OUR PHILOSOPHY
SELF-DIRECTED & CONSENT-BASED
We believe that learning is most likely to be meaningful when it is freely chosen and we our committed to providing an environment in which our children can do this.
​
The Square is self-directed: it offers children time, space and an environment in which they can explore and learn in a way that is meaningful to them. They can choose what, when and how to learn things within safe boundaries.
​
The Square is consent-based: respectful of our own freedom, choices and boundaries, and the freedom, choices and boundaries of others. We aim to support the children to engage with the group to the extent they are able to.
​
​
​
​
RESPECTFUL PARENTING
We are committed to practicing and practising respectful parenting. At the Square, we strive to treat our children as whole people, coming alongside our them and partnering with them in a culture of mutual respect.
We focus on connection and empathy, working together to foster problem solving and conflict resolution, and we work with internal willingness rather than external pressure.
​
Parents offer each other a compassionate and non-judgmental space to work through challenges.
COMMUNITY
We are committed to creating community.
​
The Square is a regular, consistent community of families, through which our children can build strong friendships with the same group of peers and work through inevitable conflicts together, and parents can learn from each other and offer each other mutual support.
​
We want the Square to evolve as our children grow and we are open-minded about what this might look like.
There is open discussion about the needs of the community and any ensuing changes.
“It’s a time to master small tasks, reach for tiny goals, the most important of which involve exploring and enjoying their own body and spirit. They need to be allowed hour upon hour of idle play, dates with buddies, walks in the park, or rides along the beach. They need uninterrupted hours of twiddling their thumbs, painting nothing in particular, kneading dough, playing with sand, crumbling paper, and rummaging through toy boxes. They need to dress up in costumes, pretending to be kings, queens, and dragons. They need to be permitted hours to stomp in their room and make mistakes. They need the time, freedom, and absolute permission to follow their heart.”
​
- Shefali Tsabary
"If you had a generation of children who grew up with their sense of morality based on empathy rather than judgement, you would totally change the fabric of society."
-Artemis D. Bear