Being free comes with huge responsibility. At Animalia the children, and adults, have the freedom to explore, to learn and to have fun while doing so. They learn to be radically self-responsible. But that doesn’t mean you can do anything you want.
Self-responsibility means while you have all this freedom, you still have to take responsibility for your words and actions and the impact it has on your environment.
At Animalia children learn to take charge of their own lives through radical self-responsibility and self-directed education.
Radical Self Responsibility
When you practice radical self-responsibility, you understand that every thought you have, every emotion you feel and every action you take, is your responsibility. When you understand this, you know that you create your own life. You cannot blame anyone or anything else for your life. You own your stuff. There are no masters or slaves.
We don’t have control over what happens outside of ourselves. But we have control over ourselves. And when you own your stuff, you own what you think and do. And when you can own that, you step out of victimhood and into your own power.
So the question is, who is your best friend? What are the qualities of that person, animal or thing? And can you be your own best friend? For that you need to know yourself, be independent, have self-control and have a good self-image. And then, you can start practicing radical self-responsibility.
Self-Directed Education
Self-directed education puts you in charge of your own life and own learning. And as living and learning are interconnected, you cannot do the one without the other. Most of our skills come from learning through our every day interactions and daily living.
When you allow a child to explore with a new project of their choice, they will delve deep into every aspect of the project. And as they move along with the project, they realise there are extra skills and knowledge needed to learn. Because of the interest in the project, getting the required skills and knowledge becomes a natural part of the process.
All humans learn better when they have the freedom to let their curiosity drive them. And children are naturally curious. They like to explore, ask questions and try out new and different things. A child might need guidance with the process but not direct instruction.
Ultimate Frisbee
Ultimate frisbee is the ultimate sport to teach self-responsibility. Even at the highest level of competition, there is no referee with rule enforcement. The game relies hundred percent on self-officiating and sportsmanship of the players.
Fair play is maintained through the “spirit of the game”. Players have to call their own fouls and only dispute something if they genuinely believe it did not occur. You as individual as well as the team is responsible for how the game is played.
At Animalia we start the day with stretching, Brain Gym and ultimate frisbee. This is our self-governing team sport where the children have the opportunity to choose their own teams and focus on collaboration instead of competition. Children have free choice and self-responsibility in ensuring fair play. An important factor is that they learn to have fun and that fun is more important than winning.
Harvest Cooking
In a world where it has become easy to stop at the nearest shop and purchase all your food, it is easy to forget where it all comes from and how the environment is impacted. At Animalia we love to cook and know where our food comes from and how our eating habits affect the environment.
Our veggie garden grows in abundance and the children join in collecting various vegetables and herbs, wild edible weeds and fungi, for that day’s cooking. Responsible harvesting means you learn to take only as much as you need, prepare everything yourself and waste nothing, composting scraps, etc.
The children are involved in the whole process from harvesting, to cooking and cleaning. All aspects of the process teaches self-responsibility and appreciation for nature and its resources. Of course before cleaning, everyone dishes up and enjoys the meal they prepared.
Maintenance and Building
You can never learn practical life skills from a text book. All maintenance, cleaning and building projects are done by Animaliacs themselves. Everyone contributes depending on their level of interest and ability.
If we need a new chicken coup or new duck house, we build it. If you would like to fish, you find your own bait and hook it up yourself. If you decide to play with any toys, it is your free choice but also your responsibility to clean it and put it away.
Any maintenance project is an opportunity to learn new skills and integrate it with daily school life. This gives each child a choice in what to do with their time, teaches resilience and collaboration, and responsibility for their choices.
Animalia Life
Animaliacs understand radical self-responsibility. Together we explore, build and have fun but everyone always have free choice in how they participate. We don’t force any learning as that would be counter productive.
Unlike a traditional school system where children are forced to learn according to a curriculum, the children at Animalia are free to direct their own learning with the guidance of teachers who unsurprisingly learn every day too.
Animalia Learning Center 