How do we do it?
In this project we learn in nature, since we turn it into our private classroom, and animals are our great allies. The applied emotional education is part of our methodology, as it is implicit in our daily life. Every activity we do has an INTENTION related to emotional education or skills training. In order to achieve the objective of each activity, educators are trained in emotional education and trained in LOOK AND SEE.
With educators trained in La Granja Method
- WHAT IS LOOKING AND SEEING? It is the objective vision of reality, for example, we see how we put straw on the cow and how they bring their hands close to their mouth. Seeing is the interpretation of that reality, the sense that you give it, for example, we see that they are concentrated and attentive to all the cow's movements or that they are afraid or that they are curious about the movement of the mouth when it chews.
- POSITIVE AFFIRMATION: In this project the children receive continuous positive reinforcement from the emotional educators (“you do this very well”, “I really like the way you talk to me”) and practice active listening (when we play to listen to the silence of the forest or the noise of the leaves or look for the birds singing). We also train with them skills such as attention to everything that surrounds them (the changing nature, animals, etc.) with the aim of improving self-esteem and empathy.
- EMOTIONAL AWARENESS COMPETENCE The first step to be an emotionally intelligent person is to work on emotional awareness, essential to achieve self-knowledge: “Who am I, what do I want to do and what for?” One of the workshops we use to achieve this is: How do I feel? Every morning we dedicate some time to identify the basic emotions that the students feel whether they are sad, angry, happy and we label them to become emotionally aware. As their maturity level evolves, we get them to also identify the emotion felt by their peers in order to train the skill of empathy so that they are able to put themselves in the other's shoes. Empathy is an absolutely necessary skill for social competence. From the age of 2, we can usually train emotional self-regulation with children.
- Un dels tallers que utilitzem per aconseguir-ho és el “HOW DO I FEEL?”Every morning we dedicate some time to identifying the basic emotions the students feel (sad, angry, happy), and we label them to raise their emotional awareness. As their developmental level evolves, we also help them identify the emotions their classmates are feeling, training their empathy skills so they can put themselves in someone else's shoes. Empathy is an essential skill for developing social competence. We can usually begin training children in emotional self-regulation from the age of two.
- THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, THE BEST CLASSROOM FOR LEARNING: One of the most powerful tools we have is the natural environment that surrounds us. Day after day, our children must face the different obstacles that nature presents (branches, uneven terrain, stones, puddles, etc.) with the support of their educators, who continually encourage them to keep moving forward. The aim is to foster inner strength, autonomy, and a positive attitude, significantly boosting their self-esteem and independence.
- WE TRAIN SKILLS We continuously develop personal and social skills through our daily activities. The main skills we intentionally cultivate are self-esteem, self-confidence, autonomy, creativity, empathy, adaptability, concentration, attention, and active listening. Psychomotor skills develop significantly on a daily basis, yielding remarkable results. We also nurture children's innate abilities such as self-motivation, curiosity, and a desire to learn.
- OVERCOMING FEARS Some activities aim to help children overcome fears (riding a horse, touching a cow, feeding goats, etc.). We focus on identifying the specific fears they feel (e.g., "I'm afraid of the horse's mouth") instead of "I'm afraid of horses." Avoiding generalizations helps them identify a specific fear, set limits, and become aware of it through their rational mind so that the fear doesn't control them, but rather they control their fears. The more specific we make the fears, the less fear they experience (the more they generalize their fears, the greater the risk of these fears affecting other aspects of their lives; for example, "I'm afraid of horses," then "I'm afraid of dogs," then "I'm afraid of all animals"). How do we do this? Concrete examples: We work with the horse gradually. At first, we observe it, touch it, approach it, and finally, the day comes when we climb on top, and we're even able to make it walk. Always with constant feedback from the emotional educators to make them aware of what they are unconsciously feeling. We venture into the forest, and it is there that the emotions we most observe in our children are happiness, surprise, joy, or fear, which keeps them alert. In the forest, we see that creativity overwhelms them, and that with any stick, stone, or leaf they are capable of creating. In the forest, they feel free. When a child falls to the ground, the educator doesn't focus on the fall itself, but rather, and especially, on how they get up and keep going. It is in this latter aspect that the children receive constant positive reinforcement to highlight their courage in getting up and continuing on their way.
- THE FAMILYOne of the key pillars of this project is the relationship with the family. Through daily feedback with the family, we share all the information we have about their son or daughter, including their behavior, attitude, skills, and talents. Parents also share their information and observations with the educators so we can work together as a team. One of our guiding principles is that a child's education is like a bridge with two pillars: family and school. If one of these pillars shifts, the bridge becomes unstable.
Contact and information
We would love to talk to you, meet your family and share everything we have to offer in our educational space! We are here to answer any questions you may have and to provide you with all the information about our rates, team and much more. You can contact us by phone, WhatsApp or mail.
Email: petitsgrangers@lagranjatc.com
Don't hesitate to write us, we are just a message away!
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