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Language Learning

    Bethany’s Birth Story

    July 16, 2025

    We are so happy to have recently welcomed our daughter Bethany into our family!

    Bethany’s due date was in May, but she waited until early June to make her arrival. Bethany is our third living child and was my first natural, unmedicated birth.

    All of my labors have been in Japan. I would have loved to try a midwife with this birth, but unfortunately due to my rare blood type I discovered that most Japanese midwives will not accept me as a client. So I opted again for a birthing clinic, a more flexible option than the hospital, that offers a nice balance between a medical environment and more personalized care.

    Our boys were both born at the same clinic via inductions (without pain relief) due to medical reasons. Although I had great induction experiences with my boys, I was so glad to finally experience spontaneous labor!

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  • Preschool at Home: Curriculum Choices

    As a homeschooling mom and homeschool alumni, recently I have been getting messages and in-person questions about home education overseas and our curriculum choices. We do not have older kids yet so I cannot…

    July 12, 2025
  • St. Valentine’s Day Homeschool Freebies

    One of the things that I really enjoy with my oldest son is doing seasonal-themed homeschool activities. Since February has begun, we are learning about Valentine’s Day! As a bicultural, international family, it’s exciting…

    February 2, 2025
  • A Reintroduction of Sorts

    Hey there! I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since we have been active in this blog space.. and so much has happened over the past 12 months! Here are a handful of…

    January 13, 2025
  • Final Release: Hiragana at Home Part 3!!

    Hi there everyone, we hope that everything is settling in well now that the winter holidays are over! We also have an announcement.. Hiragana at Home, Part 3 has released! Hiragana at Home is…

    January 7, 2024
  • Hiragana Part 3: Release Update!

    Happy New Year!! Japan has had a tumultuous beginning of the year, including earthquakes, tsunami, fires, and a plane collision within just the first two days of 2024. Although our home was not affected…

    January 5, 2024
  • Merry Christmas from the Harunas!

    Photo: our first photo as a family of 4, earlier this year Merry Christmas from the Haruna family! Things have been very busy recently as we finished the second set of major renovations on…

    December 26, 2023
  • It’s Finally Here! Summer Release of Part 2

    The dragonflies circling above and the slight yellowing of the rice fields signal that summer’s end is drawing close. Meanwhile, in Japan many students begin Term 2 of the school year, and some of…

    August 22, 2023
  • Special Summer Sale!

    Hiragana at Home, Part 2, is on track to release very soon!!  Hiragana at Home is a one year home education program for learning hiragana (the Japanese language) using a downloadable PDF schedule that…

    August 18, 2023
  • Summer Announcements

    Summer is here, and it has been eventful at the Haruna Home! We spent much of spring in the garden planting and enjoying the good weather. We also traveled to the city twice so…

    July 11, 2023