Playful Learning
Powerful Results

These are the beliefs Orange Tea School was built on. Orange Tea Society carries them forward.

We believe that emotional intelligence is the foundation upon which all other intelligences are built and that preschool is the key time for instilling feelings of empowerment and empathy. Through imaginative play children naturally explore and practice these concepts on their own. Woven into our curriculum were tools and practices for expanding awareness and emotional resiliency.

A group of children and an adult gathered around a large metal basin outdoors, examining its contents.

Our Functional Education model is the dynamic evolution of play-based learning. Built on proven pedagogy, child-led subjects are explored through a Multiple Intelligences framework. Prioritizing each child's unique interests, a deep appreciation for their own curiosity and talents is instilled. Actively shaping their learning journey, students contributed to the curriculum and community structure within our mixed-age classrooms. We believe we are all students and teachers alike, allowing collaboration and independent exploration with a balance of group activities and unstructured play.

Functional Education

Close-up of a young girl, holding a flower frozen in a sphere of ice. She is wearing a pink rain suit, with trees and other people in the background.

Daily connection with nature was a core commitment of our program. We believe that respect and responsibility for one's environment is a quality of joy to be inspired as well as a skill to be modeled and taught. Through practices of nature meditation, urban rewilding, zero waste initiatives, and non-toxic classroom management, we cultivated these values for our students to carry forward.

Stewardship

Children playing with bubbles outdoors in a park, some children are smiling and reaching for the bubbles, with trees and parked cars in the background.
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Play is a value that we prioritize across our community from our youngest toddlers to parents & teachers. These days there is so much good research on the power and importance of play. Whether it’s play in the conventional sense of toys and games or adults adopting an attitude of play within life’s mundane tasks, prioritizing play enhances emotional, social and intellectual pursuits for humans of all ages.

Fun as Function