Homeschooling in Ojai or Ventura?
Do you ever wish your homeschool could have a little more…
Community?
Your child has friends and a consistent group of kids to learn and grow with.
Support?
Someone else can help with the math, reading, writing, and homeschool work instead of everything falling on you.
Experience?
More making, nature, entrepreneurship, art, movement, creativity, and real-world learning woven into your child's week.
That’s why we’re creating MANA Homeschool Enrichment in Ojai.
A small learning community for homeschoolers ages 4–10, where academics are woven into extraordinary project-based experiences.
Children can bring their own homeschool curriculum and work alongside other homeschoolers with support from teachers and tutors. Then, each day takes them somewhere completely different.
Monday · Makers + Architecture Design Process
We begin with an idea and take it all the way into the world.
Children learn to approach making through the architecture and design process: imagine, question, sketch, design, build, test, rethink, and create. Our teachers are trained by Sycamore Studios in the Makers Station approach, giving them the tools to guide children through hands-on, creative problem-solving.
MANA is also connected to Donaldson Architecture Group in Santa Barbara, where children will have the opportunity to visit a real-life adult Makers Station, see how professional designers and architects bring ideas to life, and create a project of their own in that inspiring environment.
They learn to look at the world around them and ask: How could I make this better? Children learn to turn an idea in their imagination into something they can actually hold, see, and share.
- Ideation
- Design
- Math + budgeting
- Product development
- Marketing
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Entrepreneurship
- Philanthropy
Tuesday · Kids Helping Kids
What could we create that would make a difference?
Our signature Kids Helping Kids entrepreneurship program connects MANA learners with children in orphanages we have supported in Nepal and Africa for more than a decade. Children learn about the lives and needs of their peers around the world and develop real relationships with them — then develop ideas, create products, and launch businesses that support the children and communities we serve.
The children also create a MANA team business, taking an idea from concept to product to launch. Throughout the year, special guests join us for Master Classes and hands-on workshops, and we sometimes visit local businesses to see entrepreneurship in action. At Christmastime, children have the opportunity to sell their creations at local farmers markets and see the real-world impact of what they made.
This program was created and is overseen by Brandee Sabella, MANA’s founder, an impact-driven entrepreneur and philanthropist.
- Grow food
- Explore pollinators
- Learn about ecosystems
- Participate in regenerative projects
- Spend time with animals
- Work with the land
- Harvest and prepare food
- Learn foraging and natural skills
Wednesday · Nature Day
We take learning outside.
Children explore science, ecology, food systems, and the natural world through hands-on experiences. Our day includes Earth Food First with Ms. Lindsay, where children learn where their food comes from, how healthy food is grown, and how we can care for the land that feeds us.
And sometimes we head just five minutes away to our 85-acre ranch, where children can explore a river, lake, gardens, farm animals, and horses. Throughout the year, experts join us for special Master Classes — from beekeeping and sheep shearing to foraging, farming, and creating products from what we grow.
One of our year-long projects will be the creation of a farm-to-table restaurant experience for MANA families, bringing together everything the children have learned about growing, creating, cooking, hospitality, and entrepreneurship.
Thursday · Global Projects
An idea begins with the children — and then grows.
This is our day for storytelling, art, theater, dance, movement, music, podcasting, and exploring the wisdom of cultures from around the world. Thursday is guided by Ms. Sonya, a Waldorf-trained teacher, choreographer, and theater artist. Through theater and choreography, children learn how to use their voices, bodies, and imaginations to communicate ideas, collaborate, and bring stories to life.
Each month, we feature an ancient or Indigenous culture and weave its history, art, music, stories, traditions, and worldview into our learning. Last semester, our learners explored the White Buffalo Calf Woman prophecy of the Lakota people. They worked with a Lakota elder who taught them about weaving, storytelling, and traditional arts. The children learned songs and drumming, designed their own costumes, and ultimately decided: we want to make a movie. So they filmed their own production.
That’s the kind of learning we love at MANA. This year, children will also create their own MANA podcast, choosing people they are genuinely curious about and learning how to research, prepare questions, interview, record, and tell stories.
And throughout the week…
Academics are woven into the projects.
Math might happen while creating a business.
Writing might happen while developing a script.
Science might happen in the garden.
History might come alive through an ancient culture.
Reading might happen while researching a podcast guest.
Communication happens everywhere.
And children are constantly practicing how to work with one another.
How children thrive together
We celebrate the moments we witness.
Each morning, our facilitator Amir Magal — artist and founder of Tribal Markers, affectionately called “Mr. Amir-acle” by the children — opens the day with music and invites the children to step into leadership. Throughout the day, our teachers look for moments of courage, kindness, initiative, creativity, collaboration, and leadership. When we see an awesome leadership moment, the child receives a Tribal Marker. By the end of the day, the children are covered in their marks — and we gather together to celebrate the moments we witnessed.
We also intentionally help children develop self-awareness and self-regulation: noticing their bodies, recognizing what they need, communicating clearly, navigating conflict, and practicing healthy ways of relating to one another. And every afternoon includes our Nature Sit Spot — ten quiet minutes in nature to observe, breathe, journal, sketch, or simply be still.
Our teachers, guides, and co-creators
Not simply teachers — guides and co-creators of MANA.
MANA is being shaped by the people who bring their gifts, experience, and imagination into the learning community every day, building an environment where children’s ideas, questions, and creativity help shape the learning experience.
Ms. Sonya
A Waldorf-trained teacher, choreographer, and theater artist who guides children through movement, storytelling, performance, and creative expression.
Mr. Amir-acle (Amir Magal)
An artist and the founder of Tribal Markers, helping children recognize and celebrate courage, kindness, creativity, collaboration, and leadership.
Ms. Lindsay
Leads Earth Food First, helping children connect with food, farming, ecology, animals, and the living world around them.
Our Makers Monday teachers
Trained by Sycamore Studios in the Makers Station approach and design process, helping children move from imagination to design, construction, testing, and reflection. Through our partnership with Donaldson Architecture Group in Santa Barbara, children also experience what it is like to make and design in a real-world architecture studio.
Two ways to join MANA
Join us 2 or 4 days a week.
2 days a week
$1,200/month
Choose the days that fit your family’s rhythm.
4 days a week
$1,800/month
For ages 6–10, the full four-day experience allows children to participate in the complete rhythm of MANA: Makers + Architecture, Kids Helping Kids entrepreneurship, Nature Day, and Global Projects.
Our youngest community, ages 4–5, has its own developmentally appropriate MANA experience centered around nature, art, makers, movement, storytelling, creativity, and connection.
Come experience MANA with your child
Free MANA Maker’s Station — Wednesday, September 16.
2:00–5:00 PM in Ojai. Free, for kids ages 4–10. Bring your kids. Come make something together. Meet our teachers and guides, see the space, ask questions, and experience a little taste of what MANA is all about.
We’d love to meet your family. · MANA · Makers · Art · Nature · Awareness