail me if you have any questions. See you tomorrow!

Bike maintenance photos

Well, we couldn't have asked for nicer weather - it was downright hot, wasn't it? Graeme led us through all the parts of a bicycle

And then those who didn't go play dodgeball or catch lizards worked on fixing Natsuko's front wheel!

Doug got in on the action, too...

Update on bicycle maintenance workshop

After all the rain we've had this week, it looks like Saturday is going to be OK for our bicycle maintenance workshop (hooray!). Let's meet at Provenzanos - we'll use the parking lot to work on our bikes. Please be here and ready to work at 10:15 (so arriving between 10 and 10:15 is probably a good idea).

I've just talked to Graeme and he has a list of things he'd like people to bring on Saturday.

1. a bicycle
2. a set of allen keys (he said if you don't have a set you can buy them at many 100 yen shops - see photo here)
3. if the front wheel of your bicycle does NOT have a quick release lever, please bring a wrench("spanner" in UK English...). Graeme said it's best to have a "box end" wrench rather than an "open end" wrench (check here if you don't know what that means).
4. an adjustable crescent wrench ("adjustable spanner" in UKese)
5. tire levers (Graeme says they are sometimes available at 100 yen shops, too - they look like this)

Do your best to bring what you can - we'll share! Another thing to consider is this: Next week we hope to continue the bicycle lesson by learning some basic rules as well as some riding techniques from Graeme. Japanese traffic law says that kids aged 1-12 years MUST wear a helmet. Graeme Christie's rule says that all Kidz Group riders (even 13-year-old riders...) must wear a helmet.

Safety first!

If you want to bring a lunch and eat here after the workshop, you are welcome to stay for a while. See you soon, cyclists!

Bicycle maintenance workshop by Graeme

This is advance notice that we are PROBABLY going to have a lesson about bicycle maintenance next Saturday. We want to do it before the mosquitoes come out in force and before the rainy season! Our plan is to conduct the workshop in the parking lot at Provenzanos' place. If it rains, we can still do it under the car port roof at Provenzanos' neighbor's place. I will keep you posted about the details. Have a good week!

Eggs

So is everyone enjoying egg salad sandwiches these days?! We were a little late with our Easter creations, but they were beautiful nonetheless - great job, everyone! I was especially fond of the Raptor's Egg (was that by Jojo?).

Here are some photos of our artwork:

Egg painting!

Hello and Happy Friday, everyone --

Graeme reminded me that we haven't had a chance to use the great egg painting kit that Hana brought back from the U.S., so let's have an EGG-STRAVAGANZA tomorrow! This year, so I don't have to cook dozens of eggs, I would like each person to bring as many hard-boiled eggs as he or she would like to color. Bring them gently and carefully (carrying them in their original case is probably the best idea) and we'll color them up!

I know we've missed Easter, but coloring eggs is fun pretty much anytime, so let's do it!

See you in Ropponmatsu tomorrow with your hard boiled eggs!

p.s. we are also going to talk about the postcard swap I mentioned a couple of weeks ago in this post (Click here).

No Kidz Group in Golden Week

By the way, everyone, we'll be taking a break for the Golden Week Saturday (April 30). See you in Ropponmatsu on May 7.

Dodgebee was GREAT!

Hi everybody -
I just wanted to post some pictures from the dodgebee game. Everybody had a great time, but I think we need a re-match because the Kidz WIPED THE FLOOR with the adults!! Give us some time to practice and we'll trounce ya!

Angus explains the rules

hmmmm... there are quite a few adult "foreigners" (that means the Kidz were beating us at this point!)

Note: People exiled to the "gaiya" after being struck by a dodgebee would, logically, become "gaijin", so in this game it was decided to call them "foreigners" in order to keep the whole game in English :-)

Nozomi in action!

Graeme attacks...

Go Mayumi!!

Scott attacks from his position in foreign exile

New Plan for Saturday!

Hi Everybody -

I talked with Doug yesterday, and he said he had heard about a festival happening at Fukuoka International School on Saturday. You can see a poster about the festival on the F.I.S. website here. Doug and I were thinking it's a great and rare chance for us to go and spend time in English somewhere besides Ropponmatsu or Provenzanos' house, and it looks like there are going to be some fun activities.

