Naoko
I was born and raised in Japan and moved to the United States in 2003 to experience a different culture. My original plan was to stay here for 6 months. Obviously 6 months wasn’t long enough so I extended for another 6 months. 12 months soon became over a decade and Seattle became my American hometown, and I’ve been living here ever since. I finished my education in Tokyo in 2001 to receive a degree in Linguistics and a teaching certificate. I’ve been teaching for 20 years for a variety of ages, from young children to adults, in all kinds of different classroom settings, both in Japan and the United States. My journey of working in the early childhood field started in 2008 when I received a position at an international preschool in Seattle. Since then, I’ve been enjoying learning with the learners and discovering new things through young children’s eyes. Outside of the classroom, I enjoy watching musicals, harvesting some beautiful vegetables in the yard, or planning our next world trip “someday”.