Making Friends Social Group (Ages 5-7)

Learners who join this community will experience spaces where they can be themselves, learn cool stuff, do interesting work, and meet fun people. We are an organization of homeschooling parents, unschoolers and teachers who work as a team to provide reliable, year-round groups. We know that friendship and connection are the reasons that self-directed learners come to Outschool, so we make our classes fun! We keep social-emotional learning and wellness at the core of all our life skills classes. We all know cool and different stuff! Our teaching style is to explore together. Exploratory learning is what the team at ARI is all about. 

We are a Neuroaffirming Organization. 
What is Neurodiversity affirming?
It means that different people have different skills and ways of interacting with the world around them. We do not view these differences as flaws that require "fixing."
Instead, those who see people this way think that neurodiversity is normal. Everyone should be able to think, learn, process, and understand knowledge in their own unique way.

🧶The Org Admin is Carly Filewich, BCYC, ECE She/her.
Hello! My name is Carly, and I am the founder of ARI Learning.

I’m a proud graduate of the University of Victoria’s School of Child and Youth Care. I have always been passionate about working with children and youth, and this degree program provided me with knowledge of the social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development of young people. When teaching, I use a multidisciplinary approach, focused on relationship building, to support holistic development alongside academic achievement. 

In addition to my formal education, I’ve also gained valuable experience through my seven years of online teaching. I’ve had the privilege of working with a diverse range of students and families, who have taught me the importance of creating a supportive and inclusive learning environment. It was through building relationships with my learners and their parents that I realized my own ADHD, the unknown reason why improving education is so important to me. 

As an educator, I am dedicated to providing an inclusive learning environment that meets the needs of all learners. I believe that every student has the right to access quality education that is tailored to their unique abilities and learning styles.

This means creating classrooms that are welcoming, safe, and respectful of all students, in ways that enhance their abilities & neuro-specializations. 

Carly converted her individual teacher profile to an Organization in March 2022.
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🌺 Meet Your Teacher: Charley
As a dedicated and qualified primary school teacher based in the UK, I made the decision to step away from the traditional school system due to the overwhelming pressure and the lack of focus on supporting children who truly need it. My passion lies in assisting those overlooked children, ensuring they receive the guidance and understanding they deserve.

With a wealth of experience in the education sector, I have worked across various settings, including Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), independent (Private), and mainstream schools (State). This diverse background has provided me with invaluable insights into the unique needs of many children. I hold several key qualifications, including:

Qualified Teacher Status
Post Graduate Certificate in Education
Bachelor's Degree in Education Studies
Additionally, I have pursued further training in areas related to SEND as well as children's emotional well-being and mental health.

My teaching philosophy centres around the belief that every student is unique, with distinct learning needs. I tailor my approach to accommodate each student's learning style, pace, and interests. I prioritise the celebration of success, regardless of its size, as it plays a crucial role in fostering confident learners. I advocate for a culture where mistakes are viewed as valuable learning opportunities, helping students develop resilience and the confidence to explore new challenges.

When I’m not in teacher mode, I enjoy spending time with my four furry friends! Whether it’s going on adventures with my two energetic dogs, teaching them new tricks, or cuddling with my two lovely cats, they bring me immense joy. I also love to read, cook, and nurture my ever-growing collection of house plants. Socializing with friends and family, playing board games, and preparing delicious meals are some of my favorite pastimes. I am excited to share my knowledge and passion for learning with you and look forward to supporting your educational journey!

🐈Meet Your Teacher:  Natalia: PhD Education/Sociology (ongoing), Master's in Translation Studies
Hi! I’m Natalia! I have extensive teaching experience across various subjects, with a particular focus on teaching English in several countries, including Canada, Japan, and Spain. My teaching experience spans a diverse range of students, from small children to adults, business professionals, and individuals preparing for Oxford and Cambridge English Exams. I have also taught business English in corporate settings. Since 2017, I have exclusively taught all my classes online, finding it to be a more flexible and enjoyable format for both teachers and students.

Currently, I am transitioning from my first to second year of PhD studies in Education and Sociology. My extensive background in linguistics, combined with my Master’s Degree in Translation Studies, fuels my three professional passions: linguistics (languages and their fascinating components), teaching, and sociology (understanding human behaviour, history, and societal functions). I would be giving this course as my PhD is in Education & Sociology and within the sociological sphere of my thesis, there is a special emphasis on Women’s Studies.

I am excited to meet and get to know many students in my classes! My ultimate goal is to create an inclusive environment for all learners, ensuring that everyone has access to top-tier classes. I am deeply committed to this mission and take great pride in offering my help and support to the neurodiverse community. I hope our sessions will be as fun and engaging for you as they are for me!


🎲Meet Your Teacher: Ms. Yvonne, BMus McGill University, MM in Distance Ed (in progress)
Carly invited me to join her team as a teacher and I've been loving it ever since I started in August of 2022.  While a leader in Girl Guides, I've always enjoyed sharing my love of crafting, technology, outdoor experiences and supportive social environments.  I'm an ND artist, musician and micro-farmer. With both Indigenous and European heritage, as a Métis artist I am always learning how to express these aspects of my ancestry in my artwork. Sustainability is important to me as it encourages connection with nature no matter where you live. I have a diverse range of experiences, including ten years as a field technician with IBM, tutor, cook, and professional musician. I am a songwriter and a homeschooling mum of two kids and my current obsession is board game design.  I believe that child-led project based learning is the key to engagement.  As a parent of an ND child, I believe connection and relationship are the first step in education.  

