Chapter 1 · the idea of yōgo (care)
The word underneath every other word
We’ve covered principles, goals, methods, environment, responsibility. Now the guidelines name the concept that was quietly running through all of it: yōgo.
The concept
Yōgo: the support behind every action
In childcare, yōgo (care) means the support and involvement a nursery teacher provides in order to protect a child’s life and keep their emotions settled. A nursery’s practice is defined by carrying out yōgo and education as one integrated whole, and that integration has to run through every part of a nursery’s daily life.
But here’s the key
This isn’t a new idea — it’s the name for one you already know
If you’ve followed this series, you’ve already met yōgo — in “the child’s best interest,” in “care and teaching as one,” in “a calm place, first.” This section just gives that recurring idea its formal name and its own dedicated aims and content, because everything else in the guidelines rests on it.
In real life
The invisible half of every lesson
When I run a painting activity, the visible part is paint, paper, colour. The invisible part — the yōgo — is checking each child feels settled enough to sit down, noticing who’s hungry or overtired before we even start, being ready to pause the whole thing for one child who suddenly needs to be held. The painting is only ever half the lesson.
A common misunderstanding
“Yōgo is what I do before the real teaching starts.”
“Settling a child down is a preliminary step, separate from the actual lesson.”
“Settling a child down runs underneath the entire lesson, the whole time, not just at the start.”
Why this matters to you
The next two posts break yōgo into its two halves: life preservation and emotional stability. Keep this one word in mind as you read them — it’s the thread connecting everything you’ve read in this series so far to everything still coming.
Your turn
In my last activity, what was the invisible yōgo happening underneath it?
Name it to yourself. It counts as much as the activity did.
About Bond Japan
NPO Bond Japan
Bond Japan connects international schools so they can learn from one another and deepen a shared understanding of early childhood education and care.
