Family and early childhood education in Japan. Characteristics of the preschool education system in Japan

It is unlikely that something can compare in popularity with my post about a Japanese maternity hospital: D how fast time flies! Here is a post about kindergarten. I’ll ask you to do without a holivar on the topic of early sending a child to a kindergarten - because the social situation here in Russia and Japan is completely different, and I decided to try a kindergarten for half a day for the child to communicate with his own kind. We live in a cozy province, in an ordinary area where there are apartment buildings among private houses, there is a large park nearby - but there are no children! That's just not! With kids, the Japanese walk very little, 15 minutes around the house or half an hour after kindergarten in the evening, and there are no extras or periodicity in these walks. Young women often walk with little ones in stores, and although I love shopping, going to a store with a child is more of a terrible necessity for me than a pleasant leisure.

There are enough Russian women in Japan and in RuNet, whose children go to a Japanese kindergarten, and many of them understand the topic much better than I do so far, so I do not pretend to be an exhaustive truth on this issue. The main point of the preschool system in Japan is that you can't put your child in kindergarten if the parents don't work. If you don’t work, bring up at home, be kind, even if there are more than one child. The choice and placement in the kindergarten takes place through the administration of the municipality. You come to the city hall, you get an atlas of kindergartens with maps and directions, with data on the number of places. You choose from 1 to 3 desired kindergartens, prepare documents from the employer and apply - when receiving documents, they will also ask where the grandparents are and whether there really is no one to sit with the child. You can apply any day, but the school year in Japan starts in April, so there are nuances - it’s easier to get into the desired kindergarten in April, as new groups are formed, and during the year there are already somewhat fewer opportunities, although there is still no desperate crush.

In Japan, there are public and private kindergartens, and they are (seemingly) no different from each other. The approach to children, norms, requirements, payment are the same everywhere - more precisely, payment generally does not depend on the kindergarten, but is determined by the municipality based on the income of the parents. Who earns more - he gives more for the kindergarten, that's all. It also seemed interesting to me that, before choosing a kindergarten, you can see each of them - just go in, say hello, and they will show you the decoration with pleasure. At the same time, making acquaintances and trying to gain a foothold is pointless, since the decision is made blindly in the municipality based on free places, location, etc. I was in several kindergartens, and my friend traveled around a dozen of them, everywhere they met the same way, and the smiling, cozy staff in aprons all looked the same :)

And the gardens are also divided into hoikuen and yotiens - in the first, the children seem to be just watched and entertained, and the second are educational institutions. When I googled "Japanese Kindergarten", I immediately came across one article by a Russian mother whose 4-year-old daughter went to Yotien and was subjected to all kinds of chilling persecution and goading for the wrong length of her hair and the composition of vegetables in her home-cooked dinner. I’m still weak in the subject, so I can’t say if such a phenomenon actually exists - well, probably there is, since they write! My friend's son goes to the state hoikuen, and no one bothers him with his wheaten curls. And another friend in a large kindergarten, on the contrary, admonishes mothers not to waste time and not to make dinners with them too beautiful.

When I was choosing, I intuitively liked a small kindergarten for toddlers from 6 months to 2 years. Usually in the garden there are all age groups from 0 to 6 years old, and this one is like an appendage of an adult garden, and only small ones go to it. Our Katya generally has a zero-age, since at the beginning of the school year on April 1 she was still 0 years old :))) An interesting question for me is which social group of Japanese sends children to a nursery, because it is generally accepted that women marry stop working and raise their children at home accordingly. Of course, there are plenty of women in the bank, in the same mayor's office and in all other working positions, and it is difficult to determine whether they are all single and childless. So for now I don’t understand at all who I ended up among :) but I’m easy on social relationships, so, by and large, I don’t care if it’s decent or indecent that you have a small child and you work at the same time.
In many kindergartens, the morning starts at 8, and the day ends for the child at any time - if a woman works part-time or part-time, she can pick up the child at her convenience. In many kindergartens, for an additional fee, they can hold a child until 7 pm or on Saturday - after all, the vast majority of Japanese work on Saturdays and overtime. The scheme of a long-term adaptation with a mother sitting under the door, pretending to be a hose, is not accepted - after all, it is understood that the mother has gone to work! But at the same time, no one will mind if the mother picks up the child much earlier in the first days. Well, at 5 pm, decent mothers are already sorting out the children :)

In order to correctly perceive all such information, one must understand how children are treated in a Japanese kindergarten. Today we were at an organizational meeting, where we were told how to collect the child and what the daily routine is in the kindergarten - and so, today there were 12 people in the kindergarten, and 6 educators plus the head of them. Children are hugged, carried on the arms, rocked, and this is the norm. In the kindergarten one does not feel any danger and anxiety of a state-owned institution, and, in general, everything that they take on is very Japanese. Sleeping children under 2 years of age have their breath checked every 15 minutes (due to SIDS), and those who fall asleep on their stomachs are turned on their backs. The kindergarten himself buys for the child the milk mixture that the baby prefers, and, if necessary, buys the bottle and nipple familiar to the child. Naturally, allergies are taken into account, and the child is not given the product that he cannot. There is a reasonable opinion that the Japanese lay softly, but then sleep hard - restrictions, everyone in an even order, God forbid, go against the team .... I don’t have any bright opinion on this yet, I don’t feel the need to seek the truth and assert themselves in the team, but in theory I understand that such a law-abiding society did not come about by itself, with so little corruption and such clean toilets.

More about the rules: they don’t give sweets and gingerbread to children, but you need to bring a mattress, a couple of towels, bags for dirty clothes and diaper disposal, 2-3 sets of change of clothes and all that. They gave out a booklet, in which every day the educators will make notes about the behavior and well-being of the child, how he ate, slept, etc. Mom's counter activity is welcome - so that she also keeps a chronicle there. And they voluntarily-compulsorily sold us (for an inexpensive) uniform yellow panama ... one for 5 years, before school: D I wonder what she will be like at the end of her career?

No matter how many electronic toys you give your child, the favorites will remain the trash can and milk bags: D

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS

1. General principles of public early childhood education in Japan………..3

2. The essence and principles of preschool education in Japanese kindergartens…….5

3. Features of preschool education of children of different ages……………10

4. Traditional types of preschool education in Japan…………………..24

List of used sources………………………………………………31

1. General principles of public early childhood education in Japan

Pre-school education is the initial link in a holistic system of lifelong education in Japan. There are several types of childcare facilities in Japan - a nursery (from birth to three years old), a nursery garden (from birth to six years old), a kindergarten (from three to six years old) and special preschool institutions for children with physical and mental disabilities. . Nurseries are located in the system of the Ministry of Health, which oversees the work and special institutions. The program and mode of operation of preschool institutions, which are determined by the Ministry of Education, are focused on continuing the compulsory education of children in school (from six to fifteen years old). Senior and secondary schools have general educational and professional biases.
Higher education is provided by 2-3-year colleges and universities in the cities of Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hokkaido, Kyushu.
In Japan, there are also several types of preschool institutions: municipal (state) and private; nurseries located in the health system, kindergartens and nursery-kindergartens. There are such special institutions for children suffering from various ailments. The program and regime are determined for nursery groups by the Ministry of Health, and for preschool - by the Ministry of Education. However, the leadership of the municipality, taking into account local conditions, can make appropriate changes. In addition, each preschool builds the program in its own way.
It is worth emphasizing that out of the total number of preschool institutions, only 48 belong to the public sector (6,630 educators and 278 teachers), more than six thousand kindergartens are subordinate to municipal authorities. There are 8768 private kindergartens with the absolute majority of children from 3 to 5 years old - 1560242. 76152 teachers work with them, including 70597 women.
The time of stay of children in preschool institutions is not the same: in some children they stay until lunch (usually until 13:00), in others - until the evening (until 16 or 18:30). According to the stay, the diet is also organized. Those who are present part-time bring breakfast from home and return home for dinner. The rest get lunch or lunch and a light afternoon snack.
The municipal kindergarten is attended by 150 children (4 groups) of four and five years old. The children come to the garden at 9 am, at 1 pm their parents pick them up. The first half hour is devoted to games under the guidance of a teacher. Then the teacher works with the children in the following six subjects (alternately): music, drawing, nature, speech, community (moral education) and physical education. Each teacher has the right to build classes at their discretion. During the subsequent discussion, the positive and negative aspects of the methodology are clarified and the work plan for tomorrow is determined. Therefore, the working day of the teaching staff lasts until 16 hours.
The kindergarten is a two-storey typical building, the interior of which is glazed sliding walls, thanks to which the house directly communicates with the yard. Looking ahead, let's say that the area of the yard and the degree of its greenery is very different. The rooms are not furnished with furniture. As a rule, tables and chairs are folding. This allows you to easily and quickly free up room for outdoor and other games, and even for drawing. In Japan, children love to draw on the floor. (The floors are wooden, warm, a heating system passes under them. All year round, children walk barefoot indoors.) They draw with pencils, felt-tip pens, paints on large sheets. Bent over, or even simply reclining over a white or colored rectangle, three or four children diligently draw something out. At the same time, they do not always agree, and therefore, in the end, you get not the embodiment of a common idea, but several completely independent images.
The second preschool institution is the municipal nursery-kindergarten. It is attended by 160 children from birth to 6 years (6 groups). Children are here from 7.30 to 18.30. Daytime naps are also included. Babies sleep on tatami - straw mattresses on the floor. And, the third - a private kindergarten. There are 100 pupils here.
Osaka and Osaka Prefecture are home to preschools for burakumin, a discriminated population in Japan. In principle, the gardens were not much different from those in Tokyo, except that they were more spacious and had more courtyard area. The history of burakumin, placed in the position of outcasts, has many hundreds of years. And today the same picture. Modern descendants of burakumin live much worse than the main population of Japan: poor living conditions, lower level of medical care, the highest percentage of unemployed, low-paid work. Old, ingrained prejudices determine the negative attitude towards burakumin.
Preschool institutions of any type in Japan are paid. Monthly maintenance of a child costs parents 2-3 thousand yen, or even more. Where the mayor of the city is progressive, the subsidy of the municipality exceeds the usual, state increase. Although, according to existing rules, only children from families in which both parents work are admitted to preschool institutions. In conditions of inflation, the cost of a place in a kindergarten is constantly growing.
Some impressions about Japanese teachers, about their work. They are dedicated people who love children. They care about a lot: the future of Japanese children, and the militaristic ideas that are preached in separate books about education. Finally, an infinite number of professional, methodological problems. Educators, in addition to the usual medical information, data on the composition of the family, the profession of parents, etc., keep a map of observation of the development of the child: they carefully record the behavior of the baby, contacts in the game, etc. All these observations are brought to the attention of parents, discussed with them.
The Tokyo Municipal Institute of Education has a pre-school department that provides methodological assistance to kindergarten teachers. The department employs 9 people. Each of them, together with one of the educators, develops recommendations on issues of mental development, the relationship between the team and the individual, education in the family, organization of the environment, etc. Collections and methodological developments are published on these issues.
It should be noted that the "exam heat" of the nineties did not bypass preschool institutions. So, four-year-old children were admitted to privileged private kindergartens after exams. For example, there may be more than 600 applicants for 36 places in such a garden. To prepare for the exam, the children attended special courses. The fee for them is more than 200 thousand yen per month. At the exam, a four-year-old applicant must not only answer the questions of the examination committee, but also sing, dance, and recite poetry.
Competition in groups for preschoolers reaches 20 people per place. In such groups, 82,000 three- to five-year-old Japanese study. They are taught mathematics, Japanese or English. Pupils of preparatory schools with a mathematical bias, as well as the vast majority of children from other preparatory schools, by the age of five, master the addition and subtraction of fractional, multiplication and division of whole numbers.
Thus, a brief acquaintance with the system of preschool education in Japan convinces us that we need a thoughtful and gradual inclusion of preschool institutions in a single continuous system of education and upbringing. The traditional system of private pre-school education in this country has proven itself in practice and is a good base for preparing children for a six-year primary school.

