Our Planet

Text : Mina Ito

Our lives have changed drastically since April when both the number of children and the number of staff during the self-restraint period due to Covid 19 have decreased. Depending on the age and number of children attending Yamanoko, we reexamined the indoor environment, the layout of adults, the disinfection range, etc. from scratch, and started living in a mixed environment beyond the boundaries of classes and homeroom teachers.

Warabi children and Fuki children both take a walk together, eat in the same room (Warabi), and change their space to another quiet room (Fuki) when they want to sleep. In addition, by mixing classes that were divided up to now, it became necessary for the Yamanoko staff to have a shared time to grasp the entire Yamanoko home, and so a 20 minute shared time for all the Yamanoko home staff to discuss every day has been secured. Sharing diverse perspectives and awareness is a learning process, and new questions are born from it. Then, the contents that we looked back on will be executed the next day. I have a feeling that the speed of change happening within Yamanoko is much faster than before.

As we mix and live together, the stereotypes we had separately for classes and homeroom teachers suddenly collapsed, revealing new possibilities. I used watch the Warabi children through the window from Fuki, but now I’m beyond the boundaries of classes and homeroom teachers, and the children and adults of Yamanoko home as a whole can be seen. It is a big change that I can see, and then I started thinking “How should I navigate in this space?” In addition, children and adults are becoming more connected with each other regardless of class or homeroom. To live together we must have a relationship of trust. Yamanoko home literally feels like a big home where we acknowledge and respect each other.

How do children feel the changes in their lives? K-kun, who attended Yamanoko home after a long absence, picked up one toy and muttered, “It’s a nice home, here.” Was it a feeling that he felt different from what he had known before, or was he feeling like he just arrived to a comfortable place? Children have gradually accustomed to a life that is different from before, they are seen helping each other and teaching each other. At the same time, there was a 0-1 old child who was confused by the change from a one-on-one calm environment with a familiar childcare educator (homeroom teacher). The issues that come up are discussed in shared time each time, and we repeat trial and error while continuously designing the environment. How can we guarantee a calm space where 0- to 1-year-olds can feel at ease, and an environment where all children can find their favorite place and individually devote themselves to play?I feel that design and redesigning of people, space and time are required on a regular basis.

 

There are children who freely plays with water and paints in the garden outside, and those who love picking strawberries and giving water to plants. Inside, there are children who repeatedly ask to read the favorite book, those who dance to music with the swaying curtain blown with the wind and those who try to put some cloth diapers by themselves. One morning, S-kun came into the room saying “today is a day for dancing”. He laid out a carpet from Warabi to a bigger space in Fuki, and started to dance. Then came H-kun, E-chan from Fuki, S-chan and Z-kun joined. They all held their hands and circled around in circles a few times.Our scenes from everyday started to include going back and forth between classes, things that are happening inside and outside of rooms, and fusion beyond the concept of classes. By observing such scenes, I recognised that there is potential to create a brand new childcare environment where children can go back and forth between the two classrooms, find a place where they feel comfortable and concentrate on playing. I also saw that such environment lead children to acquire skills to make that place that they chose their own.

The seeds that we have sown during the self-restraint period, after taking out the weeds, and tilling the soil, are sprouting. What do we want to see in our world, post the “emergency” state? Are we going back to how we were? Are we always questioning our being from many perspective? Are we challenging ourselves for new ways that do not have answers? Perhaps the “soil” in environment inside is being fertilized right now, and we are sowing many seeds as the garden is becoming more and more alive. I am excited to see the sprouts coming out of grounds, and I cannot wait to attend to them.