School Manager
Ikejiri-Ohashi School
Kiyooka Yuka
The autumn of 1987 was the first time I held my own child in my arms. The feeling of holding my newborn child in my arms was a moment that touched me so much I still remember it clearly to this day.
From then onward, the clueless child slowly learnt about the world around him, learnt to respond to my voice and grew up quickly. It was at this moment that I, with him right in front of me, felt the heavy burden of responsibility of being a parent.
Faced with the challenge of deciding what was the best way to raise my child, I began to seriously think of what the right choice should be. It was at this point that I remembered of the time I had a chance to speak with Makoto Shichida (the famous creator of the Shichida method) and decided to engage in child education myself. Those were days of when both my children and the other children participating in his classes could absorb anything from Kanji and Mathematics to poems so well that they would surprise the adults. This was the first-hand experience that I had which taught me of the immense potential that children have.
So what about English education? From before I was married, I worked with people who were fluent in 2, 3 languages so I always wondered why Japanese people who took high quality English education still had such trouble with the language. Not for exams, but being able to comfortably communicate and express yourself in English is an essential skill is a fact that I think anyone would agree with.
I have experience creating curricula for infants to preschool age children in major English education institutions. I constructed them after reading books and attending lectures regarding bilingual education by famous names in the industry as well as reading up on research by neurologists. I've also went to Hokkaido's Hyogo prefecture to experience first hand educating young children and learnt that if you get the 3 conditions of age, contact and environment set right, any child can learn English well.
From all these experiences, I realized that instead of using Japanese as a scapegoat, a school where children can go to while attending kindergarten or preschool to learn English should be built. With this in mind, I envisioned a place for Japanese children to go where they can experience an environment full of English almost akin to living with an English speaking family on a home-stay program.
From these strong feelings Wings Kids Family was born. An English program culminated from condensing our staff`s broad experience and knowledge.
I myself experienced raising 2 children as a working mother. With these experiences, I aim to build an English education program that contains the relevant support structures for mothers to smoothly progress along their children's educational journey.
Wings Kids Family staff are people with a strong background of language and the field of children education. Because of this, they care deeply for the children and feel passionately about teaching English.
Feel free to visit the school and meet with us. I look forward to seeing you here!
English Teacher
Ikejiri-Ohashi School
OLIVER from Canada
Working at Wings Kids Family is a great privilege. Whereas other schools follow strict curriculum and textbooks, Wings Kids encourages learning dynamically through fun and creativity. The thing that immediately stuck out to me compared to my experiences working with children in Canada was the quality of the children.
In Canada, the average group of kids were poorly behaved with a few nice ones sprinkled in. At Wings Kids Family, it's the opposite. A large majority of the children are excellent.
They're well behaved, fun-loving and learn quickly. It's a very satisfying job to see them improve along with your lessons. I've seen children go from inarticulate scribbles to neat writing in just over a month.
I've seen children integrate colloquial vocabulary and phrases into their everyday speech after only hearing them a couple of times. I think the reason the learning is so abundant here is because the kids aren't aware they're learning. The daily mixture of relaxed classes and fun activities makes each day something to look forward to for teachers and students alike. Unlike the more common, rigid types of schools, you will be commended, and in fact rewarded, for your creativity working here. All of the staff have opportunities to pitch in ideas for activities, and there are very few constraints on how you operate your class, which allows you to add your own personal touches to the kids' learning experience. Aside from business related endeavors, the school is also extremely helpful with your integration into life in Japan. They'll help you create a Japanese bank account, escort you to the doctor when you are sick, among general language assistance if you have any questions about Japanese! The staff here are very friendly.
In my time here we've had countless laughs and I've made some good friends. If you are an easy-going, fun-loving person looking for an ultimately chill working experience in Japan, you've found it!
English Teacher
Ikejiri-Ohashi School
DANI from U.K.
Hi! My name is Dani, I’m a 26 year old Oxford graduate, animal-lover, WWE fanatic, history-enthusiast, and all-round one-person pep squad from England, and I work at Wings Kids Family English School. For context, I’m in Japan on a Working Holiday visa for one year, and my Japanese is pretty awful, although slowly improving. I’ve been working at WKF since October 2016, and it is an awesome place to work – I genuinely feel lucky to have been accepted as a teacher here.