2. The essence and principles of preschool education in Japanese kindergartens

The main task of preschool education in Japan is the overall development and preparation of children for school. Much attention is paid to the development of diligence, independence, discipline and creative initiative. Japanese teachers solve these problems by means of the leading types of activities at each age stage - in games, in the classroom (literature, music, fine arts, social life, nature and the environment, physical development), in preparation for holidays and entertainment. There is no significant difference between state and private kindergartens in the content of pedagogical work. However, some disproportion exists between urban and rural kindergartens in terms of department, occupancy and contingent, but their material and educational equipment is generally homogeneous. To help educators (among whom men are not uncommon), scientific and methodological magazines are published - "Education", "Modern Pedagogical Science", instructive manuals of ministries, educational and methodological literature and visual aids.
Kindergartens in Japan are now undergoing specific educational processes. Together with training, they include supervision and moral education. If training is aimed at developing abilities for a particular type of activity, then education is aimed at developing ethical values and moral qualities in children. Since 1936, there has been an "Early Child Development Society" in Japan, which operates on a voluntary basis. In their activities, the members of this society turn not so much to pedagogical theories as to their practical implementation, direct relations with the child, aimed at maintaining his own "I" in him. The charter of this society notes that the baby is an equal member of society, but cases of egocentrism should not be allowed when a cult of the child arises in the family.
Members of the society believe that the main principle of preschool education should be cooperation between the smallest, between them and educators from the standpoint of "collaboration pedagogy". Over the past decades, scientific research has been carried out in this direction in preschool pedagogy in Japan.
In kindergartens in Japan, it is forbidden to teach children to write and count. But on the other hand, already in the first grade of elementary school, kids should know the alphabet and 60 hieroglyphs, be able to perform several simple mathematical actions. Along with the development of knowledge and skills, much attention is paid to the development of ways to independently solve creative problems, as well as the formation of universal values, ethical and moral education. The latter is especially important in connection with the increase in the country of families who are indifferent to the upbringing of their children, as well as with a decrease in the number of parents who are confident in the correctness of their pedagogical influence.
As important areas of preschool education in Japan, the strengthening of relationships between adults and children, the formation of independent activity skills, the possession of pedagogical technologies, and the formation of a friendly environment for the development of the child in a preschool institution are highlighted.
It should be noted that increased attention to the group as an effective factor in the education of preschoolers has become quite widespread in professional and public circles in Japan. But it was not easy to implement the group method as a single system in practice. The main obstacle was the numerous options for preschool education that Japanese teachers used in kindergartens, acting in isolation, each on his own.
In Japan, the group method is very popular - “educate by discussing”, that is, discuss in a group with children all their actions and actions that they perform or can perform, as well as a more advanced method of “educate by persuading”, that is, conduct discussions in such a way that the children themselves, from their own experience, were convinced that it was necessary to act or act in this way, and not otherwise, well, and not badly.
However, when one gets acquainted with the real state of affairs in Japanese kindergartens and nurseries (municipal, private, without official status, etc.), a huge difference in the conditions of education is striking. In particular, the level of equipment of some preschool institutions differs sharply from the level of others, and in many cases this equipment is not enough at all. As a result, the children of one country are waiting for completely different conditions of education (and no one pays attention to children with developmental disabilities). Such is the reality.
In my opinion, in Japan, it is necessary to reorient all groups of preschool institutions in such a direction that each child in the group feels confident and equal in its rights. The group itself must develop on the basis of camaraderie and cooperation. The development of children and the formation of a group are closely interrelated, so the integrated management of these processes becomes relevant.
The formation of a preschool group is not completed at the end of each "academic" year in kindergarten, this process continues for four to five years. Unfortunately, in reality, it almost never happens that the same teacher can lead a group of children from one year to five years, that is, until the children leave kindergarten. Either the educator is “transferred” to another group, or a lot of newcomers enter the already organized group, and as a result, the educator has to work with the new composition. In order to widely apply and raise the group method of educating preschoolers to a high level, a unified approach to this problem is needed on the part of all kindergarten workers. Only then will it be possible to successfully carry out the long-term formation of groups. It should also be borne in mind that the practice of group education of young children in our country is insignificant, and there are still few integrated preschool institutions (nurseries and kindergartens) in Japan. However, the problem of group formation, like other problems of preschool education, is of increasing interest on the part of educators and teachers.
What is common in the activities of kindergartens in Japan is that there are many like-minded teachers among the teachers working there, while they strive to make parents who support many of the educators' undertakings their like-minded people.
The beginning of practical activities for the implementation of group methods of education should not be postponed until the moment when all the necessary conditions are provided. It is necessary to start also where there are no conditions yet, but there is hope that they can be gradually created, expanding the scope of one's actions.
Most kindergartens in Japan do not yet have the necessary conditions for the full-fledged activities of educators.
Speaking about the educational impact on the development of the child, we must keep in mind two aspects that determine the approach to solving this problem. The first is the relationship between the concepts of "natural maturation" and "learning", and the second is the difference between "change" and "development".
It is hardly possible to single out the natural maturation of a child as a separate internal process in its pure form, because it occurs in close interaction with the external environment. As a matter of fact, only physiological can be attributed to “pure” maturation. Education is a process that influences the child from the outside and forms certain personal qualities. As a result, natural maturation and learning, intertwined, lead to development.
Some scientists assign maturation a dominant role in the development of children. Their views are reflected in the theory of free natural development, which came from the United States and was widely used in the first post-war period. The concepts of "readiness" and "stages of development" put forward by this theory, in my opinion, have become inhibitory forces on the way forward of pedagogy, especially practical. According to this theory, it is not only useless, but even harmful, to teach a child before he reaches a level of readiness at a certain stage of development. The educators were bound hand and foot by this depressing theory, so they passively watched their pupils run amok. Such are the costs of focusing only on natural maturation.
However, the history of Japanese pedagogy also knows the opposite trend - in the direction of education, which was also given exceptional importance. In pre-war and wartime, the upbringing of the younger generation, especially boys, was frankly subordinated to the needs of a militaristic state, while the task of purposeful education was limited to the preparation of future devoted soldiers.
But both before the war and after the war, there were quite a few educators and teachers whose position regarding development and education was completely different. They were not supporters of education as a means of a special kind, which made it possible to make anything out of children, like out of clay. They also did not consider it possible to rely only on the will of the gods and not interfere in anything, so that the soul of the child would receive the natural development prepared for him. These educators advocated psychologically and pedagogically meaningful stimulation of the development of children's consciousness. Today this view has become generally accepted. The problem of raising children at the present stage is not to decide whether or not to interfere in their development, but to determine its direction and methods of implementation.
Now we come to the second aspect of the problem of development - to identify the difference between change and development. If the process of change does not lead to an increase in value parameters, then development, in the broad sense of this concept, is out of the question. (After all, decrepitude is also a change!) When we talk about the development of a child, we, in fact, mean the accumulation of spiritual qualities, which proceeds in close connection with historical development. But where does the course of history lead, to good or to evil? There are different opinions on this matter. They say, for example, that the past was kinder, it did not know atomic bombs and environmental pollution. Of course, one can agree with this, but I personally believe that in the modern world, where the threat of nuclear war is a real danger, one cannot limit oneself to reasoning about good and evil. People must realize their responsibility for the fate of the planet and finally understand that every ordinary person can influence what is happening, at least by collecting signatures under a protest appeal.
Based on this, it becomes clear that the spiritual development of the child cannot be considered as a purely personal matter, it should not be limited to reaching certain milestones in terms of individual practicality.
If development is not oriented towards the formation of socially useful values, it often acquires an anti-social and even anti-human connotation. In these abnormal cases, development is transformed into anti-development. We stand for an upbringing that encourages the desire of children to act in common interests and in common. And for such methods of personality development that multiply and enrich its truly human qualities.
It is well known that the factors stimulating the development of children are the environment, on the one hand, and educators, on the other. Educators, in my opinion, should be attributed to factors of a special kind. Because, being constantly near the children, they must act as their representatives and intermediaries, acting in their interests, together with them, for their sake. Ideally, all adults around the child should act as their authorized representatives. And of course, this is how a mother and educator should understand their functions. If, for example, a child who has just begun to walk finds himself in a situation where he needs to slow down and stop, the mother or caregiver should help him. Do not stop the child, but only help him fulfill the desire or need to stop.
We note a very significant point: acting as a confidant of the child, the educator in this capacity receives the right to access to his inner world. I think the importance of such a status as an educator is beyond doubt. And there is one more circumstance that should never be forgotten. Educators are the bearers of the social relations into which the child is to enter. Therefore, the skillful and tactful introduction of the child into the circle of various types of communication is so important. The child must realize that he needs communication, that life without comrades, without friends, is uninteresting and joyless. And if a baby, having cast a glance at a child sleeping next to him, smiles affably, this should be regarded as the first step on the path of a person’s natural desire to communicate with other people. Any actions, even the most simple, affect others, and even more so in a child's environment. This is the advantage of raising children in a group.

