Choosing a colour, a material or where to put a sticker is part of making an idea visible.
Ocean Class (2-year-olds) has been exploring How We Express Ourselves. In their art activities, children made choices about colours, sizes, positions and even the number of eyes on their creations. They also encountered different ways to express ideas through music, movement and imaginative play.
Using a shared theme still leaves room for different outcomes. Seeing a friend`s work offers another way of approaching the same materials.
We value opportunities for children to try their own ideas and encounter the ideas of others. The process includes making choices, expressing preferences and discovering that there can be more than one way to create.
色を選ぶ。素材を選ぶ。ステッカーを貼る場所を決める。小さな選択も、自分の考えを形にする一歩です。
Oceanクラス(2歳児)は「How We Express Ourselves」を探究しています。製作では色や大きさ、貼る位置、目玉の数まで、自分で考えて工夫。音楽や体の動き、ごっこ遊びなど、さまざまな表現にも触れています。
Moving an adventure forward takes listening as well as imagination.
Afterschool Class D is exploring a role-playing game set in the world the students created. During the adventure, they communicate, read, listen, respond to characters and follow the story as it develops. They also solve puzzles and think on their feet when something unexpected happens.
These actions give language and cooperation a purpose within a shared activity. Each student`s ideas and personality can contribute to what happens next.
The laughter is part of the experience too. As the adventure continues, the students have opportunities to enjoy one another`s ideas while working through challenges together.
Make a winter festival, build a movie theater with friends or head out for a day of snow play. Join us for five days of hands-on activities in English at CGK International School`s Kannai Campus in Yokohama.
Open to Grades 1–6 with basic conversational English. Choose any day that works for you.
Dec 21 | Create a winter festival inspired by traditions around the world Dec 22 | Train trip to Shonan Asobimare for snow play and sledding Dec 23 | Set up a festive movie theater with your team Dec 24 | Christmas Eve costume party and crafts Jan 4 | Bus trip to Tondemi Heiwajima (@tondemi_namco) for indoor athletics
Apply via LINE. The Jan 4 trip has an early application deadline of Dec 24 at 5:00 pm JST.
See the link in our profile or scan the QR code on the poster for details.
Young children`s first explanations give us something valuable to explore together.
Jungle Class (3-year-olds) has been investigating living and non-living things. Ideas about whether something moves, grows or needs food led to more questions. Teachers helped children reconsider their explanations by asking about what a living thing needs.
Jungle A planted seeds and began observing changes. In Jungle B, children sorted pictures, considered needs and explored life cycles through stories and activities.
Comparing ideas with what they observe helps children develop their understanding. There is value in returning to a question, noticing a change and being willing to revise an explanation.
How an activity is organised shapes how much opportunity children have to take part.
For Elementary and Middle School Sports Day 2026, two games will run at the same time. Teams will swap games after each match, with a rotation designed to reduce waiting and give every child opportunities to participate.
Our Physical Education approach values enjoyment of movement, independence and cooperation across ages. “I dare to do it,” “I can do it” and “I know how to do it” describe different stages of that learning.
Planning participation is part of supporting those stages. Alongside the games themselves, we are thinking about the time and opportunities children have to try, practise and work with others.
A question becomes an inquiry when children have ways to investigate it.
Sky Class (5-year-olds) has been exploring a cycle of predicting, trying and reflecting. Outdoors, children used magnifying glasses to look closely, opened reference books and compared what they noticed with friends.
Mountain Class (4-year-olds) has been investigating plants, growing daikon cress and considering what plants need. Looking after something over time gives children changes to notice and ideas to revisit.
At home, a simple invitation such as “What do you think?” or “How could we find out?” can make room for that thinking. Curiosity has somewhere to go when children can observe, investigate and talk through what they find.
Understanding a study-abroad destination includes knowing what daily school life and support will look like.
This November, CGK is holding two information sessions for current CGK families, with international-student staff from partner schools in New Zealand joining online. Glendowie College will introduce its school and study opportunities on November 16, followed by Gulf Harbour School and short-term study on November 27.
Families can hear directly about the learning environment, everyday life and support for international students. These conversations are part of how CGK helps families consider options that fit their child`s stage and interests.
Participation is limited to current CGK families. This post introduces that provision; session information and application details are shared with our families through Toddle.
At Nogeyama Zoo, a question about turtles became a chance to connect classroom learning with the world outside.
Mountain Class (4-year-olds) explored how animals behave and adapt to their habitats. A child`s question about the difference between a turtle and a tortoise led to investigating life in water and on land.
Back at school, children chose ways to represent what they had observed, using clay, drawings or toy figures. Observation and expression were connected, with space for each child to choose a method.
A conversation at home can extend that learning: which animal surprised them, and what did they notice about how it lives? A shared question can open up more to explore.
What happens when students want to keep working on a project after its original time has ended?
During the Summer School period, Afterschool Class D began a mini project to create their own countries. The students wanted to continue, so the idea became a Student Choice project. As they developed their countries in detail, a rich and varied world took shape.
That shared world then became the setting for a role-playing adventure, with characters created by the students themselves.
Following an interest over time gives ideas room to develop. In Class D, the children`s choices helped connect one project to the next, and their different ideas became parts of a world they could explore together.
A classroom inquiry can become the starting point for something children make together.
Sky Class (5-year-olds) drew on their learning about Egypt to create sarcophagus-shaped bowling pins for the School Festival. They collected recyclable materials, shared ideas and added their own details as they worked.
