賢と恵 その５ / Ken and Kay Part 5

３軒目の家に引っ越して少しして
恵はキンダーガーテンに入りました。
でもプリスクールに行く前にはもう既に
本を読めるようになっていて
掛け算も割り算もプリスクールに行ってる間に
出来るようになっていたので
学校が始まってすぐにテストを受け
 １年生に上げてもらいました。
実はテストをした先生は
３年生に入れたかったのですが
賢は２年生だったし
（賢も既に５～６年生のレベルの本を読んでいて
４年生に上がれる能力はあったのですが）
男の子は学年をスキップするのは
後で問題が出てくるかも・・・と聞いたので
賢をそのまま２年生に残し
そのため恵も１年スキップするだけにしてもらいました。

どうして子供たちがそんなに算数が出来たか・・・というと
日本式に九九の表を作って
まだ小さいうちに毎日暗記させたからです。
そうなんです。私教育ママでした。

１枚目は恵が１年生になって
お弁当を持って学校に行くようになり
大喜びしてた頃。
また新しい学校のロゴの入ったTシャツを
着てることを誇りに思っていました。
実は最初の１週間
恵は午後の授業でお昼寝していたそうです。
先生が前の年に賢の先生でした。
私は彼女と仲良しで
週末に２人で買い物に行くような関係でした。
恵がまだ幼い事をよく理解してくれていて
恵をそっと寝せてくれて
他の子が邪魔しないように注意してくれてたそうです。

２枚目は恵の最初の遠足。
当然私は付き添いで行きました。
フィニックスのダウンタウンにある
ハード・ミュージアムという
インディアンの芸術作品や
日用品を展示した博物館に行きました。

３枚目は賢の遠足。
これにも付き添いに借り出されました。
フィニックスの北の方にある
パイオニア・ビレッジ。
開拓者時代の学校で
その当時の子供になった振りをして・・・

４枚目は１９９５年２月に
春のキャンプにやって来た
中日ドラゴンズの選手
与田剛選手を捕まえてサインをもらってるところ。
ドラゴンズはこの年の後ピオリアに
キャンプに来る事をやめました。
でも与田さんは１９９７年に
マリーンズの選手として再びピオリアにいらして
再会しました。

５枚目は同じ時にやって来た
千葉ロッテマリーンズの選手
大村巌選手と初めてお会いした時。
これ以降１９９８年まで
大村さんとは毎年お会いして
とても仲良くなり今でも交友があります。

A short time after we moved into our 3rd home,
Kay started to go to Kindergarten.
She started to read books before she started preschool.
Also she learned multiplication and division while she was going to preschool.
So we asked the school to give her a test, and she passed it,
so we put her in first grade class instead of kindergarten.
Actually the teacher who gave her test wanted put her in 3rd grade class.
But Ken was a second grader.
Ken was also reading 5th or 6th grade level books,
and could solve the multiplication or division problems.
So he could be a fourth grader.
We heard that we might have some problems later,
if we make boys skip the grade when they were young.
So we decied to keep Ken in second grade,
and put Kay in first grade class.

The reason why my children were smart was
because I taught them math at home with Japanese method.
I started to teach them when they were still small.
I made the Kuku chart, which showed multiplication patterns.

I made them memorize 2x2=4,2x3=6 like that everyday.
After they memorized them, it was so easy to teach them division.
Yes, I know that I was an obsessive mother.

The first picture was Kay's first day as a first grader.
She was so excited to take her lunch to school.
Also she was so proud that she was wearing her new school spirit shirt.
Actually her teacher told me that she took a nap every afternoon in her class.
Her teacher was Ken's teacher a year before.
So I became good friends with her, we were shopping buddies.
She understood that Kay was still young.
So she let Kay sleep, and made sure that other children wouldn't bother her.

The second picture was when Kay's class went to their first field trip.
Of course, I was one of chaparones.
We went to Heard Museum in Downtown Phoenix.
They display the Native American art works and daily tools and stuff.

The third picture was when Ken went to the field trip with his 2nd grade class.
Again, I was a chaparone .
We went to the Pioneer Village in north Phoenix.
They were pretending they were pioneer children at school.

The fourth picture was with the star player from Chunichi Dragons.
The Dragons came to Peoria for the spring camp in 1995.
His name is Tsuyoshi Yoda, he is a sports news caster in Japan now.
The Dragons stopped coming to Peoria after 1995,
but Mr. Yoda came again in 1997 as a player of Chiba Lotte Marines.

The fifth picture was our first encounter with Mr. Ohmura.
Chiba Lotte Marines came to Peoria for spring camp at the same time with Dragons.
The Marines came from 1995 to 1998.
So we met Mr. Ohmura every year, until the team decided not to come Peoria.
We became good friends with him and we are still corresponding with him.