Academics

American and Internationally Recognized Texts
Used in All Grades

Language and Literacy

Elementary

Grades 1 and 2 students read and write simple summaries and stories. Second graders learn to write cursive writing. Phonics is a daily focus in both grades.

Grades 3-6 read various books, poems, and short stories of all genres. Students learn how to comprehend, analyze, and synthesize the stories read. The students respond to the literature and write essays to inform, entertain, describe, and

persuade. Students use BJU readers and work on grammar, comprehension, and vocabulary. All classes have at least two or three novel studies.

Secondary

See the "High School Requirements" page for more details on all our high school classes.

Junior high students develop writing and thinking skills by focusing on vocabulary and building strong grammar knowledge. Grades 7 and 8 study editing, revision techniques, and literary terms through writing. Seventh and eighth-grade students are stretched in their comprehension and analysis of the literature by reading literature from short stories, novels, and poetry, all in various genres. Students will read extensively. Books include Much to Do About Nothing by Shakespeare, The Mysterious Benedict Society, The Hiding Place (a biography), The Cay, Star of Light, The Giver, and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.

Bible

All students at NLIS study the Bible together for 20 minutes four days a week.

Grades 1 through 6 study Bible stories and verses and learn how to apply the lessons of forgiveness, love, honoring our parents, and good character traits.

Junior High students survey all 66 books of the Bible.

High school students thoroughly study the Gospel of John, Proverbs, and Romans.

The chapel meets every Friday for all grades. The students memorize Bible verses, sing songs, and play games.

Science

Science activities through hands-on STEM projects, research, and experiments are done in all classes.

Grades 1 through 3 study science using hands-on experiments, discovery, exploration, and research.

BJU Science textbooks are used in grades 4 through 6 and for high school biology.

Grades 4-12 present an experiment or a project for the annual science fair every February.

Kesler Science is used in our junior high school science program. Chris Kesler, an award-winning science teacher in America, developed the program. Kesler Science uses complete 5E lessons: engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation. Steve Spangler, whom TIME magazine stated as "one of the most influential people of the year," joined Kesler in creating this outstanding curriculum. Spangler inspires the next generation of scientists and engineers.

High school subject choices include Biology, Physical Science, Chemistry, and Physics. High school students are required to take at least two science classes.

Physical Education & Recess

Recess: (free play) Grades one and two play in the park or the gym every morning for 30 minutes.

Grades three to six play 30 minutes daily at the local park, the front parking lot with balls, or the gym.

Physical Education: (The coach directs the class.) Grades one through six have 30 minutes of Physical Education twice weekly. Students play basketball, do exercises and gymnastics, play four square, compete in jump rope competitions, and play many group games.

Physical education is an elective in grades 7-12. Students spend an hour on physical Education two to three times a week, taking fitness tests and playing various sports, including basketball, volleyball, table tennis, and others.

Grades 7 through 12 enjoy an hour of lunch, and the students can go out for recreation daily. Grades 9 through 12 may leave the campus during lunch with parental permission.

Art, Music, and Drama

Art is done at least once a week in grades one through six. Students use a variety of mediums to express emotion, imitate great artists, and express creativity. They are also taught about famous artists worldwide and to recognize renowned art.

Music is taught two times a week in elementary school. Students study music history worldwide and learn to sing spirituals, folksongs, Christmas songs, and classic and popular songs. Grades 4 through 6 perform the ukulele.

Concerts are held several times a year. Students are taught to read music and how to play with rhythm.

Grades 7 through 12 can choose art, choir, drama, photography, and sculpture electives.

Electives in Secondary School

NLIS Electives for the year 2025-2026 are as follows:

Physical Education

Introduction to Photography

Drama

Technology Skills

Home Economics

Introduction to Psychology

Technology

NLIS actively uses technology to help students meet this digital age with confidence and skills. One computer is available for all students from grade three through grade 8. Students from grade 9 must bring their computers to school daily.

K-2 grades take standardized tests online, listen to reading, and learn technology rules and parts of the computer.

Grades 3-6 review technology rules and parts of the computer and learn keyboard skills with at least 85% accuracy and at least 30 wpm. Students improve their keyboard skills by taking typing tests. Projects include various research activities and some introduction to coding.

Computer Class is an elective offered to grades 7 through 12. Students have an hour two to three times a week to improve keyboarding skills, learn how to do Google Drive lessons, create accounts, manage documents, code, design surveys, create PowerPoint presentations, and make spreadsheets. Computer classes may be taken for one semester or all year.

Computer Standardized Testing

All grades 1-8 standardized take tests online.

9th graders take various practice SAT standardized online tests throughout the year.

