On Tuesdays, the Free Night School (and the Social Welfare Office and...??? One day I'll ask someone how it's all organized and be ready to sit still listening or a couple dozen minutes...) does a Free Meal. There are some many kids and guardians to chat with, to run around with, I can't eat there but it looks like it's helpful for people with kids. There's never a day off, kids have to eat every day like dogs and chickens, but more than twice and the kids meals are a lot more involved right? There's are rooms set aside for studying and talking in a building a short walk from this "Biotope" building. The study sessions are in a building that was refurbished as two parts, on half a little local cafe and the other half some sort of playroom. Some kids go and play dodge ball or jump on the trampoline in the big roofed area by the after-school facility.. The local buddhist temple with the nursery school operation is central to all the activity I think. That's a how all the people get access to buildings and facilities. And the staff support from the Local Welfare office seems important too. It must make it easier for the Moms and their kids to get together and help each other out. Some of the regulars are great at ignoring me (for them I probably have what Coleridge called that odor that teachers can have) but they are really sweet to the new shy kids. I wasn't sure how it would work out but the bigger kids were sweet about bringing a little 7yo into their board game, and making sure she got a cup of water too. I guess they're used to helping out with younger siblings too, and all running around this area with different ages...

The Sign say TateYokoNaname, Vertical Horizontal Diagonal, as the idea for the various ways to go about organizing things: hopefully all together I guess. たてよこななめ #たてよこななめ #
#縦横斜め
#FreeNightSchool #三股よる学校 #夜学校

I offer this Freedom Software experience once a week, usually on Wednesdays. It's a bit quieter with fewer people on Wednesdays compared to Fridays. I guess more kids and guardians and everyone else too feels more leeway on Fridays, huh? On Wednesdays the inside space is shared with a poetry group of two which is occasionally joined by one or two others, usually me for a few minutes, sporadically: it's great for learning and chatting. There's a dance section but they only seem to come together and focus before a festival or some other event where they will perform. But this space (a safe space for everyone 居場所) and time isn't really intended for a school classroom sort of approach, I don't think. It's just a place and time where people can get together and having a couple of themes and time slots decided ahead of time makes it easier to come together? The town's Social Welfare office 社協 is one of the main backers or organizers (I'm still don't know much about how it's organized) so certain people are in charge and try to make sure people sign in and put their names by the time-slot they took part in...

You can see hot it would be hard to teach the use of Freedom Software, or programming racket in a serious way here. On the other side of the table with the old PC running GNU/LInux Debian are four people having a great time around the ping pong table. One guy was really good and athletic and helping the three elementary school girls keep the ball going back and forth: not very concerned if the ball hit the table, the floor, or the ceiling just as long as they got the ball to each other past the net somehow. Outside are dozens of kids and other playing dodgeball or on the trampoline (2 at a time!!).. or just running around as some moms(and other guardians) watch and official facilitators also watch participate. But it's freedom exposure..
#YoruGakkou #夜学校 #自由ソフト #FreeSoftwareEducation #TuxType #TuxPaint #LibreOfficeWriter
#MimataNightSchool #三股夜学校 #FreeNightSchool

This was my last Friday night, for a while, at the Free NIght school for my Freedom Software timeslot. I had forgotten I was supposed to be off this night but it was good that I went anyway: it was fun! And I got to see how an older participant (not a pre-school or early elementary school child!) tries this GNU/Linxu Debian Gnome system. I started him out by pushing the Logo (?Super?) key and pointing to the Libre-Office software as the equivalent of well-know proprietary applications. He opened up Writer.. Since I use SKK which is very different of other Japanese IME (Input Methods) so it was good to notice I should rush to change it to Mozc when offering a taste of the Freedom Software experience. This computer's Tux-Type comes with a font that is confusing. The "j" looks like an "i" and "g" looked like a "q". I only figure it out by remembering the lesson was for the keys in the row that only has "j" and "q"... Tux-paint seems to be a hit for all ages. If I remember to pull this laptop out to see if I can do anything about Tux-Type's font I should upload the image "LOVE" somewhere...
This time slot is just to show people what they can do after the bring in a computers so I can put the same operating system and application on their hard drive. I can't set aside the time and patience, or take the risk, of setting up a dual-boot machine with a proprietary system so my conditions are some old computer that can lose all it's data. They either backed up the data or don't care. I think it's easiest for us all to ease into this without any shocks misunderstandings if we start out thinking the PCs will be toys, educational toys, serious games and get started that way. None of us yet seems to have the time to dedicate to replacing work, local business documents and such, with Freedom Software: this would be nice eventually though...
#YoruGakkou #夜学校 #自由ソフト #FreeSoftwareEducation #TuxType #TuxPaint #LibreOfficeWriter

From April till June I do my Freedom Software (or GDM English) time slot on Fridays not Wednesdays. The Wed. Nursing School class conflicts so I see what Night School is like on other nights . One year I did Mondays, or Tuesdays for a time. People make and share meals in the little wood building by the BioTope. They feed all comers! Free! That can be very stimulating, to stimulating to eat with so many people to talk with and with the kids running around, some outside getting wet in the BioTope while catching little freshwater shrimp(?) who knows what else. After the meal people (mostly kids) split off to go to a study room, or play dodgeball or soccer in a lighted and roofed area. So that's Monday, and Tuesday.
But Fridays can seem the most festive. When the weather is nice and lots of kids come out to enjoy dodgeball, soccer, trampoline, board games...One of the nice Moms does the board games events. Until seeing the stuff she brings (and the university board game club) I didn't know there were such a variety of board games. It's hard for me to sit down for a board game, I'm either moving around, or talking, or reading or something. Board Games fall into a gap for me, I need to be doing something much more active, or much less: just not set up for the particular mix needed for board games. It's probably the same with knitting, crotchet, hemp knot jewelry: the sorts of things I'm tempted by but can never sit down and do: like playing and instrument to I guess. Maybe one day I'll be able to do those in-between things, those things that don't have you moving around outside with the ax or the animals, walking in the woods, or being still sitting at a keyboard, or lying on your back with a book.
The games are interesting and look fun, but with little time I am with people it feels like I need to fit in a lot of conversation, free ranging conversation with the freedom to jump off into something else.
#MimataNightSchool #YoruGakkou #夜学校 #三股夜学校 #FreeNightSchool