Sending the Kid to Ikebata Nursery School
By Johnson Kong
When the time came for us to look at daycare options for the kid, a Japanese language environment for her social and cultural development was on the top of our lists. We felt that it was important for our child to have the experience of her Japanese identity as well as to build her language skills for communicating with family members. Currently, there are only two options in Toronto: Ikebata Nursery School, located in the same building as the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre at 6 Garamond Court (northeast of Don Mills and Eglinton), and the Japanese Academy of Cultural Exchange, or Hakobune, at 630 Spadina Avenue (southwest of Spadina and College). The only information that I have about Hakobune (416-599-2426) is that it takes children ages 2.5 to 6 years. A Japanese daycare may also be opening in Markham’s J-Town at Woodbine and Steeles.
Ikebata Nursery School offers programming for toddlers (18 months) all the way through kindergarten (6 years). We put down $75 a year ago to get on the waiting list, but the kid still had to go to a regular daycare for infants until she was old enough. Despite our efforts to use mostly Japanese at home, the nine months that she spent in an English infant classroom resulted in her speaking her first words in English. We were thus pleased that just after the kid reached the 18th month milestone, Ikebata informed us that there was a space available in the toddler class for her.
Ikebata’s regular program goes from 8:45am to 3:45pm, with an optional extended program from 7:45am to 6:00pm. The all-Japanese staff are a mix of Ontario and Japanese certified Early Childhood Educators, and everything from the website to the lunch menu is bilingual. As at Japanese schools, the entrance has a clear boundary between outdoor and indoor shoes. The school’s physical connection to the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre allows for indoor walking space on poor weather days, while also serving as a cultural connection through the JCCC’s programs. Lunch is cooked onsite daily – yes, there is plenty of rice and miso soup. One noteworthy feature of the daily schedule at Ikebata that is unlike Canadian daycare programs is teeth brushing after lunchtime – parents must bring in toothbrush and cup daily, in addition to a bib and hand towels.
Remembering what and where to drop off every morning and pick up every afternoon (besides the kid, that is) took a while to get used to, but the structured environment has already brought new delights to our family. In addition to saying a new Japanese word or two each day, the kid is now bowing to words like “Arigato” and “Sayonara”, and she can do some hand movements for a few Japanese kids’ songs. She also now has an obsession with Anpanman. And so it begins…
Ikebata Nursery School
6 Garamond Court, Suite 101, Toronto, ON M3C 1Z5
416-510-1441