international – The Haruna Home

Final Release: Hiragana at Home Part 3!!

January 7, 2024

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 a home education resource that we lovingly created for our own family. As a mother living in Japan and a second-language speaker of Japanese, I longed for a home education resource for exposing young children to Japanese language in a way that was gentle, simple, play-based, and not time-consuming or filled with busy work.

Whether you live in Japan or overseas, if you want to introduce your preschool-aged (or older) child to hiragana and to teach them the Japanese language from home, this is the program for you. (Adults can also benefit from the extensive song links and book lists!)

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Hiragana Part 3: Release Update!

January 5, 2024

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 directly, a friend of ours was in the danger zone when the events of January 1st occurred, and we are deeply grateful that they are safe.

Japan is a disaster-prone country, but full of resilient people that come together to help each other as a community when catastrophes happen. This is one of the things that I love about Japan!

Despite the unfortunate start to this new year, we pray for the victims of the recent disasters, and that Japan will overcome the recent challenges and experience a year of blessing!

We are also excited to announce the upcoming release date of Hiragana at Home, Part 3. The final installment in the Hiragana at Home series is nearly completed, and we are now in the stages of editing and previewing before publishing the material!

Part 3 will be available by January 9th, 2024! Until then, we will be offering a special discount for new customers of our program. When you purchase our program, you will receive the Part 1 and Part 2 downloads immediately in your purchase downloads, and Part 3 when it releases on or by January 9th, 2024 (Japan time).

Use the code TERM3 to take 10$ off of your purchase of the Hiragana at Home program! Purchase here.

Questions or comments? Message us on Instagram at @happilyeverharuna, or use our Contact Us page!

Hiragana at Home: Info, and FAQ

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Merry Christmas from the Harunas!

December 26, 2023

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 our akiya (formerly unoccupied older Japanese house). The reform is not quite finished since there are still a few smaller repairs remaining to be completed next spring, but the majority of the work is finally over!!

We’re looking forward to settling back into our regular home routine.

Now it is nearly time for Shogatsu celebrations (the Japanese New Year), and we are also excited to spend time spent with family. In the meantime, we will soon share the final installment of Hiragana at Home!

Those of you who have already purchased the program, keep your eyes peeled for the Part 3 download coming soon to your purchased files folder. Although we do not have an exact release date, you can expect the last and final installment to Hiragana at Home to be released prior to the Japanese Term 3 school start date.

Note: due to the plethora of spam comments we receive, if you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact us through our contact form page, or at Instagram (@happilyeverharuna).

Thank you, and have a Happy New Year!!

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It’s Finally Here! Summer Release of Part 2

August 22, 2023

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 their international counterparts start the first semester.

As the summer heat gives way and the “best” beach days become numbered, now is the perfect time to help your preschool-aged child jump into language immersion that is simple, fun, and play-based!

Children living outside of Japan can be given the tools to fluency in a second language by enjoying a Japanese language experience like no other, filled with hundreds of links to Japanese children’s songs, picture-book recommendations, art projects, crafts, physical activities, and more.

Children living in Japan can have the opportunity to benefit from a program that is the only one if its kind – a one year home education program that enables English speaking parents or caregivers to teach hiragana (the Japanese phonetic alphabet) with a schedule that is simple and easy to follow.

For more about our one year program and the Part 2 release, read below!

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Summer Announcements

July 11, 2023

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 that my husband could do some vocal workshops, as well as meeting up with friends and relatives.

In April through June I was in the third trimester, so I spent the latter part of pregnancy taking daily walks and swimming in the public pool, all in the hopes of encouraging our second-born to make his way into our arms..

But, despite our efforts, he ended up being born at 41 weeks and 2 days.. well past his “due date”!

Our second son, Josiah, was born on June 30th.

We are so happy and grateful for the addition to our family!! I am currently taking it easy during postpartum recovery, but look forward to getting outdoors again soon as a family of four.

In Japan rainy season is now well underway, and the hum of the first cicadas can be heard – a signal that hotter days are yet to come. “Bugs” is also the theme of a unit that will be featured in Hiragana at Home, Part 2!

