First Day of School

These girls are on their way home after a short day at school. They're not carrying their usual school bags. They probably took their desk boxes to school in the bags they are carrying.


From the field looking into the park. Those are petals on the ground.

Morning Glories

This is our first morning glory this summer. This one is a Japanese morning glory. See the white star? That is the main characteristic of a Japanese morning glory.

When people draw morning glories here, they draw a star in the middle. This flower is one of the symbols of summer.

Here's a summer fan and a handkerchief.

This is what our morning glory looked like yesterday.

We planted a lot of different kinds together. I put the pictures out in front to take this picture. This first morning glory was kinda scraggly, but it was a happy sight.

Hopefully, more will bloom soon. This is near our gate.

The morning glories came in pots like these. We bought them from a flower shop.

We also planted some from seeds. These seed pods were from last year's flowers.

When morning glories first come up, they look like this.

Later as they mature most leaves look like this. Actually, that is sunlight and a shadow on this leaf. Look back at the third picture and click to enlarge. Some morning glories have very different leaves. Some are one color. Some are variegated, with dark green and light green stripes. Some leaves have different shapes.

Growing morning glories is part of Japanese first graders' summer schoolwork. The morning glories at Little Brother's school are big and have been blooming for a while. (I was at the school yesterday.) Do a blog search to find other posts about first graders' morning glories. Little Brother is in sixth grade. Sixth graders are growing potatoes.

School Paste and Glue

This is the paste that kindergarteners use.

The bottle of glue on the left is used in kindergarten and elementary school. It looks like honey. The paste on the right is used in first and second grade at our school.

This is the top of the bottle of glue. It looks like a honeycomb. It is rubbed on paper like a glue stick. Glue seeps through small holes onto the paper.