Shanghai Utsukushigaoka Montessori Kindergarten assists in the growth of children by the educational idea of Montessori

It's early spring in March, and it was finally a sunny Friday after the continuous rainy weather. The children from the International Department went to the farm in Fanghe Valley and picked up their little baskets to experience the fun of picking strawberries on the farm.

The warm trellis was full of bright red strawberries, and the children carefully steped across the farmland in search of big fresh strawberries. Let's see who picks more and better strawberries!

The children from Pudong Campus also gathered together and were ready to go! Our teachers and children took a group photo at the farm and then picked strawberries with their little hands together with the children from the Mandarin Campus.

Strawberry picking was also an encounter with nature, allowing the children to experience more of the colorful world they live in. At the end of the experience, each child happily harvested a basket of fragrant strawberries and then returned to the campus to enjoy a lunchtime with their friends.

Featured Classes

Let's record the experience of picking strawberries with colored pencils! The children of Mandarin City Campus left their creations on the colored paper. They either depicted the lovely strawberries or scenes with their best friends, showing their wonderful memories from different perspectives.

Colorful spring is a source of art. In the spring-themed arts and crafts class, children in the blue group made spring flowers, children in the yellow group made paintings of the Spring Mountains by cutting and pasting colored paper as well as using playdough, and children in the red and pink group colored tree trunks with crayon and pasted up a pink cherry blossom tree.

In the science classroom, the foreign teacher was sharing knowledge about animal groups with the children in the blue group in English. Everyone actively raised their hands to answer the teacher's questions. They improved their knowledge of natural science and learnt related English vocabulary at the same time.

In the Blue Group's music class, the teachers used rhythm games to teach the children simple music theory, allowing them to learn through play. Learning Chinese songs was also a good opportunity to learn pinyin and literacy. Teachers integrated cross-curricular knowledge into the classroom so that the children could utilize the most of their time in each class.

The children were making colorful paper lollipops in the Origami class, another special class of the Blue Group. Origami is the cultivation of comprehensive ability, because children need to use their eyes to see the process of folding and remember the process while watching. When folding, they need to do it by themselves, and in the meantime, when they encounter problems, they have to carefully recall and think about the teacher's demonstration. Origami must be done step by step, in this process the children can also develop a good habit of sequential and careful work, and develop their ability of observation and attention.

In the English classroom at Pudong Campus, the teacher made children in pairs to get everyone to complete a paper game. In the process, the children were able to increase their ability to cooperate with each other and at the same time master their English knowledge. In the rhythm class of the Red Pink Group, the children formed a circle and clapped their hands with the music, and then paired up to follow the teacher's instructions to complete a movement with their friends.

Although the weather in Shanghai is still cold in February, Utsukushigaoka Kindergarten had organized various fun and warm activities to fill the kindergarten with warmth in February. Let's take a look together!

Mamemaki Event

On February 2nd, Utsukushigaoka Kindergarten held a Japanese Mamemaki cultural event. Welcoming spring is very important in Japan, and the custom of scattering beans before the first day of spring originated in China as a New Year's ritual to get rid of ghosts and exorcise evil spirits. It was originally held at the court in ancient times, but later popularized in general households and has a long history as a representative seasonal event in Japan.

The children of the International Department came to the music hall with great excitement and stood in a line outside the designated circle, listening to the Japanese teacher's explanation of the activity. Each child was given a few "ghost-exorcising" soybeans, and then waited with anticipation for the next activity with the sound of drums.

"Monsters" are coming! The children grabbed soy beans and sprinkled them as hard as they could. Although they were a little scared to see the ‘monsters’ played by the teachers of the Japanese Department, they all plucked up their courage and bravely dispersed the demons to bring in good luck for the new year.

With the concerted efforts of all the children, the ‘monsters' were driven away! Teachers were proud of their courage. At the end of the activity, the teachers and children picked up the soybeans on the ground and cleaned up the concert hall to make it available to the children for the next activity. Thank you all for your help and care for the environment.