3. Features of preschool education of children of different ages

Japanese preschool institutions are designed for children from 1 year to 5 years. These institutions are not divided into nurseries and kindergartens, and therefore the educational strategy is the same in them. Children are accepted, as well as to school, only at the beginning of the school year, in April. As a result, it is possible to plan and implement a general development and learning program for children of all ages.
Japanese teachers believe that the purposeful formation of communication skills should begin precisely from the age of one, when children literally barely get on their feet. In realizing this goal, Japanese educators adhere to the following principles:
To study and take into account age characteristics (what a child can do at this age, what he wants to do and what he can be taught).
To study and take into account individual characteristics (what the child likes to do and what he does easily, what he does not like to do and what is given to him with difficulty).
Make the most of the conflict situations that constantly arise in the natural life of the group for teaching various skills.
The specific tasks of teaching one-year-old children are also quite definite:
Teach your child to express their wants and needs in words.
Teach elementary skills - eat independently, use a potty, etc.
Instill primary communication skills: greeting, inviting to play, expressing gratitude, etc. .
Japanese educators suggest using a two-way connection between word and action as the main organizational technique, which will subsequently facilitate the coordination of the development process. To do this, the educator must not lose sight of each child, see all conflict situations and, to a large extent, build his educational strategy on them. At the age of one, conflict situations are stereotyped: one wants what the other has (a toy, food); two want the same thing; one wants to get the other's attention and does it in a "natural" way, that is, hitting or pushing. The task of the educator is to teach one-year-old children "artificial", specially formed interaction skills. Moreover, this must be done in a certain sequence:
Prompt the child to realize his desire (“Do you want this toy too?” Or “Do you want to play with him?”).
Tell the child what to say at the same time, with what words ("What should I say?", "Give" or "I'm with you").
Draw the child’s attention to the fact that his words led to a certain result (“You see, he gave you a toy, now you will play together”).
As you can see, it is very important here to constantly single out and emphasize two points that the child must eventually realize as an absolute necessity and feel, feel as a concrete reality. First, the word has a "magic" power: it gives me what I want. Secondly, there are obvious successes and results on the way to mastering the word: I just couldn’t say, and everything was bad, but now I can, and everything works out - they listen to me, give me a toy, they play with me.
Life in a group and in society is not only the implementation of interpersonal contacts, but also the need to comply with social norms. Japanese educators believe that social education should begin at the age of one. At the same time, they believe that an effective means is the use of contradictions that arise between individual members of the group. All conflict situations must certainly be discussed in the children's environment, and then the inevitable prohibitions and restrictions acquire for the children the meaning of their own decisions. And this can already be considered as the basis for the formation of their future personal activity and responsibility for their actions.
Here, for example, are the organizational principles of joint work developed by educators in a group of one-year-old children:

What attitudes does the Japanese educator adhere to? First, he knows that communication skills need to be taught. If this process is allowed to take its course, the child may develop behavior patterns that are destructive to his own development and may even become socially dangerous. Therefore, this process requires constant attention and adjustment. In his work, the Japanese educator proceeds from the fact that effective learning is possible only when they do not "teach", but help "learn". And the main thing here is to create or use the situation of "presence of a motive". In this regard, it becomes clear why conflict situations are considered as the most conducive to the effectiveness of the educational process in a group of one-year-old children.
One-year-old children so fearlessly come into contact with the outside world that, watching them, many adults, probably, more than once thought about how inquisitive and inquisitive our children could grow up if their inclinations, aspirations and activity, which are already manifested in infancy, were not restrained in the process of education. Children of this age have to be watched especially carefully, really not taking their eyes off them for a minute.
The role of the educator in the development of the objective world by the child is undoubtedly important and responsible. If one-year-old children are brought up in a preschool institution, then they have the opportunity of children's communication earlier than "home" ones, because they discover group partners for themselves every day - the same peer kids as themselves.
Usually, dating goes something like this.
When a child begins to walk freely, without assistance, his attention is attracted by moving small partners, and he tries to push someone. As a rule, his efforts are not unsuccessful. Someone falls and starts crying, and the kid who pushed him points his finger at him in amazement, proclaiming a loud “Ah! Ah! When the fallen partner gets up, the little "experimenter" usually pushes him again. The intervention of the educator in such a situation is extremely important, because this is the first lesson in the communication of a one-year-old baby with a peer.
"He's in pain!" - says the teacher and with the hand of the falling child pushes the one who started first. The "Aggressor" falls and also bursts into tears. Thus, once in the place of the victim, the child begins to understand that the partner is the same as him, and he also hurts.
We are convinced that the formation of personal relationships in a group should begin at the age of one year, when children are literally just getting on their feet. I will try to describe this experience.
The behavior of a child who first came to a nursery-kindergarten is primarily reflected in his behavior. Toys that interest children can be used as a means of stabilizing mood. At the same time, it is advisable to ask parents what favorite toys the child has at home. It is necessary to try during the week to identify what each child is interested in.
When babies' interest in new toys wanes somewhat, they begin to notice the moment of separation from their parents, who bring them to the nursery every morning. Until yesterday, entering the room, the children immediately rushed to look for their toys, but today they cling to their mothers so that you can’t tear them off. But if the teacher takes the child in his arms, looks for his toy, plays with him for a while, and then lowers him to the floor, the child is distracted, tunes in to the game and no longer looks for his mother.
A child's attachment to a certain toy gradually transforms into an interest in another child who plays with the same or similar toy. “What is it there?”, “Interesting!”, “I want it too!”, “I want to touch it.” This can be seen as a step forward in the development of the child. Individual acquaintance with the objective world, the center of which until now was the child himself, formed certain relations between the child and objects familiar to him. Now comes a new stage - the realization of the presence of a peer partner with whom a new relationship arises. To deepen them, strengthen ties, educators also resort to the use of objects, primarily those already familiar to children.
One-year-old children in a group dine and have lunch together, sleep together during the day and even often sit on pots. Children gradually get used to all this, and comradely relations are established between them. When a child eats with everyone for the first time, this quite natural situation often arises. After eating his portion, he reaches out to his neighbor's plate for more. In the family, no one objected to such behavior, but this does not work in the children's group: a child who is deprived of food begins to defend himself and, when angry, even hits. Therefore, it is necessary to immediately explain to the beginner that it is impossible to arbitrarily take someone else's portion, and patiently teach him to express his desire properly.
When working with one-year-old children, it should be remembered that very often the child expresses his unwillingness with tears, not knowing another form of resistance. He needs to be taught to say, “No. I don't want" to reject the undesirable. It is necessary that the kids realize that the main means of attracting attention to themselves is the ability to verbally express their desire or unwillingness, which is how they can achieve understanding and sympathy in the group. Often the purely personal needs of the child, primarily physiological, stimulate the emergence of independence.
The experience of Japanese teachers shows that in the perception of elementary skills of behavior by one-year-old children, the combination of word and action, their two-way connection, prevails. And in order to activate friendly contacts in the children's group, serious attention must be paid to the game beginning, especially when modeling the relationship "child - partner - peer".
After about four months of being in kindergarten, children begin to understand that their comrades are equal members of the group, with similar needs. The game during this four-month period acquires special significance in the life of babies.
For one-year-olds, the first major activity in developing independence is learning to use the potty. It turns into a kind of private toilet lessons (how to take off your pants and then put them on, how to pour out the contents of the pot, how to help a friend straighten his shirt, etc.) and takes almost all the time until lunch. At the same time, the teacher tries to make the most of the game moments. But the game at this age has an independent educational significance.
At first, the game should not last long. True, depending on the partners, the time of the game may be different, but usually the game is designed for several minutes. It is advisable to unite the interests of six to seven children so that they can act together.
The contradictions between the needs of one's own "I" and the needs of other "I" cause conflict situations in one-year-old children.
If, adhering to the theory of free development, one does not attach importance to conflict situations, believing that it is too early for one-year-old children to understand a partner, one should not force them to do this, if one restricts himself to simple care for babies, it will not be possible to develop the abilities inherent in each child. However, in order to strengthen the social orientation of the upbringing of children of this age, educators successfully use the contradictions that directly arise between children in a group. Thus, discussions of all conflict situations take place, and the kids perceive the inevitable prohibitions and restrictions as their own decisions.
In forming a democratic children's group, one of the natural means of education should undoubtedly be a clear and accessible understanding of each child, the resolution of contradictions that arise when the interests of its individual members clash. It is very important that for educators this orientation will become the basis when working with a group of one-year-old children.
In the group of two-year-olds, the tasks of the educator become somewhat more complicated and include the following:
To instill in children the right skills and habits in basic activities (nutrition, afternoon nap, dressing, keeping clean).
Teach children to express their needs in words, especially in conflict situations. To do this, they must learn to understand and remember the necessary set of words.
To develop basic motor abilities in children (walk in a certain rhythm, stop, run, jump, step over obstacles, etc.).
To stimulate the desire of children to participate in common games and activities, to teach them to appreciate the joy of joint actions.
To solve these problems, educators work in two main directions: in the field of the child's individual activity, which ensures the development of the necessary independence skills, and in the field of group activity, which provides the opportunity to teach the child the norms of life in society. In both areas of activity, the development of the child goes through three main stages - inability, interest, mastery. At first, the child does not know how and does not want to perform the necessary action, then he becomes interested and wants to do everything immediately and “by himself!”, although he does not succeed. And then, in the process of satisfying his own desire, he gradually masters the necessary skills and abilities. In group life, the child at first completely ignores others, then shows interest in them, but does not yet possess adequate means of its expression and, gradually mastering them, finally satisfies his interest by starting to communicate.
The effectiveness of the educational impact, according to the author of the article on two-year-old children, depends on two most important conditions: the use of the game in the learning process and the encouragement of the desire of children to do everything themselves.
The tasks facing educators of two-year-old children can be more specific:
1. Treating each child with care, instill in all children elementary skills in such life areas as eating, sleeping, dressing, and keeping clean. In the future, it was necessary to teach the child to serve himself, delicately helping him take the first steps towards independence.

