In the first week of his freshman year, my kid’s high school math instructor presented him with one of two graphing calculator suggestions. The choices were the Texas Instruments TI-Nspire CX and the Texas…
Category: Education
The Maker movement in Hawaii – A day at Mini Maker Faire 2016
Mini Maker Faire 2016 at Iolani School: A recap Mini Maker Faire in Honolulu wrapped up on June 25, 2016 and I finally made it to the event in their third year….
Learning Japanese in Hawaii: what is working
Niu Valley Middle School has a world language core requirement, either Mandarin Chinese or Japanese. Once that language is selected, if your child goes on to Kaiser, they must continue in that…
You Can’t Know What You Don’t Know: How it Applies to Learning a Foreign Language
The more I work at trying to learn Japanese, the more I think that schools shouldn’t make world language mandatory. It’s not that I’m not progressing; I am. In fact, more so…
It’s Too Bad Niu Valley Middle Only Teaches Japanese and Mandarin
Yesterday my husband lamented the lack of choice in Niu Valley Middle School’s world language curriculum. “It’s too bad they only teach Japanese and Chinese,” he said. Underlying his sentiment, was the…
Bargain Karuta and other tips for learning written Japanese in Hawaii
I’m in heaven. Today I stopped by at Don Quixote on Kaheka Street and discovered that Book Off used bookstore has opened inside the supermarket. I bought a set of Karuta from…
Typing in Japanese – What you didn’t learn 30 years ago at Manoa Language School
In order to type Japanese characters on an English keyboard, you’ll need to install language packs. The link below will guide you through the steps for either a Macintosh (Apple Computer) or…
Genki – the Kaiser HS Textbook for Japanese I
Impressively, Kaiser High School set aside resources to give students their own Genki I workbook. It’s the one that looks like this. The book also comes with a CD and MP3 files….
The Importance of Context in Foreign Language Learning
I could very possibly be the worst advocate of an educational foreign language requirement. That would apply to any level of education, be it junior high, high school or college. For me,…