First Karate Class of the Year II Students
Discipline is a very important virtue that needs to be taught at an early age. Teaching discipline in schools comes in different forms, such as direct verbal teaching, personal realization, and even physical activities. Ishida Preschool offers a few physical activities/extra-curricular activities that enhances students’ discipline. The said activities are as follows: Dance Class, Sports Class, and Karate Class.
On May 19th of the year 2022, the year II students, Bear Class and Momo Class experienced their first Karate Class of their Preschool life. The students were having mixed emotions when they were asked about their impressions on the said class. Some were excited to do it for the first time, but some were also frightened due to the teacher’s way of teaching, as some of them witnessed the way the teacher taught the year III students. As their class started, everyone was stiff and serious as what the teacher required them to be. The teacher then started teaching the basics of Karate: starting from the basic standing, sitting, and bowing position; Karate chant; and some basic Karate stances. As the time goes by, the students started to loosen up a bit and started to look like they were enjoying the class. In the latter part of the class, the teacher performed a magic trick that in a way uplifted the students’ perception towards Karate and the teacher’s way of teaching.
Karate is definitely a good way to teach discipline to kids. It teaches them a lot of things. Not only it teaches them to be strong and to know different Karate stances but also it teaches them to be calm, attentive, and focused.
（しつけは非常に重要な美徳であり、幼い頃に教える必要があるものです。 学校でのきまりは、直接言葉で伝えるだけでなく、自己実現や身体活動などさまざまな形で学んでいます。 石田幼稚園では、ダンス教室、スポーツ教室、空手教室といった活動があります。
5月19日，Bear組ともも組の子どもたちにとって，初めての空手教室がありました。楽しみにしている子，年長さんの様子を見て“怖い（厳しい）”“難しそう”と感じていた子…。“空手教室”と聞いて，いろんな感情を抱いていたようでした。
空手教室が始まると，先生の話を聞いて，行儀よく，真剣に参加します。その後，先生から空手の基本である，基本的な立ち方や座り方，お辞儀の姿勢，教室訓，型を教わりました。時間が経つにつれて，子どもたちも少しずつ慣れ，空手を楽しんでいるように見えましたよ。教室の最後には，みんなの“空手パワー”を使ったマジックのご褒美がありました。
空手は子どもたちにしつけを教えるいい方法であり，たくさんのことが学べます。強くなることや空手の型だけでなく，落ち着くこと，注意深く取り組むこと，そして集中することが身につきますよ。
Doms先生より）