10th-grade students take the preSAT test.

11th-grade students take the SAT if desired. Many universities require the SAT for admission into college.

High school students can take online courses through SevenStar Academy, an accredited school based in America. These courses earn credits for NLIS. The school offers advanced placement, honors, and other classes our small school can't provide, such as world languages, physics, and calculus.

Math

Grades 1 through 8 use Singapore Math. It is a top-tested math text emphasizing problem-solving and mental math. It focuses on mastery. Students learn to conceptualize math skills. According to the International Student Assessment, Singapore scored 549 points in the most recent results. The global average is 489.

7th and 8th students study pre-algebra and geometry with Singapore Math.

9th-12th grades:

Algebra 1, Geometry 1, Algebra 2, and Statistics.

Students can take Geometry 2, Precalculus, Accounting, and Trigonometry through an accredited online course. Honors classes and AP classes are available in most math classes.

Japanese Literacy

Native Japanese experienced teachers teach grades 1 through 4 four times a week, 45 minutes a day, and one hour to grades five and up.

Track One is for students who use Japanese in their homes. From grade one through high school, these students use the Japanese national textbook (Kokugo textbook) and kanji workbooks, and they have weekly kanji tests.

Track Two is for students who do not use Japanese in their homes. From grades 5 through high school, these students have a bilingual teacher in the classroom and follow a different curriculum. The goal is for all students in Track Two to take and pass the National Japanese tests for foreigners, beginning with the N5. For more information about the tests, see https://www.jlpt.jp/e/about/levelsummary.html. Many students have passed N5, N4, N3, and even N1!

After school, Japanese language classes are offered for non-native Japanese speakers.

Students can study after school with a qualified teacher for the Eiken test. Many students at NLIS take and pass the Eiken tests from an early age. Many students have passed Eiken levels of pre-2, 2, pre-1, and even 1!

Social Studies and History

Grades 1 through 6 use teacher-made units, hands-on projects, and research to study social studies, history, and global citizenship. Japanese history and culture are explored in all grades.

Grade 3 studies a text called "Yamanashi."

Child protection classes are taught to all students once a year for at least three days to all classes. Puberty lessons are included for grades 4 through 12. Sexes and ages are divided, enabling the students to feel safe during the daily question-and-answer times.

Junior high students study Asian history, ancient history, and geography, focusing on the Eastern Hemisphere, landforms, environmental problems, water, society, economics, and Japanese history.

High school studies Humanities: World History, World Geography, Global Issues, and Government.

Elected student council members lead school assemblies, work on projects, and learn leadership skills.

High school students volunteer 50 hours of community service during the four years of high school.

Advanced Placement Courses

High school students are encouraged to take advanced placement classes. The American College Board creates these challenging college-level courses. Colleges and universities grant placement and course credit to students with high exam scores. Advanced Placement courses are accepted by universities in America, Canada, Japan, and over 100 countries worldwide. It is more widely used than IB. At this time, all advanced placement courses are done online through SevenStar Academy, an accredited school in America.

Library

Classes walk ten minutes to the prefectural library near Kofu station every other Friday. Students check out two English books and one Japanese book. This encourages the love of English and Japanese literature.

NLIS has books available in each class for students to read in class and borrow. NLIS teachers and students are very thankful for book donations.

Special Activities

New Life International School has special activities throughout the year. These events help the students bond with their teachers and classmates and help motivate them to love school. We work hard and play hard.

Every year, elementary students participate in three class parties, a schoolwide party, at least one or two field trips, a sports day, and special days such as Camp Literacy Day, where students read books in tents, write letters, sing camp songs, play camp theme games, and eat s'mores.

The Secondary students enjoy several class parties, a schoolwide party, a sports day, at least two field trips, and a "School Spirit Week" with different activities planned daily.

Secondary students are invited to attend the Kanto College Fair annually.

NLIS also has special speakers annually. We have had a violin concert, a ventriloquist, a drama teacher, a shamisen teacher, a train conductor, a nurse, a dentist, a police officer, and many other motivational speakers come to the school.

Other special activities include an art and science fair, a math race contest, a Christmas program, and singing at the Asahi Festival. 1st- 3rd graders enjoy a special day at the fire station or police headquarters, and graduating 6th, 9th, and 12th graders go on special field trips. NLIS is an active school!

Homework Policy

The teachers at NLIS believe that the students work very hard at school during the year, so during vacation, they should play. Active play is important for a child’s growth, physically and emotionally. If they have too much homework, they are inside too much. Therefore, NLIS will give a limited amount of homework during breaks. If parents want the students to study more, we suggest taking the children to the library, museums, and other outings and then having the students write, draw, and research more about the experience. When they return to school, the teachers will be happy to see the students’ finished work.

