It is interesting! Japanese method of teaching children! Education in Japan: interesting facts. Education system in Japan

Japan until the end of the late Middle Ages was hidden from the whole world: neither enter nor leave. But as soon as the high walls fell, the world began to actively study this mysterious country, in particular, education in Japan.

Briefly about the main

In the country rising sun Education is one of the first and foremost goals in life. It is this that determines the future of man. The education system in Japan has hardly changed since the 6th century. Although after the Second World War it was strongly influenced by British, French and, in particular, American systems. Residents of Japan begin to learn almost from the cradle. First, their parents instill in them manners, rules of conduct, teach the basics of counting and reading. Next is the nursery Kindergarten, junior, middle and high schools. After them universities, colleges or schools of special vocational training.

The academic year is divided into three semesters:

Spring. From April 1 (this is the beginning of the school year) to mid-July.
Summer. September 1st to mid-December.
Winter. From the beginning of January to the end of March. The academic year ends in March.

After each semester, students take intermediate tests, and at the end of the year, exams. In addition to lessons, the Japanese have the opportunity to attend circles and participate in festivals. Now let's take a closer look at education in Japan.

Preschool

As already mentioned, etiquette and manners are instilled by parents. There are two types of kindergartens in Japan:

保育園 (Hoikuen)- state child care center. These establishments are designed for the little ones. By government decree, they were created specifically to support working mothers.
幼稚園 (youchien)- private kindergarten. These institutions are designed for older children. Here they teach singing, drawing, reading and counting. In more expensive institutions they teach English. So they come to school fully prepared.

It should be noted that the main function of kindergartens is not so much education, but socialization. That is, children are taught to interact with peers and society as a whole.

elementary School

Education in Japan in elementary school begins at the age of six. Most of these establishments are public, but there are also private ones. The elementary school teaches Japanese, mathematics, science, music, art, physical education and labor. Recently, training has become mandatory. English language, which used to be taught only in high school.

There are no circles, as such, in elementary school, but they are held extracurricular activities such as sports competitions or staging theatrical performances. Students wear casual clothes. The only obligatory element of equipment: a yellow panama, an umbrella and a raincoat of the same color. These are mandatory attributes when the class is taken on a tour so as not to lose children in the crowd.

high school

If translated into Russian, then this is training from grades 7 to 9. A more in-depth study of the sciences is added to the subjects of elementary school. The number of lessons is increased from 4 to 7. Interest clubs appear in which students are involved until 18.00. The teaching of each subject is assigned to a separate teacher. More than 30 people study in the classes.

Features of education in Japan can be traced in the formation of classes. First, students are distributed according to the level of knowledge. This is especially common in private schools, where they believe that students with poor grades will be a bad influence on excellent students. Secondly, with the beginning of each semester, students are assigned to different classes so that they learn to quickly socialize in a new team.

Old school

Training in high school is not considered compulsory, but those who wish to enter a university (and today it is 99% of students) must complete it. In these institutions, the focus is on preparing students for university entrance exams. Also, students take an active part in school festivals, circles, attend excursions.

juku

Modern education in Japan does not end exclusively with schools. There are special private schools offering additional classes. They can be divided into two types according to the areas of study:

Non-academic. Teachers teach a variety of arts. There is sport sections, you can also learn the tea ceremony and traditional Japanese board games (shogi, go, mahjong).
Academic. Focused on learning different sciences including languages.

These schools are mainly attended by students who have missed school and cannot absorb the material. They want to successfully pass exams or prepare for entry into a university. Also, the reason why a student may insist on attending such a school may be closer communication with the teacher (in groups of about 10-15 people) or in company with friends. It is worth noting that such schools are expensive, so not all families can afford them. However, a student who does not attend additional classes has a losing position in the circle of his peers. The only way he can compensate for this is self-education.

Higher education

Higher education in Japan is mainly received by men. For women, as well as centuries ago, the role of the guardian of the hearth, and not the head of the company, is assigned. Although exceptions are becoming more common. To institutions higher education include:

State and private universities.
Colleges.
Schools of special vocational training.
Technology colleges.
Institutions of further higher education.

Colleges are mostly girls. The training is 2 years, and they teach mainly the humanities. In technological colleges, individual specialties are studied, the duration of study is 5 years. After graduation, the student has the opportunity to enter the university for the 3rd year.

There are 500 universities in the country, 100 of which are public. To get into government agency two exams must be passed: the “General Achievement Test of the First Stage” and an exam at the university itself. For admission to a private institution, you only need to take a test at the university.