The festival starts at 11:00, and people should probably bring some money so you can take part in the games, maybe buy a few things at the flea market, and try some of the "international food" that they will be selling.

I thought it would be fun to meet before the festival at 10:15 (our usual time) in Momochi Chuo Koen. Just today I bought some DODGEBEES

and I thought we could all try a game of Dodgebee on the grass at Momochi Chuo Koen before the festival starts. Do you know what Dodgebee is? Look at this website or this one to find out more about it. Basically, it's dodgeball with TWO soft frisbees. I LOVE it!!

So, let's meet in Momochi Chuo Park at about 10:15 for a round of Dodgebee before we head off to the festival!! I think the Provenzanos will cycle there, but for families who drive, maybe check around Momochi 1 chome for some 100 yen parking? Here is a link to Google Maps showing Momochi Chuo Park. There is no special finish time - once we go to the festival, you can leave whenever you need to.

What do you think about this?!

I just read about this postcard exchange activity on a blog and I thought that it would be really fun for our Kidz Group families to take part. Let's talk about it on Saturday.

Doug's presentation

Thanks everybody for coming today and thanks, too, to Doug for telling us all about his experience up in Northern Japan. We'll be thinking hard over the next few weeks about how to act on the information he has given us. What do you think about Maya's idea to start an exchange notebook with some of the kids Doug met at one of the evacuation centers?

After Doug's presentation, Oscar shared his idea of writing and performing an audio play. I think it's a great idea! It seems like there are two groups with two different ideas about what sort of play to do, so I think going with two different plays is a good option. We can talk about it next week.

Happy birthday to Sophie (12) and Natsuko (13)!!

Tomorrow's Class

Hi guys! I just got a call from Doug and he's back in Fukuoka after a whirlwind trip up north to help victims of the Tohoku Earthquake. Doug is going to give us a presentation about where he went, what he did, and how we might be able to directly help some people in a couple of shelters there. It will be interesting to hear about Doug's experiences and we can talk more about what we can do to help.

See you there!

Ren cracks me up!

What Ren looks like when he's on a roller coaster...

April 9th meeting

Hi! See you in Ropponmatsu at the Kashii Jimusho today. Doug is away, so you'll have to put up with ME!!

Today's meeting

Good morning! This is just a last-minute note that we are going to meet at Doug's Clubhouse in Ropponmatsu this morning for some library time. Bring back any library books you are finished with and we'll have a chance to choose new ones. We'll also review the newspaper story about the earthquake and do a little spelling activity, so bring your handout from last week. For the last 1/2 of the class time we are going to go out to Ohori and Maizuru parks, so wear shoes that are good for walking/running. See you later!

26 March meeting

Meet at Ropponmatsu! Blue and Red groups, we'll be upstairs at the Kashi Jimusho, Graeme's group will be downstairs.
Bring your ideas for fundraising, and maybe do a little research about what groups we should give money to if we manage to raise some!

Here some ideas to start you off (click to see the home page for each organization):

Children's Village Fukuoka

Second Harvest (Tokyo)

Japanese Red Cross Society

Habitat for Humanity Japan

Tomorrow

Meet at Provenzanos' !!! Rain or shine!!! (Don't bring computers)

Reminder

Hi everyone -
At Provenzanos' again today - last time before we go back to Ropponmatsu. The Pretty Big Kidz have a surprise for us, I hear...

Feb 26

At Provenzanos' today! Bring your computer and your ideas...

Photos from Aburayama

I forgot to take my big camera but the iPhone did a pretty good job on these:
Climb!
Nozomi and Maya try out the swings
Creek crossing
Sophie and the cicada exoskeleton!
Moni, queen of the sumo ring (Hang in there, Hana!)
Ren runs the obstacle course

Interesting TED talk on bilingualism

Hi kids - call Mom and Dad and get them to watch this video about bilingual kids. REALLY interesting stuff!!

Pictures of our morning on Aburayama coming soon!!

Tomorrow's hiking

Hi everyone! I just heard from Doug about tomorrow's plan. Several people have things to do AFTER Kidz' Group, so let's meet earlier than usual so we have enough time for our hike. We are planning to go by car to the Aburayama area - Doug knows a good trail that takes us up to Momoland, with a stop at a good playground. We hope to take 1 hour to go up and 1 hour to come down, with 1 hour for traveling to and from Aburayama.

