When will A Place To Be open?

We’re in the process of setting up this wonderful project and are looking to open our doors in fall of 2024 for day visitors. Building the whole neighorhood will take about one year once we’ve received building permission. Please subscribe to our Newsletter on the Homepage to be notified of any updates. Thank you for your support and patience.

Is APTB a school?

No, APTB is not a school and we have no intention of being one. We provide the optimal environment for children to learn and don’t see the need to call it a school. We’re a neighborhood without school.

Children learn from anything and everything they see. They learn wherever they are, not just in special learning places. John Holt.

Does APTB include methods such as Montessori, Steiner or Waldorf schools?

We diffirenciate outselves from these schools in the following way:

• we don’t follow a curriculum

• rather than focussing on children’s developmental milestones, we give children the freedom to develop in their own individual way and time, in their own nature

• we don’t do any type of assessment or evaluation of the children’s progress or growth

Will there be Wifi available?

Yes, every house and other spaces such as the co-working space and other buildings will have access to Wifi.

What if I need peace and quiet to work in the Coworking space when children are allowed in all the time?

One part of the coworking space is marked as ‘A Place to Be Working QUIETLY‘. Everybody in this area must remain silent and not disturb parents working there and children know that people working in there have no task to offer. The other area is for everybody to share projects, tasks and information. If you need absolute privacy due to a private session for example or to shoot a video, we recommend to do this in your apartment or dome.

Do I HAVE to stay at APTB as a parent?

Only if one or more of your kids are under 5 years old. We also encourage parents to stay on the premises until the child(ren) feel good about being without their parents. After that you can choose to stay to work, relax in nature, talk to other parents, do anything else you feel like or leave.

Can we do a trial phase to see whether APTB/unschooling is the right thing for us?

Yes, we do offer trial but they are subject to availability as members come first and we only take about 2 families for trials at a time.

What if my child is being homeschooled and follows a curriculum? Will the Partners teach him/her the content?

If you homeschool your child and he/she is following a curriculum your child will be in charge of his/her learning process. He/she will always be able to ask Partners and other children questions, however, their role is not to try and spoon feed information but simply provide support when the kids ask for it. Anything you find necessary for your child to know you can teach at home, but during the time spent at APTB children are free to do and learn what they choose to.

My kids go to school. Can we come to APTB in the afternoons or during holidays?

No, our Partners are only available from 9am till 3pm.

What kind of areas of interest/classes will you offer?

In the beginning we will have a very basic repertoir and will focus on getting to know each other. However, later we’ll provide an extensive offer of what everyone likes. You can read the full list of what your children are going to be able to explore freely here: Blocks.

Do you have a policy to prevent child sexual abuse?

Yes we do. Our children’s safety comes first and we give every family, staff member and visitor a briefing about these policies:

Every person has body-safety-rules

1. ‘I’m the boss of my body and I say No when somebody touches me in a way that I don’t like.‘

2. ‘Nobody is allowed to touch or take photos of my private parts‘

3. We don’t keep secrets. Surprises and confidentiality are ok but secrets are not

Can I get a refund if I don’t want to continue coming to APTB?

The sign up fee and tuition is non-refundable.

Which age groups are present at APTB?

There is no age limit at APTB. However, parents who don’t live at APTB and only spend the days at ours, pay for children between 5 years and 18.

How much does it cost?

The one-time sign up fee is 5000 Euros per family.

When you live at APTB you don’t pay tuition. As we haven’t built houses yet, we don´t have rental prices to show so far.

To use the Blocks, co-working space, our farm and be part of our community during the day, you pay 750Euros per child, per month for your first two children, for every other child you pay 500 Euros per month.

Where are you located?

Once we have obtained a suitable piece of land and set up there, we can tell you the exact location. It will be about 20min North-East from Funchal.