firstARETE  Japan ®

Overview

(Note: We had hoped to post images of the firstARETE Japan program that featured the students who participated in the program’s jogging and classroom activities. But because some of the parents did not consent to having their child’s image appear in a classroom setting, we were unable to do so. Instead, we have posted images from the firstARETE Teacher Training workshop that include all the teachers who went through the training as they learned and practiced presenting the firstARETE activities.)

Subject: Re: 学校に対する報告チラシ(案)について(Draft Reporting Flyer for Schools)
Date: 2025-07-21 2:00 pm
From: 松田 恵示 Keiji Matsuda
To: Joel Kirsch
Cc: FirstARETE Japan

Dear Joel,

Thank you very much for your prompt reply.

As noted, the results of this survey are not to be evaluated in terms of FA itself. To be precise, the report is about the impact on children of the creation of continuous opportunities for physical activity over a period of time, which also utilized a portion of FA. In the draft that we are putting together as a flyer of the results, we would like to remove the term “FirstARETE program” because it is misleading in some places where we use the term “habituation of physical activity through the FirstARETE program” in the title. In the text explaining the data, there is a sentence that reads, “We found a trend toward better results for children who took part in more FirstARETE activities,” which we believe is the correct description. We owe it to both elementary schools to inform them of the results as soon as possible because they understood the significance of the study and made a great effort to participate. We hope to distribute the results flyer as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Keiji

Teachers and staff from Kōka Elementary School, Sakuragaoka Elementary School, and the National Institution for Youth Education were trained to present the firstARETE curriculum during a six-day summer workshop. The participants learned, practiced, and practice-taught the firstARETE activities:

Workshop Welcome and Introduction

Morning Jog Starts Each Day

Groundskeepers

Clap-In

Concentration Practice

Physical Warm-Up Activities: Beginning Activity

Physical Warm-Up Activities: Balance Activities

Physical Warm-Up Activities: Breath Activities

Physical Warm-Up Activities: Ending Activity

Student of the Day

Journal Writing

Clap-Out

Curriculum Guide

Working, Learning, and … Playing

Trainees Receive Official Certification as firstARETE Educators

Youngest Trainee Leads the Final Clap-Out

Group Photo

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firstARETE Japan Staff Members and Researchers