Our Story
A.S. Neill - Founder Of Summerhill School
“The function of the child is to live his own life - not the life that his anxious parents think he should live, nor a life according to the purpose of the educators who thinks they know best.”
2016 – The Beginning of My Parenting Journey
When I was pregnant with my first child, Lima, in 2016, I began reading one parenting book after another. I wanted to be as prepared as possible and avoid the common pitfalls. That curiosity never stopped—I kept diving deeper into topics like gentle parenting, psychology, homeschooling, unschooling, and everything related to raising children consciously and respectfully.
I approached motherhood with a simple philosophy: keep my child safe from real harm and give her as much freedom as possible. We spent most of our days outside, surrounded by nature and friends of all ages.
2021 – When Friends Became Hard to Find
When Lima turned 5 and her little sister was 2, it became harder to find other children to play with—especially in the mornings. Most of their friends had already started nursery or school, and we were often left on our own.
An Inspiration
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.
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.
I also saw how valuable it would be for parents to stay close to their children’s learning journey while gently unlearning their own limiting beliefs—those unconscious ideas we carry from childhood that make it hard to truly let go and trust our kids to lead.
The Inner Work Behind It All
My own inner journey began in 2008, and my husband Rob—who has nearly 30 years of experience as a mind/body coach—has been walking this path even longer. Because we do this inner work daily, we’ve made it part of the foundation at A Place To Be. Healing, reflection, and self-awareness are all part of raising free children in a conscious way.
My Childhood vs. My Vision
I had a childhood rich in outdoor play and freedom—but only outside of school hours. And truthfully, I didn’t enjoy school at all. Learning that school is not only unnecessary but often harmful made the decision easy: we wouldn’t send our kids there. We chose to value their time and our connection instead.
I dreamed of a neighborhood where unschooled children could run outside and find friends to play with at any time of day. A place where families live side by side, guided by freedom, not fear.
A Place To Be Is Born
To cut a long story short, I didn’t find it so I decided to create exactly this: a village for families who want their children to grow up freely, naturally, and joyfully—without school.
2024/2025 – Building Together with Citadel.Garden
In 2025, we partnered with Rahim Taghizadegan, founder of Citadel.Garden, and began co-creating villages for freedom-minded families across the world. Together, we’re weaving a global network of regenerative, child-honoring communities.
So, I hope you’ll come and visit us soon in sunny Madeira!
Autumn 2021, Santa Catarina Park, Madeira
John Holt’s books, ‘The Continuum Concept‘ by Jean Liedloff, ‘Free at last‘ by Daniel Greenberg (Sudbury Valley School) and Free to learn by Peter Gray have had a big influence on me and the way I raise my daughters and how I set up APTB, to mention just a few of the ones that deeply resonate with me.
Any child who can spend an hour or two a day, or more if he wants, with adults that he likes, who are interested in the world and like to talk about it, will on most days learn far more from their talk than he would learn in a week of school.
- John Holt
The way to do is to be.
- Lao Tzu
Why I named it A Place To Be
The name A Place To Be reflects my desire to grant children a space where they can simply Be without expectations of adults for them to be or turn out a certain way.
Being means to be in the present moment, something that most adults have forgotten how to do but most children are in the Now most of the time until conditioning happens.
A Place To Be shall be the community where children can continue having this trate so that they feel whole, happy and fulfilled also in adulthood. - Sylvia Brinded-Puls
John Holt - The Godfather Of Unschooling