The cost of education is high, ranging from 500 to 800 thousand yen per year. There are scholarship programs available. However, there is a big competition: there are only 100 state-funded places for 3 million students.

Education in Japan, in short, is expensive, but the quality of life in the future depends on it. Only those Japanese who graduated from higher educational institutions have the opportunity to get high-paying jobs and occupy leadership positions.

Language schools

The education system in Japan is a cult leading the country to success. If in the post-Soviet space a diploma is a beautiful plastic crust, indicating that a person has been doing something for 5 years, then in the Land of the Rising Sun a diploma is a pass to a brighter future.

Due to the aging of the nation, higher education institutions accept international students. Each gaijin (foreigner) has the opportunity to receive a scholarship if his knowledge in a certain area is high. But for this you need to know Japanese well, so there are special language schools in the country for foreign students. They also offer short courses. Japanese language for tourists.

Studying in Japan is difficult but fun. After all, students have the opportunity to develop harmoniously, make decisions independently and decide their own future. So, education in Japan, Interesting Facts:

In elementary school, students are not given homework.
Primary and secondary education is compulsory and free in public institutions.
To enter the school, you need to pass the exams, those who failed to pass can try their luck next year.
Schoolgirls may not dye their hair, wear make-up or jewelry except wrist watch. Behind appearance pupils in schools are closely monitored. Even socks can be taken away if they are not the right color.
Schools do not have cleaners. Starting from elementary school, students themselves clean the classrooms and corridors after the end of classes.

Also, each group of students in the class has its own responsibilities. There is a group that is responsible for cleaning the school grounds, organizing events, health care, etc.
In schools, the composition of students often changes so that children learn to quickly join the team. In higher educational institutions groups are formed according to the chosen subjects for study.
"The System of Lifetime Employment". Education in Japan is also significant in that many universities cooperate with high schools, accepting students with good grades. And above universities there are well-known companies that hire graduates. A Japanese who graduated from a university can be confident in future employment and career advancement. Many Japanese work their way up from junior employee to department/branch manager and retire with a sense of accomplishment to the country.
Holidays last only 60 days a year.
A unique uniform has been established in middle and high schools.
Everyone academic year begins and ends with ceremonies welcoming newcomers and congratulating graduates.

Mugs and festivals

The development of education in Japan is rooted in deep antiquity. Already in the 6th century there was a national education system. The Japanese have always been supporters of early and harmonious development. This tradition continues today. In middle and high school, students are given the opportunity to attend hobby groups. Each circle has its own supervisor, but he interferes in the activities of the club only when competitions are coming or creative contests between schools, which happens quite often.

During the holidays, students attend excursions organized by the school. Trips are carried out not only within the country, but also abroad. After the trips, each class is obliged to provide a wall newspaper in which it will detail everything that happened on the trip.

In high school, special attention is paid to such an event as the autumn festival. For each class, the school allocates 30,000 yen and buys T-shirts. And students are required to come up with an event that will entertain guests. Most often, cafeterias, fear rooms are organized in the classrooms, creative teams can perform in the assembly hall, sports sections arrange small competitions.

A Japanese student has no time to wander the streets of the city in search of entertainment, he has enough of them at school. The government has done everything possible to protect the younger generation from the influence of the street, and this idea they did very well. Children are always busy, but they are not mindless robots - they are given the right to choose. Most school and university events are organized by students on their own, without the help of supervisors. They come to adult life already fully prepared, this is what main feature education in Japan.

Mental arithmetic - a unique technique preschool development, which is an account training and helps to develop the child's thinking. Classes harmoniously develop both hemispheres of the brain, thanks to which even pronounced humanitarians “click” puzzles and equations in the blink of an eye.

The Japanese abacus called soroban is considered the basis of the method. This unusual device is rarely seen in our area. It is a "calculator" on which only one-to-one representation of numbers is possible. This avoids confusion, as in ordinary accounts.

These accounts have an odd number of needles arranged vertically that represent one digit. Five bones are strung on each needle. The four knuckles at the bottom are ones, and the top one stands for five.

Benefits of mental arithmetic

Toddlers learn Japanese mechanical abacus very quickly. It should be noted that this device surprisingly affects the development of thinking in children.

1. Classes on the methodology make figurative right hemisphere brain to solve math problems. This allows you to use two hemispheres at the same time, which means that the brain works twice as efficiently when practicing mental mental counting.

