Golden Rule Schools Mission & Vision

Our Mission: We honor early childhood as a crucial phase for supporting both fundamental brain growth development and physical and emotional well-being. Guided by the timeless principle of the Golden Rule, we cultivate kindness and respect for all and responsible personal behavior.

Our Vision: Thriving children, families, and society with Golden Rule Schools being everywhere the norm, the gold standard, for early childhood education. Besides good physical health practices, the ability to live freely in peace and recognize the equality of all is planted in early childhood.

The Outcome: Every child thrives, capable of living freely in peace, for life.

What is a Golden Rule School?

A Golden Rule School is designed to support whole child wellness–including ideal brain growth and development–for children ages one to five, through the freedom of free play with access to nature and the boundaries of the Golden Rule.

Free play children mature at their own pace, both physically and socially. Some are early walkers, some are late. Some are early talkers, some are late. Some are naturally social. Some are naturally shy and reserved. With lots of activities to choose from, friends to play with and the Golden Rule as the boundary of behavior, they all ultimately develop kindness, confidence, and independence, the necessary foundation for a happy and rewarding life.

With the Golden Rule as the boundary of behavior, children learn to live freely in peace from their earliest years. The Golden Rule is the perfect social-emotional guide for all of us. It’s so important that spiritual traditions worldwide, for thousands of years, have declared it to be the most important instruction. It tells us exactly how to treat each other, in every circumstance. It awakens the understanding that ‘others count just as much as me’—that we are all equals.

Spiritual traditions throughout history have considered the Golden Rule to be the first and most important spiritual instruction.

Buddhism

Do not offend others, as you would not
want to be offended.

Christianity

In everything, do to others what you
would have them do to you, for this
sums up the law and the prophets.

Taoism

The successes of your neighbor and their losses will be to you as if they were your
own.

Confucianism

Is there any rule that one should follow all of one’s life? Yes! The rule of gentle goodness: That which we do not wish to be done to us, we do not do to others.

Hinduism

Everything you should do you will find in
this: Do nothing to others that would hurt you if it were done to you.

Islam

None of you shall be true believers unless
you wish for your brother the same that
you wish for yourself.

Judaism

That which you do not wish for yourself you shall not wish for your neighbor. This
is the whole law: the rest is only
commentary.

Udanavarga 5:18

Matthew 7:12

T’ai-Shand Kan-Ying Pien

Analectas 15:23

Mahabharata 5:1517

Sunnatt

Talmud Shabbat 31

The Philosophy of Whole-Child Wellness

The experience of childhood is the key factor in determining a child’s future health, happiness, and success in life. A secure childhood unaffected by insufficiency or other worries will produce a happy, healthy, cooperative, creative, and kind adult. Conversely, an insecure environment causes a child’s adaptable brain to conform itself to specialize in protection and self-defense, to the detriment of social-emotional skills. This adaptation for self-preservation has the disadvantage of creating what is essentially a brain impairment, a social-emotional brain disability that prevents the brain from flowering into its full potential.

How significant is this disability? Its effects are sweeping. We are all afflicted, directly, and indirectly. It is wreaking havoc everywhere, in our interpersonal relationships, our economic relationships, and even in our political relationships. This disability causes us to misperceive each other and the world as threatening, which limits the development of feelings of trust and unselfishness. It’s a social-emotional impairment that hinders us from recognizing others around us as the human and spiritual family that we are.

This disability causes children, families, schools, and workplaces to suffer enormously. The earth and every living thing on it are suffering because of this social-emotional impairment. We have had it for so many generations that we all consider it to be normal. But it is not. We can heal this disability by changing the way we handle childhood. We can immunize our children against historically normal prejudice and greed by providing physically and emotionally secure environments in which to grow up.

By providing Golden Rule School education before anything else, we raise children to be kind, caring, cooperative, and creative. We raise them to feel safe with others and their world. It’s a brain thing. We can end prejudice and greed in a single generation, with every child, by putting this knowledge into practice.

