I just wanted to share some sites for those of you interested in Bennesse’s Kodomo Challenge Program (こどもちゃれんじ). Bennesse has a mail-order educational packet available for all age groups, from newborn~college. I am only familiar with the programs for babies/toddlers. My kids LOVE learning with Shimajiro. My daughter has learned a lot of Japanese vocabulary and songs from watching the DVD’s and reading the accompanying books. She’s also learning about science and Japanese culture. We think it is awesome!
We don’t have an actual subscription- we have just received some from friends as their children have grown too old for the program. But if you actually sign up for the subscription, each month you will get a DVD, books, educational toys, etc. The DVD’s for kids are about 15 minutes long, which is perfect. I think they will even mail you something special for your child’s birthday. In Japan the package is about 2000 yen/month.
You can subscribe even if you live overseas. Here is the website for overseas subscribers (warning: you will need to be able to read Japanese). Click here to see pricing. I think it is about $50/month for those in the United States. You could also have a relative subscribe in Japan and have them mail the packets to you… but I’m not sure if that would save you any money.
If you live outside of Japan, don’t have a lot of Japanese community resources, and are serious about your children learning Japanese (and having fun while they do so), I highly recommend Kodomo Challenge!
I feel like cryiiiing !! I SO want to get these for my son ! Ah, if I had more money I would definitely subscribe !
:( I know, I wish Japan would make it so more of their awesome educational resources were available (at a reasonable price) to those living overseas. We need more people interested in learning Japanese so that will happen!
I thought I wanna give up Japanese last week, until someone recommended your website, keeps me motivated to continue teaching my 2 yo.. daughter. thanks. I am not Japanese, so it is difficult.
Yeah! I’m so glad. Don’t give up. Our little ones are sponges, so every little bit of effort we put into teaching them will be worth it on the long run! Good luck!
I subscribe to Benesse from Taiwan for learning Chinese, that is okay for me coz’ I am Chinese. I am wondering if the Benesse from Japan is only in Nihongo, I am not able to read to my daughter. It will be tough for us.. :(
Btw, the website you gave, I managed to understand what it says using Google translate. Thanks.
I think it’s all in Japanese.
hi,Hiragana mama,
i wish to teach my daughter Japanese also. but
the information from the website you provide,
i do not understand… so pity!!
do you have any DVDs to recommend to me? my daughter is 3yo, thanks..
belle
I’ll try to do a post about DVDs soon! :)
i was lucky enough to find a lot of shimajiro books on ebay last fall. i didn’t realize we were so lucky! since you posted the videos yesterday my kids have watched them and they found other videos too. many thanks.
どういたしまして！