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進学マップShingaku Map

Grade 1 (小学1年)

Grade 1 is the start of compulsory school: a walk to school without you, a 連絡帳 (contact notebook between home and school) in the bag every day, and homework from the first weeks. For the child it means sitting, listening and keeping a class routine for the first time, and for working parents it is the 小1の壁 (the grade-1 wall, when school ends long before work does).

Age 6–7

What school expects this year

Body and mind this year

  • Sleep and the daily rhythm by age: the national sleep guide and the 早寝早起き朝ごはん campaign

    こどもの睡眠時間の目安と「早寝早起き朝ごはん」

    The school day starts early with a walk first, so the bedtime that worked at daycare may now be too late; the article gives the national guide's hours for a primary child.

    At home: Your child falls asleep straight after school, or is hard to get up and out of the door on time.

    Ask the teacher: Does my child seem tired in morning lessons?

  • What each age is working on: the ministry's stages from infancy to high school

    子どもの発達段階ごとの特徴と重視すべき課題（文部科学省）

    The ministry's paper describes the early school years as learning right and wrong by keeping the rules adults set, while still very much a young child.

    At home: Your child clings at the gate weeks after the start, or comes home tearful and worn out most days.

    Ask the teacher: How is my child getting on with the class routine and the other children?

  • The yearly school health check is required, and the notice names the tests

    定期健康診断

    Every year the school checks height, weight, eyesight, hearing, teeth and more, as the law requires, and a slip comes home if a doctor should look at something.

    At home: Your child often asks you to repeat things, sits very close to the TV, or complains of tooth pain.

    Ask the teacher: Is there a health-check result we should follow up with a doctor?

  • When a child stops going to school: the places, the attendance rule, and who decides

    不登校の相談先と出席扱い

    Some first graders say their stomach hurts on school mornings; if mornings keep breaking down, talk to the school early, and know that 不登校 (not attending school) is not treated as bad behaviour.

    At home: Your child has a stomach ache or headache on school mornings that is gone by the afternoon or at weekends.

    Ask the teacher: If my child has hard mornings, who at school should I talk to, and is there a quiet room they can use?

Friends, rules and screens

  • After-school care: the registered club, the open room, and what a full club does next

    放課後児童クラブ・放課後子供教室と、新宿区の学童・ひろばプラス

    When lessons end hours before work does, 学童 (the after-school club for working parents) or the school's open after-school room fills the gap, and a place there is the heart of the 小1の壁.

    At home: Your child says they do not want to go to 学童, or comes home from it very tired and quiet.

    Ask the teacher: What time do lessons end each day, and which days finish early?

  • The walk to school, and the injury insurance Ota pays into

    通学の安全と日本スポーツ振興センターの災害共済給付（大田区）

    Your child walks to school without you from the first weeks, the ward teaches road safety at school, and an injury under 学校管理下 (school management) is covered by the national scheme the ward pays into.

    At home: Your child crosses without looking when with friends, or comes home much later than the walk should take.

    Ask the teacher: Which part of our route to school do you consider dangerous?

If your child came from abroad

How the system works this year

  • The entrance ceremony is an April morning, and the school entry notice is handed in that day

    入学式と、当日に出す就学通知書

    The year opens with the 入学式 (entrance ceremony), a formal morning for children and parents, and the school entry notice is handed in that day.

    Ask the teacher: What should my child bring each day in the first weeks, and when do full days with lunch begin?

  • Renrakuchō (連絡帳): phrases for absence, lateness and everyday notes

    連絡帳の書き方と例文

    The 連絡帳 is where you report absence, lateness and health and read the teacher's notes, and many schools now use an app alongside it; the article has the phrases to write.

    Ask the teacher: Would you like absence notes in the 連絡帳, the app or by phone, and by what time in the morning?

  • Home visits, parents' meetings and the one-to-one conference

    家庭訪問・保護者会・個人面談

    Grade 1 brings the first 家庭訪問 (home visit), 保護者会 (parents' meeting) and 個人面談 (one-to-one meeting with the teacher), and you can ask the school for an interpreter.

    Ask the teacher: Can we have an interpreter at the 個人面談, or may I bring someone to help?

  • School money: the national average, and what Ota and Suginami print

    学習費と学校徴収金（令和5年度調査、大田区・杉並区）

    Public elementary charges no tuition, but lunch, materials and trips come as 学校徴収金 (school collection slips) or a bank debit, and some wards now pay for lunch.

With your child