Folha Verde is a natural education project based in a restored olive press in the beautiful mountains of central Portugal.
We are a group of home educating parents holding a space for our children to experience self-directed education.
We believe that the children in our community are competent, inspirational human beings and we are sharing a journey of education with them based in trust. Our project is grounded in the principles of the growing network of Agile Learning Centres.
We aim to:
• explore our own natural desire to learn
• learn at our own pace, by making our own decisions in a supported and safe environment
• develop our interests through experience and practical projects
• fulfill our innate creativity by being free to follow our natural instincts about what we want to learn and experience
• focus on culture – people learn more from their environment than from the content they are taught (the medium is the message)
• work together to set the intention for our learning and to reflect on what we’ve learnt, what worked well and not so well
• enable children to thrive and develop self-confidence in an environment where they are supported to be curious, free-thinking and to ask questions about the world around them, and where their questions and opinions are valued
• provide a natural environment for learning and to enable our children to enjoy the benefits of being outdoors as much as possible throughout their education