✨Meet Your Teacher: Mavi, Orton-Gillingham support tutor
Mavi is our Youth Coordinator and Instructor!  At ARI Learning, we believe that young people have a significant and beneficial impact on the education of younger students when they serve as role models for those students. It gives us great pleasure to introduce Mavi, our newest and excellent young educator. Mavi offers to our community a new point of view, a lot of energy, and a mentorship of younger students that is invaluable.  Mavi has completed the first level of Orton-Gillingham training and offers practice support for those students who want more frequent guided practice.  


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We have specialty classes like Virtual School Paper which is a creative writing program that is posted on a website.  Through self directed and engaged learning, students get to develop social connections and build community through their meetings.  Our social group offerings are NT and ND integrated where we learn to meet each other where we're at.  We also have 1:1 support and versions of most of our classes for developing social skills.  Carly has created a supportive template and training for our teachers that ensures we approach ND learners from a relationship building, learner directed method.  We do not follow ABA Autistic Behavioral Approach.   

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Live Classes 

👋Welcome to our Live Classes!  We work hard to provide a space for all learners of all abilities to socialize and participate. 👋

Assigned Work 
📝📚For classes with assigned work, we encourage learners to participate in completing the homework.  Learners will get more out of each class!  As we are highly learner directed, we encourage independence and self direction in these assigned projects. An outline will be given but if that takes your learner on a journey to explore the topic in a different way, we will be so excited to have them share in the classroom.    

 Class Times and Logging In
【┘】We will start our classes on time, often arriving a few minutes ahead of time to ensure there are no technical issues.  We will do our best to end classes on time and your learner is free to leave at the class end time. 
🎧Please make sure your headset/microphone and device are plugged in and ready to go before class time and that you join the Zoom meeting with the correct learner name.
https://support.outschool.com/en/articles/579976-learner-safety-and-privacy-for-parents

Annotate/Drawing tools
🖊️We often use the Annotate function in our meetings. Here is a quick tutorial. It will be different depending on your device. https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115005706806-Using-annotation-tools-for-collaboration

Camera check-in (learner verification) and mute policy
🎦We require a camera check in with learners at the beginning of class as per Outschool policy.  If you are there to assist your learner, you must be off the screen for group classes.  As we are supportive of all learners, breaks, snacks, drinks and all welcome.  If your learner needs to dance around during a class, great!  
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We follow Outschool’s policy to use the mute/unmute function and we will sometimes need to mute your learner if other learners are trying to share and can’t be heard.  If your learner would like to obtain the green checkmark to not need to do a video check-in, please visit this link https://support.outschool.com/en/articles/4063624-learner-verification. 
https://support.outschool.com/en/articles/579976-learner-safety-and-privacy-for-parents

Technical Issues
💻Please test out Zoom before class and be sure your learner can use the mute/unmute stop/start video functions. We will try to help you with technical issues but if it becomes too disruptive to the class we will mute the learner and ask that you work out the technical issues outside of class time.  

Refunds
🔙We follow Outschool's refund policy.  https://support.outschool.com/en/articles/4626920-standard-refund-policy-and-refund-eligibility-guidelines

Transfer requests 
🔀Please ensure adequate time for transfers.  We will provide transfers up to 48 hours before the class being attended.  

Recordings
📼For classes with content, the recording will be available upon request.  For our social group classes, we will not share the recording unless there is a safety concern.  https://support.outschool.com/en/articles/452568-class-recordings

Class Cancellations  
✖️If a class has not met the minimum number of enrolments, we may cancel the class. We will ask you if you would like to transfer to a different time/day or will refund with an explanation.  Our social groups are meant to run with 2 or more learners.

Classes and 1:1 Classes
💬You will see in our class listings that we often have the same class for groups listed as 1:1’s as well.  This allows a dedicated space for learner and teacher.  We also have Custom Collaborations for families to set up classes with friends in a dedicated space on a requested subject in a private class. 

Flex Class Expectations 
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Please note, there are no live meetings for flex classes. Teaching videos are shorter than the live class equivalent due to no students being there for discussion. Flex classes include a range of activities to go along with the teaching video. These will be posted in the classroom at the start of each week. 
We hope that learners post comments and questions in the classroom as it helps us support your learner in these non-live classes. 

Contact Carly directly for more information and we look forward to meeting your learner and sharing some fun times!

♪┗ ( ･o･) ┓♪   ✺◟(＾∇＾)◞✺ ♪┏(・o･)┛♪

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So what does ARI stand for?
ARI = Adaptable, Reciprocal, Interactive!

What does that mean?
Adaptable learning opportunities allow for a person centered experience. 
All our classrooms and learning spaces are designed to accommodate individual needs and goals. We strive to make ARI Learning experiences inclusive and welcoming. 

We encourage neurodivergent learners to please let us know what accommodations we can make  in order to make the classroom as accessible as possible.
 
Reciprocal learning is everyone having something to learn from each other, drawing from a collective knowledge that is dynamic and fluid as interaction happens. All learners are teachers in our spaces. 

Interactive learning is a component of all ARI Learning experiences. We believe that involvement in the process is more important than the outcome or product. Our interactive components allow learners to immerse themselves in a topic, contributing to their own learning goals in meaningful ways.

We offer: social groups that are learner directed and inclusive, knowledge about sustainable living practices, support for artists, knowledge about creating connections and more! 

*****ARI Learning is based in the traditional territory of the Tla' amin Nation and would like to invite all our learners to explore the culture and language knowledge made available by Jehjeh Media, a "BIPOC led multi-media production company" created by our friends! 

SAFETY AND INCLUSIVITY 
By joining my learning community, participants agree to behave respectfully towards other learners and families.  Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or other forms of bigotry will not be tolerated.  

Please share our profile: 
https://outschool.com/teachers/CarlyLive Classes