Special Handcraft Activities

Mandarin City Campus held a new round of Chinese New Year craft activities after the Spring Festival. The children in the blue group folded paper and then trimmed a beautiful windowpane with scissors; the yellow group children cut and pasted colorful paper to create New Year's fireworks; and the children in the red&pink group folded small dumplings with colorful paper and then collaged them to create a Chinese dragon. The handcraft activity was also an immersive learning experience of traditional Chinese New Year culture.

Teachers of the International Department also actively encouraged children to help each other to complete their own works during the craft activities. This also reflects the educational goal of Montessori education, which focuses on developing the ability of caring for others. Finally, the children were proud to finish their works!

Let's take a look at the Valentine's Day craft activities in Pudong Campus! The children were drawing hearts for the Valentine's Day candy bags and preparing cute scrapbooking decorations. The children were free to color and collage the hearts, using their creativity to create a piece of art that was full of the children's own characteristics.

Valentine's Day Event

February 14th is the traditional western Valentine's Day, but Valentine's Day is not only limited to the expression of love between lovers, it can also be an opportunity to share love and joy among people. Our special Valentine's Day activity allowed the children to prepare their own love candies and distribute them to their classmates during the activity, so that the children could learn to experience the joy of sharing with others.

The children of the International Department entered the classroom in the morning with their own carefully prepared candies and chocolates. During the activity, children from each class took turns carrying bags full of candies and putting them into their friends' gift bags, and happily said 'Happy Valentine's Day! 'The children were also very excited to receive the candies.

The Valentine's Day activity at Pudong Campus was equally joyful. The children exchanged candies one by one, and sweet smiles filled everyone's faces. We wish everyone a day full of love and warmth with sweet candies and the joy of sharing!

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Dear parents,

Our kindergarten has our own kitchen and staff and we provide different styles of lunch to our children everyday. 

We guarantee the quality and safety of the lunch food. 

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Mochitsuki Day & Making Tangyuan  Activity

At the beginning of the new year, Utsukushigaoka Kindergarten held the Mochitsuki Event. In Japan, mochi is considered as a symbol of good luck, and mochi pounding symbolizes people's desire to break bad luck and usher in a new year of good fortune. The process of making mochi symbolizes the resilience and courage of people in the face of difficulties and challenges. The mochi is made from glutinous rice, which is soaked, steamed and mashed in several steps. Our parents pounded the glutinous rice in preparation for the mochi making process.

It's time to start making mochi! The blue group children took their turn,  pounding the mochi with a mortar and pestle. The yellow, red and pink group children were pounding the mochi together with the help of their parents to experience this fun new year's activity.

The mochi were finally ready to be served! The white rice cakes were soft and chewy, and the children and their parents had a great time making their own delicious DIY mochi with bean paste, soy sauce, seaweed and other ingredients.

At Pudong Campus, the activity of making Tangyuan was also in full swing! Tangyuan symbolize family reunion in the new year. The dads at Pudong Campus firstly stirred the glutinous rice flour with water and then kneaded the dough with their hands. The kneaded glutinous rice was then divided into small balls in preparation for each family to wrap the dumpling.

Now it's time for each family to make Tangyuan. Moms and dads work with their children to make dumplings with the prepared bean paste filling. Everyone carefully made a crust out of glutinous rice dough, wrapped the red bean paste filling inside, and kneaded it to form a dumpling. Everyone was surprised by this unique cultural experience.

One by one, the lovely Tangyuan were ready! Everyone put the dumpling into a Chinese New Year bag and showed their work to the teachers. We look forward to reaping the sweet and savory taste of the dumplings. Happy Chinese New Year!

It is time for the children of the Red Pink Group to have their PE class! The theme this time was continuous jumping on both feet. Through jumping activities, we can promote children's body coordination, balance and explosive power, as well as improve their muscle strength and aerobic endurance. The performance of the new students was also very good and we are very happy to have them join us!

