My pleasure!
REALLY, I would love to get into an absurdly intricate thread with people about 絵本 and 児童書. Like, a really big thread. But that’s not what this thread is for and prob none of us should spend the time on that just now.
追伸 (P.S.) IF anyone wants to do this
PLEASE @ me in! お願い！
Yeah, いもと ようこ is a champ. I myself am a little addicted to her work 
And はらぺこあおむし (and this accompanying song) are solid. The Japanese translation/localisation of this classic is superb.
ご無沙汰しております！
How ya’ll been? I miss all the fun we had here!
I’ve got a new question/idea and it is NOT about 絵本 this time, I promise!
@Shakebake71 @timonippon @Ish3rd @Rwelean @Saruko @JasonM17 @pegasus
So while 幼稚園 is certainly ideal for sending ones child to in many ways, I’m actually a little more curious about 保育園, specifically regarding how long a child’s “school day” is at 保育園. More to the point, does anyone know if you can pick your kid up from 保育園 early, or do you have to commit to having your child there for the whole school day?
Thank you for reading and even more for responding (^__________^)v
Hello
Sorry…not famaliar with 保育園.
Our son has always gone to 幼稚園.
幼稚園 schedule is 9 until 2.
Schedule flexibility probably depends on the specific school.
Just FYI…also be aware of the shortage of nursery schools in Japan. People are putting their kids on waiting lists before the child is even born.
chris
For those who aren’t familiar with the lingo (like me), I looked some stuff up:
幼稚園（ようちえん）kindergarten: generally for kids aged ~3-5
保育園（ほいくえん）nursery school; preschool: more like US childcare in that it is for babies-5 year olds for full-time care during the parents’ working day
This site had a lot of info compiled in English on 幼稚園 (http://factsanddetails.com/japan/cat23/sub150/entry-2798.html) and 保育園 (PRESCHOOLS AND DAY CARE IN JAPAN | Facts and Details) in Japan, but most of the sources are online and some are anecdotal.
A quick Google search gave me only one Japanese preschool/childcare in the US (in Bellevue, WA):
They have two programs, one labeled Preschool/幼稚園 and the other labeled Childcare/保育園.
(I’m sure there are others, but I just don’t know the right search terms)
Anyways, seeing as programs and policies vary depending on the specific school, @takeshitakeda, it seems like you would just have to ask the place you are looking at enrolling in about pick up times.
At our 保育園 (preschool) the last year is considered 幼稚園 (kindergarten) and is more academic than the earlier years. Most of the families whose kids attend preschool switch to public (English) kindergarten and don’t stick around for the kindergarten year at our Japanese preschool (though we did). I think this is mostly just a practical/economic matter as public school is obviously cheaper (and probably closer) here in the US. Hours are 7:30am to 5:30pm though most folks drop their kids off closer to 8:30am. For the preschool years, the times are flexible but you want to be mindful of the little ones’ naptime (1pm to 3pm). For the kindergarten year, you really want to hit the core hours 9:30 to 4:30 so the kids get the most out of the academic curriculum, but it’s OK to take kids out early from time to time.
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