大腰まり子先生のご紹介
まり子先生は秋田県出身。宮城学院女子短期大学の保育科を卒業後、仙台市、千葉県鎌ヶ谷市で幼稚園教諭を務め渡米。ロスアンゼルスでは日系の幼稚園で数年務めた後、2003年よりWestside Waldorf School(Pacific Palisades)で日本語の教師として１７年勤務。このルドルフシュタイナーの学校では1年生から８年生までの子供それぞれの資質、個性、民族的な学び方の違いに寄り添い、日本語という言語、文化を教えながらアメリカの子供達の成長に関わってきた。この学校で出会ったシュタイナーの教育理念は未来を楽観するのが難しい今の時代の子供達を助ける術になると確信している。Westside Waldorf Schoolを今年６月退職後、本来の専門分野である幼児教育を今までの経験や知識を生かしシュタイナーの基本理念に沿った独自の方法で日本語や日本の文化をこれからの子供達に伝え
ていきたいと考えている。
About Teacher Ms. Mariko Okoshi:
Founder and Teacher
Mariko-sensei (Teacher Mariko in Japanese) is originally from Akita Prefecture in Japan. She graduated from Miyagi Gakuin Women's Junior College and studied in childcare course. After she experienced working as a kindergarten teacher from two kindergartens in two cities in Japan (Sendai city in Miyagi prefecture and Kumagaya city in Chiba prefecture), she moved to Los Angeles and worked at a Japanese kindergarten in Los Angeles for several years. From 2003, she started working at Westside Waldorf School (Pacific Palisades), grades 1-8, as a Japanese teacher for 17 years. At this Rudolf Steiner founded school, individualized attention is given to each student’s talent, personality, and difference in learning style. In such unique educational style, she was able to engage the development of students while she was teaching the language and culture of Japan. Through her experience at this school, she is convinced that Steiner's educational philosophy will help give children a skill set to cope well in challenging time even when being optimistic for the future seems not easy. Mariko-sensei just retired from Westside Waldorf School this June, yet her continuous passion of teaching Japanese and Japanese culture to children will be expressed in a new form in this class using her own method in line with Steiner's basic principles along with her years of experience and knowledge of her original specialty in early childhood education.