Children of this age are very prone to infectious diseases, often fall, receiving various injuries. Therefore, we decided to pay great attention to recreational activities, motor exercises, the formation of elementary hygiene skills, since it is during this period that the foundation for the further physical development of the child is laid.
In the game, children memorize words, the range of their interests expands. The exchange of statements during a fun game deepens comradely relations between children, generates trust. Such free games can be combined with games that have a common cause. For example, building a big sand house or something like that.
Basic life skills and habits are developed by everyone in their own way and manifest themselves in different ways in relationships with others. This is a very important issue that has been written about a lot. If you do not repeat again and again what the guys have learned, the acquired skill is lost. And even the one who is quite able to serve himself, in some manifestations, often turns out to be dependent.
Two-year-old children, like monkeys, copy everything and everyone: a teacher, a friend, a neighbor. True, they copy both the good and the bad. When preparations for dinner begin, everyone wants to wipe the table himself. And although it is completely clean, every child certainly tries to “work” with a rag. Glasses, too, all the children want to distribute. And if someone starts to clear the empty plates from the table, other kids also jump up and go to look for empty plates. Every child strives to do literally everything.
Two years is such an age when the development of speech and the formation of the basic motor abilities of the child occur incredibly quickly. It is at this time that it is necessary to pay considerable attention to the relationship between the motor and intellectual abilities of the child. In our work, we tried to take into account the characteristics and prospects for the development of each child, as well as create conditions for the realization of his abilities.
For example, finger training. It stimulates mental development and contributes to the development of basic elementary skills, such as dressing and undressing, fastening and unbuttoning buttons, manipulating hashi chopsticks, spoons, scissors, etc. Playing with multi-colored beads helps to acquire the skills of threading through holes, teaches children to distinguish colors. In addition, during classes with small objects, children get an idea of such concepts as the same, different, many, alo, long, short, top, bottom, etc., which then allows them to approach the basics of writing and counting.
Moreover, all this is not imposed on children, but is offered as an interesting game. It is only important that educators have a clear idea of what exactly they want to achieve using this or that type of activity.
Educators should be especially attentive to pranks, pranks and conflict situations that arise in the group. This is important not only for the formation of the group itself, relations in it, but also for the development in children of such spiritual qualities as sensitivity, cordiality, attention to a partner.
When developing practical courses for raising children in a group, it is necessary to take into account issues of a technical nature, so to speak: the number of educators in the group, the range of their duties, the resource of physical capabilities, etc. These problems are still waiting to be resolved.
In groups of three-year-old children, the consolidation of skills of individual independence continues, but now learning takes place in the form of mutual assistance and mutual learning. Particular attention is paid to the development of group interaction skills and joint activities. Work begins on the formation of an idea of responsibilities and their distribution, which in the future should become the basis of group self-government.
Since the independence of children increases - they want to do everything themselves - the teacher gradually leads the children to such a type of social work as duty. Children are given the opportunity to think about and discuss issues on duty. Who needs a duty officer? Who can be on duty? What should you do while on duty? How should an attendant behave? The patience of Japanese educators is amazing when listening to all the proposals, sometimes completely unbelievable. But it is even more surprising that for the educators themselves this is not a martyr's feat, but a conscious strategy - to awaken the child's thought and form a stable motivation for active group activity. New in this age group is joint independent activity. For example, self-service, when a group of three-year-olds stay overnight in kindergarten for the first time. Careful preparation of children for this event, as it were, “programs” their behavior. And nothing terrible happens, the event itself is then analyzed in detail, and this, of course, serves as a clear and conscious lesson in the development of independence.
Of particular interest is the painstaking work of educators in organizing a “common cause”, the purpose of which is to give three-year-old children the opportunity to experience a sense of joy from joint efforts that are successfully completed.
With the expansion of the sphere of friendly contacts, the interests of three-year-old children begin to go beyond the limits of their group. Watching how the children from the older groups are on duty, doing gymnastics, etc., the pupils vying with each other turn to the teachers: “I want it too!”, “I can do it!”, “Can I try it?”. Starting to prepare the premises for the next lesson, our three-year-olds suggest: “Maybe we can remove all the chairs?” Preparing for a meal, they try to wipe the table, distribute plates. Every now and then you hear: “Let me do it!”, “Me too!”
Children begin to imitate each other in both good and bad. For example, suddenly stop drinking milk. There are two tendencies in the relations between the members of the group. On the one hand, there are children who take care of others, and those who are taken care of, the latter, as it were, retain their “infant status”. On the other hand, there are children who absolutely do not accept this type of relationship. Therefore, the craving of children for independence should be considered as a general problem. At this age, the desire to overcome some of their shortcomings, to be in some way no worse than others, to serve themselves, in general - to assert themselves. Such aspirations should be encouraged, and efforts should be made to make children think about their comrades, so that they know the joy of joint activity and feel the scale of opportunities that this activity generates.
Over time, the autonomy of the group increases. Children tend to help the teacher: “I want to do it”, “Let me do it!”. This is especially noticeable when preparing for a meal. Gradually, such an activity as duty is being mastered.
Duty is a help to the educator and at the same time social work. The content and importance of the duties of the attendant must be understood by each child in order to be able to perform the corresponding functions. Otherwise, the joint activities of the group members will be difficult or even impossible. Three-year-old children can easily cope with simple tasks: they can set the table, signal for lunch or afternoon tea, clear the dishes from the table. You need to start small: you can instruct the attendant to paint over a flag every day on the board of sports competitions, draw sticks on an ad, etc.
Every child wants to be on duty, and this desire helps him come to the conclusion that the common cause is the most important. At the same time, it is necessary that all children gradually understand that many people want to be on duty, which means that we must think about each other and try so that no one is offended. If the joint activity of three-year-old children takes place at a common table, then two attendants are enough for the group. Often the main group should be divided into smaller "subdivisions", in each of which it is necessary to have a person on duty.
Why is group membership necessary? Since the creation of the children's group, it immediately indicates direct connections between educators and pupils, while the connection between partners in the group has been in the process of formation for a long time. In our opinion, the division into small groups contributes to the strengthening of comradely ties. In large groups, establishing close friendly contacts is somewhat difficult.
When creating small groups, one should take into account the balance of power and influence among its members, since very often, imitating strong and stubborn partners, some children stop, for example, drinking milk, participating in play, or refusing to perform daily duties.
The experience of living together in a group brings great benefits to children. The boundaries of independence have expanded, new skills and habits have appeared, games have become richer and more diverse. Mutual support and cooperation have become the norm: children have learned to take care of a partner, to help him, while experiencing pleasure.
Three years is such an age when a child should already have full control of his body, have rich gaming experience and sufficiently developed abilities. One of the main tasks of the physical at this age, Japanese teachers consider the mastery of skipping, the playing capabilities of children. In this regard, the following mini-program was developed:
Teach kids to jump on one leg.
Teach children to move forward by jumping on one leg.
Teach children to change their foot (right-left) while jumping.
Mastering the basic skills of this exercise must be carried out at every opportunity. Children who are not yet able to skip, it is advisable to first train at a fast pace, best of all to music and in front of everyone.
At this age, children are not yet particularly shy, and we consider it very important to instill in them the desire for action: “I want to try”, “I want to do”. During physical education classes, children should fully show their abilities. Each new movement mastered not only adds self-confidence to children, but also contributes to their overall development.
But if someone alone knows how, for educators and the children's group this is not yet an achievement. The task of teachers is to make sure that everyone can do it. It is during physical education that common efforts should be directed. Those who do not know how should be supported, helped to inspire them for further efforts. Such common affairs and companionship enrich the personal experience of each child, contribute to the development of his consciousness, and also increase the level of activity of the whole group.
The main task of the development of four-year-olds was to achieve a certain independence of the group in the process of forming the skills of group self-government. In the individual development of the child, another task was identified: to learn the correct behavior in a situation of making a group decision - to express one's opinion, take into account the opinions of others and, if it is impossible to defend one's opinion, find a compromise solution. Japanese educators believe that at the age of four, one can begin to form another individual quality - a sense of social duty. And the preparatory work for this began, as we saw earlier, with a clear definition of the terms of reference of the duty officer in the younger groups. The duty itself pursues mainly purely psychological goals: first, to form an idea of the duties of the duty officer, and then, with the help of group discussion and evaluation procedures, to consolidate the emotional attitude towards the duty officer’s activities as something extremely “useful” and “good”.
In order to “reinforce” the group consciousness, a special experience of participation in different groups was created among four-year-olds, where different types of activities were envisaged. To do this, firstly, the so-called "vital" groups were reorganized and, secondly, groups of "purposeful activity" were formed in parallel. "Target" groups were created for two months in connection with certain tasks. As a result, counter activities of two groups were organized, in which each child simultaneously participated. In the target group, the activities of children were aimed at solving specific problems; in the life group, this activity was discussed and generalized, which contributed to the consolidation of the entire team of four-year-olds as a whole.
There were six task forces, and they were organized very thoughtfully:
Group A. For children who do not know how to express their thoughts clearly enough and therefore often find themselves in a dependent position. The goal is to provide an opportunity to express themselves more actively in order to “be on an equal footing” with all children.
Group B. For children who can do everything, but are not self-confident and therefore passive. The goal is to stimulate the desire to freely express their opinions and carry out their own intentions.
Group B. For children who do not express their will and therefore their contacts are limited to listening to the opinions of others. The goal is to activate verbal communication with partners.
Group D. For children who consider everything that is outside their sphere of interest as something secondary and optional. The goal is to attach to the implementation of common tasks.
Group D. For children who, in an effort to impose their will, run ahead in joint actions. The goal is to teach to act in accordance with the general course of the process.
Group E. For children who restrain themselves in their actions and therefore go unnoticed by others. The goal is to awaken the desire for self-affirmation in the proposed situations.
Participation in the target group allows the child to correct some of the negative features of his "nature", which may cause serious life problems in the future. Also instructive is the psychological, more precisely, psychotherapeutic competence of educators, which is manifested in the way they single out the characteristics of children and what principles they use when selecting groups.
Japanese educators are guided in this not by exhaustive theoretical schemes, but by narrow practical considerations that make it possible to most effectively solve specific educational problems. They highlight only those features of children that can hinder or help achieve the goal - to form the skills of joint activities in children. Naturally, with this approach, many aspects of the child's personality that are important from the point of view of scientific pedagogy and psychology remain outside the attention of educators. But the attention of Japanese educators is always focused on the main thing for them - a certain educational goal. And this is no coincidence. The fact is that almost any behavior of the Japanese has the character of "program-targeted activity." First of all, they define a goal for themselves and then correlate all their actions and judgments with this goal. Therefore, the value of any action, knowledge, skill is determined by almost one indicator: whether it is related to the goal or not. Thus, in this case, the approach of educators to the formation of groups can be qualified as typically Japanese. Remember how they select children in groups.
During the primary distribution of children into life groups at the beginning of the school year, the most important characteristic for educators is the way the child enters the group. Children are divided into four types:

