Elementary School Program

Global Step Academy English Juku

Global Step Academy English Juku

In this world always transforming through globalization and diversification, we feel there is the need for our children, who will be carrying the weight of the new era on their shoulders, to hold the power to break through the future with their own strength. This is why the concept of our After School Program is to make the best use of the knowledge, experience, and achievements of Global Step Academy.

Creativity and Critical Thinking

It is difficult to make predictions about the future of our society, which means that our children will be required to have the ability to think in a creative way to live in it. Practicing a non-verbal activity, such as sports, in an international environment while attending a language program unique to international schools is a good way to train the power of imagination and the ability to think.

Empathy and Mutual Understanding

Through our after school program, your child will have the opportunity to come in contact with new friends and teachers coming from very different backgrounds. This is a great chance to improve their communication skills and their understanding and trust in others, and therefore their future possibilities, by sharing the same objectives and achievements in team activities.

Social Development

Through social-emotional education with classmates, students aim to improve their social skills, including sociality and emotional control. Together with their peers, they work towards enhancing skills related to empathy and consensus-building.

Furthering knowledge through online learning

Making use of our after school together with the Global Step Academy Online School Program is an efficient way to facilitate your children’s English learning. Regularly thinking in English will enhance their ability to take initiative independently.

Core Skills

Encouraging creativity and critical thinking

We developed a unique program that encourages the development of creativity and critical thinking through a variety of interactive activities. Students will learn to use their previously acquired knowledge to solve problems, complete projects, and analyze data in creative ways.

Enhancing communication and mutual understanding

With the union of English and interactive activities as a focal point, we aim for the improvement of our students’ social and emotional skill control. Students will be able to learn through the experiences they will share with their classmates under the supervision of experienced instructors.

Fostering Individuality

Our after school program is full of new exciting challenges that are going to be a chance for personal growth, prompting children to think by themselves, developing self-confidence and discovering their own personality.

Our Curriculum

Our program offers high-quality international education that aims to build future possibilities and new educational opportunities for the global citizens of the 21st century.

They say it takes over 2000 hours to learn English. To master English communication and acquire sound international awareness, it’s important to strengthen the four skills of “listening” “speaking” “reading” and “writing” for more than two hours, two times a week. By doing so, you can develop the necessary English skills for the two areas of “Production” (expressing one’s thinking into words) and “Interaction” (conversational exchange).

To know English means thinking in English, learning in English, and using English to move forward. In order to to do so, the most important skills to acquire are: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.

Listening

In the after school environment, children will be able to absorb English sounds by hearing the native teachers speak. They will pick up English in a similar way to their first language, which is learned naturally from daily conversation.

Reading

Children familiar with phonics will be able to read words even if they see them for the first time. Reading will give them a chance to deepen their interest in scientific, geographic, and historical subjects as well as global issues. Children will develop high reading skills through lessons that encourage logical thinking.

Speaking

Children will learn how to express their thoughts in English thanks to 1 on 1 lesson sessions with a teacher specialized in language teaching. Students will train their English speaking skills by making discussions, argumentations, and efforts to understand each other.

Writing

Learning phonics is a way to approach writing in a fun way, without worrying about the spelling. Children will be challenged to write essays and compositions following the 3 steps of Draft, Writing, Editing.

Lesson Examples

Sports Program

60 minutes

Our sports program follows the concept implemented in most international schools of “moving your body while thinking and using your head”. In this program, children will run, do mat exercises, dance, improve their coordination through fitness, and play team games.
※This program is available at the Tachikawa and Fukuoka Chikushino campuses only.

Warm Up

10 minutes

Before briefly reviewing the themes of the previous unit, we welcome the children with fun circle time activities and games!

Reading

20 minutes

Students practice reading with the support of a native English speaker, focusing on pronunciation and vocabulary. While reading the book, the teacher asks the students questions as they imagine the continuation of the story.

