Programs
MANA is a project-based learning community with two age-based programs in Ojai, California.
Ages 4–5
These early years lay the foundation for a lifetime of learning. Through storytelling, imaginative play, movement, nature, art, music, practical life activities, and sensory exploration, children develop confidence, emotional awareness, language, literacy, mathematics, creativity, and independence.
Ages 6–10
Older children engage in increasingly sophisticated projects that integrate entrepreneurship, leadership, public speaking, design thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and community service while continuing to master core academics through meaningful work.
Kids Helping Kids · Created by Brandee Sabella
This is one of the most unique experiences at MANA. Children do not learn entrepreneurship simply to make money. They learn entrepreneurship as a way to serve the world.
Each year students are paired with children living in orphanages that Brandee and her family have supported for more than fifteen years. Students build real businesses whose profits directly benefit their partner communities.
Every student creates a professional portfolio documenting the journey from initial idea to final product launch. More importantly, children witness the tangible impact their work has on another child’s life.
Many families choose to travel with MANA to visit these partner communities, deepening friendships across cultures and helping children understand that compassion has no borders.
Ancient Wisdom & World Cultures
Children do not simply memorize historical facts. They immerse themselves in the stories, architecture, engineering, inventions, art, music, foods, geography, traditions, ecological knowledge, craftsmanship, and values that shaped these cultures.
The monthly theme is woven across every area of learning. Children may build architectural models, compose music inspired by the culture, study traditional ecological practices, cook regional recipes, create artwork, write stories, investigate scientific discoveries, and collaborate on child-led research projects inspired by their own questions.
Community elders, artists, historians, and culture bearers are invited to share their knowledge through hands-on experiences.
One memorable example was Lakota artist Toni Bear Horse, who taught Dreamcatcher making, storytelling, music, and cultural traditions. Later, when he experienced hardship, the children organized ways to support him, learning that community is something we practice, not just discuss.
In Service
Children become active members of their community. Throughout the year they participate in meaningful service projects with local organizations, nonprofits, artists, farms, elders, and businesses.
These experiences help children recognize that every person has gifts to contribute and that leadership begins with service.
Come experience MANA
Join us for a FREE MANA Makers Day and let your child experience MANA firsthand.
Meet our teachers. Meet the students. Meet the people who make MANA what it is.
Create, build, explore, and get a taste of our project-based learning approach.
Come experience MANA with your child—and see if it feels like the right fit for your family.
FREE MAKERS DAY
MANA · Ojai
Text Brandee: 415-341-6652Ready to apply? Application & admissions
Do you ever wish your homeschool could have a little more…
Your child has friends and a consistent group of kids to learn and grow with.
Someone else can help with the math, reading, writing and homeschool work instead of everything falling on you.
More making, nature, entrepreneurship, art, movement, creativity and real-world learning woven into your child’s week.
That’s why we created 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.
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 and design process, 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?
Projects may involve architecture, engineering, sculpture, building, materials, problem-solving and creative design.
Children learn to turn an idea in their imagination into something they can actually hold, see and share.
This is our day for storytelling, art, theater, dance, movement, music, podcasting and exploring the wisdom of cultures from around the world.
Tuesday is guided by Ms. Sonya, a Waldorf-trained teacher, choreographer and theater artist who brings deep experience in movement, performance, storytelling and creative expression.
Through theater and choreography, children learn how to use their voices, bodies and imaginations to communicate ideas, collaborate with others 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.
An idea begins with the children—and then grows.
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.
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.
Children may:
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.
And 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.
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 and connections with them.
Then they ask:
What could we create that would make a difference?
Together, they 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.
They learn:
Throughout the year, special guests join us for Master Classes and hands-on workshops, and we’ll 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.
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.
Each morning, our facilitator Amir Magal, artist and founder of Tribal Markers, opens the day with music and invites the children to step into leadership.
The children affectionately call him “Mr. Amir-acle.”
Throughout the day, our teachers and guides 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.
They learn to notice their bodies, recognize what they need, communicate clearly, navigate conflict and practice healthy ways of relating to one another.
And every afternoon includes our Nature Time In —ten quiet minutes in nature to observe, breathe, journal, sketch or simply be still.
MANA is being shaped by the people who bring their gifts, experience and imagination into the learning community every day.
Ms. Sonya is a Waldorf-trained teacher, choreographer and theater artist who guides children through movement, storytelling, performance and creative expression.
Mr. Amir-acle, Amir Magal, is 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 are 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 will also gain exposure to a professional creative environment and experience what it is like to make and design in a real-world architecture studio.
Together, they are not simply teachers. They are guides and co-creators of MANA School, building an environment where children’s ideas, questions and creativity help shape the learning experience.
2 or 4 DAYS A WEEK
For ages 4-5 and 6–10, the full four-day experience allows children to participate in the complete rhythm of MANA:
And our youngest community, ages 4–5, has its own developmentally appropriate MANA experience centered around nature, art, makers, movement, storytelling, creativity and connection.
We’re inviting homeschool families to come experience a FREE MANA MAKERS STATION.
2:00–5:00 PM
OJAI
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.
FREE • AGES 4–10
TEXT BRANDEE TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT:
415-341-6652We’d love to meet your family. 🌈
MANA
Makers • Art • Nature • Awareness
