What We Are
We Are Not A School, But We Are A Community
Consent Based
We are a learning community where children learn based on consent. We value the theory of self-determination and believe in fully supporting the three main areas of the theory: autonomy, competence, and belonging. Adults and children alike offer workshops, lessons, and activities based on need, want, and curiosity. It's up to each learner to decide what they want to or don't want to engage in.
Non-Violent, Co-Regulatory, and Sociocratic
We believe all emotions are valid and important for a healthy integration of life experiences. And we believe that everyone has a right to be psychologically and physically safe. Because of these beliefs, we use the approach of Non-Violent Communication as an anchor for facilitating conflict resolution which allows us to hold space for all emotions- including uncomfortable ones- while also helping young people find resolution and repair within the community. We anchor our non-judgment in the idea that all behavior is communication and that adults in our space act as co-regulators for the young people in our care. Additionally, we use protocols from Sociocracy as an intentional way to share power and collaboratively make decisions.
Mixed-Age
We offer a mixed-age learning community for children from 3 years old to 13 years old. There are no classes or cohorts. Conventional systems segregate children by age, however, we believe the best learning happens when we're in an authentic community with one another. Peer scaffolding allows each child to find what they need to learn the newest skills they want to acquire. Irregardless of age and with a focus on needs, there are times in the day/week when we responsively gather based on in the moment social-emotional learning needs, language needs, or skill development needs.
Focused on Wellbeing and Creative Expression
Our community is focused on the well-being of every child. As we co-create the meaning of the world around us, we know that there are moments of conflict and confusion. We take pride in knowing that each child and family in our space is cared for in holistic and neurodiversity-affirming ways. We value and provide creative ways to explore who you are and how to communicate your needs through individual mentoring, group explorations, and family support.
Who is Our Unschooling Community For?
Homeschoolers | Unschoolers | Worldschoolers
Unconventional Families
Our community is not a school, therefore, we welcome families who are committed to unconventionally educating their children. We are happy to have our community included in your child's educational plan and are happy to collaborate and be responsive to the needs of your child.
Neurodivergent Children & Families
We value neurodiversity and we have experience working with many neurodivergent children and families. Our unique way of viewing behavior and our understanding of nervous system integration and sensory processing allow us to provide safe and informed care and support to neurodivergent families.
Residents & Travellers
We welcome those who plan to stay in Pai long term as well as those who are passing by on their world schooling journeys. We love the buzz in the air when we meet new friends, no matter how long they stay, however, for a good experience within our community we believe a minimum of 2 weeks is essential.
"A person’s freedom of learning is part of his freedom of thought even more basic than his freedom of speech. If we take away from someone his right to decide what he will be curious about, we destroy his freedom of thought. We say, in effect, you must think not about what interests and concerns you, but about what interests and concerns us.”
-John Holt
Explore Our Space
We are a home-based space on a beautiful land surrounded by nature. We have multiple spaces with various intended uses. Our spaces include, but are not limited to: a maker space with real tools, a sewing room, a game and book library, a kitchen for cooking, a gym for sport, and outside space for sports. And let's not forget our 3 furry friends who keep us company.
More Information
Logistics and a bit more about Who We Are
Our Facilitators
Nadia and Min Zaw Win are the main facilitators. Nadia is a parent and credentialed educator and Therapeutic Play trainee. Min Zaw is a parent and is the one the kids call, "their greatest teacher". Along wtih Nadia and Min Zaw are two additional facilitators. The additional facilitators are dependent on the season and who is available to offer creative and needed support for the group. Both Nadia and Min Zaw engage in continued learning and professional development and dialogue in the areas of child development and alternative education.
Click below to listen/watch their podcast where they share their ideas and experience surrounding self-directed education.
**Due to world events- particularly the revolution in Myanmar- the podcast has been on hold so we can attend to our family needs, however, you can still listen to episode 1 to hear our own school experiences and how we define Self Directed Education while busting some myths around the concept. In episode 2 you'll hear all the things we love about running a truly mixed-age community- from babies to old ladies! As we make a big transition soon we are hoping to record more episodes to share with you all and to pay homage to our beautiful community.
What is Unschooling - to Us?
Unschooling is a term that can be confusing. Just by its parts one might think it means there's no learning, but we fully believe that school is not the only place where learning happens. Educational psychologist Peter Grey tells us that humans can never not be in a state of learning. We are constantly taking in information from our environment and it's more about what the environment is telling us and how many factors of the optimum conditions for self-directed education are present. In our unschooling community we strive to create an environment that teaches young people that their ideas matter, that their intuition can be trusted, and that relationships with peers and adults can be healthy, meaningful, and joyful. Although our focus is on social- emotional well-being, that doesn't mean that no explicit learning happens. Communication between home and our unschooling facilitators is essential for us to continue to help foster the academic connections that are happening in our space all the time.
3 Days a Week
Our community meets together on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from
9am-2pm.
Lunch/Food
We value food autonomy and limiting shame around eating. Therefore, we encourage families to pack what works for their child and their family and we actively support each other in not shaming or commenting on each other's meal choices.
We choose our words wisely when talking about food and use factual language. We do not label food as healthy or unhealthy, but we do have conversations about what different foods do for our bodies AND our minds and acknowledge that this is different for each individual. We have many families who are vegan and many who are not. When cooking takes place we try to include vegan options whenever possible.
Since we do not provide lunch, we do provide a couple of options for ordering food from local restaurants. Whether you order or pack your child's lunch is entirely up to your needs.
All food orders are at the family's expense.
Some children require snack along with lunch so your child is welcome to bring along a snack as well. Lunch is eaten all together, but snack can be had at any point in the day as needed.