2. People who have learned to count on the soroban can easily perform the most complex calculations in their minds in the shortest amount of time. Masters can do this easily without even having a soroban in front of their eyes. Even a child can fold in a couple of seconds three-digit numbers at the beginning of training. And with practice, they will learn to operate with numbers with five zeros.

3. Not only success in mathematics, but also in learning in general, is shown by children who master the technique oral account. Teachers and psychologists note: mental arithmetic improves the concentration and attention of the child, trains observation, memory and imagination, as well as creative, non-standard thinking of the baby. The child literally grasps information on the fly, analyzes it with ease.

Training in the method of oral counting

To the curriculum primary schools Japan even introduced the subject - mental mathematics, experts say on their website children's center development of AMAKids. Thanks to this technique, erudite children are annually among the winners of mathematical Olympiads. Also, educational programs using sorban are provided in China and Malaysia.

We also open schools for the study of Japanese oral counting. It is recommended to start training at the age of 4-11 years. It is during this period that the child’s brain is actively “gaining momentum” and developing. This means to achieve active work both hemispheres quite easily. In adulthood, mental arithmetic serves as a method for preventing atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's. But it is no longer possible to achieve such phenomenal results as the kids demonstrate.

Many parents worry that mixing conventional and Japanese math can confuse the child - and he will fall behind basic program at school. In fact, practice shows that children who previously did not have enough stars in the exact sciences showed good results after a couple of months of training and were ahead of their peers.

The Japanese method of oral counting is an original approach to learning, which is just beginning to develop in our country. This technique not only teaches kids instant addition and subtraction of numbers. Its main advantage is that it develops the mental abilities of the child, opening up new intellectual possibilities for him.

Prepared by Katerina Vasilenkova

AT recent times in Russia, a new method for developing intelligence is beginning to gain popularity. Instead of the usual chess sections, parents send their children to schools of mental arithmetic. How kids are taught to count in their minds, how much such classes cost and what experts say about them - in the material "AiF-Volgograd".

What is mental arithmetic?

Mental arithmetic is a Japanese technique for developing a child's intellectual abilities using calculations on special "soroban" accounts, sometimes called "abacus".

“By performing actions with numbers in the mind, children imagine these scores and mentally add, subtract, multiply and divide any numbers in a split second, even three-digit, even six-digit,” says Natalia Chaplieva, teacher of the Volga club in which children are taught according to this method.

According to her, when children are just learning all these actions, they count the numbers directly on the soroban, touching the bones with their fingers. Then they gradually move from the account to the "mental map" - a picture depicting them. At this stage of learning, they stop touching the abacus and begin to imagine in their minds how they move the bones on it. Then, the children stop using the mental map as well, starting to visualize the soroban completely.

Soban accounts. Photo: AiF / Eugene Strokan

“We recruit children from 4 to 12 years old in groups. At this age, the brain is most plastic, the child absorbs information like a sponge, and therefore easily masters the teaching methods. Adult man to learn mental account much more difficult," he says. Ekaterina Grigoryeva, teacher of the mental arithmetic club.

How much is it?

The abacus has a rectangular frame containing 23-31 knitting needles, each of which has 5 bones strung together, separated by a crossbar. Above it is one knuckle, which means "five", and below it - 4 knuckles, denoting units.

It is necessary to move the bones only with two fingers - thumb and forefinger. Soroban counting starts from the very first needle on the right. It stands for units. The needle to the left of it is tens, the one following it is hundreds, and so on.

Soroban is not sold in regular stores. You can buy these accounts online. Depending on the number of knitting needles and material, the price of a soroban can range from 170 to 1,000 rubles.

At the first stage, children are engaged in accounts. Photo: AiF / Eugene Strokan

If you don’t want to spend money on bills at all, you can download for your phone free app- an online simulator that imitates an abacus.

Mental arithmetic classes for children in Volgograd cost about 500-600 rubles per hour. You can buy a subscription for 8 lessons for 4,000 rubles and 16 lessons for 7,200 rubles. Classes are held 2 times a week. abacus, mental maps and notebooks the Volga school gives out to children free of charge, their students can take home. At the end of the course, the child can keep a soroban as a keepsake.

Children have to learn mental arithmetic for about 1-2 years, depending on their abilities.

Tasks for students. Photo: AiF / Eugene Strokan

If you don't have the money to attend a special school, you can try looking for video tutorials on YouTube. True, some of them are posted on the website by organizations that provide lessons for money for the purpose of self-promotion. Their videos are very short - 3 minutes long. With the help of them, you can learn the basics of mental arithmetic, but nothing more.

