Kids Web Japan

Teachers and older students show the younger kids how to canoe.

Over the summer, students in the third to sixth grades take lessons in canoeing, a part of the curriculum that makes use of "integrated study" hours, which are designed to give them hands-on experience of a particular subject.

September 9 is the last canoe lesson of the school year. On a day that feels as hot as the middle of summer, 23 students gather at Obama Beach, about five minutes away from the school, and work together to prepare the canoes, which are owned by the school and stored near the beach.

Everyone helps to get the canoes in the water.

The lesson begins. Children wearing white gym clothes and life jackets over their bathing suits get into the canoes and paddle out to sea one by one. The third graders, who are not yet used to canoeing, practice paddling in the shallows and shout with glee at the thrill of being in the water.

"Our canoe has never capsized! We're not scared at all, because we've been doing this since third grade," proclaim some sixth-grade girls. Maki, who transferred to the school this year and is in fifth grade, tells us, "At first I was scared, but now I like it. It's a lot of fun."

Washing the canoes at the end of the class.

Storing the canoes safely away

Though it is hard to keep a canoe balanced while steering it straight ahead, the children get the hang of it quickly and eventually are able to navigate with ease, moving ahead in single file and positioning themselves in a circle. At the end of the session, the students wash their boats and paddles thoroughly and put them back in the shed. This year's lessons, which are now coming to an end, were a lot of fun.