Sunday night set up, it is the start of a new month and that means the futon and shoes come home from preschool for a good wash. Pictured are the bags that my son took back to kindergarten this Monday morning. My children attend a Kodomoen in Japan, kodomoen is a mix of hoikuen and yochien, in the UK we would call it nursery. You can join from 6 months old and it goes through until 6 years old when children move on to primary / elementary school.
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How To Prepare Your Child For Preschool in Japan a Step by Step Guide
I prefer packing the nursery bags in the winter because there is not as much to pack. In the summer they have muddy play or water play and a muddy or wet set of clothes come home every day. They also bring the futon back twice a month in the summer because of the humidity and summer sweat, it needs to be washed more frequently.
How Do I Chose The Right Futon For Japanese Kindergarten?
It is now December, it is cold and wintry here in Northern Kyoto prefecture. The nursery futon currently has a thick duvet and extra blanket with it. In Japanese nurseries children take an afternoon nap every day, until half way through their final year. In the summer we send a thin, light blanket which is called a towelket (a mix of towel and blanket). This child size futon was from the children’s shop Nishimatsuya, it comes with a carry case. You can get similar 5 piece nursery futon sets on Amazon. Some futons have ties on the side. We got one like this for my daughter and she was always untying or knotting up the ties. When we brought my son's we went for a futon with a zipper which is much easier.
The kit bag changes a little in the next grade (3 year old class) as they take cutlery and a pocket tissue. Currently, my son has a box of tissues with his name on it which is kept at the nursery and it comes home when it is empty and it is time to send a new one.
What Type Of Shoes Should My Child Wear For Japanese Nursey School?
Shoes
Children wear shoes from home to travel to nursery, once there they put their home shoes into a shoe box and change into their nursery shoes. In Japan children have two sets of shoes that stay at nursery, indoor shoes and outdoor shoes.
My son's classroom has a large tatami area so they are often barefoot, the indoor shoes don't need much cleaning. The nursery doesn't have any rules over which type of shoes can be used for indoor shoes but this pump style is popular and can be slipped on and off easily. Each pair of shoes gets put into a small carrier bag before being put into the book bag to be transported.
What supplies Does My Child Need For Japanese Daycare or Kindergarten?
Book Bag
A children's picture book is sent home to be read to the child by the parents at the weekend. The red card has to be signed to say the book has been read, there is a space to write a comment about the book too. The nursery has a few English books and we read the Japanese ones. They're very basic and only have hiragana in them. I bought the dinosaur book bag from Daiso. Similar book bags are available on Amazon but they are more expensive.
My son is three years old, he has recently potty trained and started bringing home a reading book at the weekend. The two things aren't mutually exclusive it just happens to have coincided that way. Although, he is three years old now, in April which is the start of the school year he was only two so he is in the two year old class. Ten nappies were kept at nursery. Each day in his contact book they marked how many nappies had been used and you sent that amount back the next day. See this post about how to read the nursery contact book (renrakucho).
Black Drawstring Bag
Preschool essentials in Japan always include a spare set of clothes. The change of clothes is put in a waterproof drawstring bag. I got this black drawstring bag from Amazon. Also included in the bag is a pair of pants and a plastic bag for wet clothes to be put into. If clothes get dirty the nursery rinses them before sending them home. The spare clothes bag comes home with the futon each month so you can check if the clothes still fit and are seasonally appropriate.
Main Bag
The main back pack style bag goes back and forth every day. When my son first started nursey I bought him a very small backpack, it was adorable but it was too small. The younger the child is the more they have to take to kindergarten with bibs and multiple nappies quickly filling the bag.
There is a contact book called a renrakucho and a waterproof pouch with a zip that letters get sent home in. The nursery provided the contact book and pouch. The nursery uses an app called Kodomo for some communication. I use this app to check the children in and out at drop off and pick up but we still get a lot of letters and paperwork sent home in this pouch. I love the contact book as it gives so much detail about your child's day. See this post about how to fill out the nursery contact book (renrakucho).
One nappy / diaper is sent to the Japanese daycare for naptime.
What Are The Best Cup Bags For Preschoolers in Japan?
My son takes a cup bag and cup for his drink. My daughter who is 5 years old also takes chopsticks and a toothbrush. The cup is from Mister Donut, a small (200ml) plastic, shatterproof cup with a handle is required. This is not the first cup that we have had as we learned the shatterproof part the hard way. The cup bag was from Daiso, check that that you can find a place to clearly put your child's name on the bag. When I wrote on the Daiso bag the pen bled and it didn't look great. Most items have a tag for you to write or stamp the name on. These cup bags have the name tag inside.
Do Japanese Daycares Require A Special Hand Towel For Children?
The hand towel should have a loop on it as they hang them up near the sink. I bought a stack of hand towels from Daiso but found that they frayed quickly. These hand towels are the ones that we are using now. The hand towel and cup come home to be washed every night.
The pyjama trousers for naptime (pyjama shorts in summer) and red hat with neck protection for outdoor play, go to nursery on a Monday and come back to be washed at the weekend. Each class has a different coloured hat so they can be easily spotted on the playground. The nursey provided the hat.
How To Navigate Japanese Nursey School, Tips For New Parents and What To Expect
How to prepare for Japanese nursery school also means understanding the seasonal requirements for packing. In winter, the focus shifts to warm clothing and extra blankets. All of the bags get quite grubby so dark colours, patterns or ones that wash easily are best.
Some Japanese nursery schools have more rules around bag sizes and dimensions of the book bag. It's less common these days but there used to be an expectation that parents or grandparents would make the cup and book bag. In the early years we did have to make bibs, but in only involved adding a string to a towel. I should write a post about that.
The kindergarten will provide you with a kit list of all the items that you need. When we went to look around the nursery, I asked to take a photo of the bags that the children needed to take which was helpful to visualise what I needed to buy.
It seems like a lot of nursery supplies and it does take some getting used to the rhythm of which bags come home and when. I would say, that even the Japanese parents get it wrong sometimes, just the same as we might do back home. Everyone is learning and figuring the system out. So don't worry if you make a mistake. Befriending senpai Moms (experienced parents with with older children) is also a great help. The teachers and nursey staff will always answer any questions too.
Does your Japanese daycare have any other items that you have to take? Leave a comment below.
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