When I was pregnant with my first child, Lima in 2016 I began reading one parenting book after another because I wanted to be as prepared as possible and avoid mistakes. I have never stopped reading about gentle parenting, psychology, homeschooling, unschooling and many more parenting related topics.

I simply tried to see my task as a mother as keeping her from serious harm and to give her as much freedom as possible spending most of our time outdoors and with friends of all ages.

When my daughter turned 5 (and her little sister was 2), in 2021 it became more and more difficult to find friends to play with, especially in the mornings as most of them went to nursery or school already.

That was the autumn I read ‘Summerhill School’, written by A.S. Neill and I got inspired to create a space where children are unrestricted in what they want to do or learn WITHOUT school.

‘Summerhill is as unlike a conventional school as it could possibly be. Founded one hundred years ago to provide a space where children can grow in a ‘free-range’ environment. A.S. Neill, founder of Summerhill, set out to make a school that would fit the child rather than forcing pupils to do what parents and educators thought might be best for them.‘

Rather than building a boarding school that separates children from home life to minimize parental involvement in their educational journey and encourage independent exploration, my goal was to establish a nurturing environment where kids have the freedom to play and learn spontaneously, while maintaining easy access to their parents for meals, hugs, family time, or any support they may require.

Furthermore, I aimed to give parents the opportunity to accompany their children’s learning journey while unlearning their deep routed beliefs from their childhood that might make it difficult to grant their kids the freedom they need to make their own decisions in life.

My journey of unconvering my limiting, unconscious beliefs began in 2008 and my husband Rob, who works as a mind/body coach, has almost 3 decades of experience in this field. Because we do internal work on a daily basis, we know how important it is and have implemented it into APTB.

My childhood was rich in outdoor time, having a lot of freedom to play and explore our surroundings, however, this was limited to after-school hours and I must admit that I didn’t enjoy school at all. When learning that schools are not just unnecessary but rather harmful in many ways, it was an easy decision to not send our kids there and to value their time instead. For my own family, I envisioned living in a neighbourhood full of unschooled kids where they could just run outside and play whenever they wanted.

To cut a long story short, I didn’t find it so I decided to create exactly this: A neighbourhood called A Place To Be for us and all other families who want their children to grow up freely.

So, I hope you’ll come and visit us soon in sunny Madeira!