Background
For the longest time, I yearned for a space where I could show up for connection and learning in nature with my kids. A space where I would be welcomed exactly as I was – and where me and my children would be allowed to express ourselves and follow our curiosity unbound by structure and rigidity.
I found traditional playgroups too superficial. Pure nature playgroups too difficult to accommodate sensory needs across seasons in inclement weather. I didn’t want to drop my kids and run, but I was also desperate for some time spent in connection with nature, doodling maps in the sand while I processed and felt into what was happening for me. I wanted connection with like-minded home-schooling families but also a space where it was OK to not want to talk on some days at all.
Put simply I wanted to do things, together. Explore together. Wonder together. Learn together. Fall apart together. Alongside others and my kids too.
The more I learned about neuroscience the more my very specific and unique yearning made sense. I wanted a space where I could tap into the co-regulating force of nature and other families who are values aligned. A space where I wouldn’t be judged. A space where I wanted to go rather than forcing myself to show up. And a space where there was both shared ownership built on shared values as well as a deep commitment to inclusion and celebrating diversity in ourselves and our children.
Three long years of COVID, many experiments and lots of overcoming my own fears later, I was ready to share this yearning with the world in the hope that it would resonate with others.
Structure
Grow Together isn’t philosophically aligned with any one particular parenting model.
Rather I’m offering is a space where together we can be, learn and explore alongside our children. Where both our needs and theirs can be nurtured and supported. I’m offering this space in nature, but with the comfort of shelter and amenities nearby for us to use if needed.
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Each week we’ll explore a seasonal theme although children and parents will be encouraged to explore their own special interests in a way that reflects their capacities and needs on any given day. Facilitated activities will be minimal and offered as an invitation only – offering freedom, flexibility and autonomy.
Curiosity, wonder and freedom of emotional expression will be centered as we journey through the term together. Invitations to play or learn alongside others, share and reflect will build relational safety and a sense of community and safety for children and parents – creating what I hope is a deeply nourishing space where our nervous systems can collectively exhale.
Your Invitation
My hope is that over time, families will come to trust that they truly can show up exactly as they are (I will be there messily modelling that with my own children). My intention is that by building this pod together, the usual fears we feel about needing our children to behave, needing to mask our true feelings and needing to be the same as other members of the community will fade, making space for more authentic connection, more co-regulation and therefore a deeper sense of wellbeing and capacity to learn.
Together, we will be practicing the social, emotional and relational skills to help us thrive as homeschooling families and while I’ll be there as a guide to scaffold and support the group, my hope is that over time both children and parents may feel the desire to contribute to the shared learning in whatever ways align with their unique gifts and interests.
I know and so deeply trust that together we are going to co-create deep magic.
So I wonder…. If you have the same yearning… would you like to grow together?
Social Skills
Emotional Skills
Relational Skills
Creative Skills
The Details
Weekly on a Wednesday 10am-1pm
Term 1 - 7 Feb to 27 March 2024
$180 per family per term
Costs cover venue hire and materials and have been kept low to make this offering accessible.
To discuss your particular circumstances or access sliding scale options, please reach out via the button below.
Bullarto Hall, VIC