What do the experts say about it?

Teachers who conduct classes in mental arithmetic are confident that training is worth the money spent on it.

“Mental arithmetic develops well the child’s imagination, creative streak, his thinking, memory, fine motor skills, attentiveness, perseverance. Its classes are aimed at ensuring that the child develops both hemispheres at the same time, which is very important, because the traditional preparation of the child for school develops only the right hemisphere of the brain. teacher Natalia Chaplieva.

Psychologist Natalya Oreshkina believes that in the case of children 4-5 years old, mental arithmetic classes will be effective only if they take place in game form.

“Children of this age can hardly concentrate for such a time at all, unless we are talking not about watching a cartoon, says the expert. - But if the lesson is built in a playful way, if the children study on the abacus, decorate something, then they will acquire knowledge while being in their natural environment - in the game. In addition, children should not be hard, do not exceed allowable level loads. For example, for 4-year-olds, classes should go no more than 30 minutes. I can say that mental arithmetic for children is very interesting. But if a child lags behind his peers in some way, then such activities will be too difficult for him. If a child does not have an internal resource for classes, then it will be a waste of time, effort and money.

Nations that use hieroglyphs have a different way of thinking. Does it affect their lives? It is hard to say. Such people are visual by nature, they figuratively perceive the world. And this system of perception does not bypass even exact sciences. How the Japanese multiply will be interesting for everyone to know. Firstly, you don’t have to panic looking for a calculator, and secondly, this is a very exciting activity.

We draw

It's amazing, but Japanese children can multiply without even knowing about the multiplication table. How do the Japanese multiply? They do it very simply, so simply that they use only basic drawing and counting skills. It is easier to show with an example how this happens.

Let's say you need to multiply 123 by 321. First you need to draw one, two and three parallel lines, which will be placed diagonally from top left to bottom right. On the created groups of parallels, draw three, two and one lines, respectively. They will also be placed diagonally from bottom left to top right.

As a result, we get the so-called rhombus (as in the figure above). If someone has not yet understood, the number of lines in the group depends on the numbers that need to be multiplied.

We believe

So how do the Japanese multiply numbers? The next step is to count the intersection points. First, we separate the intersection of three lines with one in a semicircle and count the number of points. The resulting number is written under the diamond. Further, in exactly the same way, we separate the sections where two lines intersect with three and one. We also count the points of contact and write them down, then we count the points that remained in the center. You should get the same result as in the picture below.

It is worth paying attention to the fact that if the central number is two-digit, then the first digit must be added to the number that turned out when counting the points of contact in the area to the left of the center. Thus multiplying 123 by 321, we get 39,483.

This method can be used to multiply both two-digit and three-digit numbers. One problem is that if you have to count numbers like 999, 888, 777, etc., then you will need to draw a lot of dashes.

Now parents who give great attention development of their children, an incredible number of the most different methods. In this “pedagogical sea”, the works of Japanese specialists stand somewhat apart and at the same time arouse great interest.

Love is the foundation of everything

The first postulate of Makoto Shichida may surprise you: the professor is sure that the successful development of any child is always based on a huge one. The scientist notes: children very often believe that they are not loved enough, while parents are sure of the opposite. And this lack of love, felt by children and not noticed by parents, has the most detrimental effect on the development and upbringing of children of all ages. In order to prevent this from happening, the professor suggests using the following methods:

Frequent and strong hugs

Even minor successes of a baby or an older child, any help from him (even if inept) or even just a willingness to respond to a request must be rewarded. And the best reward is hugs. They not only help to demonstrate to children the depth of parental feelings, but also perfectly motivate them for future “exploits”. Hug your children as often as possible, whisper words of gratitude and love into their ears. Just be sure to do it sincerely, and not because the technique "orders" it. Hugs should not be formal, “for show”, because children feel this very subtly.

Attentive and sensitive attitude

Never listen halfheartedly to a child, give endless instructions and refuse constant (or very frequent) criticism, because this is the main reason for the alienation that often occurs between parents and children. We often forget about delicacy when we communicate with our children. But they deserve a sensitive and respectful attitude no less than other people. Therefore, be sure to call for help also a sense of tact and good education. But declarativeness and undisguised edification in our communication with children should be as small as possible. Instead of saying, “Do as I say!”, suggest gently and kindly, “Let’s think and decide together.”