When distributing children into groups, Japanese educators were guided by other considerations:

Can this selection be considered psychologically competent? At first glance, the answer may be unambiguous, “no”. After all, neither the abilities of children (draws, sings), nor the level of intellectual and physical development, nor many other things that are known today in developmental psychology are taken into account here.
But if the question is limited to the purpose of selection - the formation of skills for joint activity, then another answer is also legitimate: "Yes, such selection into groups seems not only psychologically competent, but also exhaustive." It is not difficult to imagine that our principle of taking into account all the characteristics of children for a Japanese educator will seem at least strange. The Japanese educator (and not only the educator, but every Japanese) knows for sure that it is impossible to take everything into account. He believes that it is necessary to take into account only what, as already mentioned, serves the purpose of the activity.
Mandatory daily duties are very important for the upbringing of four-year-old children. The responsibilities of the four-year attendants included the following:
In the morning, when you come to the garden, attach the attendant's badge.
Check the number of children in the group.
Distribute study materials.
When preparing for a meal, wipe the tables, set them, serve those sitting at the table, and clean the dishes after eating.
Before returning home, remove the duty badge and pass it on to the next person.
The main task in the group of five-year-olds is to further deepen and expand the skills of joint activities. As a means of solving it, a large event is used - a “common cause”, which is planned for at least one month. All this time, life in kindergarten is predetermined by the “common cause”. Children offer something, discuss, choose, decide, do, then discuss again, evaluate, offer again, etc. At the same time, the stereotypical sequence is emphasized each time: they decided, they did it, they got results. "Amazing! Well done!" Everyone congratulates each other, holidays, fireworks are arranged ... Sincere joy for everyone and for everyone.
Here it is worth paying attention to the same patterns of activity for children. They do everything and discuss in the same sequence, which, of course, is not accidental, it is thought out in accordance with scientific methodology. Methodology, as you know, deals with the theory and practice of organizing activities, including mental ones, as well as the development of schemes and norms of activities, which are used by Japanese educators.
But back to the "common cause" of five-year-olds. During its implementation, children learn to help each other to carefully (and always to the end) various kinds of work, learn to control each other. The most important condition for the educational success of the "common cause" is the achievement of complete independence of children. But this is not spontaneous independence, when a child does something without the knowledge of the teacher. For the Japanese educator, “independence” is a situation of interaction organized in a certain way, in which the child gains complete confidence that he “himself” wants to carry out the activity set by the educator. Usually the child resists a direct order, striving for independence and independence. Japanese educators in such cases offer psychologically thought-out tactics even with the most common procedure - dressing the baby. So that the child does not object and does not say the eternal “I don’t want”, instead of “put on your pants”, you need to say: “Which leg will you start with, this one?”, That is, give the opportunity to choose. “No, with this one,” the child will stubbornly and independently answer and put on panties from his leg. With such tactics of the educator, the child really forms an active life position, but within the framework of the content strictly set by adults.
The same thing happens with the way in which all (without exception) five-year-old children are included in the “common cause”: their “independence” turns out to be the main one. Educators organize the situation in such a way that the children “themselves” force both themselves and each other to work. Here the reader is given the opportunity to "observe" as if "from within" the formation, for example, of the social norm of mandatory participation in a common cause. This happens in the process of children's awareness of their own experience and is perceived by them again as their own choice: "if you want to rejoice together with everyone, then you need to work together with everyone."
For five-year-old children, another problem is proposed - the problem of leadership in a group. A new occasion for independent reflection and application of individual efforts. The psychological task here is to make each member of the group feel that he can become a leader.
Role-playing activity turns out to be a very effective way of development and education, enabling the child to look at himself and his behavior from the outside, to understand from his own experience what the other does, taking his place. As a result, children begin to treat each other with more empathy and trust, and this naturally improves relations in the group.
According to Japanese educators, every five-year-old child needs to achieve the following:
There is everything that they give, like it or not.
In good weather, play outdoors to temper.
Be sure to sleep during the day.
Don't skip kindergarten.
Serve yourself.
Make your own plans for activities and carry them out.
Feel free to take on a business (skill) that you encounter for the first time, and make every effort to learn this business (skill).
Not only do it well yourself, but also think about how to teach this to your comrades.
Do not forget that the solution to the problem is easier to find together, the best results can be achieved only by joint efforts.
It is friendly, fun to do a variety of things in order to move forward together.
The educator is obliged to raise in children the consciousness of belonging to the older group. Stimulate the desire to independently perform any work in a group. Constantly involve newcomers in all sorts of relationships with other children in the group, establishing friendly contacts.
To identify leaders who are guided in the collective life of the entire kindergarten.
Enriching the life experience of children, systematically manage the development of their individual abilities and readiness for various activities.
Japanese kindergarten teachers offer to solve the problem of leadership in a group. In this case, first of all, the psychological problem of entering the child himself into the role of leader is solved.
Educators should strive to ensure that the life of the children's group is as full as possible with interesting activities, fun games, and individual creativity. It seems to me that if the individual needs of children are formed as a general need of the group, then an indispensable consequence of this will be the desire for cooperation; between all members of the group. Solving common problems, children join forces, and they themselves come to various forms of cooperation, which, no doubt, enriches their individual and group experience. And this is the core of democratic education.
Joint games, walks, excursions, and especially the preparation and holding of sports holidays develop children not only physically, but also spiritually, instilling self-confidence. In order to form a group in which every five-year-old child could prove himself, learned to think through specific situations and act together with his comrades, the educators decided to set a common task for the children, to discuss it in the group in advance. The position of the children in the group was different. Children who previously did not have physical strength or did not show it, gradually became more active. The "strong" began to command, the "weak" fell under their influence, masquerading as friendly relations. However, under the influence of criticism from other children, they tried to overcome their shortcomings in order to be on an equal footing with everyone.
In my opinion, there are three types of stereotypical childhood defects:

Japanese teachers hope that in the process of implementing a single task, children will be able to overcome their shortcomings.
For many years, Japanese teachers discussed their practical experience in raising children of different ages, made various proposals at their conferences. During this time, they have accumulated quite extensive material, on the basis of this material they have prepared and published the brochure "Development of the child and the group".
One way or another, those qualities are formed in Japanese kindergartens, which, while maintaining continuity, are further improved at school. In accordance with the program of the school course "Moral Education" in kindergarten, the moral standards of a citizen of Japan should be laid down, a sense of civic duty, patriotism, the guardian of national traditions should be formed, and such qualities as will, discipline and hard work should be brought up.

