勉強苦手？悩まないで！凸凹キッズの得意発掘スペースを創ります！

This is a summary of the Japanese page, not the exact translation.

 

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[ Can’t tell “b”s and “d”s even after years of studying…]

[ Hard to read because lines merge or gets mixed up…]

[ Just can’t spell…]

 

 

What do you think of these comments?

Do you imagine a lazy child? Or parents who don’t teach their children well?

 

Even after making so much more efforts than others, there are some children who are like that. They have learning differences.

 

 

We have run two after-school group tutoring space for years in Kure.

We have witnessed so many children struggle, and so many concerned parents supporting such children.

 

So we have decided to open a learning space & co-working space with nursery for those struggling primary & junior-high-school students and their concerned parents in April 2021.

 

It will be called “Space DeCo a BoCo”.

 

 

In Japan, different studies show that there are 4 to 8 % people with learning differences out of general population. If we apply that percentage to student population of Kure city, there must be around 2000 students who have learning differences.

 

Because their IQ sits at average or higher level, not being able to read, write and/or calculate well seem rather odd to others. Teachers may think they are playing bad jokes or just being lazy.

 

But you must bear in mind that students with LD may have something that they are exceptionally good at, although it tends to hide behind the fact they cannot read and write well. If they were supported in a right way, they can be quite successful once they are out of school in society.

 

In the UK, it is said that 10% of the population has dyslexia, but 40% of entrepreneurs are dyslexic. But at the same time, more than 50% of prison inmates have difficulty reading and writing (not necessarily dyslexic as majority of them are yet to be assessed).That tells us that how we address those students with LD has a big impact on the society as a whole.

 

Hisayo is the representative of this project. She had been thinking of the necessity of a place that concerned children and parents can come, talk, and learn, so that each child can be led to find a way of living that matches his/her strengths.

 

 

She inherited her birth house with an unusually large gathering room and a detached house, which her father, who used to be a school principal, had built so that his school staff could come together to dine and talk. She thought using the house to accommodate a space for children and parents worried about their learning would be a perfect purpose her beloved father would be proud of.

 

The house, however, was built 50 years ago, and it had not been used for many years. It costed her all of what she could make just to renovate the place to be safe again.

That is why she decided to try this crowd-funding aiming at raising 3,000,000 yen.

 

 

 

The fund raised would be used to make a new toilet (and the plumbing to go with it) in the kids area, books for the kids library, educational toys and goods to facilitate learning, chairs and cushions for kids to stay comfortable.

We will also buy sofas etc. for the parents area, so that they can relax and work or read. Also, we will use the remaining amount to compensate parts of state-of-the-art staff training from national and international education providers.

 

(Even in the case where we cannot raise target fund, we will still open the place with less books and toys, etc.)

We will be providing the following services:

1) Consultations for parents on parenting and education by specialists (face-to-face & online)

2) Seminars to make parents the most supportive supporters for their children (face-to-face & online)

3) A co-working-space with a nursery

4) Relax space with good coffees and massage chair

5) Rental seminar room and rental kitchen

6) Executive Functions Skills Dojo (to open in April 2022)

7) Learning-contents comic books library

 

As for what we teach children, it would not be pure school subjects.

We will focus on Executive Functions, which are considered to be important factors of successful life, also known as control centre of the brain. Collectively, it facilitates us to set goals, think of ways to get there, and to pursue the plan till we get to the goal. It also includes meta-cognition, emotional control, etc. to enable us to get to the goal.

 

EFs are actually regarded as better predictors than IQ for a so-called successful life.

EFs are important for all children and adults, but for kids with developmental disorders, they tend to improve more slowly without help.

 

We will try to incorporate training of EFs into our daily lives and seasonal activities such as cooking, board games and events.

We will also harness parents with understanding of how EFs work, so that they can better support their children without lowering their self-esteem.

 

So, for the first year, we will work with Japan Executive Functions Coaching Association (JEFCA) to raise awareness of EFs in the adult population. We are, and we will be in the first year, developing unique programs with what we learn from UK combined with our own culture.

We are also working with a major medical entity “Wako-kai” group here in Kure, who is going to open a new clinic specialized in developmental disorders by the end of year. This relationship will enable us to ask for further assessments and diagnosis for students who may need them in a smooth and efficient manner.

 

Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. If we think of them as protrusions and dents (which is what our name DeCo a BoCo indicates in Japanese which is written as 凸凹), it seems like the world has been made in a way that people’s protrusions and dents click with each other so that people can work in harmony, supplementing other’s weaknesses with one’s strengths. People are meant to be varied and diverse.

But when you look at current prevailing education here in Japan, only the students who are good at using pens and papers to express their understanding in a set period of time are highly regarded. Moreover, they are repeatedly reminded that everyone should “aim for higher marks than the average” when it is a total paradox! 

 

In the world that Space DeCo a BoCo aims for, all children and adults are living and learning feeling they are contributing to each other by utilizing their strengths. The weaknesses of people are supplemented for by others’ strengths. Everyone is living life feeling the sense of self-worth.

 

 

Thank you for reading our page.

I am Hisayo Kaya, the representative of April Co., Ltd. which is the operational body of Space DeCo a BoCo.

I completed MA in Chinese Philosophy at Hiroshima University, and I am certified to teach Japanese to Junior High and High School students. I have taught Ancient Chinese and Japanese at tutoring school and high schools. Now I run two group tutoring schools and teach Japanese, English, Maths, Sciences and Social Studies to my students in small groups up to 3 at a time.

I have been the representative of teachers in a voluntary organization “DeCo a BoCo” for 9 years.

Yuko Tsuji is our Executive Advisor in charge of this new project. She has been the representative of parents for “DeCo a BoCo”, too.

Personally, she is a study overseas counsellor specializing in sending Japanese dyslexic kids to dyslexia-friendly schools overseas.

She has travelled extensively for 10 years in search for good schools to 4 countries and more than 40 schools which totaled 168,178km = worth 4.2 rounds of the earth!).

Her dyslexic son has been studying in the UK for 8 years now, and he has found his strengths in creating things, maths and physics. He is now doing BTEC Engineering at a local 6th form college.

She has been accredited as the first Japanese person to be an Executive Functions Coach with Connections in Mind Foundation, UK. Based on neuro-science and psychology, she has just started supporting children to be adults who can make their dreams come true.

 

 

“Frusato nozei” is a form of Japanese tax reduction given to tax payers who donate to local municipalities. Municipalities usually send you back goods or services as returns, so you get tax reduced as well as something or service on top of that.

 

The amount you donate through “Furusato nozei” minus 2,000 yen will be deducted from your resident tax. (Depending on how many other “Furusato nozei” you make, or how much you earn, there could be upper limits.)

 

Three years ago, Kure city has decided to use this system to back up new business starters in the city to raise fund. Every year, the city holds a business contest to decide who uses this framework. This year was the 3rd year, and we are the first female winners of the contest!

 

For tax payers, before this system was introduced, you did not really know where your tax was spent on, but with this system, you can decide for yourselves what causes or projects you wish to use your tax for.

 

Unfortunately, this extends only to people who live within Japan and who are paying resident tax in any of the municipalities in the whole of Japan (not just limited to Kure city), so those who live overseas will just enjoy the “returns” of choice. Again, the choices of return for those who are overseas or who cannot understand Japanese aren’t great, we are sorry to say.

 

But if you wish to make a contribution to this meaningful project, please follow the instruction in another English page to do so. The payment page is only in Japanese so we have made a document for you to follow with screen shots of how it looks.

[ This will be ready after 15th February! ]

 

 

* How to donate (English Instruction) --> HERE