The yellow and blue group's PE lesson was Grab the Flag, a game in which the children gain points by grabbing the flag belts on each other's bodies. Through this game, children can develop teamwork, logical reasoning and decision-making skills, and at the same time cultivate the children's careful observation and attention to things.

With Chinese New Year approaching, the children were making Chinese New Year themed crafts. The children in the red and pink group dipped their fingers in paint and made colorful holiday fireworks onto the paper. The yellow group children created traditional Chinese New Year firecrackers by cutting and pasting red and yellow colored paper. The blue group children created special holiday lanterns by folding and gluing paper. So which piece of artwork is your favorite?

Let's take a look at the Chinese New Year crafts at Pudong Campus! Since the Chinese zodiac sign for the upcoming New Year is the dragon, the children made different forms of dragons to celebrate the New Year. At the end of the day, everyone held up their work and took a picture with their best friends. We wish all the children a wonderful new year as energetic and hopeful as the soaring dragon!

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Chinese New Year Holiday: 

2.8-2.18

Happy Chinese New Year!

See you next time!

Happy New Year to all parents and children! Welcome to schedule a campus visit to learn more about the kindergarten and enrollment information. During the visit, you will get a close observation at the children's classroom and have your questions answered by the enrollment teacher.

Shanghai Utsukushigaoka Montessori Kindergarten is the sister kindergarten of Utsukushigaoka Montessori School in Yokohama, Japan. The Kindergarten in Shanghai opened in May 1996 with one Japanese class. Now, we have expanded to two locations with a total of three Japanese classes and five International classes (Chinese-English).

Our education principle is based on the Montessori Method of teaching. We encourage children to do things by themselves to lead them towards independence, to develop a positive sense of self, to be confident learners and to have empathy for others and for all living things.

We believe that it is important for children to master both Chinese and English language and culture as Shanghai citizens. We would like to maximize the international aspect of our community and encourage the blend of cultures.

Mandarine City Campus

      Pudong Campus

Shanghai Utsukushigaoka Montessori Kindergarten is the sister kindergarten of Utsukushigaoka Montessori School in Yokohama, Japan. The Kindergarten in Shanghai opened in May 1996 with one Japanese class. Now, we have expanded to two locations with a total of three Japanese classes and five International classes (Chinese-English).

Our education principle is based on the Montessori Method of teaching. We encourage children to do things by themselves to lead them towards independence, to develop a positive sense of self, to be confident learners and to have empathy for others and for all living things.

We believe that it is important for children to master both Chinese and English language and culture as Shanghai citizens. We would like to maximize the international aspect of our community and encourage the blend of cultures.

School Features

○ Think It By Hand Education

Hands are considered as the second brain.

In infancy, infant use their hands not only develop the function of hands but also raise the confidence and independence of wills. Think It By Hand manipulative and services are thoughtfully designed to involve students in their learning at both the conceptual level and procedural level.

In addition to using Montessori teaching tools, our school also exercises the young children's small hand muscles through special hand painting and fine coloring, which have a positive effect on children's growth.

○ Language Education

It is important to acquire the mother tongue firmly in infancy.

Shanghai is an international city; however, a domestic language also doesn't limit. To put the children on the several languages environment, therefore, lot of families provide English and Chinese as the common language of the international society at children's young time.

We provide the environment as international class that students can acquire correct English and Chinese, to spend a day with native's teacher so that the child may happily acquire the language while having various teaching materials and picture books and others.

○ Physical Education 

A person who loves to move the body in the early childhood will have the tendency to like sports over the life, and cares about health. It is important that children who grow up with strong bodies as bases. We provide children the environment that they can develop the ability to grow up happily, with flexibility; we hope every child is raised as their own personality.

We have a wild lawn for children to exercise and run, children would love the activities which they can do throughout the whole year.

○ Dividing Setting Up Class

The arranged dividing setting up class is one of the traits of our school. Almost same numbers of 2･3･4･5 years old children are arranged at the same class.

