THE WHAT
What does this education alternative look like?
This question has a long answer.
Homeschooling without the problems
Here's your alternative.
Imagine a facility that will be open from 8:00am to 6:00pm, that you can pick up and drop off whenever you like. Did I mention it was open for 7 days? How about 48 weeks of the year?
That's 3360 hours of family structured, educational freedom.
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Education given to those receiving It
Each year the kids get to pick new, or choose to retain, each staff member. As well as the purchase of new learning material.
Primarily chosen from the parents, augmented by external hires for less common roles such as a scientist, the staff have particular requirements.
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Health Habits and Reflection
Our habits define us as people and can provide a stabiliser to a healthy and happy life. At Free Path we model and encourage daily reflections and goal tracking through the use of a physical notebook.
Learn through Play, Curriculum through Al
Children have shown over thousands of years that children are capable of observing and learning all the things they find to be necessary to know in order to survive in whatever culture they live in. The way they have always done this is through observation, play and imagination. We will not change this natural method.
However, to fill the curriculum needs our society and culture has dictated, we are implementing an Al tutor chat bot. The learners will talk to and discuss their interests and be prompted in the topics needed to pursue it further.
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Outcomes Parents are Proud to Give their Children
Happy. Healthy. A socially competent young adult, who knows what they are passionate about and their next steps in their life journey. Their next steps could look like many things; such as an internship, apprenticeship, a portfolio or a university acceptance.
Homeschooling without the problems
The hardest parts about homeschooling are time, resources, socialisation and the process.
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TIME
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Someone responsible has to be with the kids (True), therefore a parent needs be around to stop their own pursuits to be with the kids (Myth).​
Time is not a cheap economy and should not be spent lightly. We will be stuck in a 9-5 existence as long as we have children in a 9-3.
Our facilities will be open from 8:00am to 6:00pm, 7 days a week, 48 weeks of the year. This gives families complete control of their own schedules within 70 hours a week and more if requested.
Let them sleep in or drag them in early to make your appointment.
Solving difficult problems is the way Free Path will fulfill its goal of making homeschooling easy.
By giving complete autonomy of scheduling to the family, including what times, which days and when to have holidays, allows you and your children to create your own routine.
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SOCILISATION
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Kids need to be around other kids, they need socialisation (True). Finding other likeminded families is difficult (Myth).
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Socialisation is a tricky situation as children need other children to play, chat and negotiate with.
Most homeschooling families find a small group of others to socialise and mingle with. Typically around 10 or so families get together regularly, some parents delivering activities or programs that fall within their skillset, eg. judo or carpentry. It’s a good solution to the problem but not without its difficulties and limitations.
With a facility dedicated to making homeschooling easy, it is a problem that is solved instantly. With an aim of 240 children in attendance each day, there is a large potential for a child to find others with the same interest as them.
Anyone who has spent time with children knows, two children, plus something in common, equals found a new best friend.
RESOURCES
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Kids have lots of different interests (True), therefore many different learning materials are needed (True). That's going to be very expensive (Myth).
A tricky part to following a child's interest is getting the resources they need to pursue their learning while the intrinsic motivation is at its peak.
Following a child's pursuit into music is wonderful but slow and expensive, if you need to find a guitar… Then a keyboard… Then a violin. Someone to show them some notes. By the time all this has been organized, weeks later, the curiosity is forgotten and they have moved on to the next thing.
Without the resources, parents will always be trying to keep up.
Each facility will have all of the materials for any of the most common interests but also a quick means to buy any other that a child might want.
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PROCESS
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Juggling the governmental rules is tricky (True). Complying and having all the records and documents the government wants, is time consuming (Myth).
Every family in world (except Germany) has the right and ability to homeschool. Though the rules and regulations differ and can be daunting and sometimes difficult.
Moving to a new system can be very daunting, especially from one that we know so well. That’s why a big part of what we do, is to support our member families throughout the whole journey.
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We will be there every step of the way, from helping with your initial application, the learning program and the yearly reports.
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We are also in the process of fighting our own beliefs of the current system and the taboos of homeschooling.
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This we each have to fight internally, with a new belief. Created with the power of a parent wanting the best for their child.
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Other Benefits of Free Path
TIME
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Be able to work any job you wish knowing there is a wonderful place for you child when needed.
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Finish when it suits you.