4. Traditional types of early childhood education in Japan

The experience of Japanese educators demonstrates the practical methods of educating a "person with a group consciousness." Very often, when explaining certain phenomena of life in Japan, scientists and writers refer to the Japanese national character, the main feature of which is considered to be “group consciousness”. In this case, we have the opportunity to get acquainted with the process, which is usually considered the contents of the "black box", with the initial, at the kindergarten level, the formation of group skills and beliefs of the ordinary Japanese, who in the future will judge people by their belonging to a certain group. This is the specificity of the results of the Japanese system of education. Here it seems appropriate to dwell briefly on what the Japanese system of education is on a nationwide scale and what its specific goals are.
In Japan, for 100 years, a system of "moral education" has been functioning, which began to take shape as the most important means of mobilizing the masses to solve the problems of a growing bourgeois state.
From the very beginning, the principles of "moral education" were formulated as principles of public policy. Indicative in this connection relating to 1886. the statement of the first Minister of Education of Japan, Mori Arinori: "Every teacher must remember that everything that is done in the field of public education is not done for the sake of students, but in the interests of the state." Since then, much has changed in Japan, however, even in the current documents of the Ministry of Education, the school course of "moral" education is defined as "educational activity aimed at developing qualities that are desirable from the point of view of the state."
What are these qualities, are they related to those that the attention of educators in kindergarten is directed to? In the modern curriculum of the school course "moral education", the main goal is "the formation of a citizen of Japan", "the introduction of social norms in the minds of young people in the form of moral values", the formation of "group consciousness" and a sense of "public duty, perceived as the need to be disciplined and industrious."
The system of mass musical education developed by the famous Japanese violinist and teacher Shinichi Suzuki
has become widespread in our time. More than 30 countries of the world have adopted it. Unfortunately; in our country, too little is known about the Suzuki system (its other name is the “Talent Education System”).
What is the essence of the Suzuki concept? Education is understood primarily as the development of a person's mental functions and, above all, abilities (talent). Since the sensitive periods of the development of basic abilities fall on the preschool age, the main emphasis in the system is placed on early education (up to six years). The level of development of abilities depends, according to Suzuki, on the correct organization of the environment (environment). Each child has quite sufficient hereditary inclinations so that, with proper upbringing - from the moment of birth - to develop talent (by "talent" Suzuki understands the ultimate level of development, of all the abilities of the child). The basis of the child's learning, conducted in the form of a game, is the principle of "mastering the native language". Suzuki drew attention to the fact that every child at a certain age and at a certain level of development quite successfully masters his native language. Mothers all over the world do not even wonder if their child has the ability to master their native language. Obviously, Suzuki argues, the success of mastering the native language lies in the method itself, its comprehension. At first, Suzuki tried to apply the "native language" method to the conditions of musical education for children of two to six years old; later the method spread to other disciplines - foreign languages, physical education, physics, mathematics, etc. Gradually, the system of musical education grew into a system of integral development of the child. Music remained in this system only as one of the educational means.
The main elements of the mother tongue method are listening and repetition. These two pillars are the backbone of the Talent Education system.
The scientific and methodological problems of the system are being developed at the special research institute "Education of Talent" in Matsumoto. Suzuki kindergartens also operate there, in which the practice of musical education is carried out.
Suzuki kindergartens are very popular in Japan. Parents submit an application for admission of children to kindergarten 3-4 years before the birth of the child. Children are accepted without selection according to their abilities, without any preliminary check. Japanese educators believe that with the right guidance, the success of education is always guaranteed. There are 60 children in the group, aged from three and a half to five years. Children are not separated by age, as in ordinary Japanese kindergartens. It is believed that it is older children, and not educators, who are able to create an environment stimulating development. The role of the teacher in the "Education of Talent" system is not in direct teaching, but in creating the necessary environment for the child's self-development in conditions of natural education. Here the influence of the pedagogical method of J.-J. Rousseau and M. Montessori.
The main goal of Suzuki Kindergarten is training and memory development. Children perform various exercises that are offered in a strictly gradual sequence. Classes at Suzuki Kindergarten spend exactly as much time as the children can concentrate on the words of the teacher. Attention generates a quick response. With a verbal response, children are asked to speak very loudly (in singing, they also achieve the use of a full voice, sometimes even to the detriment of correct intonation).
During the year, children memorize 170-180 haiku (three-line poems - examples of Buddhist poetry). Memory training exercises are combined with physical activities. For example, while doing exercises, children hold a school bag on their heads, clap their hands rhythmically behind their backs, etc. Suzuki Kindergarten provides classes in drawing, calligraphy and English. Much attention is paid to physical exercises, especially outdoors. In general, despite the Spartan nature of education, and the strict requirement for concentration and endless repetition, the spirit of joy, freedom and love dominates in the kindergarten.
The principle of introducing something new is very important. You should start the lesson with what is available to absolutely all children; repeat it many times; when it becomes “part of the child” (ie, it is assimilated completely and firmly), you can add a little new, but also previously achieved.
Japanese educators are convinced that education is entirely a product of the environment. Children become what circumstances and environment require of them. Learning is an adaptation to these conditions. Learning should be joyful. Some incorrectly believe that we are forcing children to learn to play the violin. This is wrong. By making learning enjoyable, we create desire in the child. This is the essence of our method.
Suzuki pays great attention to physical education. Each classroom has a large set of gymnastic equipment; children spend a lot of time in the sand pit, play a lot in the open air; in kindergarten, they mostly go barefoot, dressed in special T-shirts with long stripes on the sleeves and brightly colored caps. Another form is for the road from the kindergarten to the house and back. Each child has a study bag for clothes, library books, a toothbrush, writing pens and pencils, glue, scissors and other items, and a special “obento” bag for a second breakfast.
Usually the mother brings the children in and out of the garden. The father visits kindergarten only on "sports days" or on "observation day". Parents and teachers (educators) work in constant contact. They communicate through special little books. The teacher and parents write down their comments and suggestions in them, observations up to nutritional advice. Regular meetings of parents and caregivers are also practiced.
An important component of the Suzuki system is learning to play the violin after the age of two. The child is by no means forced until he picks up the instrument himself.
The basis of musical education and the most important component of the system is listening to music, which begins with the birth of a child. The material for the musical education of an infant and a child in the first years of life is, first of all, the music of the Baroque era, as well as the works of classical composers. Suzuki developed a minimum listening program and recorded all twenty-eight works on records.
The purpose of the listening program is to form the aesthetic taste of the child, develop his musical memory and create preconditions for subsequent musical lessons on the instrument.
Subsequently, listening still remains the leading principle in teaching music for two or three years, but then
there is a more extensive and thorough program, including the main classical repertoire (it is also recorded in textbooks
and recorded on phonograph records).
The achievements of Suzuki kindergartens in the development of the intelligence of children are amazing. Regular testing shows that the IQ is usually at least 170-180. And yet, despite the impressive results, Japanese educators have their own problems. Children should be reduced to 20 people. This would make it possible to achieve an even greater effect. But this is associated with additional material costs.
Another problem is the training of educators. There are no higher educational institutions in Japan to train educators for Suzuki. So far, training is being conducted on the basis of the Talent Education Research Institute and internships in children's Shirauri Yehien. Nevertheless, Japanese teachers are optimistic in their forecasts for the future and believe that their experience could be useful for other countries.
Japan also has an early childhood development program. This program is aimed at educating and educating children who are lagging behind in mental or physical development and returning them to a full life among their peers. From my point of view, the main purpose of early development is to prevent unhappy children. A child is not allowed to listen to good music and taught to play the violin in order to grow an outstanding musician out of him. He is taught a foreign language not in order to bring up a brilliant linguist, and not even in order to prepare him for a “good” kindergarten and elementary school. The main thing is to develop in the child his limitless potentialities, so that there is more joy in his life and in the world.
To understand the originality of the content and methodology of the educational process in Japanese kindergartens, it is necessary to know the peculiarities of the culture of this country. Beauty as an comprehension of the expediency of being, Japanese pedagogy understands man-made. In the active, varied involvement of children - from early childhood! - to aesthetically meaningful work, Japanese colleagues see the basis for the development of moral-volitional and artistic qualities of the individual.
The culture of life in Japan is determined by its national-historical natural features. The attitude of the Japanese to the domestic environment is ambivalent. It manifests itself, on the one hand, in the proclamation of the fragility of the objective environment as a companion of life and, on the other hand, in a careful attitude towards it as to the history of ancestors.
The traditional Japanese interior is theatrical, it is a light "canopy over the void." And today, talented architects, artists and teachers preserve the national traditions of the interior and exterior, which is manifested in bright strokes against the background of the general urbanization, Americanization, and Europeanization of the country. In general, this is also manifested in the design of rooms for children: dynamism, flexibility, variability of the situation express the traditions of the Japanese home.
These moral and aesthetic concepts are partially implemented in the Program for the Aesthetic and Labor Education of Children, which has been operating in Japan for more than 20 years.
The pedagogical process of work is equipped with a variety of manuals, screen and sound means. The teacher independently finds specific methods, in accordance with the objectives of the training, analyzes the results and plans the next classes. The system of color education "iroritai" - familiarizing children with the color standards of the spectral circle - helps to develop the distinction between color and achromatic shades, their concretization in the objective world. Such training actively forms the evaluative attitude, the aesthetic taste of children.
Japanese teachers recognize the role of fine arts and the system of classes in drawing, modeling, and appliqué. Enrichment of children with aesthetic impressions is planned at the "lessons of admiring". In drawing classes - plot and decorative - children study the aesthetic features and physical properties of materials: paints, paper, clay, plastic compounds. And most of all they love to work on fantastic and symmetrical prints, fold paper and cut out figures using the origami technique, use stamps and stencils to apply patterns and images, use techniques - monotype and engraving, stencils and collages. Many patterns in drawings, modeling, appliqué and design are generated by flora and fauna. We ourselves saw with what animation children get acquainted with textured material - paints, clay, sand: they rub them with their hands, collect or “draw” with their fingers.
Such sensory-tactile and visual-associative sensations, which give unexpected combinations of spots, lines, colors and volumes, according to Japanese colleagues, captivate children. In modeling classes (by design), children crush clay on the table and in pallets with their hands, and some with bare feet. This is allowed in a creative atmosphere of creation. After all, a positive result is important. If it’s more interesting and convenient for a child, for example, to draw on the floor or knead clay, to work “not like that”, the educator “closes his eyes” to this deviation from the rules for a while, he is in no hurry to restrain the children's initiative, a natural impulse. However, here, as it were, a certain contradiction manifests itself: the confrontation between the ideas of free education and the progressive forms of modern education.
Japanese teachers, recognizing the sensory and holistic development of children by means of art, assign a special role to synthetic types of artistic activity. In arts and crafts and design activities, children model a lot and in a variety of ways from clay and plastic compounds, paper and cardboard, construct from wood, use fabrics, threads, weaving, make dolls and theatrical toys, participate in the creation of an aesthetically designed domestic and festive interior. They continue these classes at school, where the program provides for more complex tasks, a greater variety of materials and decorative design work from (construction, font modeling, design, theater design, interior design, etc.). So plot and ornamental applique in combination with painting with paints or felt-tip pens is used as an attribute of a game action.
In kindergartens in Japan, lightweight planar or semi-volumetric details of the costume and decor (caps, fins of exotic fish, images of objects and animals) are popular, which are worn with a cape or they are held on sticks. Masks are also made from papier-mache ceramics, patchwork (using feathers, fluff, sparkles and other tinsel). And what is remarkable - the principle of figurative characterization of reality, natural phenomena in this synthetic artistic activity, the principle of thematism - when children are introduced to color, color, line, silhouette, plasticity of forms, material design, planar and volumetric-spatial composition - gets its development in collective games, competitions and other forms of organizing children's activities. Meetings, conversations with educators, teachers, architects, artists about ways to introduce children to the aesthetic organization of their lives through artistic, productive, design activities convinced us that they accept the subject environment of children as one of the developing means.
The decorative decoration of the premises of kindergartens in Japan, as a rule, is the work of educators and children. The walls are often draped with a rug or soft dense fabric, which creates conditions for the joint design work of children and adults and an easy change of expositions. We saw paper and plastic colorful lanterns swaying over our heads, funny dragons and fish, bunches of hanging garlands of leaves, flowers, and cranes indoors and on the grounds. On the walls there are children's drawings and applications made in different materials, techniques and formats, collective panels of travels around countries, into the depths of the ocean, into space. The combination of natural materials - clay, sand, stone, wood, dead wood - with foam plastic, with waste from the technical, electronic and haberdashery and perfume industries creates a fantastic world of images.
Classes for table setting and decorating dishes with natural products, flowers, leaves, and herbs are popular. In the classes on fine arts and the aesthetics of everyday life in large bright rooms, children are dressed in the same aprons. In one group - in a blue cage, in another - in a pink one, etc. Neat semi-sports and soft cut clothes of the educator - blouse, trousers and shoes.
What else is typical for Japanese kindergartens? Transfer of visual activity to the site. So, children water a dry, even sandy mound from a watering can and draw hieroglyphs and images, acting out dramatizations. On the summer playground, three-year-olds in colored shorts and panama hats play on the sand, transforming microspace with the help of simple, durable, lightweight equipment made of plastic (scoops, baskets, toys, screens). They lay out compositions of stones, shells, change the relief, creating on the sand the waves of the ocean, the convex back of a shark, the toothy mouth and tail of a dragon or a ribbon of a snake. It is also important that, changing, pouring, pouring soil, children develop physically. In kindergartens - indoors and on the site - there are few industrial toys. Homemade toys, industry waste and natural material are very popular. Japanese teachers prefer a home-made toy to a commercial factory toy, believing that it is more conducive to the creative development of the child.
Continuity in aesthetic education and art education - kindergarten and school - is not typical for Japan. However, a comparative analysis of individual cards is being carried out, as well as the publication of teaching aids for kindergarten, a six-year elementary school (from 6 to 12 years old) and a three-year junior high school (from 12 to 15 years old). In addition, familiarization with design is more actively included in the school curriculum. mental development. Children construct, model crafts that are fun in form and content, with elements of puzzles, attraction, movement, sound, etc.
These are the traditional directions of education in kindergartens in Japan.

