Friday

Friday activities are decided by children in advance. So far, we have been to a

movie theatre to watch a movie, went to an outdoor leisure pool in Tsuchiura city,

went to Ibaraki Nature Museum, watch a DVD at Mori-no-Kaze community centre,

went to spend our time at Baobab workshop to do woodworking, played board

games together, and went to ride a pony together.

Nice to meet you! Thank you very much for visiting our HP. I am ‘Mi san’ who

started Free school Tsukuba Sora.

From November of the first grade of elementary school, my son became afraid of school and could no longer

go to school any more. He requested me to change to a new school thus we did, however, he could not attend

a class without me going there with him. He also had to quit all afterschool classes since he became afraid of

attending them alone.

So I had to stop working teaching English at home (I used to be a home teacher teaching English to children).

From then, I started to think really hard about questions like ‘What is school all about?’, ‘What is education all

about?’, and ‘What are parents and children all about?’

Since I gathered so much information through the internet by looking after my son, I started to look for some places

where he can play a lot with friends other than thinking about him going to school. However, up until then, I valued school

education so highly that I started to feel anxious about his study and future.

So I read many books and visited free schools such as Sudbury schools,

Ohinata elementary school (a school which is based on Jena plan), Kawasaki

Kodomo Yume park, free schools, Tokyo Kenji Steiner school, international

schools, LCA international elementary school, a program about mountain village staying with

parents, schools abroad). I visited and experienced all the activities they do in their schools and the environments.

After taking free school staff training courses and listened to many stories from children and parents attending free schools, my anxiety began to dissipate.

I became more and more convinced that basic academic skills (from 1st grade elementary school to the third grade of junior high school ) can be regained in 3 months to 1 year during high school period as long as you are physically and mentally healthy and willing to learn.

I think it is more important to keep his mind healthy than letting him study so that he does not suffer from any mental trauma before finding what he wants to do.

As a result, I have come to believe that children can grow up without attending a traditional local school, and that there are times when other options (including homeschooling) are rather good for children.

My second son is in the third grade, and although he has never attended an existing school, he is thriving.

I am not denying that they should study, but I think it is important that the study is in line with their own will, not something they are forced to do out of a sense of reluctance.

I also believe that it is very important for children to make their own choices and decisions.

About the Japanese university entrance exam styles, it is said that AO entrance exam will be over 60% in the latter 2020s. Those applicants will be asked questions concerning how they want to realize their dreams through studying and the kind of jobs they want to get afterwards (refer to Waseda university AO entance document site).

(In a sense, it is natural to say this, but in the past, students often chose a university because of its deviation score, etc., but we are now in the an era where students are asked what they themselves want to do before entering a university.)

If anxious parents who see their children not wanting to go to school and if they find their way to this page, I hope they will think that they can find a way to help their children without going to school. It may be difficult to do so right away, but I would be happy if you could think so, even if only a little.

In conclusion, I believe that there are ways for children to be happy and socially independent without going to existing schools. I think there are times when it is better for children to choose not to go to school.

I hope you don't feel anxious or blame yourself for not being able to attend an existing school.

I recommend you to read this document about Finnish context on school refusal(Does the concept of truancy exist in other countries (Finland and the Netherlands)?).

As for now, if you ever know anyone who cannot go to school, you can remind yourself that there are over 592 children who cannot go to school in Tsukuba city alone (243 elementary school children and 349 junior high school students)e.g. (Tsukuba city council 2021)

We all need to remind ourselves that there are so many children who cannot go to school at the moment. Lastly, we all need to remember that the main problem here is that current Japanese children do not have many choices of living and learning for their lives at the moment.

I hope that as soon as possible, we will no longer live in a world where it is considered natural for children to go to existing schools even if they do not want to go there. I would also like to see a world in which it is natural for children to have a variety of options other than existing schools and to choose those options even before they start schools. In this way, parents and children can choose the environment that suits them best, and even if they can no longer go to school, they can immediately think that they can go elsewhere. Even if a child does not fit in one school or one class, if a variety of options are available to both children and parents, they can move there, and I think this will reduce the number of people who continue to withdraw without major worries or hardships. I feel that Japan really doesn't have many options for school children at the moment.

Let us focus on children's favorite activities and strengths. Let's discuss together about fun activities and let's connect our thoughts together! Let's create such an environment together at Free school Tsukuba Sora!