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Take any days off you need or want.
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No more busy and expensive school holiday period at your favourite destination.
RESOURCES
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Learning resources easily accessible to all children
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The time between curiosity and experience is minimal. With speed and without coercion.
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This intrinsically motivated play.
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Immediate exploration boosts knowledge retention.
SOCIAL​​
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Be able to mingle as they see fit, not restricted by age.
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More people with diverse interests and personalities, a wider choice in friends, not just resources.
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100 others within a 2 year age gap for every child to find a bond.​​​
PROCESS
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Tailored assistance to all families​
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Gaining the most from your freedom
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Everyone can do it! (sorry Germany)
Education given to those receiving It
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Learning is an individual pursuit, where information sought is information retained.
Our children observe our world attentively. They understand what the most important thing for them to learn is, at any particular moment. Our world and technology moves at such a fast pace, we could never keep up with what they need to know. This is why a set curriculum of ticked boxes and tests is an inappropriate system.
The strategy to become and maintain a flexible learning environment is to adopt a weekly meeting, with all members who wish to attend. Where each learner has a voice, no matter how small, it will be heard. Where each learner has a vote, everyone gets a say in their own education.
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Weekly School Meetings at Free Path
1. A Place to Be Heard
An intentional space for parents, students, and staff to share feedback, raise questions, or bring up ideas. A place for rule changes, announcements and activity proposals. A supportive space to surface issues, big or small. By working together, we find solutions that strengthen our community and help Free Path grow.
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Every voice matters at Free Path, and this is the place to ensure it’s heard. Anything a child wishes to say, they always are given a voice and are heard at the school meetings.
2. New Learning Materials
The staff are not the only item on the budget the children get to vote on. All the learning resources are proposed to the school, by the children. If a child wants a 3D printer, they bring it up at the weekly school meeting, they argue their case and it is voted on by the other children who attend of the school.
3. Staff selection
At the end of each year the members that attend the facility will choose the staff for the following year. Many staff will likely remain, but a 40 year old computer programmer can be easily replaced by a 20 year old AI architect. They know what they want to learn, they see the new technology and its potential, better than someone who has been teaching math for 30 years.
1. Be good with kids.
2. Have an interest they wish to pursue when free to do so, therefore, become a model for independent learning.
3. Help maintain the school and the standards of behaviour
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Healthy Habits and Reflection
Our habits define us as people and can provide a stabiliser to a healthy and happy life.
At Free Path we model and encourage daily reflections and goal tracking through the use of a physical notebook. Healthy habits are the key stone of the outcomes we wish to deliver to our learners. To do this, we ask only one book be carried and used by the members. A notebook. At the start of their book the members will work with staff to write down their goals.
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Habits
Daily and fortnightly, are the healthy habits that they want to develop.
Actions that can help set a health foundation to begin a life with strong positive habits that can last a lifetime
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Goals
6 monthly and 5 yearly, are the larger goals, and then broken down into manageable steps.
What does the child want to achieve? Where do they wish to take their interest?
How can that be broken down into achievable goals
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First habit
We ask that everyday when the learners first arrive, they look over their goals page and to remember that they put a lot of thought into these goals. That they picked these for a reason. The self chosen goals are important here. Looking at someone else's goals for you could breed resentment, but a past version of yourself, picturing an Ideal future you is motivating.
Guided by curiosity and joy—children set their own goals, play, move, create, and reflect, turning everyday experiences into meaningful learning.
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From that point, the day is their own to follow their interest to it’s conclusion.
Second habit​
When sitting down to eat for lunch, the staff will model the next behaviour we wish to see in the learners.
They will jot down the things that they have done so far that morning. Just dot points are fine, things that you’ve spent at least an hour doing.
That’s it, finish your food and go about your afternoon.
Staff role
The staff modelling the behaviour is key to our habits, as behaviour rolls down hill.
The older children will be watching the staff for the tips on how to behave. The 17 year olds are being watched by the 14 year olds, and down it goes.
It is not expected that all the 8 year olds will start straight away and be dogmatic about their notes. Over time and witnessing all the older children doing it, they will follow suit in time.
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It's about building a culture of reflection, one habit at a time.
Third Habit
The final time the notebook is used in the day, will be back home at dinner with family (food being the reminder). Once again, just dot points.
The difference this time is, they will look back at their goals and to their day and draw a star next to the ones that are habits or something that could be considered a step towards their goal.
