Grade 5 (小学5年)

What each elementary grade learns: the subjects, the hours, and when English and programming start

小学校の学年別の教科と標準授業時数

外国語 (English as a subject) now has marks on the report card and adds reading and writing to listening and speaking, and 家庭科 (home economics) begins.

Ask the teacher: How is my child's English being marked, and what would help at home?

Puberty and "life safety education" (生命の安全教育): what schools teach at each stage

生命（いのち）の安全教育と保健の学習（体の発育・発達）

Puberty starts for many children in the upper grades, and the 生命の安全教育 (life-safety lessons) at this stage add the risks of social media and of people met online.

At home: Your child seems anxious about how their body is changing, or mentions someone online asking for pictures.

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 upper grades as the years of building self-esteem, seeing other people's points of view and taking a role in a group, while differences in growth are large.

At home: Your child is suddenly self-conscious about their body or looks, or goes along with a group in things they would not do alone.

Ask the teacher: Does my child have a role or a group in the class where they feel they belong?

"How to send an SOS": what schools teach, and the lines a child or parent can call

SOSの出し方に関する教育と、子供・保護者の相談窓口

Schools teach children how to ask for help, the SOSの出し方に関する教育 (lessons on sending an SOS), and the article lists the free lines a child can call by themselves, day or night.

At home: Your child keeps a worry to themselves for days, or says there is no point telling an adult.

Ask the teacher: Has the class had the lesson on asking for help, and who at school would my child go to?

Phones, games and social media by age: what the national survey shows and what schools allow

年齢別のスマホ・ゲーム・SNS（青少年のインターネット利用環境実態調査と学校の持込みルール）

Group chats start, on a family phone or the school tablet, and a falling-out in a chat comes back into the classroom the next day.

At home: Your child keeps checking messages at dinner or bedtime, or is upset after a group chat.

Ask the teacher: Do you know of group chats in the class that are causing trouble?

If you think your child is being bullied, the school has to look into it

いじめ防止対策推進法で学校がすること

Upper-grade bullying can move online, into group chats and games, and the law covers that too when it involves a child from the school.

At home: Your child looks upset after checking a device, or suddenly stops using a game or app they used to love.

Ask the teacher: Has the class had any trouble online, and how does the school handle it?

Hensachi and mock exams: what Nichinoken and ONETES publish

偏差値と公開模試（日能研の合格判定テストとONETES）

Families on the exam route meet 偏差値 (the deviation score) through juku mock exams, which show where a paper sits among the children who sat it, not how good a school is.

Public junior high cost in Japan if you skip juken: what the ministry's survey shows

公立中学校に進む場合の費用（令和5年度子供の学習費調査）

If you skip the junior-high exam, the ministry's survey shows what a public junior high year costs, and that many families still pay for juku before high-school entry.

English at junior-high entrance: a 140-school list and two 2027 guides

中学入試の英語（2026年140校一覧と、成蹊・広尾学園の2027年度要項）

Some private junior highs let English count at entry, in very different ways, so a child strong in English can look at those schools' own guides now.

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）

The upper grades bring overnight school trips, billed through 学校徴収金 (school collection slips) like lunch and materials; the article shows what a public elementary year costs on average.