Same Same But Different

What a confusing day because of today’s weather. We were  going to have  an early park time. When we were about to leave, our teachers announced, “It’s raining now…” We were so disappointed. We were all ready to go. “We’ll see if we can go later.” Our teachers told us so we decided to keep our jackets and park smocks on.

 Since our schedule needs to be changed, Sayaka started doing today’s circle time. “Same Same But Different” was the phrase for today. By the way, what does same/different mean? Then Sayaka asked all of us about what class we are in. “Petals class.” We replied. Next question was, “After we finish Petals class, where we are going to go? Are we all moving up to Flowers class?”

H- I'm going to a different class in Singapore.

S- We are going home?
L- Mama's class
Z- When I'm bigger and bigger I'm going to Flowers class.

Then Sayaka said, “We are all in the same class now but we will go to a different class or different country.”

“How about family? Do we all have the same family?” Sayaka asked us our mom and daddy’s name.

H- I don't know... I can't say her name because it's a bit tricky
L- T. (Do you know your mama’s name? Lynn shook her head)
Z- My Mama's name is mama and my daddy's name is daddy. (Do you have the same house as Lynn-chan?) No I have a different house.

Sayaka mentioned that we all have different families and houses. She was wondering if it is okay to have a different family or if it should be the same family.

H– It’s okay to have a different family!

Sayaka-Yes! I think so, too! It’s okay to have a different family. We are same same but different.

Then she asked us to stand up and measure our height with our friends. A was taller than Hamish. Hamish was taller than H. H was a bit taller than Z. Sayaka asked us again, “Do you think we should be all the same height or it’s okay to be different?”

H and S- It’s okay to be different.

Z– It has to be the same.

“Do you remember about this book?” Sayaka showed us the book, Same Same But Different. There are two boys in the book. One of them lives in India and the other is in N.Y.

H- The difference is he's climbing a tree and he lives in a tree house. It means the same but different.

Then we had a chance to share our ideas about Same Same But Different.

S– We have mask. I have a mask and D has one and it's green. My mask is yellow with teddy bear. (S said it’s okay to have different mask.)
L- Green (points to her socks and S’s shinkansen socks).
A- I have shoes blue. (D has blue shoes) (A said its not exactly same shoes but it’s okay.)
H- I have Dragon Ball and he has Paw Patrol (D’s socks. Hamish said it’s okay having different socks.)
R mentioned she has long hair but Alexander has short hair. Sayaka asked her if it’s okay or not okay. Rimi said, “Okay.”
Z- Dinosaurs- some dinosaurs are tall and some dinosaurs are big.

Sayaka-There are some same dinosaurs but some are different. Do you still like dinosaurs? Is it okay to be different?

Z-I do! I do like dinosaurs. It’s okay to be different.

Lastly, Sayaka asked us again, “Is it okay to be different?” We showed our thumbs up and said, “Okay!” She emphasized, “We are all same same yet different.” As we finished our circle time, Mr. Sunshine just showed up. YOU KNOW WHAT? We were going to go to Arisugawa park because we had lots of time left. But on our way there, it started to rain. We were going back to Ohana, then the rain stopped. THEN we went back to Step Park. While we were playing at the green area, it’ was getting very hot. It was a very crazy weather today!

Happy Petals 2020-2021