The notebook now becomes a quick reference on how their day, week or month has been.
Not many stars? - Maybe you were sick or maybe you need to revisit your goals.
Lots of stars? - Look at those achievements!
The desire is that when you ask your child “how was your day?” you won’t get the dreaded “good”. We will not force anyone to take a step toward their goals, that is their choice. We only desire reflection.
With one simple notebook task, this will help develop, goal making and tracking; developing and maintaining good habits; seeing the power of one step at a time and reflections.
An added bonus, they have a notebook handy if they ever have a thought or question they don’t want to forget.
Learn through play, Curriculum through AI
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Learn naturally while filling in the gaps.
Children have shown over thousands of years that they are capable of observing and learning all the things they find to be necessary to know, in order to survive in whatever culture they live in. The way they have always done this is through observation, play and imagination. We will not change this natural method.However, to fill the curriculum needs our society and culture has dictated, we are implementing an AI tutor chat bot. The learners will talk to and discuss their interests and be prompted in the topics needed to pursue it further.
Learn Through Play
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In education, there is a term called the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). It’s a fancy term that means that something should be hard enough to be a challenge and not boring, but not so hard it feels impossible and you give up. Therefore, it is the ideal headspace to be in, to learn a new skill.
This is where play and age mixing combine to make the perfect teacher.
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Here’s a couple of cartoons of a simple game of catch to demonstrate the power of play and age-mixing.​
First, we see two 5 year olds, both with the same level of skill. One throws the ball and it goes wild, so the other has to walk over there pick up the ball and walk back.
Sure enough, his skill level sends the ball wild too.
Making the game more like fetch.
Next we see play and age mixing in action. We have an 8 year old playing with the 5 year old. The younger throw goes wild, the 8 year old was expecting it and makes a diving catch and they both cheer!
Next the 8 year old lobs a gentle throw into the waiting hands of the 5 year old, he closes his hands around it by instinct and makes the catch and they both cheer!
Now we’re in the Zone!
I could write a lot about the benefits to age mixing but I’ll let the cartoon do the talking here.
The Best Learning is Fun, Not Forced
Curriculum Through AI
So what to do about the things society tells us we need to know?
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You know, important things such as “Use similarity to investigate the constancy of the sine, cosine and tangent ratios for a given angle in right-angled triangles” and the classic “Chemical reactions, including combustion and the reactions of acids, are important in both non-living and living systems and involve energy transfer”. If you don’t remember these, don’t worry, neither will the Year 9 students they are being taught to. Wait, that’s 14 year olds!
A number of schools have had great success integrating with AI, using them as a main source of direct teaching. Free Path is developing its own AI tutor chat bot that will be available to the members at any point.
The specially designed bot is in production to complement the notebook. In the early years it will ask pre-play questions, for something to think about while the play occurs - eg. "What do you think sand is made from?", "Why do you think a ball goes further if it has back spin?"
As the children grow and learn, it is designed to remember about each child. It will check in with them and ask about their goals and accomplishments, giving tips and asking questions about the things they like.
As the child ages and goals evolve into more profession-based interest, the AI starts prompting knowledge required for that role or profession. AI - “Oh you want to be a nurse. That's amazing! Here are some things we haven’t talked about yet, that you are required to know if you want to be a nurse.”
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The aim of our AI is not to dictate the required learning but to be another source of information. To use a gardening analogy, AI will be nurturance for the soil, not the pot they're confined in.
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Outcomes parents are proud to give their children
Happy. Healthy. A socially competent young adult, who knows what they are passionate about and their next steps in their life journey.
That simple summary of what parents want from their children’s educational years, guides us to the outcomes we hope to deliver to every child.
Their next steps could look like many things; an internship, apprenticeship, university acceptance or entrepreneur coaching and guidance. Parenting is hard and there is no manual. We are forced to make many choices and that can have profound and lasting effects on our children.
One giant choice is where we send our children to spend hours each day, while we parent work to provide.
OUTCOMES WE PURSUE
A fun and happy process
At Free Path, mixed-age learning and play, foster a natural culture where younger children spend more time in the ZPD, and older ones learn to nurture and lead.
The children will no longer be kept with others, whom the only thing they have in common is age.