The right attitude

The professor is convinced that during the first five minutes from the moment of falling asleep, the human subconscious does not sleep. These precious moments can and should be used to influence children. Positive attitudes received at this time can work wonders. Parents can “dictate” literally everything to their children: a good appetite or sound sleep, self-confidence or a friendly attitude. But the most important thing is that in these moments the subconscious of children will hear and remember the words of love, which, among other things, must be heard during the “tuning”. Interestingly, even listening to recordings of parental “settings” has the most beneficial effect on children. Therefore, even if parents often leave and do not have the opportunity to give “settings” every night, they can simply write them down and ask their grandmother or nanny to turn on the recording. Keep in mind that you need to speak quietly (you can even whisper) and affectionately, and not broadcast to the whole apartment. Makoto Shichida calls this method "five-minute suggestion" and advises using it regularly.

How to organize classes

What tips for organizing classes does Makoto Shichida give:

The lesson should last no longer than one hour.
Change of activity occurs at least once every five minutes.
The scheme of organizing classes for children of all ages is the same. The difference is in the level of difficulty of the tasks.
Children are older three years should do the same special exercise, activating the "dormant" right hemisphere.

Mandalas - manuals from the Shichida technique that develop photographic memory

Lesson scheme

How are the classes going?

1. Introductory part

Singing or listening (for very young students) songs, for this, life-affirming works are chosen.
Breathing exercises. They are pretty simple. For example, you need to sit on chairs or on the floor, relax, take a few deep breaths and exhale. Inhaling, hands should be spread apart, exhaling - clasping the body. Toddlers in the run breathing exercises parents should help.
Meditation. Behind this word, which may alert parents who are opponents of Eastern practices, there is rather something similar to auto-training from the film “The Most Charming and Attractive”, beloved by our viewers. Only customize small child parents should. In a calm and affectionate tone, it is necessary to say a few encouraging parting words: “you are very capable”, “you are loved by us”, “you can do everything”, “you can do everything”, etc. Older children may well "tune" themselves.

After this stage, children under three years old can move on to the main exercises, and older children need to “switch to images”. Makoto Shichida offers several ways to do this, including games for the development of imagination, visualization. The child can represent himself as a moth or a fish, a grasshopper or a bird.

2. Main part

The main part of the lesson includes several blocks:

1 block - supernatural abilities training

This is perhaps the most controversial component of the Shichida Method for many parents, it contradicts our traditional views on life. Professor Shichida is sure that all people have supernatural (extrasensory) perception and that it needs to be developed, since such skills incredibly expand the capabilities of a person. Indeed, in his arsenal appear, for example, telepathy, clairvoyance, psychometry and foresight. The scientist is convinced that for young children, the implementation of this block of tasks is not difficult, and in older children this “asleep” skill can be “awakened”.

2 block - memory training

In this block of tasks, the so-called memo-techniques are actively used to facilitate memorization. Here is an example of what an exercise might look like:

The child is shown cards with different images, for example, a fish and a house.
At the same time, they pronounce a text that helps to remember what is shown in the pictures, for example, "a fish lives in a house."
After that, the cards are placed face down and the child is asked to remember what is drawn on them.

Gradually, the number of cards must be increased. When the child is able to name the 15 first seen (!) cards in the required sequence, his memory will be trained so much that no auxiliary texts will be needed anymore. After all, he will be able to remember any images without verbal reinforcement.

Shichida has developed many similar exercises, developing, among other things, photographic memory, which can make life much easier, perhaps, for each of us. Therefore, this block is very popular and arouses great interest among parents from different countries.

3 block - the development of musical and mathematical abilities, etc.

This block also uses exercises that help to better absorb and remember new information. The professor calls to rely not on one way of obtaining information, but on several at the same time. For example, children learn songs based on visual images, and listen to music, looking at the cards with notes.

If children cannot cope with some tasks, parents must complete them in front of the kids, be sure to explain each of their actions.

Tasks for board game tangram, developing abstract thinking

Many of the parents who have decided to try to work with children according to the Shichida method say that they do not use everything. Most often they refuse the "psychic" block. But exercises for the development of memory, musical and mathematical abilities, for mastering the skills of speed reading are of great interest to our compatriots. At the same time, experimental parents note that the exclusion of some questionable tasks does not affect the child's achievements in other areas. Therefore, those who would like to try the Shichida method, but who are confused by the “supernatural” block, can be advised to take on board not all tasks, but only those that seem most appropriate and acceptable to you.