仔牛近道

5年生になった（す）と昼間一緒に過ごすようになってから、もう長いこと経ちました。わが子との在宅お散歩生活は、今は2歳の（さ）と私。ついこの前までは、小学校入学前の（ま）がいたし、（う）だって年長さんになるまでずーっと一緒にお散歩生活だったのです。きっと今は（す）ともまた一緒に過ごせる番なのかもしれません。

（す）は今、一般的な呼び名では不登校の小学生です。でもすごく元気な、です。心身ともに。そして町内外の自然の中にも人の中にもたくさん師匠がいて、こんなに贅沢な時間を過ごしている彼の生活は奇跡的な「家庭をベースにした教育」環境だと関心すらしています。4年生の時から、学校の流れに違和感を感じ始めた（す）。学校側にも本人にも、あれこれ協議したり提案したり、励ましたり促したり色々したけれど、彼は未来のために今を我慢するとかではなくて、まさに今を生きていて、苦しい、何か違うと言い続けている。それなら、と私たちも落ち着いて受け止めた。きっとそれが（す）少年にとって「解放」であったみたい。

勉強することは嫌いじゃないし苦手でもない、友達も大好き、給食も大好き、どの先生も人として嫌いではない。ただ、決められたことを話し合いもしないでただやるのはどうも納得がいかない。建前のような大人のちょっとした言動にも敏感。より楽しくしたい、という余地がないのも苦手。そして4年生の時から偶然にも、一人学級になってしまったのもそんな違和感の密度を上げてしまったかもしれない。（う）もそうだったけれど、高学年に差し掛かると急に物事が分かりだすというか、心が成長するように見える。それに加えて、（す）の根っから持っている熱いものが、ピーピーとやかんから吹き上がるように沸き立ってきたのかもしれない。

4年生の時にはだいぶ手伝った気がするけれど、5年生になった（す）は本当に自律しています。彼の手作りの日々は、なかなか面白い。勉強5教科は、オンライン教材の力も借りて過不足なく理解していく。担任の先生とＺｏｏｍ授業が行われることもあります。それに加えて（う）や（ま）もそうだけれど、週に1回の英語練習をコルカタの友人を先生にして行ってもらう。あとはラジオの基礎英語講座を聞いている。勉強らしい勉強はそれくらいで、あとはコーチや町外のクラブの仲間たちとカヌー練習をし、大会があればコーチと日本中どこでも出かけていく。週二回の町内の陸上クラブ。本流堂とのラフティング・・・・って体育ばかり！



でも、私と（ま）のお散歩生活でも明らかだったように、奈良田で日中過ごしているとそれだけで面白いことに毎日出会えることが、何よりの勉強の機会です。鹿が獲れたぞ、熊が捕れたぞ、と連絡が入れば解体を見に行く、一緒に食べる、そして次は一緒にやりたい！と願ってやまない。「おう、すくら居るか？」と近所のおっちゃんが呼べば、蔵から出てきた「叩きゴマ」を教えてやるという。夢中になって練習して、今では立派な後継者です。
「こんにゃく苦手だけど、おばちゃんの手作りこんにゃくだけは旨い」と言えば、「今から作るから鍋持って手伝いにおいで」と呼ばれる。きのこを採りに行くよ、と声がかかれば、ついでに山の中でグッとくる木を拾ってくる。



そう、何より最近は理想の木刀を作ることに気合が入っています。寝ても覚めても理想的なカーブ、質感、強度、デザインなどを考えているらしく、車で走っていても会話をしつつもどうやら目は山の木を見ているらしい。枝ぶりを。あの部分欲しいな～、と。そして木の所有者を確かめて何とか手に入れる。それから切って削って鑢をかけて・・・そんなこんなで玄関の中外そこらじゅうに木刀が置いてあって、私が呆れていると、真剣な顔でこう言います。
「いいの！木刀作りは。探す楽しみ、想像する楽しみ、作る楽しみ。たくさんあっても、常に理想の1本を探すの。これまで作ったのは、欲しい子がいればあげて、喜ばれたらなお嬉しい」と。はぁ、そうですか、と私。どうやら防犯や戦闘用ではないらしいことがよく分かりました。



熱しやすく、のめりこみやすい。思い込みが強いが、猪突猛進しているうちに本当になっていることもあるから、とりあえず見守ることにしています。

それにしても、なんて楽しそうなのでしょう。もちろん、同世代の子どもたちとわいわいする機会の物足りなさは残念なのらしいけれど、それでも精一杯、今の関心と熱意を伸び伸び養っていることは間違いないと思って見ています。



今はこれでよかったんじゃないかな。（す）はこの生活に納得が言っているようだし、たまに他の子にかわかわれてもへっちゃら。多分、そんな姿を目の当たりにしているから、（ま）も引きずられることなく、元気に自分の小学校生活を楽しんでいます。

さぁ、冬の間は、クラブの皆との極寒の富士川カヌー練習が待っています。年明けは、千葉県知事杯という新年カヌーマラソンに出場予定。（す）は去年よりも大幅なタイム更新をめざしているとのこと。これには珍しく帰省もかねて、家族全員でその勇姿を眺めに行くことにしています。これは（さ）誕生以来、初めての家族小旅行。こんな（す）の、そして見守る家族の新しい一年、いい漕ぎ出しになるといいね。



The story of Sukla

It has been quite a long time since Sukla began to stay at home instead of going to school. My home-based life with kids has a long history by now – it had started mainly with Umeo when we were in Ehime, and then with Makasa and Saede here in Narada. So, maybe it’s his turn now.

