Courses
Lessons are held once a week on set days and times, except on determined holidays (please see the lesson calendar).
Classes are available Thursday and Saturday in Himi, and Tuesday and Friday in Toyama.
The capacity of all classes is 6 people (the STEM English Lab is the exception).
Foundation Course
Target age: 4-7 years, kindergarteners / elementary lower grades
Target level: beginner
Students are immersed in the fundamentals of English. This is to say, we focus on phonics, teaching the alphabet as it is taught in English-speaking countries. In this way, you can learn to read, spell, and speak just like a native-speaker. No katakana! With phonics when you come across unknown words, you will be able to intuitively read them and even write them most of the time without additional memorization.
Students will also dabble in basic vocabulary and grammar years ahead of the elementary school curriculum.
We will capture your attention with lots of exciting activities that make learning English fun, such as simple games, songs, and crafts. Now, at this young age, is not only the easiest time to learn a new language but also the best time to develop a love for it.
Kids Course
Target age: 6-14 years, elementary / junior high school students
Target level: beginner – intermediate
In the kids course, we practice phonics so that it isn’t forgotten, but the focus here is learning vocabulary and grammar. We start your education off with language often used in daily life and then shift to conversational language particularly useful when abroad.
We use carefully selected workbooks to teach English in a way that we think conveys English at a higher level, yet is fun and easy to understand. We also provide homework and online materials to practice English more at home.
Elementary school aged children still benefit greatly when English games are used in teaching, so we incorporate fun communication-based activities in every Elementary school lesson to effectively train your listening and speaking skills. Then as you level up and get older, activities are replaced with free-talk within the structured curriculum.
Eikaiwa Course
Target age: 12+ years, junior high and high school students / adults
Target level: beginner – advanced
This course is meant for those who want to train their English communication skills through real conversation. Therefore, free talk is heavily utilized, as well as conversational activities.
However, for young students and lower level adults, or for anyone who would like to focus on learning a new language, we can also use textbooks to delve more into the practical conversational aspects of English grammar, from the basics to the nuances that are brushed over or skipped in public schools.
Because adults often have varied English levels as well as reasons for learning English, we will customize lessons to the needs of each student. For example, we can focus on reading, preparing for tests, or topics of your choosing such as travel or work. Whether you are 12 or 72, or your English level is beginner or advanced, you can improve your English in this course.
S.T.E.M. English Lab
Target age: 6-14 years, elementary / junior high school students
Target level: beginner – intermediate
In the English Lab, we nurture the “power to learn” and the “power to live” as students study a wide range of STEM subjects. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math, however we broadly categorize the topics as either science or crafts. Using English, we will work on these kinds of projects together.
Students in this course will mainly learn not from a book nor from a teacher, but from their own discovery. We will let nature teach you through experiential learning and trial-and-error and improve your technical skill and problem-solving ability too. Moreover, experiments and crafts will largely be completed in groups to encourage communication and teamwork. These are soft skills which are often overlooked but still critical for success.
In this program, English learning takes place primarily through language immersion. This is a method of learning English by osmosis, where English is implemented to learn other subjects. Therefore, lessons will be conducted in English whenever possible and materials will be printed in English. In addition, English vocabulary relevant to the topic will be taught and students will be encouraged to use English during presentations.
With that being said, the main goal of the STEM course is to acquire abilities in science and crafts, with English as just one means to that end. So a sufficient level of English understanding is recommended to be able to fully benefit from the STEM course. Therefore, we recommend combining it with an English course. We will provide a 3000 yen monthly discount to students who enroll in both the STEM and English courses!
“With nature as a teacher, English as a guide, together let’s discover!”
-Science-
Students will develop their rational and scientific thinking through research and experimentation in the following subjects.
- physics
- chemistry
- geology
- astronomy
- biology
By using the “scientific method”, students develop their ability to make predictions, analyze results, and support them with reasoning. You’ll demonstrate your understanding in group discussions, written reports, and research presentations. Sometimes students will even be asked to design experiments and write the procedures on their own in order to promote scientific thinking. Scientific thinking is rational thinking, so a science background can be useful in many other fields.
-Crafts-
Students will grow their technical and creative skills through hands-on work in the following fields.
- construction and engineering
- handicrafts
- agriculture
- survival and bushcraft
- food processing
These lessons are fundamentally designed to teach skills in “self-sufficiency”. While working with nature, students learn how to enjoy its bounty and develop an appreciation of nature. Additionally, by studying traditional artisanal crafts, students can reassess their roles in live and help carry these skills into the future. We expect these abilities will become more and more important in the years to come.
Please Note
- The STEM course is only available on Saturday mornings in Himi city.
- Because group work is emphasized or sometimes required, the course is exclusively offered as a group lesson and the class capacity is raised higher than in the English courses.
- For some lessons, I think I would like to go on local field trips. On those days, I ask that you drop-off and pick-up students at the field trip location. Later I’m planning on having a classroom in the mountains so we won’t have to go on field trips.