The Washington Japanese Heritage Center ("Keisho Center"), opened in April 2004, is a place for children and families residing in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area to learn and explore their Japanese linguistic and cultural heritages.

We are now located at the beautiful Norwood School just off I-495 in Bethesda, MD.

The Washington Japanese Heritage Center ("Keisho Center"), Small classes filled with opportunities that motivate the students to use the Japanese language.

• Students working in mixed-age groups.
• A hands-on, student-centered approach involving all of our students in a variety of projects and activities.
• Our main goal is to foster the desire to continue learning the Japanese language and culture.
• School Brochure (2-page PDF)

Objectives
The Washington Japanese Heritage Center (Keisho Center) is designed to meet the needs of families residing here permanently or for the foreseeable future who want their children to learn the language and culture of their heritage. Keisho Center provides:

• An environment tailored to the needs of each child so as to develop a life-long interest in Japanese culture while maintaining and expanding their Japanese language skills.
• A student-centered curriculum based on Progressive Education theory to increase the children's knowledge of Japanese culture as well as maintain and develop their skills in the language.
• An opportunity to study in an atmosphere that respects each child as an individual, building their self-esteem and social skills so that each child can become a contributing member of the communities.

For those families who plan to live outside Japan, there are few opportunities to use Japanese on a daily basis. While traditional methods of studying of Japanese often lead to frustration, Keisho Center goal is to develop a desire in each child to continue learning throughout his or her life. Come join us!


Students
Keisho Center expects that the students understand most instructions in Japanese and are willing to master the language.


Program Overview
Keisho Center provides a natural learning environment where children develop their knowledge about current and traditional Japanese culture, Japanese history, and Japanese language skills. Our children build their self-esteem, self-confidence, and the social skills needed to support their lives in both Japanese and American communities.

Keisho Center offers a developmentally appropriate approach where each child can learn at his/her own pace. We recognize that each child has a unique learning style, strengths and weaknesses. It is very important for our children to realize that they can learn by themselves and that learning is a joy. Our children develop critical thinking skills which they apply to academic and social problems in both Japanese and American cultural contexts.

Keisho Center recognizes that our multicultural children are in a unique, fortunate, and sometimes difficult situation of living in two worlds, Japanese and American. Our program views and helps develop the whole child, supporting and validating their cognitive, social, emotional and artistic development.


5C's
The Standards for Foreign Language Learning issued by the National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project identifies the essential 5 C's of any language program:

• Communication: Language is always a tool for communication, which can take place face-to-face, in writing, and/or reading. At the Japanese Heritage Center, children have a variety of opportunities to communicate with their peers in many different ways.
• Culture: Exposure to another language leads to new knowledge and understanding of the culture that uses that language, in this case, Japanese.
• Connection: Learning another language provides a connection to a whole new set of knowledge and a different perspective on the world.
• Comparing: Encountering another culture provides language learners with a basis for comparison and evaluation. By comparing Japanese and American cultures and languages, children expand and enrich their own personal culture, knowledge, and experience, as well as their views of the world.
• Communities: Learning another language also gives children an opportunity to be able to participate in multilingual communities both at home and around world in many different ways. Learning a language and culture in this environment fosters the development of an open mind, insightful viewpoints, and acceptance of others.

Integrated Curriculum
At Keisho Center, the Japanese language is taught as a part of an integrated curriculum, not in isolation. Children use the language as a tool for listening, speaking, reading and writing, while working on individual and small group projects. While a variety of instructional strategies are used, the primary model is a hands-on approach with cooperative groups.

Teaching and learning occur in a child-centered, open-ended environment. Each child finds his/her own learning style and life-long interest in Japanese culture and language while maintaining and expanding their current language skills in both Japanese and English. Peer teaching in cooperative, multi-age groups helps guide the children toward becoming independent, self-directed learners.

Our classroom style gives children a sense of community, helping children develop many friendships at the Japanese Heritage Center while they work together to learn and discover something new - learning which may not be available from a book. At Keisho Center, children develop a sense of responsibility, self-respect and pride in the fact they belong to both Japanese and American communities by acquiring the cultures of their heritage in an enjoyable learning environment.


Classes
Class placement is based upon each student's age or current grade and their Japanese language ability. Their learning and practice are facilitated by our teachers:

• SHIRATA Akane Sensei
  Teacher, Stevens Cooperative School, Hoboken, NJ; TA, UMUC Online Japanese; Master's degree in Early Childhood Special Education, George Mason University; licensed teacher
• KAWAMOTO Yoriko Sensei
  Hokkaido University of Education; Voice Performance certificate, Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory of Music; teachers certificates: kindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools
• YAMAKAWA Madoka Sensei
  Wittenberg University; Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction: Multilingual and Multicultural Education with ESOL endorsement, George Mason University
• KOIZUMI Yoko Sensei
  Master's Degree in International Communication Studies, Aoyama Gakuin University; Japanese as a Foreign Language Teacher certified teacher
• YOSHIDA Yumiko Sense
  Master's Degrere in Fine Arts, American University; Certified AP Japanese teacher; teachers certificate: middle school
• EBISAWA Mika Sensei
  Master's degree, Yokohama National University Graduate School of Education; teachers certificates: kindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools
• HAMADA Mari Sensei
  Master's Degree, State University of NewYork; Japanese-as-a-Foreign-Language certified teacher, Teacher Training Institute of Ohio State University
• TSUBAKITANI Shigeru Sensei
  President, NeoMesh Solutions, Inc.; Ph.D. in Operations Research, University of Cincinnati

Class Fees

• Tuition: $630 per semester (Full-year payment: $1160)
• Siblings: $580 (Full-year: $1060)
• One-time admission fee: $40 (non-refundable)
• Small book fee TBD for advanced classes

Class Schedule
Saturdays 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.


History

• November 2003 - Start of Core Goup
• March 2004 - Incorporation in Virgina
• September 2004 - Opening of School
• October 2004 - IRS Non-Profit Designation

The following forms and brochures are available for download.

• School Brochure
• Student Information
• Consent and Release
• Consent to Medical Treatment
• Waiver of Liability