Can I take my kids out of school to go to study in Japan?

[yukayuka]

Hi,

I am Japanese and my husband is English. My kids are 5 and 5 (boy/girl twins), and they are in year 1 at a UK primary school. English is their mother tongue but I speak to them in Japanese all the time and they can understand everything I say. Their speaking in Japanese is poor, but this is mostly because they have no need to speak Japanese in the UK.

I want to take them out of school to visit Japan for a month. The goal of the trip is to have them attend Japanese kindergarten*, and immerse them in Japanese culture/language so that a) they understand more about my/their culture/background, b) they come back fluent in Japanese.

• Japanese children attend 'kindergarten' until age 6. It is state sponsored, compulsory, and runs everyday from 9am-3pm.

Does anyone have any experience or ideas about how should I request/explain/justify this trip to the UK primary school? This isn't a holiday so I am very keen to avoid the fine!!

Thanks,

Yuka

Thanks very much for all your helpful comments. The pics, food, bringing stories and presents back to the UK school, etc are all great ideas!

Not sure about this though:

"I take my children out of school to go to Disneyworld. Never been fined. Don't see how going to Japan is more worthy or educational."

You cant see how learning about a foreign culture and language is more educational then hanging out with Mickey and eating candy?

"The ops kids can learn japanese at home she just prefers them to learn in a kindergarten in Japan."

There is no real substitute for immersion. This isn't laziness on my part, just a fact.

Thanks all!

Irvineoneohone I am quite shocked that you think schools do no learning in the run up to Christmas!
At our primary school, there are lessons right up to the last day! And we still manage to fit the obligatory school Christmas fair, nativity and parties in.
We also have to fit in assessments before the end of term, so I can assure you it is business as usual in December as it is in any other school month!

Hi Op, I’m not Japanese but have a second language and my DC went/go to school where the teaching is all done in that language. They went from nursery school age. Is there a Japanese language school in your area in the UK they could attend or would you be willing to move nearer to one?

Op because 6 months after you get back they'll have forgotten it. A month's immersion is nothing at that age. The long term benefit isn't there if it isn't sustained at home. So unless you plan to sustain it at home by having the children speak Japanese rather than English, the educational value is indeed no better than Disney. And a month off school is a lot to miss for no tangible benefit.

Hi OP

I am taking DD (year 3) to New Zealand for a month, similar cultural (though not linguistic!) reasons. No issue whatsoever getting leave from the school, the teacher agreed with me that it will be an amazing experience for her.

Nb I totally think you should go. But saying a month of school to go to Japan is more educational than a week at Disney I question, when you take into account the missed school.
But you should tit do it, life's not all about what's educational it's about what's fun too!

jamdonut, It was pretty much so in KS1 in our school.

We had a pupil that spent 6/7 weeks each year at our school and the rest of the year was educated abroad. He was dual registered so the schools shared info and no fines or absences recorded. This may be worth looking into if it was going to happen more than once (which may be more beneficial than a 1 off trip.)

It's hilarious that people are even comparing disney land to being in an educational setting in Japan. Dont forget, if you are lucky, your child might get an exchange for A level language course. This is no different/better.

I live in Ireland OP where you would be given support and best wishes for your trip. I hope you Headteacher views it the same.

2014 it won't be lost because the op is Japanese and speaks Japanese to her children. Once they are producing Japanese actively she can carry that on at home. The transition from passive understanding to active would be near impossible in a status quo of passive understanding of minority language and responding in the stronger community language at age 5 without the trigger of a period of immersion.

There is no way that is even remotely comparable to Disneyland.

I agree with the others that one month immersion won't make much difference unless it is sustained. After your children are back in the UK, they'll eventually go back to the same situation, understanding Japanese but replying in English.

It has been my experience that the majority of children I've met where the parents use OPOL (because either the dad or the mum doesn't speak the minority language) are like what you describe. One of the parents talks in the minority language, but the children always reply in English.

I knew someone that took their child to China for 3 months. During that time the child was immersed in the minority language and had to use it on a daily basis. The result was what you want, the child started speaking Chinese more and would now communicate and reply in Chinese all the time. But as soon as they came back to the UK and the child went back to nursery/school, it went back to how it was before, and this was despite both parents being Chinese native speakers.

So if you can do the trip with no negative repercussions from the school then fine, it sounds like it would be a great experience. But as you would need to keep doing it often, the following times you won't be able to continue taking them out of school, so maybe doing it during the holidays might be a better plan.

Also, something that worked for us (we use Minority Language At Home), was to talk exclusively in the minority language, even outside the home in front of others. And if any of them ever tried to reply or say something in English, I either rephrased it in the other language acknowledging what they said or asked them to repeat the question in the minority language so the conversation continued in that language. Also with DS1, he never watched TV in the majority language. All the DVDs and movies were in the minority language. We also had lots of books mainly in the minority language, a few in English. Bed time stories were always in the minority language. And I taught them to read and write in the minority language. All those things helped a lot to keep it going.

