CURRICULUM
Dialogue is the
best textbook of all.
NGA’s curriculum is four layers of learning that stand on our education model — multi-layered psychological safety × ZPD × Self-Determination Theory × concrete–abstract movement. Not learning by passively streaming content, nor one-on-one cramming, but a new shape of learning for an online international school.
A curriculum designed backward
from the education model.
A curriculum designed in four layers
With a foundation of safety, core learning grows. When learning connects to society, it becomes meaning. When you connect through what you love, it lasts.
Build your own timetable,
together with your teacher.
Each teacher offers one class a week in the content they’re best at. Children choose from a list of CEFR level × content, in conversation with their homeroom teacher. Picture it like: “[Level B1] Phonics runs every Monday morning.”
| Content | Pre-A1 | A1 | A2 | B1 | B2+ | Aim |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phonics | ◎ | ◎ | ○ | Build “I can read it, I can say it” through sound–letter rules | ||
| Read-alouds | ◎ | ◎ | ○ | Get familiar with English rhythm and vocabulary through story | ||
| Vocabulary (AI-optimized app) | ◎ | ◎ | ◎ | ◎ | ◎ | AI sets the right words for each child (15 min/day) |
| Speaking | ○ | ◎ | ◎ | ◎ | Build confidence by stacking up “I got through to them!” | |
| Shadowing | ○ | ◎ | ◎ | ○ | Mimic the sound to train pronunciation and listening | |
| Reading | ○ | ◎ | ◎ | Access the world’s knowledge through extensive and close reading | ||
| Drama | ○ | ◎ | ◎ | ○ | Speaking in character puts English into the body | |
| International exchange | ○ | ○ | ◎ | ◎ | ◎ | Connect with classrooms abroad for real dialogue |
| Projects | ○ | ◎ | ◎ | ◎ | Take on a challenge as a team — build it and present it | |
| Presentation | ○ | ○ | ◎ | ◎ | The skill of telling the world what you think | |
| Entrepreneurship | ○ | ◎ | ◎ | Turn ideas into form. Start something small. | ||
| PBL | ○ | ○ | ◎ | ◎ | Inquire into questions that cross subjects | |
| School trip | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | Meet your online friends in real life |
| Fieldwork | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | The community, nature, and companies become the classroom |
◎=best fit ○=recommended *Levels are a guide. We respect each child’s “I want to try this.”
A week in the life
(model timetable)
There are two ways to attend NGA. The full-school track, with weekday daytimes at the center of learning, and the double-school track, learning after school and on Saturdays while attending your current school. Both are a week of the NGA curriculum, woven with dialogue, movement, and joy. Times are examples in Japan time and are adjusted to each country’s time zone.
| Time | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9:30-10:00 | 📱 AI-optimized vocabulary practice (AI sets it daily, 15 min) + check-in | ||||
| 10:00-10:30 | 🏃 Home PE ①3 teachers on rotation | Morning reading / free practice | 🏃 Home PE ② | Morning reading / free practice | 🏃 Home PE ③ |
| 10:30-11:30 | Electivee.g. Phonics [Pre-A1/A1] | Class meetingdialogue in 8s, deciding class matters | Campus homeroompresentations, notices, planning | Electivee.g. Shadowing [B1] | Electivee.g. Drama [A2/B1] |
| 11:30-12:30 | Electivee.g. Read-alouds [A1] | Electivee.g. Speaking [A2/B1] | Electivee.g. Reading [B1/B2] | Electivee.g. Presentation [B1/B2] | International exchangemonthly link-up with schools abroad |
| 12:30-13:30 | 🍽 Lunch & free time — chat with friends | 🍳 Lunch Cooking“Tables of the World” | |||
| 13:30-14:30 | Social co-creation project (PBL) | Social co-creation project (PBL) | Dedicated 1-on-1 support(paid option) / self-directed inquiry | All-school homeroom(13:00-14:00) presentations, awards, guests | Project presentations & reflection |
| 14:30-15:00 | 📓 Reflection journal — What did I learn today? What do I carry into tomorrow? | ||||
| 15:00-16:00after school | Club (cooking)paid option | Chat / free play | Club (Scratch, shogi)paid option | Chat / free play | Club (photography, nature & creatures)paid option |
| Time | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16:00-16:30 | 📱 AI-optimized vocabulary practice (15 min) + check-in | 10:00-12:30 Social co-creation project (PBL)International exchange (monthly), presentations |
||||
| 16:30-17:30 | Electivee.g. Phonics | Class meetingdialogue in 8s | Chat / free play | Electivee.g. Speaking | Chat / free play | |
| 17:30-17:45 | 📓 Reflection journal | 12:30-13:00 Reflection | ||||
*The double-school track is a way to “add a global education without leaving your Japanese school.” The number of classes and the times can be adjusted with your homeroom teacher (model example).
*Home PE runs 3×/week (Mon/Wed/Fri 10:00-10:30), with 3 teachers on rotation *Clubs are a paid option (after school, weekly) *For electives, you design the number and content yourself with your homeroom teacher (2 periods/week standard and up)
Term events: school trip (1-2×/year) / fieldwork (each term) / presentation competitions / culture festival (Nov, Tokyo｜online & metaverse option) / sports festival (Apr, Osaka｜online & metaverse option)
Grow — and make visible —
the strengths school can’t measure.
Behind NGA’s curriculum is a proprietary learning-support system, proven with 1,000+ children at NIJIN Academy. Strengths that deviation scores and paper tests can’t see, but that society genuinely demands — we grow them backward from “be yourself, make someone happy,” make them visible, assess them, and connect them to society.
paper tests can measure
- Volume of memorization
- Speed of calculation
- Test-taking technique
— measured in one test, ranked, and done.
actually demands
yet demanded by society
- 🤝 The power to cheer others on
- 🧭 The power to bring a team together
- 🎤 The power to inspire people through unique expression
- 🔥 The perseverance to keep running your own YouTube or Instagram
— NGA’s system stacks up these “invisible strengths,” makes them visible, and assesses them.
Not just subject learning, but the power to cheer, to bring together, to express, to persevere. Skills and competencies designed backward from “be yourself, make someone happy” — stacked up at each child’s pace.
Rather than ranking against others, the build-up is visible. The more you try, the more your record grows — you feel your own growth, and it’s properly recognized.
The visible build-up accumulates as competency assessments and a portfolio — becoming genuine “real achievements” for pathways and careers.
Two proofs of learning.
The goal of the curriculum isn’t a deviation score. Children graduate holding two proofs that carry weight around the world.
Cambridge IGCSE / A-Level (UK-accredited partner school, optional) and CEFR. A “common language” that universities worldwide can read.
The record of projects and challenges accumulates as competency assessment. Strengths that tests can’t measure become application material as they are.
A method proven by
the numbers and by society.
This curriculum is no happy accident. It stands on a method refined with more than 1,000 children at NIJIN Academy — one of Japan’s largest alternative schools — and recognized across society.
These are recognitions earned by NIJIN, Inc. and founder Tatsuro Hoshino for the work of NIJIN Academy.
There’s more than one path.
But the exit is certain.
We design three certain exits (the Triple Passport) for every child.
Choosing a School, Without Regret
Affordable global education for your child. Straight answers on cost, English, pathways, and choosing a school — from the people doing the work. New posts every Wednesday and Saturday.