General theory of Shisei education practice
1 It is a practice based on the “development plan” and “mutual growth plan” which are composed from the standpoint of “Shisei Education”
Most of all,
“Kindergarten （teacher）” and “families （parents）” follow the “development plan” （set simulation） of the children and cooperate with each other in order for the children’s appropriate （optimal） growth.
In addition,
It is a practice activity called “mutual growth plan” （“instruction plan” in other words, it is a relationship of educating each other instead of someone teaching someone） with the relationship of mutual growth for all the concerned parties centering on the children.
2 Condition
In order to practice “Shisei education” appropriately, needless to say that it is important to
（1） Ensure correct and diverse information （such as character, disability, and home environment of the children）
（2） Share the information （communication）
（3） Have reliable relationship with each other, cooperating relationship with appropriate role sharing, and responsibility sharing.
（4） Have self-fulfillment for the concerned people
（5） Have communication skills and accountability
3 Desirable image of the teacher
From the viewpoint of “Shisei education” we desire teachers who have the drive and ability to “grow with the children”.
And of course, it is important for the teacher to
（1） Be independent with self-affirmation
（2） Have problem solving skills
（3） have the ability to harmonize and communicate with others. In other words, based on their self-establishment, they can correctly express themselves, understand the other’s intention, educate each other, grow with each other, and have the ability to build a positive assisting relationship with each other.
（4） Understand Scientific Nature
To be able to attend to the proven education, verifiability and ability to describe, and accountability.
（5） Understand Partner Theory
The ability to build appropriate relationships with the parents. （To have the appropriate ability to explain about role sharing with the parents and organize what can be done and what cannot be done.）
4 Common language and common goals
From the viewpoint of “Shisei Education” where all concerned people are actively placed as partners and emphasize “everyone’s growth through education activities, it is extremely important in daily practices to have communication tools for all concern people including children （meaning “the children”, “kindergarten” and “families”） to immediately understand one another on the important matters.
So we express about the important matters in a “language that is easy to understand for children”.
These are the important factors focused in daily practice activities that is functioning as
（1） “Common language”, a communication tool for all concerned people
（2） “Common goal” or “being conscious on a daily basis” shared among all concerned people.
The main points are mention in the following.
［1］ Importance of the experience
（1） Let’s think about it. Let’s try it.
As we mentioned previously, it is optimal for children to understand and learn through experiences during the early childhood.
At our school, we value the “process” of the children to “notice the problem, think it through, understand, innovate and overcome” through the experiences in an environment （physical or personal） that is sufficiently considered from the viewpoint of “Shisei Education”.
（2） It is okay to fail. It is okay to make mistakes.
[Kindergarten is a place to fail with all their might]
Failure is inevitable in experiences.
However, if we criticize the children who failed, they will lose their ambition. That means we put out the light that is about to shine. Unless it is a matter of life or death, we cannot take away their “chance to fail” （more correct to call it a chance to grow）.
In other words, the children’s “freedom to fail” with all their might must be ensured.
First of all, children acquire the treasurable “foundation of problem solving ability” through many experiences. And if we recognize their effort and encourage them, they will try to move forward.
For children, the word failure is not correct.
From this viewpoint, Kindergarten, where children go about, is “a place to fail with all their might”.
［2］ Find good things
Find good things about yourself.
Find good things about your friends.
Feel that you can bring out a wonderful power by cooperating.
It is also a basic attitude to think positively and proactively about things instead of negatively and passively.
Under this basic attitude, children acquire “self-affirmation” through many experiences.
Also, they learn good things about their friends （others） which lead to “harmonizing with others” and “good communication”.
As it shows, the basic attitude to “find good things” is extremely important because it leads to “self-affirmation” and “harmonizing with others （communication skills）” so it is emphasized greatly in our school.
［3］ Greeting is great
Language is an important thing that communicates your mind.
（1） We value “greeting”
Language is a way to communicate your mind.
It is important to be able to express their feeling correctly and communicate it with others.
Especially in a globalized society, the ability to communicate with others has an extremely important meaning.
“Greeting” is a first step to communication.
（2） People often comment about the children’s greeting that “it is a pleasant greeting”. It is because in daily kindergarten life, children hear that “language is a way to communicate their minds”, feel that the greeting with an actual feeling is great, and naturally sense the importance and comfort of “communicating their minds” which is a core of communication.
Children have great receptivity.
（3） At our school, we have various activities such as language, essay, music, and presentation in hopes that children feel the “wonderfulness of expressing themselves”, and the “wonderfulness of communicating” through those experiences in kindergarten.
When they do, in each scene of “importance of communicating their feeling”, “difficulty of communicating” “joy of communicating”, “joy of the actual reaction”, “guessing others’ feeling”, and “recognizing their own feelings”, we would like to understand the children’s feelings correctly, and naturally leads to the next expression （such as more innovated greeting, greeting in front of many people, and presentation）. In order to do so we value their ambitions and nurture those abilities.
These are extremely important because they nurture “the ambition for self-expression” and “communication ability”, and lead to nurturing the “consideration for others”.
［4］ Maintain a good balance
When you try, try your best. When you play, enjoy yourself.
As a basic attitude toward behavior, we value “behavior that maintains a good balance” and “distinct behavior”.
From these, children feel the “tension and relaxation in a course of time” and in that kind of life, children naturally become conscious of “what they are supposed to do now”.
This leads to “the ability to control their own behavior” which is essential for independence and group life.
This “ability to control their own behavior” is extremely meaningful in the children’s future life, especially in the group life in school.
Also, this ability certainly nurtures the “ability to concentrate”.
［5］ The basic lifestyle habit, safety （improving the ability to avoid danger）, and improving the athletic performance.
［5］ The basic lifestyle habit, safety （improving the ability to avoid danger）, and improving the athletic performance.
（1） I understand why it is, and why we do that.
[Understanding the meaning of action, and behave]
The basic lifestyle habit that children display in social life is a first step toward independence, and should be mastered appropriately in cooperation with kindergarten and home.
We surely instruct the general “etiquettes” and “health matters” such as “gurgling” and “washing their hands”. It is also extremely important to nurture the “ability to recognize and avoid dangers” such as “traffic accidents” in cooperation with families so we give sufficient consideration to those matters in the future.
At our school we want children to think and understand “why we do it” and “what kind of things are dangerous” through various experiences in order to truly acquire those behaviors. We value that children “behave while understanding the meaning of action” as much as they can.
By experiences various scenes that accompanies thought processes such as “understanding inductively” and “speculate deductively”, the valued “code of thought” and “code of behavior” get stored in progression.
Those are an important foundations for “ability for self-fulfillment” and “problem solving skills” which will be critical when facing a significant problem in the future.
（2） Exercising is fun
As it is said that “healthy sprit resides in healthy bodies”, exercising is an extremely important factor relating to not only the physical health, but also the mental health.
In other words, health is a foundation for a healthy activity of all human beings, and is a base for everything we have mentioned.
We would like the children to feel the enjoyment of exercising （also the importance of effort） from the bottom of their hearts through kindergarten activities.
It will nurture the mind to enjoy exercise, and lead to a health growth with good balance of body and mind.