2 Years 9 Months; 2 Years 2 Months

16 months; 18 months

Crunchy kale is a favorite treat, believe it or not 🙂 2 years 5 months; 4 years 9 months; 2 years 6 months

Ginger muffins and cucumbers 3 years 3 months; 3 years 4 months; 23 months; 3 years 2 months; 2 years 8 months

Popsicles after nap is a summertime tradition 3 years 2 months; 5 years 6 months; 3 years 3 months; 2 years 3 months

4 years 10 months; 3 years 10 months

4 years 10 months; 15 months; 3 years 4 months; 3 years 10 months

Meals & Snacks

We do not compromise on the children’s health. We feed them organic and non-GMO food, prepared onsite. Lunch is sit-down, snacks are not, unless they’re messy ones. Their personal water bottles are always available.

2 years 8 months

4.5 years This little guy wanted to play quietly during nap time. This was his space to play.

18 months old Couldn't quite make it to nap time 🙂

2 years and 4.5 years (devoted siblings)

3 years 1 week

4 years 7 months; 17 months

3 years 9 months

12 months old

Resting/Sleeping

Learning how to take a break when you need one is a good skill. Children are so active it’s often not something that occurs to them. We have formal nap time from 12:45 to 2:30, but sometimes unplanned napping or resting just happens!

The Developmental Stages of Increasing
Confidence and Independence

5 Months

6 Years and 8 Months (an Owl House Alumni)

6 Months, 4 Years and 2 Months, 2 Years and 11 Months

Brothers 4 Years and 3 Years Exactly

2 Years, 7 Months

19 Months

3 Years, 2 Months

28 Months and 33 Months

In-Arms Security: I feel safe when I am close

Feeling safe and secure comes first. Most children want (need) to be close a lot. Holding helps sooth upset feelings at any age. Holding babies is the first part of learning to care for them, and the older children love to practice!

21 months

2 years, 5 Months

2 Years, 3 Months

2 Years, 5 Months

18 Months

4 1/2 Years

16 Months

14 months

2 years, 5 months

Solo Play

Some babies love to play by themselves from the beginning. For others it's a learned skill that benefits everyone.

15 months and 14 months

21 months and 22 months

Side-by-Side Play

The youngest children often play near rather than with each other. Babies' abilities to directly interact take a while to develop, but they still have a natural social urge.

2 Years 4 Months; 2 Years 4 Months

2 Years 10 Months; 2 Years 4 Months

3 Years Old; 10 Months Old

6 Years Old; 2.5 Year Old Sibling

2 Years; 2 Years 8 Months

2 Years 9 Months; 4 Years 3 Months

3 Years 3 Months; 3 Years 5 Months

4 Years 2 Months; 22 Months

5 Years; 5 Years

2 Years 9 Months; 3 Years 8 Months

2 Years 4 Months; 21 Months

22 Months; 2 Years 4 Months

5 Years 5 Months; 4 Years 11 Months

Pairs Play

Pairs play is sweet to watch. Friendship is very important to them.

22 months through 3.5 years

6 years; 5 years; 5.5 years; 6 years Alumni returning for summer play

4 years; 5 years; 3 years 6 months

2 years 9 months; 4 years 3 months; 4 years 4 months; 2 years 11 months; 2 years

3 years 2 months; 5 years; 5 years 6 months

4 years 7 months; 3 years 2 months; 2 years 8 months

Alumni at an Easter egg hunt with younger siblings

Group Play

Children are innately driven to be active, explore, interact, create. They continually practice ever-more-advanced body coordination and social and language skills. This is brain-building at its best.

Outdoor Photos

Outdoor play really enriches a youngster’s day. They love to run, jump, climb, ride strider bikes, swing on swings, play in sandboxes, and explore places, especially with their friends! It’s a great way for children to stay healthy and bond to their natural world.

Golden Rule Schools Mission & Vision

What is a Golden Rule School?