My first-grader sighed at the dinner table the other night. "Sakamoto-kun is graduating soon," he said sadly. Who? I had never heard of anyone by this name. "He's one of the sixth-graders," my son explained. "He showed me a magic trick and helps me at school."
How nice! I remember how I felt about the sixth-graders when I started elementary school in the United States. They were big and scary. I steered clear of them.
But the school my children attend in Japan encourages good relations between the youngest and oldest students. Sixth-graders come to the first-grade classrooms to help during cleaning time. They also help with lunch, which is served in the classroom by the students themselves. It's a big job for first-graders, so the senior students help out.
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