List of sources used

In Japan, kindergarten is not a compulsory educational level. Children come here at the request of their parents.

Pre-school education in Japan is presented as follows: nurseries, child care centers; kindergartens.

In a nursery in Japan (child care center), a child can be placed from three months, and only working parents. But in order to place a child in such an institution, parents must write a special application and justify the impossibility of raising a baby at home for up to three years with very good reasons. The thing is that this is contrary to the principle of upbringing in the family on which the entire Japanese culture is based. Nurseries are intended for looking after children, and educational programs are not provided for in them and, accordingly, they are subordinate to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, and not to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, like all educational institutions.

The issue of placing a child in a preschool institution is decided by the municipality, regardless of the type of institution (public or private). By contacting the mayor's office, parents receive an atlas of kindergartens (nurseries), with a map of directions, with data on the number of places in a preschool institution. Previously, parents can visit the kindergarten, chat with the staff and choose the kindergarten they like, but the final word will remain with the municipality, if there are vacant places, the parent receives permission to enroll in a kindergarten (nursery).

The system of preschool education in Japan includes institutions of the following types: state, prefectural, municipal; private; kindergartens at schools and universities - if a child enters such a kindergarten, his future can be considered secure: upon reaching the appropriate age, he goes to a university school, and from there enters the university without exams.

More than 80% of the pre-school education system in Japan is made up of private kindergartens and childcare centers. There is no big difference between public and private preschool education in Japan. The system and approach to the educational process is based on the same principles in accordance with the 2006 Basic Law on Education. Payment for the maintenance of a child in a public or private kindergarten depends only on the income of the parents - the higher the family income, the higher the kindergarten fee will be. On average, payment ranges from $100 for low-income families to $500 for wealthy families. For nurseries (care centers), the age of the child also matters, the younger the child, the higher the cost. But still, the payment for a private garden is higher and, in addition to the monthly payment, includes an entrance fee, which can reach up to $ 1,000.

You will also have to pay for the form, which is mandatory in all kindergartens. Each kindergarten has its own uniform: the same pants, skirts, blouses, shirts, hats and satchels. Wearing the uniform is mandatory.

You can arrange a child in a kindergarten at any time of the year, but from April 1, there are many such places. This is due to the fact that the school year in Japan also begins on April 1, and some preschool children enter elementary school. On this day, in all educational institutions - from kindergarten to university - a solemn opening ceremony is held. And the director of the kindergarten greets his little pupils with exactly the same seriousness as the rector of the university - his students.

Kindergarten is usually accepted from the age of four. Sometimes, as an exception, when parents are very busy, a child can be taken to kindergarten from the age of three. The duration of preschool education is 3 years, then the child enters primary school.

The quality of upbringing and maintenance of a child in a preschool institution to a greater extent depends not on whether a private kindergarten or a public one, but on a specific kindergarten, the area in which it is located and the teaching staff. The occupancy of groups is also very different and ranges from 8 to 30-40 people.

The opening hours of preschool institutions in Japan are different, for example, there are two types of public kindergartens: a full-time kindergarten, the working hours of such a kindergarten are daily + Saturday (part-time). In such a kindergarten, a child can be accepted if both parents work more than 4 hours a day. The morning in the gardens, as a rule, starts at 8 o'clock, you can pick up the child at any time until 5 o'clock, for an additional fee, the child can be looked after until 7 o'clock in the evening. And the second kind of kindergarten, a kindergarten, which accepts children for half a day.

All educational institutions of the country are engaged in a single schedule: the academic year is divided into three semesters. Between semesters - holidays for students, schoolchildren, and kindergarteners: summer holidays from July 21 to August 31, winter holidays from December 21 to January 8, spring holidays from March 21 to April 1. On holidays, small children can come to kindergarten to swim in the pool (there are pools in almost every kindergarten) and talk a little about life with the teacher. But there are no classes.

The following tasks are set for preschool institutions in Japan:

Help the child to establish good relations with adults and children, to master the skills of social behavior;

Cultivate respect for nature;

Help to acquire healthy life skills;

To assist parents in raising a child who is not spoiled, capable of cooperating with other children;

Provide equal conditions for all children;

Cultivate patience and perseverance;

To form the ability to depend on others and understand them.

The involvement of parents in the educational process in kindergartens is very high. In Japan, in the process of raising children, the constant presence and active participation of parents is required. A child without a parent is no more than two, maximum four hours. At the same time, education is carried out not only for children, but also for parents. In a nursery, keeping notebooks is practiced, in which the teacher makes notes about the child’s activities during the day: how he slept, ate, how he felt, and so on, a response is also expected from the parent. Teachers and parents record interesting observations and their opinions about the upbringing of a particular child.

The whole process of raising children is built on close cooperation between the teacher and the parent. At the same time, the educator is the leading party, he can point out the shortcomings and omissions that, in his opinion, parents allow in raising children and his words should not only be taken into account, but are a guide to action. The teaching staff of preschool institutions trains parents in the methods of raising children, parent meetings are held regularly. Mothers of children, as a rule, often communicate with each other, create "mom" committees to resolve various issues, attend sports days, observation days and other events.

The foundations of education in Japan are developed in the conditions of collective cooperation of children. In Japanese kindergartens, which is not done elsewhere in the world, children are divided into small groups, "khans", of about eight children, in which children learn communication skills and independence. They are provided with their own "jobs" in the kindergarten and together they decide what their khan will be called, how to act in this or that case, i.e. from a very early age they are taught to work collectively. Groups, khans, are formed in such a way that each member of the group can complement this entire small team. Children are taught to express their opinion while listening and taking into account the opinions of other group members, the children themselves create comfort and order in their groups, clean, care for flowers, even cook their own dinner. In this way, children are taught group behavior. In the event of a quarrel or fight between group members, the teacher is in no hurry to intervene, as he believes that the child himself must learn to resolve conflicts and this will help him become stronger.

Children in kindergartens learn to write, read, but the most important thing in attending kindergarten is the socialization of the child, he is taught to live in a group, to live by the interests of the group. Despite the commitment of the Japanese to traditions, they do not have the concept of a children's team in our understanding. The composition of groups in kindergarten is not constant. Every year, groups are formed anew, and there is a constant change of educators. This is necessary in order to provide children with the widest possible opportunities for socialization, so that the child does not get used to one people, to one environment, but learns to live in society. Thus, if a child does not develop relationships in this particular group, the possibility is not ruled out that he will acquire friends among other children. Teachers are changed so that children do not get used to them too much. Strong attachments, the Japanese believe, give rise to too strong dependence of children on their mentors, and the latter are burdened with too serious responsibility for the fate of children. If for some reason the teacher disliked the child, this situation will also not be very difficult, perhaps the child will have friendly relations with another teacher, and he will not think that all adults do not like him.

To become a kindergarten teacher in Japan, you need to unlearn two years at an institute or university. Qualification is assigned based on the results of written testing. With the help of tests, awareness and memory are checked. It is an honor to work as a teacher in Japan, so there are many male administrators and instructors in preschool institutions.

Pre-school education in Japan includes five areas: social relations, health, safety, language, environment, expression of feelings. Children are taught to communicate, be self-sufficient and develop new skills in themselves by studying folk tales and reading books, children are taught about language and culture. Educational programs are also provided in kindergartens: children are taught to read, count, write, that is, they are prepared for school. There are no special classes for the development of speech, but children are taught to use polite speech formulas - greetings, farewells, thanks, encouragement. Much attention is paid to applied art: drawing, appliqué, origami, oyatiro (weaving patterns from a thin rope stretched over fingers). These classes perfectly develop fine motor skills, which schoolchildren need to write hieroglyphs.

In addition, they are taught to sing, sports competitions are held, and trips are regularly arranged. Choral singing plays an important role in the education system. To single out a soloist, according to Japanese ideas, is non-pedagogical. And singing in a choir helps to cultivate a sense of unity with the team. After singing, it is the turn of sports games: relay races, tags, catch-ups. It is interesting that teachers, regardless of age, participate in these games on an equal basis with children. Approximately once a month, the entire kindergarten goes on a full-day hike around the neighborhood. Places can be very different: the nearest mountain, a zoo, a botanical garden. In such trips, children not only learn something new, but also learn to be hardy, endure hardships. All these activities are carried out with the aim of developing a sense of collectivism in the child. Thus, preschool education in Japan is designed to raise a healthy, independent, comprehensively developed member of society who knows and loves his culture and country.

In Japan, it is believed that it is not giftedness that is important, but determination and perseverance. In children, attention is brought up to those who are nearby, to their activities and mood, obedience to general rules and tolerance. The ultimate goal of education is seen as an organic balance between individuality and a sense of collectivism, a clear performance of duties and the development of the emotional sphere of feelings, the definition of relationships between kindergarten, family and society.

The pedagogical foundations for the formation of the personality of children, formed in kindergarten, at school, allow the teacher at school to practically not waste time on imposing discipline and organizing the behavior of students - all the time and attention is given to the assimilation of new knowledge. This phenomenon of Japanese preschool education has already found scientific confirmation in pedagogy: it has been proven that children learn the rules better when they receive the least external coercive influence in the process of mastering the rules.

With all the positive aspects of raising children in Japan, there is a widespread opinion outside the country that the Japanese are over-inculcated with a sense of collectivism, which erases their individuality.

Foreign pedagogical systems on the example of Japan

test

1. The system of early childhood education in Japan

At the heart of the modern concept of the Japanese system of preschool education is the theory of early socialization of the individual, the idea that patterns of human behavior are laid at an early age. Trends in the formation of personality, which are formed in Japanese preschool institutions, form the culture of the entire Japanese society.

Let us turn to the history of the formation of the preschool education system in Japan. In the 70s of the XIX century. educational institutions for preschool children began to appear in the country. One of the first such institutions was a kindergarten at a teacher's school for girls in Tokyo, it was established in 1876 in accordance with European views on education. Gradually, the number of kindergartens in Japan increased, and in 1926 these institutions received state status. By the start of World War II, approximately 10% of Japanese children were attending kindergartens. In 1947, an education law was passed that defined the pre-school educational institution as an integral part of the overall national educational structure. The development of education standards for preschool children has begun.

