Have I mentioned that when you arrive at a school you must remove your shoes and put on a pair of slippers during your visit? Slippers are provided for guests as shown in the photo, but since Americans have such big feet compared to Japanese people, we were advised to bring our own.

The junior high school was definitely my favorite. After the morning assembly (each school had one for us), I first visited a self-contained special education classroom for what appeared to be mildly and moderately disabled children. There were 18 children in the class BUT they had SIX teachers and TWO assitants. The children sat at desks and did simple math tasks. They were given song books during music class and appeared to be reading the music. During home economics they embroidered hankerchiefs with pretty decent sewing skills. They were extremely well-behaved.

I spent most of my day with a class of general education students approximately the same age as my kids. I was amazed to see the wholelsome lunches they brought from home. Sushi, rice, vegetables, and fruits were popular. No one ate anything even closely resembling junk food! They eat their lunches in their homeroom class. There is no cafeteria in the building which means no lunch break for the teachers as they must eat with their classes.