The core tenet of this school is advocacy of learning through doing, not telling. At WKF, rather than teaching grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation by rote, our students actively tackle and engage with the English language by playing games, being involved in activities, giving presentations, singing songs, and reading stories.
In practice, teachers’ day-to-day tasks include devising and running activities, helping with lunch and snacks, changing diapers for younger kids, cleaning the classrooms, shepherding park visits, facilitating short student presentations, leading classes, and teaching reading and helping with reading practice.
Teaching here also requires a great deal of natural empathy and patience; in all communication listening is more important than speaking, and teaching English at WKF is no different. Yes, it can be exhausting. Yes, it will challenge you. Yes, you will sometimes come home with glittery pipe cleaners in your hair. And yes, it is every bit as awesome as it sounds.
English Teacher
池尻大橋校
WHITNEY from U.S.A.
Hello! My name is Whitney and I am an American studying abroad in Japan for an academic year. In high school I was fascinated by Japanese pop culture, but when I entered college, I found a deep passion for the Japanese language and the traditional culture and history of Japan. As such, I followed my passion to Japan, and here I am! Since I love language and I am an aspiring author, I thought that teaching English in Japan would be an interesting feat and experience. With no sense of direction and no conception on how to find work in Japan, I searched all over the web and read countless blogs until I miraculously stumbled upon World Wide Wings Kids Family. Being the type of person who needs an interactive teaching experience to actually learn, instead of passive teaching through reading and writing, I really fell in love with and feel so passionate about the conversation platform that World Wide Wings prides themselves on. Though I've never experienced the passive teaching/learning in Japanese schools, I've heard so much about it and thought a change in academia, as this company is trying to do, would be a great place to work!
What I absolutely love about working at World Wide Wings is the atmosphere and personal connections the teachers can make with the kids. One of the best things about studying abroad has been working at WWWings. I love coming to work and being a part of these kids’ education and being their friend. While I have so much fun playing around with the kids and getting to learn more about them and the Japanese culture through the kids, one of the most rewarding things about the job is when I teach the kids something small for a few consecutive lessons and after a while they are able to remember how to use the word or phrase to the point of teaching other kids. Though, just saying that does not do WWWings justice. You see, I have two favorite quotes, the first is “As one person I alone cannot change the wold, but I alone can change the world of one person.” The second quote goes, “You never truly know your own language until you've studied another.” I think WWWings really embodies these two quotes. Because of the teaching environment at this company, I feel like I am learning more from the kids than they are learning from me. I am learning how to be a better person and teacher along with learning more about my language and their language. They are changing my world to the point that when I don't teach for a week, I end up dreaming I am teaching them. I only hope that I am making an impact on their lives as they are making on mine.
Hi!
English Teacher
池尻大橋校
CLARA from SINGAPORE
Hi there! I’m Clara, a communications major at Singapore National University. I’m studying abroad in Japan this year, drawn by its beautiful culture and art. I’ve always been fascinated with languages, so I decided that coming to Japan to pick up the local language would be a great immersive experience. As a child of migrant parents who don’t know English in an English-speaking country, I realised from a young age how language can act both as a wall and a bridge to the world around you. When it’s seen as an insurmountable challenge, language becomes something that shuts you off from unfamiliar cultures, yet when you approach it with a positive attitude, it opens you to new ways of thinking and seeing. While I’m studying Japanese, I hope to be able to help English learners here find the same excitement I have in exploring an unfamiliar language!
Before coming to Japan, I’d only taught intermediate to advanced English students on a one-to-one basis, so teaching the kids here has been a new experience, and definitely in a good way. The children have such bright and unique personalities and it’s almost magical how quickly they grow and learn, which makes it a joy to teach here! Each day is well-organised and filled with different activities, from indoor games to trips to the park, so time passes by really quickly, and it’s been a great learning experience for me as well. The staff are also super friendly, so it’s easy to ask questions or simply chit-chat. Even as a part-timer I feel that our opinions matter to the company, as we’re involved in planning and evaluating activities, and we’re given the freedom to manage our schedules every month. To be honest, I’d had some apprehensions about the working culture in Japan before coming here, but Wings Kids Family really shatters the ‘black baito’ (unethical part-time job) image and there are hardly any issues with balancing work with the rest of your schedule. It’s a cosy and fun environment that, beyond being a workplace, is a great place to experience life in Japan.
Hello!