We teachers also strongly believe students should be allowed to get bored during breaks. We would love to ask the parents to have at least one day every week when the children cannot access computer games or TV. This would force the children to get creative, draw, read, go outside and explore, sew, clean their room, play with their siblings, or bake cookies.

Therefore, the expected homework amounts for spring and summer breaks are below. The grade-level teachers will give the students detailed assignments before the holidays.

Note: Very little homework will be required during the winter break since this is a shorter break and usually revolves around family celebrations.

Typical Spring Homework (see below for Summer and Winter)

*Grades 6, 9, and 12

Have no homework since they graduated from their school programs

Grades 1-2

Read up to 5 books, and draw or write a summary for each (decided by the teacher)
Do up to 5 math worksheets
Do up to 5 writing exercises
Japanese homework for 1-2

Grades 3-5, and 7-8, 10-11

Read a book or two and write summaries for each (Books will have guidelines, page numbers, level of difficulty, etc.)
If there is no English support at home, watch several English shows with summaries.
Up to 5-7 assignments of math
Japanese homework

Summer Homework

1-2

Read up to five books and write summaries or book reports for each.
Do up to seven math sheets.
If there is no English support at home, watch several English shows and draw a picture of each.
A project (instructions will be given by the teacher)
Japanese homework

Grades 3-12

Read some novels and write a book report or summary (two to four, depending on the size and level of the book and the grade level)
If there is no English support at home, watch several English shows and write a summary of each.
Do a maximum of six to eight assignments of math
Work on the science fair project
Japanese homework

Winter Homework

This season is a family time full of traditional activities. Therefore, almost no homework is assigned during this time.

1-2

Read two books

If there is no English support at home, watch some English shows and draw a picture of each.
Japanese homework

3-12

Read two books
If there is no English support at home, watch several English shows and write summaries of each.
Finish any homework or projects not done.
Japanese homework
Work on the science fair project.

9-12

Work on the community service
Japanese homework
Work on the science fair project

Daily Homework During the School Year

School homework is assigned to:

• Develop motivation

• Develop children’s initiative and sense of responsibility

• Help children understand that formal learning can take place outside the school

• Reinforce skills, concepts, knowledge, and attitudes taught in the classroom

All class teachers, grades 1 through 12, usually assign homework to students Monday through Thursday, according to the child’s level. Fridays and weekends are usually free of homework except for projects, special reports, studying tests, and finishing homework that was not done during the week.

The following chart shows the amount of time students are expected to spend on homework. Please note that the actual time for each child may be different since all children work at different levels and speeds.

Grade 1-2 15 to 25 minutes a day

Grade 3: 20 to 35 minutes a day

Grade 4-6: 25 to 60 minutes a day

Grade 7-9 45 to 75 minutes a day

Grade 10-12: 75 to 150 minutes a day

Please note: Japanese homework may be up to 20 minutes a day. It isn’t every day, but it may be at least four days a week. This is in addition to the main class homework assigned.

Students in grades 1 and 2 will receive a weekly homework assignment from their teacher. Parents must listen to their children read every night and ensure that their children complete any other assignments.

All students in grades three and up must maintain a homework diary in which they write down homework assignments and complete them by the teachers' deadlines. Students may be required to redo homework if it does not meet the required standards. Meeting deadlines is a vital skill for all students.

Every class has a weekly newsletter to give to the parents. It will have special homework assignments, materials needed for the class, and special announcements.

Some homework is expected the next day, but some is not until the week's end. Teachers will communicate with the students and parents about the expectations in each class. Teachers feel that students need to learn how to organize their work over a number of days and fit it into a schedule that might include commitments outside of school.

Parents are discouraged from taking their children on vacation while the school is in session. The school is not obligated to give students additional homework on private/personal trips. The school encourages trips during vacations. They are good learning experiences and make good memories of times with their families.

If a child becomes sick and misses school, teachers will give the missed class assignments and homework to the child when he or she returns, or a parent may come to the school to pick up the assignments and books. If the child misses one day, he or she has two days to turn in the work. If the child misses two days, he or she has four days, and so on.

Accreditation & Associations

WASC, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Accrediting Commission for Schools

for all grades 1 through 12.

Western Association of Schools and Colleges
533 Airport Blvd., Suite 200, Burlingame, CA 94010

NLIS provides quality education and safe care that parents trust.

We are also affiliated with the Christian Academy of Japan in Tokyo. CAJ is an accredited school with over 60 years of experience.

Tel. 055-287-9577