Young children often feel uneasy; they would acquire the sense of security while they get older children's help. When the older children feel what they do are attractive, or when they have the yearning from the young's, they will have a strong motivation to develop themselves. Also, the older children will get confidence and become responsible when they take after the younger children.

Curriculum

○ We provide personalized education to enable children to learn with regular freedom based on Montessori educational practice; 

○Take advantage of the sensitive period of learning language and numbers, provide learning classes in Chinese, English, Mathematics, Logic, etc.; 

○Science and cultural classes that cultivate children's interests from macro to micro perspectives; 

○Unique Sports rhythm class, Music class, Art and craft class, etc.; 

○Special cultural celebrations and filed trips.

For parents who have interests in applying for our kindergarten, please contact us to make an appointment for a campus visit.

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Christmas bells are ringing

It's the end of the year

In this December of love and joy

Let's take a look at

What's going on at the kindergarten!

Parents Observation Week

At the beginning of December, we held the second Parents' Observation Week this year. Parents were invited to come to their children's classrooms to observe their children's learning and life in the kindergarten. They wrote down their feedback to help the teachers better adjust their teaching to the children's growth.

Parents from Pudong Campus also visited the children's rhythm class and English class. Our children showed themselves positively and generously in front of their moms and dads. You are all the best!

Daily Life

On a sunny day, the children from the Red and Pink Group of the Mandarine City Campus went to the terrace on the roof of the house to play ball games together. The colorful cloth and balls were good training for children's color perception, and everyone had a great time with their best friends.

The  Blue Group learned vocabulary related to recycling and garbage classification in their English class. We believe they will be able to use this practical knowledge in their daily life in the future.

In the PE class at Pudong Campus, the teacher was leading the children to do stretching preparatory activities, and the children followed the PE instructor attentively to warm up. Afterwards, they ran indoors around the markers and did a variety of jumping activities.

Christmas Art

This month's craft theme was undoubtedly Christmas! Children of different age groups created their own Christmas crafts based on festive elements such as Christmas trees, Christmas wreaths, snowmen and Santa Claus. The kindergarten was filled with the Christmas spirit as the artwork was decorated on the walls.

The children of Pudong Campus used their own little handprints to work together to create a Christmas tree painting, and then used colorful paints to decorate the tree with little lights.

Christmas Party

It was finally the long awaited Christmas party! Teachers, parents and children from the International Department gathered together to celebrate this wonderful time of the year. The children from each age group performed Christmas songs and dances to bring the festival atmosphere to a climax.

We also have prepared a fun Christmas song guessing session for moms and dads, and the prizes are Christmas crafts handmade by the teachers of the International Department. This time the children cheered for their moms and dads and saw who could guess more song names.

The big man that the children have been waiting for is about to make his debut! Santa Claus came to the concert hall of our kindergarten! The children were curious to ask Santa questions and were delighted with his gifts. At the end of the day, everyone took a picture with him to record the wonderful Christmas time in 2023.

The Christmas carols and dances at Pudong Campus were equally wonderful! The children in the red and pink groups put on Christmas hats and cute Christmas tree costumes and gave a cheerful performance. The blue and yellow groups put on Christmas gift boxes and performed beautiful songs for everyone.

Jingle Bells! Santa Claus also came to Pudong Campus! The children greeted Santa warmly and received Christmas gifts from the Arctic Circle. At the end of the day, everyone got together and took a nice Christmas photo.

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Merry Christmas& Happy New Year!

Winter Holiday: 12.22-1.7

See you next year!

Let's start our fall journey

Into the colorful world of Meiqiu !

SCHOOL EXPO

On November 4th&5th, Shanghai Family's 16th School Expo, co-hosted by Shanghai Family, Parents&Kids and HuMaNiuWa was held in The Place. Our admissions team has been actively showing the kindergarten's features and attracting many families to learn more about the kindergarten. We look forward to having more new friends in the future!

