The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 92

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 16 1997 THE HERALD 19 NEWS FEATURE 18 THE HERALD SUNDAY FEBRUARY 16 1997 7" 1 i i ft jy a- the weekdays they learn about the United States and English and sometimes Spanish In the Japanese school they teach our culture even if it's just one day a week They need to learn ll both cultures JL Over RYOTARO YAMADA an executive at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi PROBLEM SOLVING: Math teacher Seiko Kitagawa gives her students some word problems during class EXPOSURE TO LITERATURE: Miami Hoshuko School students from left Erina Kimura 12 Erica Yazawa 1 1 Mie Okuzumi 1 1 and Mimi Abe 10 take advantage of the special library section with Japanese language literature JAPAN FROM 1 each child The rest of the money comes from corporate and personal donations as well as the Japanese government husband was transferred to Miami six months ago by Nippon Express one of the biggest transportation companies in Japan Before that they lived in New York for five years like it here in America because it gives us a chance to understand this Terai said kids both students at Calusa Elementary have lived most of their lives outside of Japan So they need to be reminded of their Japanese roots Terai said Two cultures Joanne Matsuura 13 a student at Carver Middle School and the Japanese school was bom in the United States to a Japanese father She grew up speaking Japanese at home English at school talk about the same things at lunch Usually at the Japanese school we talk about things that happened in American Joanne said American school we talk about other things She and about 10 other students were reading a Japanese folk story about the spirit of workmanship Each child took turns standing up and reading a portion of the folk story aloud Teacher Hisako Akiyama tests the students each week on six kanji letters the more difficult types of Japanese characters Meanwhile the kindergartners learned basic Japanese in the library All students have access to the library on Saturdays Books on Japanese literature fill a dozen shelves funny because you see a bunch of science books and stuff like that and then you come upon these rows of books in Japanese having nothing to do with science said Otis Brown dean of the Rosenstiel School The Hoshuko school which started 13 years ago was held at Kendall United Methodist CLASS IN SESSION: A sign in Japanese indicates the level of the class in progress at the school This is the first-grade class Church the past eight years before moving to Virginia Key The Rosenstiel School using its classrooms on weekends so Miami Hoshuko was welcomed Brown said Cultural fundamentals different to hear the halls ringing with young kids speaking he said an excellent way to use the university and a way to build bridges to other The differences between the two cultures are many inside and outside the classroom said Hiro shi Kazama an executive at Fuji Bank and one of the school directors Japan we have a concept as a nation-state We have one culture we all Kazama said the United States important to feel Teachers in American schools praise students too much and assign enough homework he said Kazama said his children spend a half-hour each night on homework for Gulliver Academy in South Dade which they attend Photo by CANDACS MMOT HarUd Staff LESSONS LEARNED: Second-graders from left Kentaro Arisue George Shiroyama Takahlro Nakabayashi and Fuminori Takahashi listen to their teacher Junko Inaba center SHOW AND TELL Seven-year-old Erika Kushl develops her speech and listening skills during the and part of the Miami Hoshuko classes ica no matter how long the stay turns out to be the weekdays they learn about the United States and English and sometimes Spanish In the Japanese school they teach our culture even if just one day a Yamada said need to learn both where the children will perform skits and sing and dance to traditional Japanese music Ryotaro Yamada one of the directors and an executive at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi said confident the school will ensure his children age 6 and 4 to latch onto their roots during their stay in Amer who elect a four-member board each year The four parents control the money hire the teachers and coordinate special events at the school Recently they sponsored a rice cake party an all-day festival dedicated to the most basic food: rice In about a month hold Culture Day school and one for Japanese Every Saturday the campus is transformed from a university science center into part school part social club a parent-run school and many of the parents loiter the hallways while their children study in class The school is run by parents They spend about an hour each night preparing for one Saturday session at the Japanese school have a fundamental Japanese way of doing Kazama said language differences are difficult for the child But the toughest is that two types of homework one for the American.