Another thing you may need to consider, is that you have twins.
Are the teachers capable to help them in English if they have any trouble? Don't they just end up talking to each other in English rather than trying to speak to other children and join in? If you want maximum effect, I would consider putting them in separate setting.

If the school is not over subscribed you can register the dc for a month.

Just go during the holidays (or will the kindergarten in Japan be closed?)

The thing that makes your case quite compelling is that they'd be registered at a different school internationally. There are categories of non-attendance to cover off-site education and educational trips but as no staff would be present I'm not sure this would fit the criteria. Strictly speaking though if they're registered in a Japanese school I would have thought they would need to be un-enrolled in their UK school? So the question might be whether the school would (or can) hold their places.

We did similar this Easter.
I am English and husband is Kurdish, our daughter who was close to 6 years at the time could understand Kurdish and would use certain words but only really use Kurdish with my inlaws who are unable to speak English.

We found a private school in my husbands home city and arranged to have my daughter attend for 4 weeks, this meant my daughter missing the week before and the week after the Easter holidays.

The head teacher authorised the absence and provided an update to my daughters last report. On leaving the private school after 4 weeks the school emailed my daughters school with an attendance record and over view of what she had covered in the school. My daughter loved her time there and her language came on so much and she has continued to use her language more since we returned.

I would definitely do it again

Approach the head and see what they say

I would time it around holidays, not because of the 'missing learning' thing, but because a straight month of absences (which could not be authorised, as they fall under no authorised reason for absence) might result in your children being deregistered from their school, and if there is a waiting list, someone else being given their place.

It could be very hard for the school, especially if it is popular, to keep your place open, and then you would face having to reapply to schools on your return, with no guarantee that they would get places in their old school again.

On the other hand, 1 week of absence either side of a 2 week holiday - e.g. either side of the Christmas or Easter break - would, though still not authorisable, be much less likely to result in deregistration from school and loss of school places.

This doesn't apply if your DC's current school is undersubscribed - e.g. well short of 30 per class - and unpopular so with no waiting list and no children likely to move into the area while you are away, but it isn't worth the risk if it is full and popular.

Great idea, it's not all about language immersion but cultural and family ties. So important. Have no advice about fines etc as I'm not from England but I would go to Japan in a heart beat in your situation.

I think it would be very worthwhile,but possibly be prepared you may need to do a similar trip again when they are 10 or so.

My DD did an exchange to Spain for six months when she was 11/12. She came home fluent, but had lost her place at school as a consequence. It worked out in the end, as dh changed jobs and we had to move house shortly after her return, but it was a shame the school couldn't hold her place.

She is now taking Spanish GCSE and plans to take it further as an A-level. She's lost a fair bit of the language, but her accent is superb and she will easily be able to catch up when she goes back for another (shorter) exchange next year. The disruption to her schooling has not been an issue whatsoever.

at the age of 5, this is a wonderful opportunity. double check with the school that they will hold your place and enjoy. take loads of photo's :)

I hope you can get the school to agree.

As others have said, you may have to try and do trips like this every coupe of years or so to sustain their language.

For future visits when your kids are older, do summer visits and try to get your kids into gakudo (after school clubs for school-aged children which are open during the summer holidays). Yes, it's hot hot hot in summer in Japan, but once your kids are a bit older, the school will be less tolerant of their taking a month off so you will need to be practical. There are ways of keeping cool during the summer months, especially if your schedule is flexible!

I take my children out of school to go to Disneyworld. Never been fined. Don't see how going to Japan is more worthy or educational.

And the fact that you don't understand why it's more worthy or educational is exactly why you go to Disney and don't take them somewhere better! Hilarious.

Take the opportunity now and go to Japan. Travel to a nation with a completely different culture is far more educational than Disney. Could your children also attend a Japanese immersion program on Saturdays near you when you return?

@Grottobags where do you take your children on holiday may I ask? So I can assess its educational value. And what do you deem to be better than Disneyworld for kids?
Whats wrong with Disneyworld exactly?
And why would you assume that Disneyworld is the only place child have been? And if it was, so what if it was?

Most people don't stick to Disneyworld alone. Kennedy space centre is amazing, inspiring and the chance to chat to a real astronaut doesn't come along that often outside of kennedy. Spending a few days in a wildlife conservation area down the coast with so much nature all around, manatees and dolphins outside your window, conservationists taking you bird watching and marine biologists taking you to study the manatees, or plant life or shells my kids found pretty educational tbh. I can't imagine many kids would it find it educational.

So now let's here from the dreadfully rude @Grottobags about the educational holidays she goes on. As this thread was a nice chat thread hearing about the ops fantastic Japan plans before she came along with her rudeness and bizarre assumptions