A big thanks to the kindergarten International Department teaching team and the admin teacher for supporting this event! Thank you for taking your time to help introducing Utsukushigaoka Kindergarten. Our dedicated and professional teachers are the most valuable asset of our kindergarten. 

THANKSGIVING DAY 

Now it is the time for Thanksgiving Day. The International Department introduced the unique elements of Thanksgiving Day into the arts and crafts class. Through collage, cutting, handprinting and other handcraft activities, children not only practiced their hands-on skills, but also learned about the culture of the Western holiday. Let's take a look at the works of everyone!

Montessori education focuses on the development of children's hands. Through a variety of hand activities, children can exercise the small muscles of their hands, which in turn promotes the development of the brain, so that children become smarter. More hands activities in early childhood can not only make the fingers become more flexible, but also develop the child's sense of independence and self-confidence.

The children in the red and pink group created special Thanksgiving drawings by making their own tiny colorful handprints on the paper; the yellow group children cut out turkey body shapes according to the instructions of the lines on the colorful paper, and then tore out the turkey feathers with their fingers; the blue group students freely cut out the turkey's body, beak, and claws with feathers according to the teacher's instructions.

Thanksgiving Day event was held in Mandarin City Campus on Nov 24th. The children expressed their gratitude by preparing the lunch with their own hands and inviting the kindergarten staff from all positions to the class to eat with them.

Safety first! Teachers were demonstrating the steps of cutting vegetables in detail and paying attention to the children's movements while doing so. The action of squeezing the knife and cutting vegetables is also an exercise in hand strength and life skills for the children. You are all the best!

Let's take a look at the children's Thanksgiving artwork in Pudong Campus! The origin of Thanksgiving is closely related to the Native Americans and the English settlers. The elements of the Pudong Thanksgiving Arts and Crafts class are Indian headdresses and bowler hats representing the immigrant people. Let's take a look at the children's creations!

The blue group children colored their own Indian headdresses, the yellow group children completed bowler hats with rubber bands, and the red and pink children cut and pasted their favorite turkeys pictures.

Thanksgiving Day is a great opportunity to express gratitude. Please don't forget the people who help us every day. The representatives from each group at Pudong Campus presented Thanksgiving snacks to the kindergarten security guards, cleaning lady and the property staff at Donghe Apartments. Thank you for your hard work!

AUTUMN JOURNAL

Let's take a look at the daily life of kindergarteners! The children of Mandarin City Campus were still reminiscing about Sports Day last month, so they held a tug-of-war competition in the indoor gallery. Let's see which side could last until the end!

Another theme of this month's art class was autumn. The children in the red and pink group colored chestnuts, a fruit that belongs to autumn. The yellow group children cut and pasted a big autumn tree with colored paper, and the brothers and sisters in the blue group made a more stereoscopic craft - a small forest in autumn.

The Blue Group children in the Pudong Campus were learning simple Chinese characters in their Chinese class. They were carefully copying and writing the Chinese characters one by one according to the examples. The children in the Red and Pink group were learning English and Maths in the morning work by cutting, pasting and coloring in a fun way.

Even when the weather gets colder, we still need to exercise! In the rhythm class, children completed high-fives, bending, stretching, squatting and other movements according to the rhythm given by the teacher. Accompanied by the joyful music and colorful circles, they improved their sensory abilities such as hearing and vision, and at the same time, strengthened the coordination of their limbs. It is really a meaningful autumn!

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The fall breeze brought coolness.

Our children celebrated Grandparents' Day, 

Sports Day, and Halloween in October. 

Let's take a look at these colorful activities!

GRANDPARENTS' DAY

With the development of modern electronic devices, letters have been gradually forgotten by people. The kindergarten's Grandparents' Day activity allows children to revive the tradition of the festival.By making a Grandparents' Day greeting card and putting it into the mailbox, children expressed their love and respect for their grandparents.

SPORTS DAY

Monday was a beautiful sunny day! The teachers arrived early at the Gubei Sports Park to set up the sports ground and prepare for this long-awaited event for parents and children.