Jungle A Class (3-year-olds) brought a familiar story to life through a Humpty Dumpty game, making eggs, horses and a brick wall. Their seasonal art activities also offered opportunities to explore colours and materials.
These projects gave children a purpose for revisiting what they knew and turning an idea into something others could enjoy. Their choices and contributions were part of the making process.
Five of the games at this year`s Elementary and Middle School Sports Day began with our students` ideas.
Working in small groups during PSPE lessons, students developed games including Sharks and Treasure, Blind Mail and Dangerous Pizza Delivery. Creating a game gives them a reason to explain an idea, listen to other suggestions and work together to refine it. Communication, social skills and critical thinking are part of the process.
At CGK, the learning behind Sports Day includes the thinking and collaboration that happen before the event. The students` ideas will become activities for their school community to enjoy together.
Sports Day is an event for the CGK community only.
Join us at our Kannai campus on Sunday, November 8. Explore our approach to education, curriculum, school life, tuition and admissions, whether you are ready to apply or still considering your child’s next step.
PRESCHOOL (ages 2–5) 9:00–10:30am — Japanese 11:15am–12:45pm — English / Japanese
ELEMENTARY & MIDDLE SCHOOL 9:00–11:00am / 2:30–4:30pm Both sessions: English / Japanese
Venue: CGK Kannai Campus, Yokohama Advance registration required. Check your program and session on our website: cgkis.com.
Yokohama Excellence ( @yokohamaexcellence_official) is a professional basketball club based in Yokohama. CGK International School is a Gold Partner for the 2026-27 season.
On October 17, CGK students, families and staff joined local supporters at Yokohama Budokan for CGK International School presents: Yokohama Excellence vs Gifu Swoops. Excellence took the win, 96-86!
Cheering clappers, a school-bus papercraft and an exploration game set in Yokohama brought a little of CGK’s playful spirit to the day. For our tenth anniversary, it was a chance to enjoy making, cheer together and connect beyond the classroom.
Thank you to everyone who joined us, and to the Yokohama Excellence team. See the photos and the story behind the day on our blog.
A rocket and a castle: the inquiry behind the work.
Rocket movement and the history of Japanese castles may seem unrelated. In CGK Afterschool miniprojects, a programme for Grades 1–9, both became investigations of how researched ideas could be represented.
A student researching rockets explored energy and escape velocity. In the model, reversing the direction of the current reversed a motor to represent launch and landing. This was a representation of movement, not a model that could travel into space.
A group building a castle investigated Japanese history, architecture, clan crests and culture. Behind the finished work were research and decisions about how to express what they had learned.
Classrooms become haunted houses—and taking the stairs becomes a challenge!
At CGK School Festival 2026 on 24-25 October, Middle School students in Grade 6 and Grades 7/8 are preparing The Haunted 9th Floor. Discover their student-created experiences and join the Step Challenge.
G6 | The Haunted 9th Floor Grade 6 is transforming classrooms and corridors into a spooky walkthrough. Visitors will move through themed areas featuring decorations, student actors, sound effects, lighting and surprises designed to create a fun and frightening festival experience.
G7/8 | The Haunted 9th Floor G7/8 students will create a haunted house in their classrooms and corridor, with themed areas including eyes, spiders, the ocean, jump scares, lightning and trypophobia. The students are designing all the stories, rules and decorations themselves. Visitors can also make their own magnets at the gift shop.
Step Challenge Elevators get crowded during School Festival, so please use the stairs! Climbing up to the 9th floor can be tiring, but make it fun with our Step Challenge! Anyone with a smartphone step counter can join. The person who takes the most steps that day wins a prize!
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教室が、お化け屋敷に。階段移動も、チャレンジに。
10月24日(土)・25日(日)のCGK School Festival 2026では、中等部のG6・G7/8が「The Haunted 9th Floor」を準備中。生徒たちがつくる仕掛けと、会場を歩いて楽しむStep Challengeをご紹介します。
G6 | The Haunted 9th Floor G6が教室や廊下を、不気味なウォークスルー型のお化け屋敷に変身させます。テーマごとに装飾されたエリアを進みながら、生徒たちによる演出や効果音、照明、思いがけない仕掛けを体験できます。楽しくもちょっぴり怖い、スリル満点のフェスティバル体験をお楽しみください！
G7/8 | The Haunted 9th Floor G7・G8の生徒たちが、教室や廊下を使ってお化け屋敷を作ります！目玉やクモ、海、突然驚かせる仕掛け、雷の演出、集合体恐怖症をテーマにしたエリアなど、さまざまな恐怖が待ち受けています。ストーリーやルール、装飾全てを生徒たちで考えたお化け屋敷をお届けします。 出口のギフトショップでは、オリジナルマグネット作りも楽しめます！
Step Challenge School Festivalではエレベーターの混雑緩和のため、階段の利用にご協力ください！9Fまでの階段移動は大変ですが、楽しみながら挑戦できるStep Challengeを開催！スマホの歩数計があれば誰でも参加OK。当日最も歩いた人には賞品をプレゼント！
Details via the link in our profile. / 詳しくはプロフィールのリンクから。
Small creatures, many similarities and differences.
In Ocean Class (2-year-olds), changes in autumn and an interest in small creatures are opening up inquiry: weather, leaves, wind, and differences in creatures` bodies, faces and sizes.
Moving from Who We Are towards How We Express Ourselves, children notice similarities and differences between themselves and other living things. Observations connect with language and ways of expressing ideas.
The class has also explored the idea that other creatures have families and should be treated with care. Small discoveries become opportunities to develop an interest in the living world around us.
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