Reading Assessment

15 minutes

The teacher takes time to review and practice with each student, assessing their reading level and providing additional reading materials to satisfy their needs.

Core Lesson

25 minutes

The core lesson is based on the National Geographic textbooks “Our World” and “LOOK”. Students will learn and absorb new words, grammar, and English expressions while enjoying interactive materials and team-building activities.

Project

20 minutes

Students work on both individual and collective projects based on the core lesson. At the end of each project, the children are granted time to present the result of their work to the class. 

Practice and Feedback

5 minutes

Students review all the new words and concepts that they have learned during the lessons. 

Develop an inquisitive mind with National Geographic Learning

National Geographic Learning materials are used in more than 180 countries all around the world by over 8 million students. It is an academic journal carrying contents about geography, anthropology, nature, environmental studies, popular science, history, and culture. In our after-school program, the first in Japan to focus on National Geographic Learning, you can hone your English skills in this innovative way.

Time to learn English: “between 3000 and 5000 hours”

As Professor Wako Nakashima from Toronto University and Professor Terence Odlin from Ohio State University demonstrated with their research, “between 3000 and 5000 hours” is the standard time needed to acquire English competence. In Japan, after the educational reform of 2020, in elementary schools English hours were increased to 630. What about the 2370 hours left to reach the standard 3000? That is why additional English learning opportunities are so important.

The importance of reading comprehension

Our program focuses on teaching how fun it is to read. In order to succeed in language learning, constant reading practice is extremely important. By reading, children will come across a richer vocabulary and deepen their understanding of English in relation to their mother tongue. During their learning journey, children will discover many new words. However, after developing their reading comprehension, it will become progressively easier to grasp the meaning of new words from the context. Reading aloud will give them confidence in their speaking and help with intonation and pronunciation. Listening to the teacher or other students reading will help them acquire active listening skills by remembering the content of a story, putting the events in sequence, and making guesses about the characters’ emotions and circumstances. Through reading practice, students will be able to acquire rich knowledge and find their favorite book genre. Having a conspicuous reading experience in childhood will bear fruits for their whole lifetime!

SRA Reading and BOB Books Reading Materials

SRA Readers are teaching materials by the company McGraw Hill, one of America’s largest schooling publishers. This series is an introduction to reading, which uses suitable and simple phrases, comprehension quizzes, and vocabulary composition questions. Using these materials, students will gradually advance in their Lexile score.

Our program combines SRA Readers with BOB Books. BOB Books use consonant, vowel, consonant words patterns to simplify the blending of sounds for children. Students who read BOB Books will get to know many sight words (recurring words that do not follow phonetic rules) and improve reading fluency and confidence.

Reading A-Z (Raz-Kids)

Raz-Kids is an online English library that offers “Listening”, “Reading”, and “Recording” tools. They are supplementary materials that students can use autonomously at home. Raz-kids has 29 levels and 500 books, and it is used all around the world. After selecting the appropriate level, students will be able to both read independently or listen to a native speaker reading stories. They will also be able to record and listen to their reading to improve pronunciation. 

Feedback on Seesaw

We use the “Seesaw” app to let parents know about lesson contents and the topics your child is learning about. Seesaw is used in 25,000 schools in the United States (¼ of American schools) to share lessons and projects between students, parents, and teachers. We will share reports and monthly assessments, together with the current Lexile score.

Locations

6-14-26 Shibasaki-cho, Tachikawa City, Tokyo.
※10 minute walk from JR Tachikawa Station.
※1 minute walk from Tama Monorail Line Shibasaki Taiikukan Station.
1-11-1 Haruda, Chikusino, Fukuoka
※10 minute walk from JR Kagoshima Line Haruda Station
※10 minute walk from JR Chikuhou Line Harudo Station
Hulic B1.
7-4-1 Fukasawa, Setagaya, Tokyo.
※11 minute walk from Tokyu Line Sakura Shinmachi Station.