Children of different ages playing outdoors

Doronko’s nurture

Nursery school + child development support facility / child development support center

The practice of mixed age and inclusive nurture

Inclusive Nurture

Children of different ages, regardless of whether or not they have a disability, experience everything, things they want to try and things difficult to handle.

Living together, relying on each other, coflicting with each other, and reaching out from each other.
Children, even with disabilities, experience everything they want to try.
Mixed age nurture, Zazen, floor wiping, rhythmic gymnastics, taking care of animals (goats, chicken etc.), working in the fields, barefoot nurture, Engawa lunch, shopping street tour, bathing together in Sento (public bath).
Children, through 100 experiences not 10, learn to choose, think, act by themselves.
Children interacting on a wooden deck

Characteristics of Doronko Nurture

Our features

An older child helping a younger child step into a sandbox

Our Features 01

The practice of mixed age and inclusive nurture. A place where, like brothers and sisters, children can teach each other, help each other and live together.

Children of different ages, regardless of whether or not they have a disability, experience everything, things they want to try and things difficult to handle. In our nursery school, we adopt Zone-Nurture in order for the children of 0 to 5 years old to live together, letting them choose who to rely on, to play with and where to play by themselves and take actions.

Children eating together while a staff member supports a child using a wheelchair

Our Features 02

To the nursery schools at Komazawa, Kitasenju, Fujimino, Okegawa, Miyashita and Tsutsujigaoka etc., child development support facilities are established as an annex.

In addition to the environment where everybody plays, learns, works, eats, sleeps, and grows, in the annex child development support facilities, specialized staff for development support provide suitable programs (individual coaching/group coaching) to the development status of the children who need support.

A staff member and child harvesting rice

Our Features 03

Adults’ behavior is always an example. When they go planting rice, they get muddy. When they go to Sento(public bath), they get undressed first.

The staff support the children of 0 to 5 years old so that they can live together, choose who to rely on, to play with and where to play by themselves and take actions. Mixed age nurture, Zazen, floor wiping, rhythmic gymnastics, taking care of animals (goats, chicken etc.), working in the fields, barefoot nurture, Engawa lunch, shopping street tour, bathing together in Sento (public bath). We, the staff teach the children truly necessary experiences by showing examples.

Parents working together to build a playground structure

Our Features 04

Doronko Supporters (so called Doro-Sapo) Nurture together with the parents of Doronko children.

We wish the parents to take the initiative and freely develop the activities such as: “Activities creating links among the families”, “Activities considered as necessary for both children and parents”, and “Activities for improving the environment in which the children play and grow”. Until now, we have had cooperation of the parents for “Doronko festival”, Stone picking in the courtyard”, and “Building a hut for goat.” .and many other activities such as BBQ in the courtyard or Family Camping, which strengthened the relationship among the parents. Note) Participation is at the own will, but announcement on the events organized in the nursery school premises are basically sent to all the families.