Meeting time: 9:00 a.m. (Rise and shine! Please don't be late so we can get on the road right away.)
Meeting place: Provenzanos'
Things to bring:
- Water bottle
- snacks for the trail
- lunch for eating at Provenzanos' after if you want to
- pencil
- wear sturdy shoes
- wear layers - things you can take off if you get too hot or put on if you get cold

We are planning to return to Provenzanos' by 12:00 so that people can go to their next activities.
Please contact me to let me know if your family will be coming so that we don't leave anyone behind tomorrow morning!

Hiking next week!

Watch here for more information about hiking a Aburayama next Saturday!!

Meeting at Provenzanos' again

This Saturday we're just going to do the same thing all over again! Bring computers and lunch if you plan to stay on for a while. We are going to push on with making guidebook pages. Think about the page you are making and if you need more information to make the page more complete (Ren?), take some time to do a little research at home before you come. See you on Saturday!

Next meeting at Provenzanos'

Hi Kidz Group Gang:

To carry on with our research and to start composing the new guide book pages, let's meet at Provenzanos' Web Cafe (well, ok... it's not exactly a cafe but we do have wireless internet!). If you can, bring a laptop. It would be great if that laptop has MSWord on it and if the laptop can connect to the internet wirelessly. If you don't have a laptop to bring, don't worry - we'll be working in teams and we'll make sure that there are enough computers to go around.

If anyone wants to stay here to eat lunch, that's fine - just be sure to bring something to eat!

See you at 10:15 on Saturday.

Brainstorming for more guidebook pages

Thanks to Les' suggestion I didn't have to sit and copy all these notes out by hand! Just in case you can't read my chicken-scratch writing, here are the great ideas you all came up with:

- Futon page: how to set out/put away a futon; good/bad points of futons (make list box for reader to write his ideas)
- Bus page: how to pay / day passes / etiquette (give up seat for old people, etc.)
- Sumo: rules, names for the various moves/ranks; maybe some famous wrestler trivia?
- Souvenir page: list of ideas for gifts --> suggest ¥100 shop for cheap souvenirs
- Jan-Ken-Pon page: how to play, variations
- Japanese sweets: info about various sweets and a chart/rating system; advice on where to buy
- Japanese slang: see Richie's page
- World Heritage sites in Japan
- Famous Japanese festivals
- Japanese Anime/Manga/Movies: Info page; recommend a manga in English and where to buy



- Japanese money: different coins/notes; saying big numbers/prices
- Day in the life of a modern Japanese family
- Japanese animal sounds
- A Japanese game with rules: Kendama? Tell where to buy one


So next week we're going to work with partners (or individually if you like) to sketch out our page ideas / layout with paper and pencil. If you have any more great ideas for other pages, write them as a comment to this blog post

Christmas Pageant link

I was just looking for a link to the video I posted of the Christmas Pageant but I can't find it. I think I e-mailed it to everyone instead of posting it here. Just in case you want to look at it again, you can click here --> Christmas Pageant Video

Homework - let's try blogging

Hi everybody. It was great to see all of you last week! I think we had a great talk and lots of good ideas about what to do this year. I am especially excited about our ideas for fund raising for a field trip! I am also keen to see you guys develop more interesting and fun pages for the Mission Guide. Let's get started sketching out those ideas in our next class.

I heard you all saying that you really like using the computer, and I think it was Richie (or maybe Ren) who remembered writing comments on this blog a while ago (well, perhaps about TWO YEARS ago!! That's a while, isn't it?!)

So, for your homework this week I'd like all the members of the Red group and the Blue group to respond to this:

In this blog's "comments" section, please write at least TEN sentences about your plans for 2011. Write about things that are definitely going to happen, things that you and your family are planning to do, and things that you HOPE you can do. TEN sentences! Ok?

See you Saturday! (bring your ideas for more Mission Guide pages)

Happy New Year!

Hello, faithful blog checkers...

Just to let you know we are IN JAPAN now and are looking forward to seeing you all in Ropponmatsu on Saturday morning. Please come ready to share news about your winter holiday.

See you in the morning!