“Futoko” (school non-attendance) as 11-year-old Sukla is called, however has quite a positive meaning in his case. He IS such a healthy boy both mentally and physically and surrounded by various coaches and masters both in and out of Hayakawa town where we live. It’s simply impressive to me that he has been having such rich days – an amazing “home based education” is realized!
It was when he was 9 years old (4th grade) he started to be reluctant to go to school. He started feeling uneasy about “the flow” of school education system. We, as his parents, attempted in quite a lot of ways convincing him and suggesting alternative ideas to school so that we thought he could happily go to school again. However, it took so much effort and time for so little improvement! He, as a little boy, but soon getting mature, didn’t wish to take on to the belief a better future, but wished to live for the moment. He seemed like having sensed that and kept saying “I’m suffering! This is something wrong for me!” Alright, then, what we should do was to accept his instincts. This moment, he was freed, I think.

He doesn’t hate studying, also he is not bad at it at all. He loves playing with friends, school lunch, and has no fear of any of the teachers. However, he really can’t stand obeying whatever the teachers say without any chances of discussions and improvements. He is also very sensitive about an adult’s superficial statement/attitude. He always seizes ways to make things better especially in his favorite area of activities. It might have been a big factor that his only classmate had moved to another town at the beginning of their 4th grade -meaning that there were one teacher and one student, in the classroom.

Just like Umeo was, they seemed like becoming very mature around the year of 4th or 5th grade. Is that how kids are? Besides that, maybe it was the moment when his enthusiasm, that he has by nature, had reached its peak, and he had just wished to let it go freely.

I helped quite a lot to organize his daily schedule of his home-based study and other activities last year (when he was in his 4th grade), but not this year anymore as he has grown in his spirit of self-reliance. I’m sure you will be excited if you see what he does every day. For his five major subjects, he studies by himself with the help of online materials, and his homeroom teacher provides online lectures once a while when needed. Weekly English lessons provided by a good friend of ours in Kolkata, India is also an important part of his studies. He also practices English conversation by listening to the radio. Well, these are what he does as his “study”. During the rest of the time, he goes for canoe training both in a canoe pool and in rivers. He travels everywhere in Japan with his canoe coaches and club mates for canoe tournaments. In summer, he often joins rafting tours as he gets along very well with the older rafting guides. In addition to those, he never forgets to join track and field club training twice a week together with his sisters …Yes, plenty of physical activities!



Staying in Narada itself brings him so many exciting lessons – it has been proved from my Narada days with Makasa and Saede. There are so many opportunities to learn about nature and traditional mountain lives. Neighbor grandpa and grandma are always great teachers, and Sukla must have been improving his communication skills through interacting with them and sharing experiences with them. His field activities always start suddenly - Dear and bear slaughtering, eating them with local hunters, whipping top making and its practices, Konnyaku making, and going mushrooming (he never forgets to find his favorite-shaped-wood pieces to make his own swords).



Oh yes, he is preoccupied by making his own wooden swords these days. The ideal curve, touch, strength, design and so on…his eyes are always searching for the woods that have those potential. Once he finds his favorite wood in a forest, he tries to find out the owner of the land to get permission for cutting that part of the wood. Then, he would cut, whittle, and rasp them until he gets THE one. He continues the ‘try and error’ method, so there are a plenty of wooden swords around the entrance of our house, what a mess!
Looking at my amazed look (with bitter smile!), he gave an impassioned speech – “This is fine! Making wooden swords has a lot of fun. It has a joy of imagining the ideal one, searching the material, and shaping it. My journey to seek the ideal one never ends. If any of friends likes my swords, it’s my pleasure to give it to him/her”. Oh, I see! Now it’s clear that his swords are neither for crime prevention nor fighting against something. Hahaha

Sukla is a boy who is excitable and easily gets into his activities. He is the type that goes headlong at whatever he has decided to do, and his passion sometimes leads him to certain achievement. So, we shall leave him just like that.

What enriching days he has! Of course, he also feels a bit sad about getting lesser chances of playing around with other children at school, however he tries to do his best utilizing whatever is available around him. I feel that he has been growing his interests and enthusiasm with no limitation here.



Now, I feel that this style is working for him. He seems like he understands the situation well (so he doesn’t care at all even if other children sometimes make fun of him about not going to school). Maybe after witnessing his attitude of self-respect, Makasa never gets dragged along by him, but is enjoying her own school life.

Well, the winter has come. During the winter, Sukla will be busy canoe training in the cold Fujikawa-River with his coach and club mates. He is supposed to join an annual event of new-year canoe marathon in Chiba, which is coming up very soon. He aims to shorten his time compared to the previous year so that he can prove his own growth. To observe and cheer his race, we have decided to travel to Chiba as a whole family, which is the first time since Saede was born three years ago! Let us all make a good wish for each one’s bright new year together with Sukla’s first rowing in 2022.