The Sports Day began with a parade of all students. The principle  gave a speech to cheer up all the children, and then everyone performed the opening song and dance, showing their spirit. Let's begin!

The first program was running forward by all students. The children ran forward with their arms wide open and their strides. Pink group children also insisted on reaching the finish line with the encouragement of the teachers. So proud of you!

The children from the red group and the pink group presented a performance called "Happy Little Frogs". They all made lovely gestures and sang la-la-la along with the song. Be confident,everyone! GOGOGO!

Next was the first competitive event called ball in the basket. The children were divided into two teams, red and white, and competed to see how many balls they could throw into the box within the time limit. The children were excited to throw the ball together. Congratulations to the white team for winning the game!

Hear that music? The yellow group children were singing and performing the English song "Roar" with confidence. Everyone was wearing a tiger headdress and becoming a little king of the jungle. Cause I am a champion and you're gonna hear me ROAR!

Now it's time for the blue group brothers and sisters to perform their gymnastics! They started by jumping rope around the playground, and then came to the vaulting box to perform vaulting in turn. Let's see the children jumping!

After that, there was a wonderful gymnastic performance, from one person's one-legged stand to a multi-person combination of pyramid shapes, showing the children's usual persistence in exercising the balance, body flexibility, and the ability to work together as a group. Parents applauded riotously to their children.

The gymnastics concluded with a long bridge performance by all blue group students. When all the children put up their hands and backs to lift the legs of the previous child to build a long bridge, the whole audience broke out in applause and cheers. We are looking forward to the future performances when the children from the red and yellow groups become the blue group!

The last program of the Sports Day was the exciting blue group relay. The children put on the race clothes and were ready to start at the starting line. With the sound of a command, everyone ran forward desperately to hand over the baton to the next child.

It was the moment when the rankings of the competition were announced. Although there was a ranking of the results of the competition, every child who worked hard until the end was No.1!

At the end of the Sports Day, every child received a Sports Day medal. Everyone happily took pictures with their friends and teachers to record this wonderful moment.

HALLOWEEN

Halloween is here! Teachers decorated the kindergarten with festive elements and the children dressed up into different costumes for the costume party. They posed confidently on the mini runway to celebrate the festival.

After the runway show, the teachers from Mandarin City Campus led the children in a Halloween song and dance,  and had a great time. Teachers from Pudong Campus played fun games with the children, and the festive atmosphere overflowed in the kindergarten.

Now it's time for the children's favorite part of trick or treat, and the children with their little paper bags were ready to go! The children knocked on the decorated doors of the kindergarten and received delicious candies. We would like to thank all the parents who became volunteers to give out candy to our children.Wish everyone a happy Halloween!

Autumn Field Trip

It was the annual autumn field trip for the International Department. Parents and children came to Pudong Beijiabao Children's Experience Center together. The experience center integrates function of the amusement park and the elements of Steam. Children and their friends played in the vast space, feeling the charm of science, technology and art.

Parents were invited to participate in the trip with their children. Through this time of parent-child interaction, it enhanced the communication and relationship between parents and children, and also had a positive effect on the healthy development of children.

During the lunch time, parents and children sat down on the floor with placemats, shared food with each other and enjoyed this relaxing time. At the end of the day, each class took a group photo to mark the occasion.

Mid-Autumn Festival Art

As the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, each group of children completed their own Mid-Autumn Festival painting and craftwork in the art class. Through the process of cutting and pasting, coloring, the children exercised their hand muscles and hand abilities. Their patience and aesthetic ability had been cultivated at the same time.

Children at Pudong Campus also completed their Mid-Autumn Festival artwork. The theme of the art class was about the older legends of the Mid-Autumn Festival, such as the stories of Chang'e, Hou Yi and the Jade Rabbit. The children also learned about traditional Chinese festivals and culture while doing their own work.

Happy Holiday! See you next time!