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That young gun guitarist will be able to start a band with the older kids. The kid who makes 3D printed beehives to attach to walls inside, can show the kid who likes puzzle boxes how to design their own prints.
Age mixing doesn’t just mean more friends. It means more support, more guidance, more mentors.
It means more creativity, more leadership opportunities, more uniqueness.
It means a more natural way of growing.
It really does take a village.
Family Unit
Parents will be and remain the main adult influence in their children’s lives.
This form of education not only creates a free path for the child, but the family as a whole.
When to attend and for how long, which days work best, when to have holidays. The family should get to decide their own schedule.
If we can help the families reconnect and support each other, we have found another victory.
Find your best fit for your family’s rhythm and needs.
Preparation
Initial steps of a early education
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How to use the body in various ways, it is the vehicle for life after all.
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Run, jump, catch, throw, nutrition, self care.
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How to converse with people in a clear and cooperative way.
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Social skills, negotiation and compromise.
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How to find and learn the skills needed to functions in todays society
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Literacy, numeracy, knowledge acquisition and critical thinking.
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How to find a passion and pursue it with reflections and purpose
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Goal creating, tracking and reflection
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After those initial steps, people will have the all the skills to understand themselves and others, to seek knowledge and decipher fact from fiction, and how to prepare themselves and the tasks required to pursue a self-directed project.
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The final step is to turn that passion into a profession.
The staff at Free Path will support the learners in the transition and it can look like many different things. The staff will cultivate relationships with universities and professionals of all types in the area, to assist in this endeavor.
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The staff will work with parents and the children, to find internships with an architect, broker, pilot, chef, musician etc.
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The staff may help create a portfolio for a university application or find an apprenticeship with a trade.
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If the passion is unique and will help our world be a better place, they will be given direct access to an entrepreneur coach and guide.
Whatever the passion, we are there to help create the step towards profession.
Happiness
Happiness is a need. Happiness comes with community and health.
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Children will be given love and support, free to be outside and play. With guidance and fresh produce grown on the property.
Happiness comes with freedom and purpose. Children will be free to choose their own path, to find their purpose. With as much or as little assistance as they wish.
If all the above doesn’t make a child happy, I’ll eat my hat. (It will likely make them smile while they watch me)
Community Learning Centres
Community Learning Centre (CLC)
The community hubs of Free Path are thoughtfully designed spaces that nurture every aspect of a child’s growth and curiosity.
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Each hub serves a unique purpose:
Common Hub is a lively gathering space for sharing ideas and connecting with others.
Quiet Hub offers a calm corner for reading, reflection, or focused study.
Music Hub inspires creativity through rhythm and sound.
Tech Hub encourages innovation and problem-solving with hands-on exploration.
Games Hub where children learn teamwork and strategy through play.
Zen Hub provides space for art, relaxation, and creativity.
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The Outdoors invites adventure and discovery in nature
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Together, these hexes form a balanced, holistic environment where learning feels natural, joyful, and free.
Common Hub
The heart of Free Path — a welcoming space where everyone gathers to eat, share stories, and build friendships. It’s where community grows, ideas flow, and children feel a sense of belonging.
Quiet Hub
A peaceful nook designed for reading, studying, or simply enjoying a moment of calm. It’s a space where children can focus, imagine, and recharge in a soothing atmosphere.
Music Hub
A creative space where children explore instruments, experiment with sound, and collaborate in jam sessions. From drums to strings, it’s a place to express themselves, build confidence, and discover the joy of making music together.
Tech Hub
A hands-on hub for innovation where children dive into robotics, coding, and digital creation. Here, curiosity meets technology as kids learn to design, build, and experiment with tools that prepare them for the future. Through guided exploration and collaborative projects, they develop problem-solving skills, creativity, and confidence in using modern tech. This space empowers young minds to turn ideas into reality and see themselves as creators—not just consumers—of technology.
Games Hub
A lively space where children connect through play — from board games and chess to arcade classics. It’s all about strategy, teamwork, and fun, helping kids learn social skills while enjoying friendly competition. Here, laughter fills the air as creativity and critical thinking come to life through games that challenge the mind. It’s a place where friendships grow, problem-solving thrives, and every move sparks curiosity and connection.
Zen Hub
A calm and restorative space where children slow down, reflect, and recharge. Through mindfulness, journaling, and quiet activities, they learn balance, focus, and the value of stillness in their daily lives.
