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Values

At Quest, we respect and honor childhood. It is such a precious and impressionable time in a person’s life. The formative experiences provide the foundation for our understanding of how the world works and who we are as people in it. These early experiences shape how we feel about ourselves for years to come. 

 

The following values and core beliefs are at the heart of our microschool, and serve as the guiding principles that support our mission.

Child-Centered Learning

Empowering children to take learning into their own hands is crucial for fostering self-directed learners. When they have the autonomy to make choices, they are more invested in their educational journey. When learning is meaningful and driven by interest, it becomes a more efficient and enjoyable process.

 

By embracing and nurturing individual strengths and passions, we are helping children thrive, grow, and reach their full potential. When children feel supported, accepted, and safe, they feel comfortable asking questions, expressing their thoughts, ideas, and emotions. And by valuing and acknowledging children’s thoughts, opinions, and perspectives, we demonstrate that their voices matter and that they are capable. This helps build confidence and self-belief. This confidence and belief in their own abilities serves as a foundation for their future endeavors.

 

Collaboration

Human connection is a fundamental aspect of our nature, and knowledge sharing plays a crucial role in fostering those connections. We have an innate desire to learn from others and to share our own knowledge and experiences.

 

By promoting group play, projects, and exploration, we create an environment where children can learn from each other, build on shared discoveries, and cultivate a sense of camaraderie. It enhances their learning experiences, promotes social connections, and fosters a sense of community and collective growth.

Social and Emotional Development

We use compassionate communication to help children identify and connect to their feelings and hear their deeper needs. We extend empathy to ensure that they know they are heard. This approach in dealing with conflicts avoids shaming, judging, or analyzing the conflict and instead focuses on needs.

 

We give children the time and space to work out conflicts on their own. If they do need support, we start with forging a human connection between them. We ensure that everyone fully expresses their needs, carefully listens to those needs, and makes reasonable action requests using positive language. We do not hear “no” as a rejection, but rather as an expression of the need that is keeping the person from saying “yes”.

 

When children’s emotional needs are met, it creates a solid foundation for their overall well-being and development. When their needs are adequately addressed and supported, they’re better equipped to meet the needs of others.

Modeling

"Young people need models, not critics." They are learning how to be a person by watching the kind of people we are. They pay close attention to our actions, words, and interactions. They internalize and mimic the behaviors they observe, forming their own beliefs, values, and social skills based on these experiences. This process of observational learning plays a crucial role in their social, emotional and moral development. 

 

When children witness or are subject to power-based discipline, such as punishments or coercive measures, they may internalize the belief that it is acceptable to exert power and control over others when they encounter difficulties. But if they grow up around understanding, support, constructive problem-solving, respect and compassion, these are the lessons they learn instead.

Growth Mindset

Children who are attending to how well they are doing have their self-concept on the line. The image of themselves as smart or competent is endangered by the risk of failing to meet a certain standard of performance. This fixed mindset can create fear of failure and a reluctance to take on challenges. The more they are focused on how well they’re doing, the less they are absorbed in the task itself.

 

On the other hand, fostering a growth mindset enables children to believe that their abilities can be developed through effort, learning, and perseverance. This mindset encourages a focus on the process of learning, rather than on the outcomes. It allows individuals to view challenges and setbacks as opportunities for growth and learning, rather than threats. By encouraging a growth mindset, children can develop a healthier relationship with their self-concept, be more open to taking risks, and become more resilient in the face of challenges.

Critical Thinking

In a rapidly changing and complex world, critical thinking enables children to adapt to new situations, and solve problems creatively. It allows them to challenge existing ideas, explore new possibilities, consider different perspectives, and engage in independent and objective reasoning. They can evaluate potential risks and take necessary precautions accordingly. With the right mindset and analytical skills, children can make sound decisions, maximize the use of resources, and increase the likelihood of success.

 

We give children ample opportunities to critically think through decision-making, hands-on and inquiry-based learning, open-ended questions, and collaborative problem-solving tasks.

Nature

Many children today are experiencing a nature deficit. With the increasing influence of technology, urbanization, and structured schedules, children are spending less time connecting with the natural world. This deficit can have significant implications for their overall well-being and development.

 

By nurturing a strong connection to nature, children can develop a sense of awe, appreciation, and respect for it. When children are given that freedom, they seem to display an inherent talent to use their imaginations and let the magic of nature happen.

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Fully immersive outdoor play develops not only the five senses, but provides some natural opportunities for movement, exploration, and discovery. It also helps with anxiety, stress, depression, and brings clarity of the mind.

 

We provide ample opportunities for children to explore the outdoors, nature, and its inhabitants. They build elaborate nests, forts, and designs. They climb trees, brave freezing winters, play with sticks, and find worms, the list goes on and on.

Free Play

Children are biologically designed to learn through play. We provide the time, space, and materials with which children can explore, roam, and be. Play supports children’s healthy physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development. For young children, play allows the inner world to integrate with the outer world. We are especially interested in play that is initiated and led by children and that expresses their own concerns and interests. Such play is full of the stories children create to understand themselves and the world around them.

 

Play can be an intense learning process. There are rules, there are relationships, there is movement, strategy, and language. Children learn to work well with others and find creative solutions to problems. Some games involve a lot of math, others involve art or building things.

 

A big part of how Quest supports children’s free and self-directed play in the outdoors will be our access to loose parts. The “ScrapShack” is a storage shed housing tools and materials with such things as cardboard boxes, markers, tape, pipes, tubes, wheels, bungee cords, ropes, sheets, tarps, plastic bottles, crates, as well as natural loose parts such as logs, sticks, dirt, rocks, acorns and pinecones. We invite children to play, construct, work together, work alone, solve problems, and have fun.

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. 

Howard Thurman

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