The Japanese were among the first to start talking about the need for early development. More than half a century ago, the book "After three it's too late" was published in the country, which made a revolution in Japanese pedagogy. Its author, Masaru Ibuka, is the director of the Talent Training organization and the founder of the world-famous Sony company. The book says that in the first three years of life, the foundations of a child's personality are laid. Young children learn everything much faster, and the task of parents is to create conditions in which the child can fully realize his abilities. In upbringing, it is necessary to follow the following principles: to stimulate cognition through arousing the interest of the baby, to educate character, to promote the development of creativity and various skills. At the same time, the task is not to raise a genius, but to give the child such an education that "he has a deep mind and a healthy body, to make him intelligent and kind."

Standards for early childhood education in Japan have been subject to regular revision and refinement in accordance with changing social requirements. The most significant changes were made to the standards of preschool education in 1990 in connection with another education reform in Japan. The new standards emphasize that preschool education is part of the national education system, the role of kindergartens in shaping a person's personality is noted, and it is indicated that each preschool educational institution has its own and unique system of education.

The main goal of preschool education, as defined in state educational standards, is the creation of a child's living conditions that are most suitable for childhood, ensuring health, safety, development of social communication skills, speech, interest in the world around and creative potential based on the individual characteristics of a preschooler.

The standards establish five main areas that should be highlighted in the content of the work of each preschool institution:

strengthening the physical and mental health of the child;

formation of communication skills with other people;

formation of knowledge about the world around;

speech development;

development of creative abilities.

Nowadays, almost every child between the ages of three and six attends kindergarten, despite the fact that more than 90% of Japanese women are housewives. Kindergarten in Japan does not perform the function of looking after and caring for the child while the mother is working, but the function of socializing the baby. It is generally accepted in society that a child can receive a full-fledged upbringing only in a team; moreover, the prestige of the future employment depends on the level of prestige of the educational institution that the child has attended since childhood.

Currently, pre-school education in Japan is not compulsory, so there is more variety and flexibility than at other educational levels. Kindergartens in Japan are divided into public and private. Hoikuen is a state nursery-garden, which accepts children from 3 months. It is open from 8 am to 6 pm and half day on Saturday. To put a child here, you need to justify this with very good reasons. In particular, bring documents that both parents work more than 4 hours a day. Children are placed here through the municipal department at the place of residence, and payment depends on the family income. Public preschools are funded by the government of the country, capital, city, or prefecture.

Another type of kindergarten is etien. These gardens can be either public or private. Children are here for no more than 7 hours, usually from 9 am to 2 pm, and the mother works less than 4 hours a day. Private kindergartens, in addition to paying a fee by parents (about 18,000-24,000 Japanese yen per year, or $ 150-200 per month), can be funded by private schools, religious, public organizations or kindergarten owners.

A special place among private gardens is occupied by elite ones, which are under the tutelage of prestigious universities. If a child enters such a kindergarten, then there is no need to worry about his future: after him he enters a university school, and from it, without exams, to the University. A university degree is a guarantee of a prestigious and well-paid job. Therefore, it is very difficult to get into an elite kindergarten. For parents, the admission of a child to such an institution costs a lot of money, and the child himself must undergo a rather complicated test.

In addition to kindergartens, special playgrounds are being opened, where you can take your child for part of the day if necessary. There are now more than 15,000 public and private preschools in Japan. More than half of kindergartens (about 64%) are private.

The academic year in kindergartens, as in other educational institutions, begins on April 1 and ends in March of the following year. On this day, in all educational institutions - from kindergarten to university - a solemn opening ceremony is held. And the director of the kindergarten greets his little pupils with exactly the same seriousness as the rector of the university - his students.

During the year, children go on vacation three times: summer vacation lasts from July 21 to August 31, winter - from December 21 to January 8, spring - from March 21 until the start of the new school year, April 6. During the holidays, small children can come to kindergarten to swim in the pool and talk a little about life with the teacher.

The occupancy of one kindergarten is approximately 135 people. Kindergartens are usually open from 9 am to 2 pm. Each institution has its own bus that brings children to kindergarten and, if necessary, takes them home.

In kindergarten, children only have breakfast. Usually the child eats food prepared by the mother at home and taken with her. In some cases, food can be prepared in the kindergarten's kitchen, but this is rare. Kitchens are adapted only for heating food.

To become a kindergarten teacher in Japan, you need to study for two years at an institute or university, the requirements for their preparation were determined by a special law back in 1949. It is an honor to work as a teacher in Japan, so even in preschool institutions there are many male administrators and instructors. It should be noted that preschool institutions in Japan, regardless of their level of subordination and form of ownership, are not tasked with preparing children for schooling; most preschool institutions do not teach children the basics of literacy. Japanese preschoolers spend much less time than their Russian or American counterparts in academic studies and much more time in games. The assimilation of educational knowledge, skills and abilities will begin at the age of six at school. The most important feature of primary education in Japan is the concept of "kokoro", which can be translated as heart, soul, mind, mentality. "Kokoro"? this is a special idea of education, which is not limited to knowledge and skills, but contributes to the formation of a person's character. The Japanese are convinced that the objective basis of primary education is the enrichment of children "kokoro". As a result, the foundations for the formation of all aspects of the child's personality are laid, full-fledged moral, physical, cognitive, communicative and social development is ensured.

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"Tradition" is the key word for understanding the culture of the Land of the Rising Sun. Traditions permeate all Japanese life, including the education system, including preschool.

Traditionally, education is a male domain here. Among university professors, women are rare. And there are few in the school. There are practically no women among the heads of preschool institutions. And recently, men have begun to crowd out women in the profession of educators.

In Japan, kindergarten is not a compulsory educational level. Children come here at the request of their parents - usually from the age of four. Sometimes, as an exception, when parents are very busy, a child can be taken to kindergarten from the age of three. There are also nurseries in Japan for babies who are only a year old. But it is not recommended to give children away from the family so early. To place a child in such an institution, parents must write a special application and justify the impossibility of raising a baby at home until the age of three with very good reasons.

All kindergartens in Japan are private. Among them, a special place is occupied by the so-called elite gardens, which are under the tutelage of prestigious universities. If a child enters such a kindergarten, his future can be considered secure: upon reaching the appropriate age, he moves to a university school, and from there, without exams, he enters the university. In Japan, there is quite intense competition in the field of education: a university degree is a guarantee of getting a prestigious, well-paid job - in a ministry or in some well-known company. And this, in turn, is a guarantee of career growth and material well-being. Therefore, it is very difficult to get into a kindergarten at a prestigious university. Parents pay a lot of money for the admission of the child, and the baby himself, in order to be accepted, must pass a rather complicated test.

In the winter of 1999, Japan was shocked by the news of a horrific criminal act: a woman killed a small child who competed with her children in a kindergarten entrance exam. Of course, such a case - a phenomenon out of the ordinary. But one way or another, relations between the parents of pupils of elite kindergartens (which are mostly owned by successful, prosperous corporations) are rather tense. However, there are few such kindergartens, just as there are not many kindergartens of the so-called pro-Western direction, in which the principles of free education prevail and there is no that rigid and rather difficult system of classes for young children, which is characteristic of "elite" kindergartens.

In most kindergartens, the main task of educators is to teach children to be obedient. Japanese home education is extremely soft, children are rarely forbidden to do something. But in relation to strangers - on the street, in public places - the Japanese tradition strictly requires the expression of utmost respect, including from small children. Therefore, a lot of time in kindergarten is devoted to the education of manners and acquaintance with the ritual side of life. Children must master many etiquette formulas and know where and when to apply them.

The school year in Japan starts on April 1st. On this day, in all educational institutions - from kindergarten to university - a solemn opening ceremony is held. And the director of the kindergarten greets his little pupils with exactly the same seriousness as the rector of the university - his students.

All educational institutions of the country are engaged in a single schedule: the academic year is divided into three semesters. Between semesters there are vacations for students, for schoolchildren, and for pupils of kindergartens.

On holidays, small children can come to kindergarten to swim in the pool (there are pools in almost every kindergarten) and talk a little about life with the teacher. But there are no classes at this time.

In general, in Japan, much attention is paid to preserving the health of children: a team of medical workers works in each educational institution - a doctor, a nurse, a dentist, a pharmacist, and a health curator.

To become a kindergarten teacher, you need to unlearn two years at an institute or university. Qualification is assigned based on the results of written testing. With the help of tests, awareness and memory are checked. The Japanese state pursues a policy of strict selection of university graduates when they are appointed to the position of a teacher. Unlike other countries, in order to become an educator, a Japanese citizen must obtain a diploma and pass examinations upon appointment. However Japan is the only developed country in the world where the teacher's salary is higher than the salaries of local government officials.

Japanese educators, teaching children to interact, form them into small groups (khan), which is the most important distinguishing feature of the organization of preschool education. These groups have their own tables, their own names, chosen by the children themselves, which encourages them to make decisions, taking into account the wishes of all members of the group, and serve as a kind of unit for joint activities.

Groups (6-8 people of both sexes) are formed not according to their abilities, but in accordance with what can make their activity effective. Children are taught a lot of skills: how to look at the interlocutor, how to express themselves and take into account the opinions of their peers.

The composition of these groups is not permanent. Groups are re-formed every year. The constant change of the children's composition is associated with an attempt to provide the kids with the widest possible opportunities for socialization. If a child does not develop relationships in a particular group, it is possible that he will acquire friends among other children.

Teachers are changed so that children do not get used to them too much. Strong attachments, according to the Japanese, give rise to too strong dependence of children on their mentors, and the latter are burdened with too serious responsibility for the fate of the pupils. If the teacher for some reason disliked the child, this situation will also not be very difficult. Perhaps the child will develop friendly relations with another teacher, and he will not think that all adults do not like him.

The situation is the same in elementary school: here the composition of the classes is shuffled every two years, and the teacher changes every year.

The upbringing of young children in Japan does not always favor the development of a person’s creative abilities, but skillfully forms in the child the concept of human community, brings up a physically and mentally healthy person who knows how to work in a team, clearly following the instructions and not disturbing others.

Thus, pre-school education in Japan is not public and, like in Germany, is not subordinate to the Ministry of Education. The state does not provide financial assistance to parents whose children attend kindergartens.