The Part 2 release of our home-education hiragana program for children is planned for sometime around mid-August, no later than August 22nd. If you already purchased the Hiragana at Home program at Gumroad, you will be able to download Part 2 from your downloads purchase page, as soon as the Part 2 download becomes available.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at our Instagram, theharunahome!

How has your summer been going so far?

Leave a comment below!

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Giveaway Announcement!!

April 14, 2023

Special giveaway announcement!!

The Spring Release Sale of Hiragana at Home has ended..

But, if you missed the sale and would still like to get our preschool-level home education language program at a reduced price, you might have an opportunity to get it for free!!

We have partnered with the blogger Hiragana Mama, and are offering one person the complete Hiragana at Home program (a one year program with a 50$ value) for free!! If you are interested in entering the giveaway, please head over to her blog at the link below!

Enter the Giveaway at Hiragana Mama’s Post, here!

Or, to purchase the full Hiragana at Home program right now, click here!

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The Spring Release Is Here!!

April 5, 2023

We’re super excited to announce that after much anticipation and a lot of hard work, the spring release of Hiragana at Home, Part 1, is here!! Our one year complete program (Parts 1, 2, and 3) will be on sale for ONLY 3 days, starting today!

If you purchase the program today, you will receive Part 1 immediately as a digital file, and Parts 2 and 3 as they release later this year. The normal price of the one year program is 50$ (USD), but it will be on sale from April 5th-7th, 2023 (Japan time) for just 30$ (USD), before going back up to the usual price!

To purchase the program for just 30$, please CLICK HERE and use the following discount code during checkout: SPRING

Hiragana at Home is a gentle, play-based home education resource for introducing preschoolers to the Japanese language, regardless of whether or not their parents are native speakers. It can also be adapted for older children, such as kindergarteners.

If you are unfamiliar with or have questions about the program, please check out the following:

Shop page

Hiragana at Home: Overview page

Hiragana at Home: FAQ page

Or, if you have additional questions, DM us on Instagram (@theharunahomestead) or leave a comment below!

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Hiragana at Home: Spring Sale

April 4, 2023

The Spring Release of Hiragana at Home, Part 1 is nearly here!!

As long as there are no technical difficulties, we plan to release Part 1 on April 5th, 2023 (Japan time)!

You will be able to purchase the complete Hiragana at Home program at a discounted rate from April 5th though April 7th (Japan time)!! If you purchase the complete program, you will receive Part 1 as a digital file on April 5th, 2023 (Japan time), and will receive Parts 2 and 3 later during the year as they release.

Hiragana at Home will normally be sold for 50$ (USD), but will be available for 30$ for ONLY three days, on April 5th-7th 2023 (Japan time). Then the price will go back up to 50$ for the one year program!

When the program goes live, we plan to release a discount code that you can apply at checkout to reduce the price during the special sale term!

We have also published **brand new** pages on our site about the program, which you can find under the new “Shop” tab in the top bar of our site. Or, click the links below!

Shop page

Hiragana at Home: Overview page

Hiragana at Home: FAQ page

If you plan to purchase the program and use it from this April, you can also DM us on Instagram (@theharunahomestead) for a preview of the supply and booklist of the first week of the program to help you prepare.

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Coming Soon: Hiragana at Home!!

February 8, 2023

I’ve been keeping a secret!!

We are excited to announce the upcoming release of a brand-new home education resource:

Hiragana at Home!

As a mother living in Japan and a second-language speaker of Japanese, I longed for a home education resource for exposing young children to Japanese language in a way that was gentle, simple, play-based, and not time-consuming or filled with busy work.

Home-educating a bilingual child should not mean that their language skills have to suffer!

However, there are few home-education resources available for people who desire to teach the Japanese language to young children (including overseas), and little support is available to families in Japan who decide not to enroll their child in preschool.

Eventually, I realized that if I wanted a home education program for our family that met my expectations, as well as would allow our children to thrive without losing out on their language development, I would have to make it myself – and so, I did!

**Note: this post was updated on March 24th, 2023, to reflect updates regarding the spring 2023 release!!**

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Country Life in Rural Hyogo

January 30, 2020

Masashi and I have lived in the countryside for nearly two years.

Living in a small town in the countryside vs. a big city can be very different, no matter what part of the world you are from. However, there are certainly some things that set the rural mountain villages of Japan apart from the big cities like Tokyo!

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